Discovery and SAR of 5-(3-chlorophenylamino)benzo[c][2,6]naphthyridine-8-carboxylic acid (CX-4945), the first clinical stage inhibitor of protein kinase CK2 for the treatment of cancer.

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Pierre F, Chua PC, O'Brien SE, Siddiqui-Jain A, Bourbon P, Haddach M, Michaux J, Nagasawa J, Schwaebe MK, Stefan E, Vialettes A, Whitten JP, Chen TK, Darjania L, Stansfield R, Anderes K, Bliesath J, Drygin D, Ho C, Omori M, Proffitt C, Streiner N, Trent K, Rice WG, Ryckman DM

Discovery and SAR of 5-(3-chlorophenylamino)benzo[c][2,6]naphthyridine-8-carboxylic acid (CX-4945), the first clinical stage inhibitor of protein kinase CK2 for the treatment of cancer.

J Med Chem. 2011 Jan 27;54(2):635-54. doi: 10.1021/jm101251q. Epub 2010 Dec 21.

PubMed ID
21174434 [ View in PubMed
]
Abstract

Herein we chronicle the discovery of CX-4945 (25n), a first-in-class, orally bioavailable ATP-competitive inhibitor of protein kinase CK2 in clinical trials for cancer. CK2 has long been considered a prime cancer drug target because of the roles of deregulated and overexpressed CK2 in cancer-promoting prosurvival and antiapoptotic pathways. These biological properties as well as the suitability of CK2's small ATP binding site for the design of selective inhibitors, led us to fashion novel therapeutic agents for cancer. The optimization leading to 25n (K(i) = 0.38 nM) was guided by molecular modeling, suggesting a strong binding of 25n resulting from a combination of hydrophobic interactions, an ionic bridge with Lys68, and hydrogen bonding with the hinge region. 25n was found to be highly selective, orally bioavailable across species (20-51%) and efficacious in xenograft models. The discovery of 25n will allow the therapeutic targeting of CK2 in humans for the first time.

DrugBank Data that Cites this Article

Drug Targets
DrugTargetKindOrganismPharmacological ActionActions
ATPCasein kinase II subunit alphaProteinHumans
Unknown
Not AvailableDetails
ATPCasein kinase II subunit betaProteinHumans
Unknown
Not AvailableDetails