Stephane De Lombaert

5-Aminomethylbenzimidazoles as potent ITK antagonists

Benzamide 1 demonstrated good potency as a selective ITK inhibitor, however the amide moiety was found to be hydrolytically labile in vivo, resulting in low oral exposure and the generation of mutagenic aromatic amine metabolites. Replacing the benzamide with a benzylamine linker not only addressed the toxicity issue, but also improved the cellular and functional potency as well as the drug-like properties. SAR studies around the benzylamines and the identification of 10n and 10o as excellent tools for proof-of-concept studies are described.

Discovery of potent inhibitors of interleukin-2 inducible T-cell kinase (ITK) through structure-based drug design

Interleukin-2 inducible T-cell kinase (ITK) is a member of the Tec kinase family and is involved with T-cell activation and proliferation. Due to its critical role in acting as a modulator of T-cells, ITK inhibitors could provide a novel route to anti-inflammatory therapy. This work describes the discovery of ITK inhibitors through structure-based design where high-resolution crystal structural information was used to optimize interactions within the kinase specificity pocket of the enzyme to improve both potency and selectivity.

Substituted pyrazoles as novel sEH antagonist: investigation of key binding interactions within the catalytic domain.

A novel series of pyrazole sEH inhibitors is reported. Lead optimization efforts to replace the aniline core are also described. In particular, 2-pyridine, 3-pyridine and pyridazine analogs are potent sEH inhibitors with favorable CYP3A4 inhibitory and microsomal stability profiles.

Optimization of piperidyl-ureas as inhibitors of soluble epoxide hydrolase.

Inhibition of sEH is hypothesized to lead to an increase in epoxyeicosatrienoic acids resulting in the potentiation of their anti-inflammatory and vasodilatory effects. In an effort to explore sEH inhibition as an avenue for the development of vasodilatory and cardio- or renal-protective agents, a lead identified through high-throughput screening was optimized, guided by the determination of a solid state co-structure with sEH. Replacement of potential toxicophores was followed by optimization of cell-based potency and ADME properties to provide a new class of functionally potent sEH inhibitors with attractive in vitro metabolic profiles and high and sustained plasma exposures after oral administration in the rat.

Design and synthesis of substituted nicotinamides as inhibitors of soluble epoxide hydrolase

A series of potent nicotinamide inhibitors of soluble epoxides hydrolase (sEH) is disclosed. This series was designed using structure-based deconstruction and a combination of two HTS hit series, resulting in hybrid analogs that retained the optimal potency from one series, and acceptable in vitro metabolic stability from the other. Structure-guided optimization of these analogs gave rise to nanomolar inhibitors of human sEH that had acceptable plasma exposure to qualify them as probes to determine the in vivo phenotypic consequences of sEH inhibition.

Rapid synthesis of an array of trisubstituted urea-based soluble epoxide hydrolase inhibitors facilitated by a novel solid-phase method

A 270-membered library of trisubstituted ureas was synthesized and evaluated for inhibition of soluble epoxide hydrolase. Library design and reagent selection was guided by the use of a pharmacophore model and synthesis of the array was enabled with a general solid-phase method. This array approach facilitated multi-dimensional SAR around this series and identified functionality responsible for binding affinity, as well as opportunities for modulating the overall in vitro profiles of this class of soluble epoxide hydrolase inhibitors.

Benzimidazolone as potent chymase inhibitor: modulation of reactive metabolite formation in the hydrophobic (P1) region.

A new class of chymase inhibitor featuring a benzimidazolone core with an acid side chain and a P(1) hydrophobic moiety is described. Incubation of the lead compound with GSH resulted in the formation of a GSH conjugate on the benzothiophene P(1) moiety. Replacement of the benzothiophene with different heterocyclic systems such as indoles and benzoisothiazole is feasible. Among the P(1) replacements, benzoisothiazole prevents the formation of GSH conjugate and an in silico analysis of oxidative potentials agreed with the experimental outcome.