Discovery of thienopyrimidine-based FLT3 inhibitors from the structural modification of known IKKβ inhibitors

Inactivation of the NF-kappa B signaling pathway by inhibition of IKK beta is a well-known approach to treat inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and cancer. Thienopyrimidine-based analogues were designed through modification of the known IKKb inhibitor, SPC-839, and then biologically evaluated. The resulting analogues had good inhibitory activity against both nitric oxide and TNF-alpha, which are well-known inflammatory responses generated by activated NF-kappa B. However, no inhibitory activity against IKK beta was observed with these compounds. The thienopyrimidine-based analogues were subsequently screened for a target kinase, and FLT3, which is a potential target for acute myeloid leukemia (AML), was identified. Thienopyrimidine-based FLT3 inhibitors showed good inhibition profiles against FLT3 under 1 mu M. Overall, these compounds represent a promising family of inhibitors for future development of a treatment for AML. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.