Article
Author: Wilms, Gerrit ; Banerjee, Sourav ; Miller, Amy Dunne ; Ellis, Nathan ; Gokhale, Vijay ; Montfort, William ; Bedard, Nathan ; Elliott, Richard ; Atmasidha, Aditi ; Prescott, Alan R ; Cabel, Carly ; Ginn, Sean ; Yagel, Mary ; Masson, Glenn R ; Thorne, Curtis ; Rahman, Ruman ; Sharma, Ira ; Hulme, Christopher ; Rokey, Samantha N ; Tandon, Vasudha ; Duncan, Christina ; Chavez, Timothy ; Nogales, Joaquina ; McMahon, Aidan ; Basantes, L Emilia ; Carragher, Neil ; Smith, Stuart J ; Fistrovich, Alessandra ; Shaw, Yeng ; Becker, Walter ; Chalmers, Anthony J ; Read, Kevin D ; Williams, Karin ; Ferro, Febe
AbstractThe vast majority of clinical small molecule multi-kinase inhibitors (mKI) report abject failures in targeting cancers with high stem cell contents like high-grade glioma and colorectal cancers. The FDA-approved mKIs to date ablate receptor tyrosine kinase signaling but do not target the paradoxical WNT signaling which is a key survival driver for the self-renewing cancer stem cells. The WNT pathway enhances cancer plasticity and triggers relapse of highly heterogenous tumours. Usingde novosynthesis and structure-activity-relationship (SAR) studies with blood-brain-barrier (BBB) penetrant mKI scaffolds, we designed a highly potent and selective small molecule inhibitor of PI3Kα, PDGFR/KIT, and the WNT pathway denoted Dyr726. Dyr726 is superior to clinical mKIs and inhibits PI3K-AKT-mTOR and WNT-pathway signaling at multiple nodes thereby impeding proliferation, invasion, and tumour growth. Phospho-proteomic, structural, and target engagement analyses, combined within vitro,in vivoefficacy, and pharmacokinetic studies reveal that Dyr726 is a brain-penetrant small molecule which effectively reduces tumour volume and extends survival of murine orthotopic models. Our current work establishes a first-in-class brain penetrant small molecule mKI which simultaneously antagonize the PI3K-AKT-mTOR and WNT pathways in preclinical cancer stem cell cultures, adult and pediatric primary organoids, and orthotopic murine models with positive efficacy in combination with clinical standard of care.