244747 and 2357374 Aug 2024 14:48
cct245737 (21, sra737) is a clinical candidate for chk1i, originally derived from the purine template hit 18.
the initial optimization aimed to improve the kinase affinity and selectivity by targeting the interior pocket of chk1, generating compound 19. the pyrimidoazaindole tricyclic scaffold was designed with a pyridine moiety located into the specificity region and an additional nitrogen atom contacting a water molecule. however, compound 19 exhibited issues with conformational deviation and molecular rigidity
[70]
. through further optimization, the five-member ring-disconnected compound 20 (cct244747) was obtained, which maintained the high intrinsic potency, selectivity and cellular activity. besides, cct244747 has been identified as an orally effective single agent in a mycn-overexpressed neuroblastoma model
[71]
. however, cct244747 had low metabolic stability in human hepatocytes, and with oral bioavailability of only 61 %), high doses were required. subsequent work focused on the 4-position of the pyridine substituents situated in the ribose binding pocket of chk1, which was confirmed to maximize affinity. a diverse set of 4-amino-substituted pyridine derivatives were synthesized, unexpectedly, resulting in the clinical compound cct245737, which exhibited the excellent chk1 enzymatic activity (ic50 = 1.3 nm), increasing metabolic stability, and improved pk properties with reduced in vivo clearance and good oral bioavailability of 100 %
[72]
. fan et al. confirmed a strong synergistic anti-cancer effect of cct245737 and vp-16 in chronic myeloid leukemia (cml) cell line k562. furthermore, cct245737 prevented vp-16-induced g2/m arrest, inhibited both brca1 and rad51 (the most significant component of the ****logous repair pathway) and induced cml cells apoptosis
[73]
. the result of the phase i/ii clinical trial (nct02797964) showed that cct245737 was well tolerated and had good pharmacokinetic profiles (t1/2 = 6.23–10.4 h, cl/f = 18.4–119 l/h, vd/f = 215–1590 l). however, the single-agent potency of cct245737 was not considered to be significant enough for development as a monotherapy for cancer. therefore, subsequent clinical trials will be conducted in combination with other drugs