Tobias Koolmeister

Pinacolyl boronic esters as components in the Petasis reaction

The multicomponent reaction of boronic esters with imine or iminium species (generated in situ by reaction of amines with glyoxylic acid) has received little attention in the literature despite the current interest in the corresponding reactions of boronic acids (Petasis reaction). Moreover, the use of boronic esters in this reaction is particularly attractive since chiral esters could act as auxiliaries in a novel enantioselective process. We set out to establish whether boronic esters were general substrates in the Petasis reaction. Pinacolyl boronic esters were selected for study as a model substrate for more complex homochiral boronic esters because of their ease of synthesis and chemical stability. We found that pinacolyl boronic esters do not react with imines derived from primary amines and glyoxylic acid under standard conditions. By contrast, imines derived from secondary amines and glyoxylic acid react readily with vinylboronic esters but less readily with heteroaryl- or arylboronic esters.

Rational design and validation of a Tip60 histone acetyltransferase inhibitor

Histone acetylation is required for many aspects of gene regulation, genome maintenance and metabolism and dysfunctional acetylation is implicated in numerous diseases, including cancer. Acetylation is regulated by histone acetyltransferases (HATs) and histone deacetylases and currently, few general HAT inhibitors have been described. We identified the HAT Tip60 as an excellent candidate for targeted drug development, as Tip60 is a key mediator of the DNA damage response and transcriptional co-activator. Our modeling of Tip60 indicated that the active binding pocket possesses opposite charges at each end, with the positive charges attributed to two specific side chains. We used structure based drug design to develop a novel Tip60 inhibitor, TH1834, to fit this specific pocket. We demonstrate that TH1834 significantly inhibits Tip60 activity in vitro and treating cells with TH1834 results in apoptosis and increased unrepaired DNA damage (following ionizing radiation treatment) in breast cancer but not control cell lines. Furthermore, TH1834 did not affect the activity of related HAT MOF, as indicated by H4K16Ac, demonstrating specificity. The modeling and validation of the small molecule inhibitor TH1834 represents a first step towards developing additional specific, targeted inhibitors of Tip60 that may lead to further improvements in the treatment of breast cancer.

Cancer-Specific Synthetic Lethality between ATR and CHK1 Kinase Activities

Summary ATR and CHK1 maintain cancer cell survival under replication stress and inhibitors of both kinases are currently undergoing clinical trials. As ATR activity is increased after CHK1 inhibition, we hypothesized that this may indicate an increased reliance on ATR for survival. Indeed, we observe that replication stress induced by the CHK1 inhibitor AZD7762 results in replication catastrophe and apoptosis, when combined with the ATR inhibitor VE-821 specifically in cancer cells. Combined treatment with ATR and CHK1 inhibitors leads to replication fork arrest, ssDNA accumulation, replication collapse, and synergistic cell death in cancer cells in vitro and in vivo. Inhibition of CDK reversed replication stress and synthetic lethality, demonstrating that regulation of origin firing by ATR and CHK1 explains the synthetic lethality. In conclusion, this study exemplifies cancer-specific synthetic lethality between two proteins in the same pathway and raises the prospect of combining ATR and CHK1 inhibitors as promising cancer therapy.

The first example of chiral induction using homochiral boronic esters in the Petasis reaction

Abstract The present study demonstrates the first enantioselective version of the Petasis reaction (boronic Mannich reaction), using glyoxylic acid, morpholine and a homochiral boronic ester as the chiral auxiliary. Chiral boronic esters are readily prepared by condensation of vinylboronic acids and chiral 1,2-diols. In the resulting Petasis reaction, 2-morpholin-1-yl-4-phenylbut-3-enoic acids are formed in high yields and moderate enantioselectivity.

Chemical strategies for development of ATR inhibitors

ATR protein kinase is one of the key players in maintaining genome integrity and coordinating of the DNA damage response and repair signalling pathways. Inhibition of ATR prevents signalling from stalled replication forks and enhances the formation of DNA damage, particularly under conditions of replication stress present in cancers. For this reason ATR/CHK1 checkpoint inhibitors can potentiate the effect of DNA cross-linking agents, as evidenced by ATR inhibitors recently entering human clinical trials. This review aims to compile the existing literature on small molecule inhibitors of ATR, both from academia and the pharmaceutical industry, and will provide the reader with a comprehensive summary of this promising oncology target.

A versatile new synthetic route to 1N-hydroxyindazoles.

A new and versatile cyclization reaction affording rare 1N-hydroxyindazoles is presented. Treatment of 2-nitrobenzylamines with methanolic sodium hydroxide furnishes 1N-hydroxyindazoles regioselectively and in high yield. The reaction tolerates a range of functional groups and electronic effects.

A versatile synthesis of diverse 3,4-fused cinnolines via the base-catalysed condensation of 2-amino-2′-nitrobiaryls

Benzo[c]cinnolines, thieno[3,2-c]cinnolines, pyrido[3,2-c]cinnolines and the previously undescribed quinoxalino[6,7-c]cinnoline ring system are conveniently prepared by a short synthetic route comprised of Suzuki coupling, base-catalysed cyclisation and deoxygenation. The use of tandem borylation-Suzuki coupling further extends the scope of this process to include highly substituted benzo[c]cinnolines.

dUTPase inhibition augments replication defects of 5-Fluorouracil

The antimetabolite 5-Fluorouracil (5-FU) is used in the treatment of various forms of cancer and has a complex mode of action. Despite 6 decades in clinical application the contribution of 5-FdUTP and dUTP [(5-F)dUTP] and 5-FUTP misincorporation into DNA and RNA respectively, for 5-FU-induced toxicity is still under debate. This study investigates DNA replication defects induced by 5-FU treatment and how (5-F)dUTP accumulation contributes to this effect. We reveal that 5-FU treatment leads to extensive problems in DNA replication fork progression, causing accumulation of cells in S-phase, DNA damage and ultimately cell death. Interestingly, these effects can be reinforced by either depletion or inhibition of the deoxyuridine triphosphatase (dUTPase, also known as DUT), highlighting the importance of (5-F)dUTP accumulation for cytotoxicity. With this study, we not only extend the current understanding of the mechanism of action of 5-FU, but also contribute to the characterization of dUTPase inhibitors. We demonstrate that pharmacological inhibition of dUTPase is a promising approach that may improve the efficacy of 5-FU treatment in the clinic.

A patient-derived xenograft pre-clinical trial reveals treatment responses and a resistance mechanism to karonudib in metastatic melanoma

Karonudib (TH1579) is a novel compound that exerts anti-tumor activities and has recently entered phase I clinical testing. The aim of this study was to conduct a pre-clinical trial in patient-derived xenografts to identify the possible biomarkers of response or resistance that could guide inclusion of patients suffering from metastatic melanoma in phase II clinical trials. Patient-derived xenografts from 31 melanoma patients with metastatic disease were treated with karonudib or a vehicle for 18 days. Treatment responses were followed by measuring tumor sizes, and the models were categorized in the response groups. Tumors were harvested and processed for RNA sequencing and protein analysis. To investigate the effect of karonudib on T-cell-mediated anti-tumor activities, tumor-infiltrating T cells were injected in mice carrying autologous tumors and the mice treated with karonudib. We show that karonudib has heterogeneous anti-tumor effect on metastatic melanoma. Thus, based on the treatment responses, we could divide the 31 patient-derived xenografts in three treatment groups: progression group (32%), suppression group (42%), and regression group (26%). Furthermore, we show that karonudib has anti-tumor effect, irrespective of major melanoma driver mutations. Also, we identify high expression of ABCB1, which codes for p-gp pumps as a resistance biomarker. Finally, we show that karonudib treatment does not hamper T-cell-mediated anti-tumor responses. These findings can be used to guide future use of karonudib in clinical use with a potential approach as precision medicine.

Abstract 1260: Polymerase kappa determines the sensitivity of MTH1 inhibitors to cisplatin-resistant cell

Kumar sanjiv1, Nuno Armal1, Helge Gad1, Rachel Hurley2, Sean Rudd1, Patric Herr1, José Manuel Calderón-Montaño1, Oliver Mortusewicz1 , Tobias Koolmeister1, Sylvain Jaques1, Estefanía Burgos-Morón1, Andreas Höglund1, Te-Chang Lee3, Martin Scobie1, Scott Kaufmann2, John Weroha2, Ulrika Warpman Berglund1 , Andrea Wahner Hendrickson2 and Thomas Helleday1 1Science for Life Laboratory, Division of Translational Medicine and Chemical Biology, Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics, Karolinska Institutet, S-171 21 Stockholm, Sweden. 2Medical Oncology, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Rochester, MN, USA , 3 Institute of biomedical sciences, Academia Sinica, Taipei-115, Taiwan