Design, Synthesis, and Biological Evaluation of Dimorpholine Substituted Thienopyrimidines as Potential Class I PI3K/mTOR Dual Inhibitors

J Med Chem. 2017 May 11;60(9):4023-4035. doi: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.7b00357. Epub 2017 Apr 24.

Abstract

Dysfunctional signaling of the PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway in cancer and its crucial role in cell growth and survival have made it a much desired target for cancer therapeutics. A series of dimorpholine substituted thienopyrimidine derivatives had been prepared and evaluated in vitro and in vivo. Among them, compound 14o was identified as a dual Class I PI3K and mTOR kinase inhibitor, which had an approximately 8-fold improvement in mTOR inhibition relative to the class I PI3K inhibitor 1 (pictilisib, GDC-0941). Western blot analysis confirmed the 14o mechanistic modulation of the cellular PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway through inhibiting phosphorylation of both AKT and S6 in human cancer cell lines. In addition, 14o demonstrated significant efficacy in SKOV-3 and U87MG tumor xenograft models without causing significant weight loss and toxicity.

MeSH terms

  • Humans
  • Inhibitory Concentration 50
  • Morpholines / chemistry*
  • Phosphoinositide-3 Kinase Inhibitors*
  • Pyrimidines / chemical synthesis
  • Pyrimidines / chemistry*
  • Pyrimidines / pharmacology*
  • TOR Serine-Threonine Kinases / antagonists & inhibitors*

Substances

  • Morpholines
  • Phosphoinositide-3 Kinase Inhibitors
  • Pyrimidines
  • morpholine
  • MTOR protein, human
  • TOR Serine-Threonine Kinases