Design and synthesis of selective CDK8/19 dual inhibitors: Discovery of 4,5-dihydrothieno[3',4':3,4]benzo[1,2-d]isothiazole derivatives

Abstract To develop a novel series of CDK8/19 dual inhibitors, we employed structure-based drug design using docking models based on a library compound, 4,5-dihydroimidazolo[3′,4′:3,4]benzo[1,2- d ] isothiazole16 bound to CDK8. We designed various [5,6,5]-fused tricyclic scaffolds bearing a carboxamide group to maintain predicted interactions with the backbone C O and NH of Ala100 in the CDK8 kinase hinge region. We found that 4,5-dihydrothieno[3′,4′:3,4]benzo[1,2- d ] isothiazolederivative 29a showed particularly potent enzymatic inhibitory activity in both CDK8/19 (CDK8 IC 50 : 0.76 nM, CDK19 IC 50 : 1.7 nM). To improve the physicochemical properties and kinase selectivity of this compound, we introduced a substituted 3-pyridyloxy group into the scaffold 8-position. The resulting optimized compound 52h showed excellent in vitro potency (CDK8 IC 50 : 0.46 nM, CDK19 IC 50 : 0.99 nM), physicochemical properties, and kinase selectivity (only 5 kinases showed 52h bound to CDK8, we could explain the highly specific kinase activity profile found for this compound, based on the interaction of the pyridyl group of 52h interacting with Met174 of the CDK8 DMG activation loop. In vitro pharmacological evaluation of 52h revealed potent suppression of phosphorylated STAT1in various cancer cells. The high oral bioavailability found for this compound enabled in vivo studies, in which we demonstrated a mechanism-based in vivo PD effect as well as tumor growth suppression in an RPMI8226 human hematopoietic and lymphoid xenograft model in mouse [T/C: −1% (2.5 mg/kg, qd)].