Reinvent Aliphatic Arsenicals as Reversible Covalent Warheads toward Targeted Kinase Inhibition and Non-acute Promyelocytic Leukemia Cancer Treatment

J Med Chem. 2024 Apr 11;67(7):5458-5472. doi: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.3c02076. Epub 2024 Mar 31.

Abstract

The success of arsenic in acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) treatment is hardly transferred to non-APL cancers, mainly due to the low selectivity and weak binding affinity of traditional arsenicals to oncoproteins critical for cancer survival. We present herein the reinvention of aliphatic trivalent arsenicals (As) as reversible covalent warheads of As-based targeting inhibitors toward Bruton's tyrosine kinase (BTK). The effects of As warheads' valency, thiol protection, methylation, spacer length, and size on inhibitors' activity were studied. We found that, in contrast to the bulky and rigid aromatic As warhead, the flexible aliphatic As warheads were well compatible with the well-optimized guiding group to achieve nanomolar inhibition against BTK. The optimized As inhibitors effectively blocked the BTK-mediated oncogenic signaling pathway, leading to elevated antiproliferative activities toward lymphoma cells and xenograft tumor. Our study provides a promising strategy enabling rational design of new aliphatic arsenic-based reversible covalent inhibitors toward non-APL cancer treatment.

MeSH terms

  • Agammaglobulinaemia Tyrosine Kinase
  • Arsenic* / pharmacology
  • Arsenicals* / pharmacology
  • Arsenicals* / therapeutic use
  • Humans
  • Leukemia, Promyelocytic, Acute* / drug therapy
  • Protein Kinase Inhibitors / pharmacology
  • Protein Kinase Inhibitors / therapeutic use
  • Signal Transduction

Substances

  • Arsenicals
  • Arsenic
  • Agammaglobulinaemia Tyrosine Kinase
  • Protein Kinase Inhibitors