Fragment flipping during optimization

Last month we highlighted a study that asked how often the binding mode of a fragment changed during optimization. A new paper in J. Med. Chem., by Swen Hoelder and collaborators at Institute of Cancer Research, University of Oxford, and Universitat de Barcelona provides an interesting case study.

The researchers were interested in the kinase ALK2, which is implicated in an aggressive and universally fatal childhood cancer called diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma. They started by screening a library of fragments designed to target kinases, which yielded compound 1. This compound actually contains two moieties that are known kinase hinge binders, a quinazolinone and a pyrazole. Unfortunately the researchers could not obtain a crystal structure of the fragment bound to ALK2, but SAR suggested that the pyrazole was not essential, and indeed replacing this with a quinoline led to compound 7, with sub-micromolar activity.

Next the researchers introduced methyl groups at various positions around the quinazolinone and found that these neither significantly improved nor decreased binding. Modeling based on similar reported molecules led them to grow the molecule towards solvent, ultimately leading to the mid-nanomolar compound 16 (blue in figure below), which they characterized crystallographically bound to ALK2. The molecule bound as expected, with the unsubstituted nitrogen of the quinazolinone forming a hydrogen bond to the hinge region of the kinase.

So far so good, but the researchers were still curious about some of their earlier SAR. In particular, the methyl groups added to some of the molecules should have been incompatible with the observed binding mode of compound 16, suggesting an alternative binding mode for these molecules. This insight proved correct, and in fact adding two methyl groups to compound 7 led to compound 21, which is more potent than compound 7 and binds such that the amide of the quinazolinone core forms hydrogen bonds with the hinge region, as confirmed by crystallography (green in figure).

Compounds 16 and 21 have similar affinities yet different binding modes, so what about selectivity? Testing them in a panel of ~110 kinases revealed both to be quite selective for ALK family kinases, though they had different off-targets. The selectivity of compound 21 is particularly impressive given its small size – it teeters on the edge of being rule of three compliant. A related molecule also showed activity in a cell-based assay.

An interesting unanswered question is the binding mode of the initial fragment. Perhaps it binds in multiple orientations, which could explain why crystallography was unsuccessful. Regardless, this is a nice study that illustrates how close attention to confusing SAR can lead to attractive new series.