1区 · 医学
Article
作者: Bolster, Marjon G. ; Oude Alink, Patrick G. B. ; Thomson, Heather A. ; Liu, Julie ; Maroto, Sergio ; Clark, Matthew A. ; Slootweg, Jack C. ; Centrella, Paolo A. ; Zech, Birgit ; Hupp, Christopher D. ; Renzetti, Louis M. ; Babiss, Lee ; Mulvihill, Mark ; Sardana, Malvika ; Kuijpers, Brian ; Dirks, Ron ; Hekking, Koen F. W. ; Haasjes, Frank S. ; Guié, Marie-Aude ; Cuozzo, John W. ; Sigel, Eric ; Smith, Dennis ; Gremmen, Stijn ; Doodeman, Robin ; Scheepstra, Marcel ; Zhang, Ying ; van Kekem, Kees ; Müller, Gerhard ; Keefe, Anthony D. ; Habeshian, Sevan
Evasion of apoptosis is critical for the development and growth of tumors. The pro-survival protein myeloid cell leukemia 1 (Mcl-1) is an antiapoptotic member of the Bcl-2 family, associated with tumor aggressiveness, poor survival, and drug resistance. Development of Mcl-1 inhibitors implies blocking of protein-protein interactions, generally requiring a lengthy optimization process of large, complex molecules. Herein, we describe the use of DNA-encoded chemical library synthesis and screening to directly generate complex, yet conformationally privileged macrocyclic hits that serve as Mcl-1 inhibitors. By applying a conceptual combination of conformational analysis and structure-based design in combination with a robust synthetic platform allowing rapid analoging, we optimized in vitro potency of a lead series into the low nanomolar regime. Additionally, we demonstrate fine-tuning of the physicochemical properties of the macrocyclic compounds, resulting in the identification of lead candidates 57/59 with a balanced profile, which are suitable for future development toward therapeutic use.