Discovery of JN122, a Spiroindoline-Containing Molecule that Inhibits MDM2/p53 Protein-Protein Interaction and Exerts Robust In Vivo Antitumor Efficacy

J Med Chem. 2023 Dec 28;66(24):16991-17025. doi: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.3c01815. Epub 2023 Dec 7.

Abstract

MDM2 and MDM4 cooperatively and negatively regulate p53, while this pathway is often hijacked by cancer cells in favor of their survival. Blocking MDM2/p53 interaction with small-molecule inhibitors liberates p53 from MDM2 mediated degradation, which is an attractive strategy for drug discovery. We reported herein structure-based discovery of highly potent spiroindoline-containing MDM2 inhibitor (-)60 (JN122), which also exhibited moderate activities against MDM4/p53 interactions. In a panel of cancer cell lines harboring wild type p53, (-)60 efficiently promoted activation of p53 and its target genes, inhibited cell cycle progression, and induced cell apoptosis. Interestingly, (-)60 also promoted degradation of MDM4. More importantly, (-)60 exhibited good PK properties and exerted robust antitumor efficacies in a systemic mouse xenograft model of MOLM-13. Taken together, our study showcases a class of potent MDM2 inhibitors featuring a novel spiro-indoline scaffold, which is promising for future development targeting cancer cells with wild-type p53.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Antineoplastic Agents* / pharmacology
  • Antineoplastic Agents* / therapeutic use
  • Apoptosis
  • Cell Cycle Proteins / metabolism
  • Cell Line, Tumor
  • Humans
  • Mice
  • Neoplasms* / drug therapy
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins / metabolism
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-mdm2 / metabolism
  • Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 / metabolism

Substances

  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-mdm2
  • Tumor Suppressor Protein p53
  • Antineoplastic Agents
  • MDM2 protein, human
  • MDM4 protein, human
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins
  • Cell Cycle Proteins