Discovery of novel and potent CDK8 inhibitors for the treatment of acute myeloid leukaemia

Abstract

It has been reported that CDK8 plays a key role in acute myeloid leukaemia. Here, a total of 40 compounds were rational designed and synthesised based on the previous SAR. Among them, compound 12 (3-(3-(furan-3-yl)-1H-pyrrolo[2,3-b]pyridin-5-yl)benzamide) showed the most potent inhibiting activity against CDK8 with an IC₅₀ value of 39.2 ± 6.3 nM and anti AML cell proliferation activity (molm-13 GC₅₀ = 0.02 ± 0.01 μM, MV4-11 GC₅₀ = 0.03 ± 0.01 μM). Mechanistic studies revealed that this compound 12 could inhibit the phosphorylation of STAT-1 and STAT-5. Importantly, compound 12 showed relative good bioavailability (F = 38.80%) and low toxicity in vivo. This study has great significance for the discovery of more efficient CDK8 inhibitors and the development of drugs for treating AML in the future.

Keywords:

• CDK8 inhibitor
• STAT-1
• STAT-5
• AML

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

These studies were supported by the National Natural Science Funding of China (21977001).