Chemical Series Research Articles

Development of Selective Phosphatidylinositol 5-Phosphate 4-Kinase γ Inhibitors with a Non-ATP-competitive, Allosteric Binding Mode.

Phosphatidylinositol 5-phosphate 4-kinases (PI5P4Ks) are emerging as attractive therapeutic targets in diseases, such as cancer, immunological disorders, and neurodegeneration, owing to their central role in regulating cell signaling pathways that are either dysfunctional or can be modulated to promote cell survival. Different modes of binding may enhance inhibitor selectivity and reduce off-target effects in cells. Here, we describe efforts to improve the physicochemical properties of the selective PI5P4Kγ inhibitor, NIH-12848 (1). These improvements enabled the demonstration that this chemotype engages PI5P4Kγ in intact cells and that compounds from this series do not inhibit PI5P4Kα or PI5P4Kβ. Furthermore, the first X-ray structure of PI5P4Kγ bound to an inhibitor has been determined with this chemotype, confirming an allosteric binding mode. An exemplar from this chemical series adopted two distinct modes of inhibition, including through binding to a putative lipid interaction site which is 18 Å from the ATP pocket.

Small-Molecule Lead-Finding Trends across the Roche and Genentech Research Organizations.

The origin of small-molecule leads that were pursued across the independent research organizations Roche and Genentech from 2009 to 2020 is described. The identified chemical series are derived from a variety of lead-finding methods, which include public information, high-throughput screening (both full file and focused), fragment-based design, DNA-encoded library technology, use of legacy internal data, in-licensing, and de novo design (often structure-based). The translation of the lead series into in vivo tool compounds and development candidates is discussed as are the associated biological target classes and corresponding therapeutic areas. These analyses identify important trends regarding the various lead-finding approaches, which will likely impact their future application in the Roche and Genentech research groups. They also highlight commonalities and differences across the two independent research organizations. Several caveats associated with the employed data collection and analysis methodologies are included to enhance the interpretation of the presented information.

Influence of water-rock interaction on permeability and heat conductivity of granite under high temperature and pressure conditions

Water-rock interactions exist between the geothermal host rock (GHR) and the cold injected water for Enhanced (or Engineered) Geothermal Systems (EGS), changing permeability and thermal conductivity of GHR, influencing the heat extraction of EGS. Therefore, a water-rock interaction experiment is performed under high temperature and pressure conditions for heat-treated granite. The variation in permeability and thermal conductivity, mineral composition, and solution composition of the rock matrix is consequently analyzed, and their influence on the heat extraction of EGS is discussed. The thermodynamic analysis of the chemical processes of the experiment is presented using batch chemical simulators, PHREEQC 3.0, reproducing the chemical time series of the water-rock reactions. Water-rock reaction changes the composition of the rock and the circulating fluid. For primary minerals, albite, anorthite, and k-feldspar dissolve, biotite tends to be stable, and quartz gradually increases. Secondary minerals, muscovite, calcite, kaolinite, and chlorite, are formed in our simulation results, and their source and generation mechanisms are discussed. However, the kaolinite and chlorite were not detected in the experiment due to their low quantity. Both the dissolution of primary mineral and the formation of secondary mineral change the permeability and the thermal conductivity of the granite. The permeability exhibits a transition from increasing to decreasing while the thermal conductivity shows an opposite variation. Both approach constant values but only at 60% of the initial value. However, from the long-term perspective, the change in permeability and thermal conductivity of the granitic host rock around the fracture will not exert a strong impact on the heat extraction of EGS. The test results in this context could facilitate our understanding of permeability characteristics and the evolution of thermal conductivity of a granitic host rock during the water-rock interaction, and their influence on the heat extraction of EGS during the operation process.

High-Throughput Binder Confirmation Using Affinity Selection Mass Spectrometry.

Affinity selection mass spectrometry (AS-MS) was recently applied to a new high-throughput binder confirmation (HTBC) platform. The HTBC-AS-MS platform can assess target engagement for hundreds of chemical series per target and is used at GSK to prioritize synthesis decisions for follow-up organic synthesis of DNA-encoded library technology (ELT) hits.

Exploring the Effects of Emplacement Conditions on ExplosionP/SRatios across Local to Regional Distances

AbstractHigh-frequency (∼> 2 Hz) seismic P/S amplitude ratios are well-established as a discriminant to distinguish between natural earthquakes and underground explosions at regional distances (∼200–1500 km). As research shifts toward identifying lower-yield events, work has begun to investigate the potential of this discriminant for use at local distances (<200 km), in which initial results raise questions about its effectiveness. Here, we utilize data from several chemical explosion experiment series at the Nevada National Security Site in southern Nevada in the United States to study explosion Pg/Lg ratios across the range of local to regional distances. The experiments are conducted over differing emplacement conditions, with contrasting geologies and a variety of yields and depths of burial, including surface explosions. We first establish the similarities of Pg/Lg ratios from chemical explosions to those from historic nuclear tests and conclude that, as previous data have suggested, chemical explosion ratios are good proxies for nuclear tests. We then examine Pg/Lg ratios from the new experiment series as functions of distance, yield, depth of burial, and scaled depth of burial (SDOB). At far-local and regional distances, we observe consistently higher ratios from hard-rock explosions compared to ones in a weaker dry alluvium medium, consistent with prior regional distance results. No other trends with yield, depth of burial, or SDOB are strongly evident. Scatter in the observed ratios is very high, particularly at the shortest event-to-station distances, suggesting that small-scale path effects play a significant role. On average, the local distance explosion Pg/Lg ratios show remarkable consistency across all the variations in emplacement. Explosion source models will need to reproduce these results.

Preparation and Analysis of New 1,3,5-Trisubstituted-2-Pyrazolines Derivative for Their Analgesic Potential

The goal of the study was to develop, synthesise, and characterise a novel 1,3,5-trisubstituted-2-pyrazolines derivative, as well as to assess its analgesic potential. The reaction of chalcone derivatives with 4-hydrazinylbenzene sulfonamide hydrochloride and phenyl hydrazine hydrochloride yielded 1,3,5-tri-substituted-2-pyrazolines derivatives. The IR, 1HNMR, and mass spectrum analyses were used to characterise a total of sixteen substances. Analgesic activity of the proposed substances has been tested. The analgesic effect of the produced compounds was tested using two methods: the hot plate test technique and acetic acid induced writhing in mice. To compare the effectiveness, pentazocine and acetyl acetic acid were utilised as reference drugs. The hot plate test technique and acetic acid induced writhing in mice were used to assess the analgesic effect of the 16 produced chemical series A1-A8, and B1-B8. The evaluation's outcomes were viewed using Pentazocine and acetyl acetic acid as the standard drugs. In a 90-minute hot plate test, compounds A2 (10.30 s), A4 (9.45 s), A7 (11.65 s), and A8 (11.26 s) showed a delay in paw withdrawal latency time. Compounds B2 (9.10 s) and B7 (10.42 s) prolong the paw withdrawal latency time after 90 minutes in series B1-B8, reduce the pain feeling, and inhibit pain induced by heat methods. Compounds A2, A5, A6, A7, and A8 from Series A1-A8 showed 83.00, 76.01, 80.34, 86.99, 88.15 percent inhibition, substantially (p0.05 and p0.001, respectively), and decreased the number of wriths caused by 0.6 percent acetic acid at a dosage of 10 mg/kg. Acetylsalicylic acid (10 mg/kg) appears to be more successful in lowering the number of wriths, with a 99.0% reduction in the number of wriths (p0.001). B1, B3, and B4 have the least amount of active activity. These all finding suggest that these synthesized compounds have the potential as analgesic agent.

LipE guided discovery of isopropylphenyl pyridazines as pantothenate kinase modulators

Pantothenate kinase (PANK) is the critical regulator of intracellular levels of coenzyme A and has emerged as an attractive target for treating neurological and metabolic disorders. This report describes the optimization, synthesis, and full structure–activity relationships of a new chemical series of pantothenate competitive PANK inhibitors. Potent drug-like molecules were obtained by optimizing a high throughput screening hit, using lipophilic ligand efficiency (LipE) derived from human PANK3 IC50 values to guide ligand development. X-ray crystal structures of PANK3 with index inhibitors from the optimization were determined to rationalize the emerging structure activity relationships. The analysis revealed a key bidentate hydrogen bonding interaction between pyridazine and R306′ as a major contributor to the LipE gain observed in the optimization. A tractable series of PANK3 modulators with nanomolar potency, excellent LipE values, desirable physicochemical properties, and a well-defined structural binding mode was produced from this study.

Fragment-Guided Discovery of Pyrazole Carboxylic Acid Inhibitors of the Kelch-like ECH-Associated Protein 1: Nuclear Factor Erythroid 2 Related Factor 2 (KEAP1:NRF2) Protein-Protein Interaction.

The NRF2-mediated cytoprotective response is central to cellular homoeostasis, and there is increasing interest in developing small-molecule activators of this pathway as therapeutics for diseases involving chronic oxidative stress. The protein KEAP1, which regulates NRF2, is a key point for pharmacological intervention, and we recently described the use of fragment-based drug discovery to develop a tool compound that directly disrupts the protein-protein interaction between NRF2 and KEAP1. We now present the identification of a second, chemically distinct series of KEAP1 inhibitors, which provided an alternative chemotype for lead optimization. Pharmacophoric information from our original fragment screen was used to identify new hit matter through database searching and to evolve this into a new lead with high target affinity and cell-based activity. We highlight how knowledge obtained from fragment-based approaches can be used to focus additional screening campaigns in order to de-risk projects through the rapid identification of novel chemical series.

Structure-Activity Relationship of USP5 Inhibitors.

USP5 is a deubiquitinase that has been implicated in a range of diseases, including cancer, but no USP5-targeting chemical probe has been reported to date. Here, we present the progression of a chemical series that occupies the C-terminal ubiquitin-binding site of a poorly characterized zinc-finger ubiquitin binding domain (ZnF-UBD) of USP5 and competitively inhibits the catalytic activity of the enzyme. Exploration of the structure-activity relationship, complemented with crystallographic characterization of the ZnF-UBD bound to multiple ligands, led to the identification of 64, which binds to the USP5 ZnF-UBD with a KD of 2.8 μM and is selective over nine proteins containing structurally similar ZnF-UBD domains. 64 inhibits the USP5 catalytic cleavage of a di-ubiquitin substrate in an in vitro assay. This study provides a chemical and structural framework for the discovery of a chemical probe to delineate USP5 function in cells.

Contact Map Fingerprints of Protein-Ligand Unbinding Trajectories Reveal Mechanisms Determining Residence Times Computed from Scaled Molecular Dynamics.

The binding kinetic properties of potential drugs may significantly influence their subsequent clinical efficacy. Predictions of these properties based on computer simulations provide a useful alternative to their expensive and time-consuming experimental counterparts, even at an early drug discovery stage. Herein, we perform scaled molecular dynamics (ScaledMD) simulations on a set of 27 ligands of HSP90 belonging to more than seven chemical series to estimate their relative residence times. We introduce two new techniques for the analysis and the classification of the simulated unbinding trajectories. The first technique, which helps in estimating the limits of the free energy well around the bound state, and the second one, based on a new contact map fingerprint, allow the description and the comparison of the paths that lead to unbinding. Using these analyses, we find that ScaledMD's relative residence time generally enables the identification of the slowest unbinders. We propose an explanation for the underestimation of the residence times of a subset of compounds, and we investigate how the biasing in ScaledMD can affect the mechanistic insights that can be gained from the simulations.

Congenericity of Claimed Compounds in Patent Applications.

A method is presented to analyze quantitatively the degree of congenericity of claimed compounds in patent applications. The approach successfully differentiates patents exemplified with highly congeneric compounds of a structurally compact and well defined chemical series from patents containing a more diverse set of compounds around a more vaguely described patent claim. An application to 750 common patents available in SureChEMBL, SureChEMBLccs and ChEMBL is presented and the congenericity of patent compounds in those different sources discussed.

Scaffold Hopping to Imidazo[1,2-a]pyrazin-8-one Positive Allosteric Modulators of Metabotropic Glutamate 2 Receptor.

Glutamate hyperfunction is implicated in multiple neurological and psychiatric diseases. Activation of the mGlu2 receptor results in reduced glutamate release and decreased excitability representing a promising novel therapeutic agent for the treatment of disorders such as epilepsy, schizophrenia, mood, anxiety, and other neuropsychiatric disorders. We have previously reported substantial efforts leading to potent and selective mGlu2 PAMs from different chemical series. Herein, the discovery and optimization of a novel series of imidazopyrazinone mGlu2 PAMs are reported. This new scaffold originated from computational searching of fragment databases and comparison with our previously explored scaffolds. Optimization guided by our robust understanding of SAR from former series led to potent, selective, and brain-penetrant compounds.

Discovery of a Novel Bromodomain and Extra Terminal Domain (BET) Protein Inhibitor, I-BET282E, Suitable for Clinical Progression.

The functions of the bromodomain and extra terminal (BET) family of proteins have been implicated in a wide range of diseases, particularly in the oncology and immuno-inflammatory areas, and several inhibitors are under investigation in the clinic. To mitigate the risk of attrition of these compounds due to structurally related toxicity findings, additional molecules from distinct chemical series were required. Here we describe the structure- and property-based optimization of the in vivo tool molecule I-BET151 toward I-BET282E, a molecule with properties suitable for progression into clinical studies.

Time series analyses for predicting the water quality and river discharge at Al-Kufa river in Iraq

In this study, raw water samples collected from Al-Kufa River station in Al-Kufa city, Iraq were monitored and tested monthly from 2013 to 2017. Chemical and time series analyses were performed on 13 water quality parameters, the river discharge (Q), and water surface elevation (WSE). These water quality parameters were the magnesium (Mg), calcium (Ca), potassium (K), sodium (Na), chloride (Cl-), nitrate (NO3-), phosphate ([PO4]3-), dissolved oxygen (DO), electrical conductivity (EC), pH, water temperature (Temp), total dissolved solids (TDS), and total hardness (TH). Regression was used to examine the relationships between the concentrations of the assayed water quality parameters and river discharge. The theoretical models best-fitted with the assayed parameters were evaluated by two tests, the Kolmogorov⁃Smirnov (K⁃S) test and the chi-squared (χ2) test. The relation between the concentrations of the assayed parameters and river discharge was moderate (r-value is between 0.5-0.95) for the parameters EC, TDS, Ca, Cl, Na, and WSE while weaker correlation resul for the other parameters (r<0.5). Equations with second order provided a superior characterization for most of the parameters for which trends were detected, and the river discharge was the unique parameter showing an upward trend based on the nonparametric Spearman’s criterion. Together, the time series analyses and trend detection would help to forecast the safety of water at Al-Kufa station for human consumption.

Design and Synthesis of Novel Spiro Derivatives as Potent and Reversible Monoacylglycerol Lipase (MAGL) Inhibitors: Bioisosteric Transformation from 3-Oxo-3,4-dihydro-2H-benzo[b][1,4]oxazin-6-yl Moiety.

The therapeutic potential of monoacylglycerol lipase (MAGL) inhibitors in central nervous system-related diseases has attracted attention worldwide. However, the availability of reversible-type inhibitor is still limited to clarify the pharmacological effect. Herein, we report the discovery of novel spiro chemical series as potent and reversible MAGL inhibitors with a different binding mode to MAGL using Arg57 and His121. Starting from hit compound 1 and its co-crystal structure with MAGL, structure-based drug discovery (SBDD) approach enabled us to generate various spiro scaffolds like 2a (azetidine-lactam), 2b (cyclobutane-lactam), and 2d (cyclobutane-carbamate) as novel bioisosteres of 3-oxo-3,4-dihydro-2H-benzo[b][1,4]oxazin-6-yl moiety in 1 with higher lipophilic ligand efficiency (LLE). Optimization of the left hand side afforded 4f as a promising reversible MAGL inhibitor, which showed potent in vitro MAGL inhibitory activity (IC50 6.2 nM), good oral absorption, blood-brain barrier penetration, and significant pharmacodynamic changes (2-arachidonoylglycerol increase and arachidonic acid decrease) at 0.3-10 mg/kg, po. in mice.

Phase Transition and Coefficients of Thermal Expansion in Al2-xInxW3O12 (0.2 ≤ x ≤ 1).

Materials from theA2M3O12 family are known for their extensive chemical versatility while preserving the polyhedral-corner-shared orthorhombic crystal system, as well as for their consequent unusual thermal expansion, varying from negative and near-zero to slightly positive. The rarest are near-zero thermal expansion materials, which are of paramount importance in thermal shock resistance applications. Ceramic materials with chemistry Al2−xInxW3O12 (x = 0.2–1.0) were synthesized using a modified reverse-strike co-precipitation method and prepared into solid specimens using traditional ceramic sintering. The resulting materials were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction (ambient and in situ high temperatures), differential scanning calorimetry and dilatometry to delineate thermal expansion, phase transitions and crystal structures. It was found that the x = 0.2 composition had the lowest thermal expansion, 1.88 × 10−6 K−1, which was still higher than the end member Al2W3O12 for the chemical series. Furthermore, the AlInW3O12 was monoclinic phase at room temperature and transformed to the orthorhombic form at ca. 200 °C, in contrast with previous reports. Interestingly, the x = 0.2, x = 0.4 and x = 0.7 materials did not exhibit the expected orthorhombic-to-monoclinic phase transition as observed for the other compositions, and hence did not follow the expected Vegard-like relationship associated with the electronegativity rule. Overall, compositions within the Al2−xInxW3O12 family should not be considered candidates for high thermal shock applications that would require near-zero thermal expansion properties.

Abstract 2334: Discovery of selective inhibitors of carbamoyl phosphate synthetase I (CPS1) to modulate cancer relevant metabolic pathways

Abstract Carbamoyl Phosphate Synthetase 1 (CPS1) catalyzes the first and rate-limiting step in ammonia detoxification through the urea cycle, generating carbamoyl phosphate from ammonia, bicarbonate and ATP. CPS1 is overexpressed in several cancers, including LKB1-deficient non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC), where its activity has been proposed to support tumor growth by generating carbamoyl phosphate for use in pyrimidine synthesis. In other cancers, CPS1 has been reported to remove toxic ammonia from growing tumors to allow for sustained growth. Currently, no small molecule inhibitors of CPS1 have been identified, limiting researcher's ability to dissect the involvement of CPS1 function in cancer biology. We describe here the discovery of the first known small molecule inhibitors of CPS1. From a high throughput screen, we identify two chemical series, which achieve inhibition of CPS1 by blocking bicarbonate phosphorylation in the first step of carbamoyl phosphate synthesis. Biochemical experiments reveal inhibition of bicarbonate phosphorylation occurs through competition between inhibitor and ATP. High-resolution co-crystal structures demonstrate that these novel inhibitors bind to a previously unidentified allosteric pocket located between the integrating domain and carbamate synthetase domain of CPS1. This allosteric mechanism of action allows for highly selective CPS1 inhibition, with no inhibition of CPS2 observed. Analogs with increased potency were developed, which are able to inhibit CPS1 cellular activity, blocking both urea production and the CPS1-mediated pyrimidine biosynthetic pathway in cultured cells. These novel CPS1 inhibitors are valuable, first-in-class tools for probing CPS1 biology. We will also discuss the opportunity to utilize these novel inhibitors of CPS1, along with genetic approaches, to probe the functional roles of CPS1 in LKB1-deficient NSCLC. Citation Format: Shihua Yao, Tuong-Vi Nguyen, Alan Rolfe, Anant A. Agrawal, Jiyuan Ke, Shouyong Peng, Federico Colombo, Sean Yu, Patricia Bouchard, Jiayi Wu, Kuan-Chun Huang, Xingfeng Bao, Kiyoyuki Omoto, Anand Selvaraj, Lihua Yu, Stephanos Ioannidis, Frédéric H. Vaillancourt, Ping Zhu, Nicholas A. Larsen, David M. Bolduc. Discovery of selective inhibitors of carbamoyl phosphate synthetase I (CPS1) to modulate cancer relevant metabolic pathways [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2021; 2021 Apr 10-15 and May 17-21. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2021;81(13_Suppl):Abstract nr 2334.

Abstract 53: Discovery of novel potent and orally bioavailable small-molecule inhibitors of ENPP1 to stabilize cGAMP and ATP in the tumor microenvironment and boost anti-tumor immunity

Abstract Extracellular 2',3'-cyclic GMP-AMP (cGAMP) has a critical immune-transmitter role in the tumor microenvironment (TME). Tumor cells produce and secrete cGAMP, which primes immune cells for tumor rejection through STING (stimulator of interferon genes) signalling (Marcus et al., Immunity 2018; Carozza et al., Nature Cancer 2020). Ecto-nucleotide pyrophosphatase/phosphodiesterase-1 (ENPP1) is the only enzyme known to hydrolyze extracellular cGAMP. In concert with the ectoATPase CD39 and the 5'-nucleotidase CD73, ENPP1 also contributes to the generation of an immunosuppressive TME by converting extracellular ATP into adenosine. ENPP1 is overexpressed in a number of tumor types, including breast cancer, liver cancer, thyroid cancer and sarcomas, and has been associated with poor outcome. Hence, inhibition of ENPP1 is an emerging strategy to augment anti-tumor immunity by stabilizing extracellular cGAMP and ATP, thereby turning cold tumors into immunologically hot tumors. Here, we report on the identification and characterization of novel chemical series of ENPP1 inhibitors. A drug-like small-molecule library (~160,000 compounds) was screened to identify inhibitors of ENPP1-mediated cGAMP hydrolysis. Hits were confirmed to also inhibit ATP hydrolysis by ENPP1, but not nucleotide hydrolysis mediated by the closely related ENPP2 (autotaxin) enzyme. A selection of hits, chemically distinct from previously reported ENPP1 inhibitors (such as those based on QS1; Carroza et al, Cell Chem Biol, 2020), were subjected to hit-to-lead optimization supported by structure-based guidance. This led to the identification of ENPP1 inhibitors with sub-nM potency on ENPP1 in biochemical assays, which maintained a &amp;gt;1000x selectivity window with respect to ENPP2 and to other phosphodiesterases. These compounds translated well to stabilization of nucleotides in the presence of ENPP1-overexpressing cancer cell lines, with IC50 values in the nM range. A selection of compounds was profiled for DMPK (drug metabolism and pharmacokinetic) parameters, and compounds with a suitable profile were prioritized for in vivo evaluation. Orally bio-available, metabolically stable compounds were assessed in mouse syngeneic tumor models, selected on the basis of high ENPP1 and high cGAS (cGAMP synthase) expression. Stabilization of cGAMP, activation of a STING-mediated cytokine response and immune-cell infiltration/activation in the TME were used as pharmacodynamic endpoints. An update on in vivo efficacy data in a range of ENPP1-positive tumor models will be provided during the presentation. These novel orally bioavailable ENPP1 inhibitors unleash local, TME-restricted, innate immune activation, and hold the promise to overcome the current limitations of direct STING agonists. Citation Format: Matthias Versele, Javier del Pino Garcia, Ilse Vandecaetsbeek, Karolien Castermans, Ranie Kellens, Wanda Haeck, Hugo Klaassen, Arnaud Bourin, Dries De Clercq, Sara Allasia, Sandro Boland, Arnaud Marchand, Patrick Chaltin, Mathieu Bollen. Discovery of novel potent and orally bioavailable small-molecule inhibitors of ENPP1 to stabilize cGAMP and ATP in the tumor microenvironment and boost anti-tumor immunity [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2021; 2021 Apr 10-15 and May 17-21. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2021;81(13_Suppl):Abstract nr 53.

Abstract 2437: Potency and selectivity evaluation of TEAD covalent inhibitors in living cells by two complementary mass spectrometry methods

Abstract The HIPPO pathway plays an important role in cancer progression and among its essential components are the transcription factor proteins from the TEAD family. The TEAD family consists of 4 different members (TEAD1-TEAD4) who modulate gene expression through the interaction with co-activator proteins such as YAP1 and TAZ. Recent studies have shown that the central pocket of TEAD could be an alternative druggable approach for inhibiting YAP1. However, until recently, the irreversible binding mechanism of such a compound in living cells was not clearly established. Here, we report a mass spectrometry-based approach to demonstrate and quantitatively assess the target occupancy of TEADs covalent inhibitors both in vitro cellular and ex vivo tumor models. Applying our method to compounds from different chemical series confirmed that these inhibitors modulate the TEAD central pocket protein in cell cultures and led us to quantify their target occupancy for all TEADs expressed in our cellular models. We extended and strengthened the characterization of our inhibitors by implementing a proteomic LC-MS/MS cysteine profiling strategy - assessing the selectivity of inhibitors across free cysteine residues in the cellular proteome. As a result, we showed a high selectivity of the first inhibitors towards TEADs cysteine binding. To our knowledge, this is the first study proving by direct means and not by indirect biomarker and cell proliferation phenotypes that the central pocket of TEAD is actually available to ligand binding in cells, allowing direct measurement of target engagement for different TEAD proteins and finally demonstrating selectivity of inhibitors. These two-mass spectrometry-based methods developed here are very robust, powerful and can be currently used to help for the development of TEADs inhibitors Citation Format: Armelle Buzy, Pascal Paul, Stephanie Hamon, Olivier Venier, Jean-Claude Guillemot, Vincent Mikol, Jurgen Moll, Laurent Debussche, Iris Valtingojer. Potency and selectivity evaluation of TEAD covalent inhibitors in living cells by two complementary mass spectrometry methods [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2021; 2021 Apr 10-15 and May 17-21. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2021;81(13_Suppl):Abstract nr 2437.

Discovery of M3 Antagonist-PDE4 Inhibitor Dual Pharmacology Molecules for the Treatment of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.

In this paper, we report the discovery of dual M3 antagonist-PDE4 inhibitor (MAPI) compounds for the inhaled treatment of pulmonary diseases. The identification of dual compounds was enabled by the intuition that the fusion of a PDE4 scaffold derived from our CHF-6001 series with a muscarinic scaffold through a common linking ring could generate compounds active versus both the transmembrane M3 receptor and the intracellular PDE4 enzyme. Two chemical series characterized by two different muscarinic scaffolds were investigated. SAR optimization was aimed at obtaining M3 nanomolar affinity coupled with nanomolar PDE4 inhibition, which translated into anti-bronchospastic efficacy ex vivo (inhibition of rat trachea contraction) and into anti-inflammatory efficacy in vitro (inhibition of TNFα release). Among the best compounds, compound 92a achieved the goal of demonstrating in vivo efficacy and duration of action in both the bronchoconstriction and inflammation assays in rat after intratracheal administration.