Synthesis, biological evaluation and molecular modeling study of 2-amino-3,5-disubstituted-pyrazines as Aurora kinases inhibitors

Bioorg Med Chem. 2020 Mar 1;28(5):115351. doi: 10.1016/j.bmc.2020.115351. Epub 2020 Jan 31.

Abstract

Serine/threonine protein kinases Aurora A, B, and C play essential roles in cell mitosis and cytokinesis, and a number of Aurora kinase inhibitors have been evaluated in the clinic. Herein we report the synthesis and their antiproliferation of 3,5-disubstituted-2-aminopyrazines as kinases inhibitors. Amongst, 4-((3-amino-6- (3,5-dimethylisoxazol-4-yl)pyrazin-2-yl)oxy)-N-(3-chlorophenyl) benzamide (12Aj) exhibited the strongest antiproliferative activities against U38, HeLa, HepG2 and LoVo cells with IC50 values were 11.5 ± 3.2, 1.34 ± 0.23, 7.30 ± 1.56 and 1.64 ± 0.48 μM, as well as inhibited Aurora A and B with the IC50 values were 90 and 152 nM, respectively. Molecular docking studies indicated that 12Aj appeared to form stable hydrogen bonds with either Aurora A or Aurora B. Furthermore, 12Aj arrested HeLa cell cycle in G2/M phase by regulating protein levels of cyclinB1 and cdc2. In addition, the bioinformatics prediction further revealed that 12Aj possessed good drug likeness using SwissADME. These results suggested that 12Aj was worthy of future development of potent anticancer agents as pan-Aurora kinases.

Keywords: Anti-tumor; Aurora kinase; Cell cycle; Pyrazines.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Antineoplastic Agents / chemical synthesis
  • Antineoplastic Agents / chemistry
  • Antineoplastic Agents / pharmacology*
  • Aurora Kinase A / antagonists & inhibitors*
  • Aurora Kinase A / metabolism
  • Aurora Kinase B / antagonists & inhibitors*
  • Aurora Kinase B / metabolism
  • Cell Cycle Checkpoints / drug effects
  • Cell Line, Tumor
  • Cell Proliferation / drug effects
  • Dose-Response Relationship, Drug
  • Drug Screening Assays, Antitumor
  • Humans
  • Molecular Docking Simulation
  • Molecular Structure
  • Protein Kinase Inhibitors / chemical synthesis
  • Protein Kinase Inhibitors / chemistry
  • Protein Kinase Inhibitors / pharmacology*
  • Pyrazines / chemical synthesis
  • Pyrazines / chemistry
  • Pyrazines / pharmacology*
  • Structure-Activity Relationship

Substances

  • Antineoplastic Agents
  • Protein Kinase Inhibitors
  • Pyrazines
  • AURKA protein, human
  • AURKB protein, human
  • Aurora Kinase A
  • Aurora Kinase B