Discovery of N-(4-(Aminomethyl)phenyl)-5-methylpyrimidin-2-amine Derivatives as Potent and Selective JAK2 Inhibitors

Yang Tian; Songhui Qin; Fang Zhang; Jing Luo; Xi He; Yi Sun; Tao Yang

doi:10.1021/acsmedchemlett.3c00251

Discovery of N-(4-(Aminomethyl)phenyl)-5-methylpyrimidin-2-amine Derivatives as Potent and Selective JAK2 Inhibitors

ACS Med Chem Lett. 2023 Aug 1;14(8):1113-1121. doi: 10.1021/acsmedchemlett.3c00251. eCollection 2023 Aug 10.

Authors

Yang Tian^{1

2}, Songhui Qin³, Fang Zhang¹, Jing Luo¹, Xi He¹, Yi Sun¹, Tao Yang³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, The Third People's Hospital of Chengdu, The Affiliated Hospital of Southwest Jiaotong University, The Second Chengdu Hospital Affiliated to Chongqing Medical University, Chengdu 610014, China.
² Medical Research Center. The Third People's Hospital of Chengdu, The Affiliated Hospital of Southwest Jiaotong University, The Second Chengdu Hospital Affiliated to Chongqing Medical University, Chengdu, 610014, China.
³ State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy and Cancer Center, West China Hospital, Sichuan University and Collaborative Innovation Center of Biotherapy, Chengdu 610041, China.

PMID: 37583815
PMCID: PMC10424325 (available on 2024-08-10)
DOI: 10.1021/acsmedchemlett.3c00251

Abstract

The JAK2^V617F mutation leads to JAK2 autophosphorylation and activation of downstream pathways, eventually resulting in myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs). Selective inhibitors showed advantages in terms of side effects; therefore, there is an urgent need to develop novel selective JAK2 inhibitors for treating MPNs. In this study, we described a series of N-(4-(aminomethyl)phenyl)pyrimidin-2-amine derivatives as selective JAK2 inhibitors. Systematic exploration through opening the tetrahydroisoquinoline based on the previous lead compound 13ac led to the discovery of the optimal compound A8. Compound A8 showed excellent potency on JAK2 kinase, with an IC₅₀ value of 5 nM, and inhibited the phosphorylation of JAK2 and its downstream signaling pathway. Moreover, A8 exhibited 38.6-, 54.6-, and 41.2-fold selectivity for JAK1, JAK3, and TYK2, respectively. Compared to the lead compound, A8 demonstrated much better metabolic stabilities, with a bioavailability of 41.1%. These findings suggest that A8 is a relatively selective JAK2 inhibitor, deserving to be developed for treating MPNs.