Staurosporine-derived inhibitors broaden the scope of analog-sensitive kinase technology

J Am Chem Soc. 2013 Dec 4;135(48):18153-9. doi: 10.1021/ja408704u. Epub 2013 Nov 20.

Abstract

Analog-sensitive (AS) kinase technology is a powerful approach for studying phospho-signaling pathways in diverse organisms and physiological processes. The key feature of this technique is that a kinase-of-interest can be mutated to sensitize it to inhibitor analogs that do not target wild-type (WT) kinases. In theory, this enables specific inhibition of any kinase in cells and in mouse models of human disease. Typically, these inhibitors are identified from a small library of molecules based on the pyrazolopyrimidine (PP) scaffold. However, we recently identified a subset of native human kinases, including the Ephrin A kinase family, that are sensitive to commonly used PP inhibitors. In an effort to develop a bioorthogonal AS-kinase inhibitor and to extend this technique to PP-sensitive kinases, we sought an alternative inhibitor scaffold. Here we report the structure-based design of synthetically tractable, potent, and extremely selective AS-kinase inhibitors based on the natural product staurosporine. We demonstrate that these molecules, termed staralogs, potently target AS kinases in cells, and we employ X-ray crystallography to elucidate their mechanism of efficacy. Finally, we demonstrate that staralogs target AS mutants of PP-sensitive kinases at concentrations where there is little to no inhibition of native human kinases. Thus, staralogs represent a new class of AS-kinase inhibitors and a core component of the chemical genetic tool kit for probing kinase-signaling pathways.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Binding Sites
  • Carbazoles / chemistry
  • Carbazoles / pharmacology
  • Humans
  • Mice
  • Models, Molecular
  • Mutation
  • Protein Kinase Inhibitors / chemistry*
  • Protein Kinase Inhibitors / pharmacology*
  • Protein Kinases / genetics
  • Protein Kinases / metabolism*
  • Staurosporine / analogs & derivatives*
  • Staurosporine / pharmacology*
  • Structure-Activity Relationship

Substances

  • Carbazoles
  • Protein Kinase Inhibitors
  • Protein Kinases
  • Staurosporine