Haridas B. Rode

Chemogenomic profiling provides insights into the limited activity of irreversible EGFR Inhibitors in tumor cells expressing the T790M EGFR resistance mutation.

Reversible epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) inhibitors are the first class of small molecules to improve progression-free survival of patients with EGFR-mutated lung cancers. Second-generation EGFR inhibitors introduced to overcome acquired resistance by the T790M resistance mutation of EGFR have thus far shown limited clinical activity in patients with T790M-mutant tumors. In this study, we systematically analyzed the determinants of the activity and selectivity of the second-generation EGFR inhibitors. A focused library of irreversible as well as structurally corresponding reversible EGFR-inhibitors was synthesized for chemogenomic profiling involving over 79 genetically defined NSCLC and 19 EGFR-dependent cell lines. Overall, our results show that the growth-inhibitory potency of all irreversible inhibitors against the EGFR(T790M) resistance mutation was limited by reduced target inhibition, linked to decreased binding velocity to the mutant kinase. Combined treatment of T790M-mutant tumor cells with BIBW-2992 and the phosphoinositide-3-kinase/mammalian target of rapamycin inhibitor PI-103 led to synergistic induction of apoptosis. Our findings offer a mechanistic explanation for the limited efficacy of irreversible EGFR inhibitors in EGFR(T790M) gatekeeper-mutant tumors, and they prompt combination treatment strategies involving inhibitors that target signaling downstream of the EGFR.

A new screening assay for allosteric inhibitors of cSrc

Targeting kinases outside the highly conserved ATP pocket is thought to be a promising strategy for overcoming bottlenecks in kinase inhibitor research, such as limited selectivity and drug resistance. Here we report the development and application of a direct binding assay to detect small molecules that stabilize the inactive conformation of the tyrosine kinase cSrc. Protein X-ray crystallography validated the assay results and confirmed an exclusively allosteric binding mode.

Hybrid compound design to overcome the gatekeeper T338M mutation in cSrc

The emergence of drug resistance remains a fundamental challenge in the development of kinase inhibitors that are effective over long-term treatments. Allosteric inhibitors that bind to sites lying outside the highly conserved ATP pocket are thought to be more selective than ATP-competitive inhibitors and may circumvent some mechanisms of drug resistance. Crystal structures of type I and allosteric type III inhibitors in complex with the tyrosine kinase cSrc allowed us to employ principles of structure-based design to develop these scaffolds into potent type II kinase inhibitors. One of these compounds, 3c (RL46), disrupts FAK-mediated focal adhesions in cancer cells via direct inhibition of cSrc. Details gleaned from crystal structures revealed a key feature of a subset of these compounds, a surprising flexibility in the vicinity of the gatekeeper residue that allows these compounds to overcome a dasatinib-resistant gatekeeper mutation emerging in cSrc.

Structural insights into how irreversible inhibitors can overcome drug resistance in EGFR.

Resistance to kinase-targeted cancer drugs has recently been linked to a single point mutation in the ATP binding site of the kinase. In EGFR, the crucial Thr790 gatekeeper residue is mutated to a Met and prevents reversible ATP competitive inhibitors from binding. Irreversible 4-(phenylamino)quinazolines have been shown to overcome this drug resistance and are currently in clinical trials. In order to obtain a detailed structural understanding of how irreversible inhibitors overcome drug resistance, we used Src kinase as a model system for drug resistant EGFR-T790M. We report the first crystal structure of a drug resistant kinase in complex with an irreversible inhibitor. This 4-(phenylamino)quinazoline inhibits wild type and drug resistant EGFR in vitro at low nM concentrations. The co-crystal structure of drug resistant cSrc-T338M kinase domain provides the structural basis of this activity.

Synthesis and biological evaluation of 4-anilinoquinolines as potent inhibitors of epidermal growth factor receptor

The mutant receptor tyrosine kinase EGFR is a validated and therapeutically amenable target for genotypically selected lung cancer patients. Here we present the synthesis and biological evaluation of a series of 6- and 7-substituted 4-anilinoquinolines as potent type I inhibitors of clinically relevant mutant variants of EGFR. Quinolines 3a and 3e were found to be highly active kinase inhibitors in biochemical assays and were further investigated for their biological effect on EGFR-dependent Ba/F3 cells and non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cell lines.

Characterization of irreversible kinase inhibitors by directly detecting covalent bond formation: a tool for dissecting kinase drug resistance

Targeting protein kinases in cancer therapy with irreversible small‐molecule inhibitors is moving to the forefront of kinase‐inhibitor research and is thought to be an effective means of overcoming mutation‐associated drug resistance in epidermal growth factor receptor kinase (EGFR). We generated a detection technique that allows direct measurements of covalent bond formation without relying on kinase activity, thereby allowing the straightforward investigation of the influence of steric clashes on covalent inhibitors in different resistant kinase mutants. The obtained results are discussed together with structural biology and biochemical studies of catalytic activity in both wild‐type and gatekeeper mutated kinase variants to draw conclusions about the impact of steric hindrance and increased catalytic activity in drug‐resistant kinase variants.

Analysis of compound synergy in high-throughput cellular screens by population-based lifetime modeling.

Despite the successful introduction of potent anti-cancer therapeutics, most of these drugs lead to only modest tumor-shrinkage or transient responses, followed by re-growth of tumors. Combining different compounds has resulted in enhanced tumor control and prolonged survival. However, methods querying the efficacy of such combinations have been hampered by limited scalability, analytical resolution, statistical feasibility, or a combination thereof. We have developed a theoretical framework modeling cellular viability as a stochastic lifetime process to determine synergistic compound combinations from high-throughput cellular screens. We apply our method to data derived from chemical perturbations of 65 cancer cell lines with two inhibitors. Our analysis revealed synergy for the combination of both compounds in subsets of cell lines. By contrast, in cell lines in which inhibition of one of both targets was sufficient to induce cell death, no synergy was detected, compatible with the topology of the oncogenically activated signaling network. In summary, we provide a tool for the measurement of synergy strength for combination perturbation experiments that might help define pathway topologies and direct clinical trials.

Synthesis and biological evaluation of 7-substituted-1-(3-bromophenylamino)isoquinoline-4-carbonitriles as inhibitors of myosin light chain kinase and epidermal growth factor receptor.

Here we present the synthesis and biological activity of a series of 7-substituted-1-(3-bromophenylamino)isoquinoline-4-carbonitriles as inhibitors of myosin light chain kinase (MLCK) and the epidermal growth factor receptor kinase (EGFR). The inhibitory effect of these molecules was found to be dependent on the nature of the substituents at the 7-position of the isoquinoline scaffold.