Discovery of Highly Selective PARP7 Inhibitors with a Novel Scaffold for Cancer Immunotherapy

J Med Chem. 2024 Feb 8;67(3):1932-1948. doi: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.3c01764. Epub 2023 Dec 7.

Abstract

PARP7 plays a crucial role in cancer immunity. The inhibition of PARP7 has shown potential in boosting the immune response against cancer, making it an attractive target for cancer immunotherapy. Herein, we employed a rigid constraint strategy (reduction in molecular flexibility) to design and synthesize a series of novel indazole-7-carboxamide derivatives based on the structure of RBN-2397. Among these derivatives, (S)-XY-05 was identified as the most promising PARP7 inhibitor (IC50: 4.5 nM). Additionally, (S)-XY-05 showed enhanced selectivity toward PARP7 and improved pharmacokinetic properties (oral bioavailability: 94.60%) compared with RBN-2397 (oral bioavailability: 25.67%). In the CT26 syngeneic mouse model, monotherapy with (S)-XY-05 displayed a strong antitumor effect (TGI: 83%) by activating T-cell-mediated immunity within the tumor microenvironment. Collectively, we confirmed that (S)-XY-05 has profound effects on tumor immunity, which paves the way for future studies of PARP7 inhibitors that could be utilized in cancer immunotherapy.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Cell Line, Tumor
  • Immunity, Cellular
  • Immunotherapy* / methods
  • Indazoles / chemistry
  • Indazoles / pharmacology
  • Indazoles / therapeutic use
  • Mice
  • Neoplasms* / drug therapy
  • Poly(ADP-ribose) Polymerase Inhibitors* / chemistry
  • Poly(ADP-ribose) Polymerase Inhibitors* / pharmacology
  • Poly(ADP-ribose) Polymerases

Substances

  • Indazoles
  • 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase, mouse
  • Poly(ADP-ribose) Polymerases
  • Poly(ADP-ribose) Polymerase Inhibitors