Discovery and Preclinical Evaluations of Potent, Selective, and Allosteric Covalent WRN Inhibitors with Improved PK
Zhaobing Xu1,2, Qi Xiao1,2, Yong Liu1,2
1Hubei Bio-Pharmaceutical Industrial Technological Institute Inc., No. 666 High Tech Avenue, East Lake High Tech Development Zone, Wuhan, Hubei 430075, China.
Abstract:
Werner syndrome helicase (WRN) has received significant interest due to its implication as a synthetic lethal target in microsatellite instability-high (MSI-H) cancers. Here we report the discovery of a novel allosteric covalent WRN inhibitor, compound 22, via structure-based medicinal design and pharmacokinetic optimization from VVD-214. Compound 22 occupied a new cavity and formed an additional hydrogen bond with K894, thereby improving its activities. Compound 22 exhibited high antiproliferation inhibitory activity against HCT116, an MSI-H colorectal cancer cell line. It also demonstrated favorable preclinical pharmacokinetic properties with superior plasma stability and exposure compared with VVD-214. Furthermore, compound 22 showed statistically significant antitumor activity in the HCT116 xenograft mouse model with clear dose dependence.
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