Discovery of Potent Orally Bioavailable WD Repeat Domain 5 (WDR5) Inhibitors Using a Pharmacophore-Based Optimization

J Med Chem. 2022 Apr 28;65(8):6287-6312. doi: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.2c00195. Epub 2022 Apr 18.

Abstract

WD repeat domain 5 (WDR5) is a nuclear scaffolding protein that forms many biologically important multiprotein complexes. The WIN site of WDR5 represents a promising pharmacological target in a variety of human cancers. Here, we describe the optimization of our initial WDR5 WIN-site inhibitor using a structure-guided pharmacophore-based convergent strategy to improve its druglike properties and pharmacokinetic profile. The core of the previous lead remained constant while a focused SAR effort on the three pharmacophore units was combined to generate a new in vivo lead series. Importantly, this new series of compounds has picomolar binding affinity, improved cellular antiproliferative activity and selectivity, and increased kinetic aqueous solubility. They also exhibit a desirable oral pharmacokinetic profile with manageable intravenous clearance and high oral bioavailability. Thus, these new leads are useful probes toward studying the effects of WDR5 inhibition.

MeSH terms

  • Humans
  • Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins*
  • WD40 Repeats

Substances

  • Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins
  • WDR5 protein, human