Development of Alkyne-Containing Pyrazolopyrimidines To Overcome Drug Resistance of Bcr-Abl Kinase
Despite the success of imatinib at inhibiting Bcr-Abl and treating chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML), resistance to the therapy occurs over time in patients. In particular, the resistance to imatinib caused by the gatekeeper mutation T315I in Bcr-Abl remains a challenge in the clinic. Inspired by the successful development of ponatinib to curb drug resistance, we hypothesize that the incorporation of an alkyne linker in other heterocyclic scaffolds can also achieve potent inhibition of Bcr-AblT315I by allowing for simultaneous occupancy of both the active site and the allosteric pocket in the Abl kinase domain. Herein, we describe the design, synthesis, and characterization of a series of alkyne-containing pyrazolopyrimidines as Bcr-Abl inhibitors. Our results demonstrate that some alkyne-containing pyrazolopyrimidines potently inhibit not only AblT315I in vitro but also Bcr-AblT315I in cells. These pyrazolopyrimidines can serve as lead compounds for future development of novel targeted therapy to overcome drug resistance of CML.
INTRODUCTION<!>RESULTS<!>DISCUSSIONS<!>Chemistry<!>3-Iodo-1-isopropyl-1H-pyrazolo[3,4-d]pyrimidin-4-amine (1)<!>General Procedure for the Cross-Coupling Reaction between 3-Iodo-1-isopropyl-1H-pyrazolo[3,4-d]pyrimidin-4-amine (1) and Alkyne<!>1-Isopropyl-3-(phenylethynyl)-1H-pyrazolo[3,4-d]pyrimidin-4-amine (2)<!>3-((4-Amino-1-isopropyl-1H-pyrazolo[3,4-d]pyrimidin-3-yl)-ethynyl)phenol (3)<!>3-((3-Aminophenyl)ethynyl)-1-isopropyl-1H-pyrazolo[3,4-d]-pyrimidin-4-amine (4)<!>3-((3-Fluorophenyl)ethynyl)-1-isopropyl-1H-pyrazolo[3,4-d]-pyrimidin-4-amine (5)<!>3-((3-Chlorophenyl)ethynyl)-1-isopropyl-1H-pyrazolo[3,4-d]-pyrimidin-4-amine (6)<!>1-Isopropyl-3-(m-tolylethynyl)-1H-pyrazolo[3,4-d]pyrimidin-4-amine (7)<!>1-Isopropyl-3-((3-(trifluoromethyl)phenyl)ethynyl)-1H-pyrazolo-[3,4-d]pyrimidin-4-amine (8)<!>1-Isopropyl-3-((3-methoxyphenyl)ethynyl)-1H-pyrazolo[3,4-d]-pyrimidin-4-amine (9)<!>1-Isopropyl-3-((4-methoxyphenyl)ethynyl)-1H-pyrazolo[3,4-d]-pyrimidin-4-amine (10)<!>1-Isopropyl-3-((2-methoxyphenyl)ethynyl)-1H-pyrazolo[3,4-d]-pyrimidin-4-amine (11)<!>4-((4-Amino-1-isopropyl-1H-pyrazolo[3,4-d]pyrimidin-3-yl)-ethynyl)phenol (12)<!>2-((4-Amino-1-isopropyl-1H-pyrazolo[3,4-d]pyrimidin-3-yl)-ethynyl)phenol (13)<!>(E)-3-(2-(4-Amino-1-isopropyl-1H-pyrazolo[3,4-d]pyrimidin-3-yl)-vinyl)phenol (14)<!>N-(3-((4-Amino-1-isopropyl-1H-pyrazolo[3,4-d]pyrimidin-3-yl)-ethynyl)phenyl)-3-(trifluoromethyl)benzamide (15)<!>3-((4-Amino-1-isopropyl-1H-pyrazolo[3,4-d]pyrimidin-3-yl)-ethynyl)-N-(3-(trifluoromethyl)phenyl)benzamide (16)<!>Protein Expression and Purification<!>In Vitro Kinase Assay<!>Cells and Reagents<!>Western Blot Analysis<!>MTT Cell Proliferation Assay
<p>Chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) is a type of cancer characterized by an uncontrolled growth of myeloid cells, a type of white blood cells.1 Initially discovered in 1840s, CML was probably the first type of leukemia that was clearly documented.2 It was then discovered in 1960 that the majority of CML cells harbored a reciprocal translocation between chromosomes 9 and 22, which produces a short chromosome known as the Philadelphia (Ph) chromosome.3,4 This interchromosomal translocation results in the fusion of two genes, breakpoint cluster region protein (BCR) and Abelson murine leukemia viral oncogene homologue 1 (ABL), normally located in chromosomes 22 and 9, respectively.1,5</p><p>Abl encodes a tyrosine protein kinase that is known to catalyze the transfer of phosphoryl groups to tyrosine residues in substrate proteins.6 Cellular Abl (c-Abl) is typically located in cytoplasm, and its catalytic activity is highly regulated in cells.6 The Bcr-Abl fusion, however, is thought to induce constitutive activation of Abl activity and transform cells. Bcr-Abl has been found to be the driver of 95% chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) cases and is one of the most well-established oncogenes.7 The fact that Bcr-Abl is the sole driver of most CML cases highlights the oncogenic kinase as an ideal drug target. Accordingly, pharmaceutical companies initiated programs to discover inhibitors of Bcr-Abl as CML therapy since 1990s.8–10 Imatinib, a small-molecule inhibitor of Bcr-Abl developed by Novartis, was approved by FDA in 2001 for the treatment of CML.11–13 This drug is the first so-called "targeted therapy" that can treat cancer by targeting a genetic lesion specific to the cancer cells.14 Moreover, crystal structures from the Kuriyan lab revealed that imatinib binds not only to the active site but also to a hydrophobic allosteric pocket that was only exposed upon an outward shift of the conserved DFG motif (Figure 1A).15,16 The discovery of imatinib paved the way for the development of numerous additional type II inhibitors for a variety of protein kinases. Subsequently, some of these type II inhibitors such as sorafenib were also approved for clinical use.17,18 The design of type II inhibitors has been rationalized for maximum benefits in terms of improving selectivity of protein of interest.19,20 Imatinib utilizes a phenyl linker between the adenine pocket binder and the allosteric pocket binder (Figure 1A).15,21 Although the drug initially induces 67% positive therapeutic responses in CML patients, resistance is often observed within 6 months.22,23 It has been established that the drug resistance observed in the clinic is largely due to mutations within the Abl kinase domain.22,23 One particular mutation occurring at the gatekeeper position, T315I, accounts for approximately 20% of the resistance observed in the clinic.24,25 This mutation was found to diminish the binding affinity of imatinib to Abl by over 100-fold because of a direct steric clash between imatinib and I315 (Figure 1B).23,26</p><p>Extensive efforts were invested in the identification of novel inhibitors that can overcome imatinib-resistant mutants of Abl in the pharmaceutical industry. Out of these efforts, ponatinib was successfully developed by Ariad Pharmaceuticals to target T315I Bcr-Abl (Figure 1C).27–29 Ponatinib contains an alkyne linker between the diarylamide side chain and the imidazo[1,2-b]pyridazine core.28,29 As revealed by the crystal structure, the slim alkyne linker is crucial to the success of ponatinib by avoiding steric clash with a bulky isoleucine residue at the gatekeeper position.30 Nevertheless, ponatinib's sale was suspended by FDA 10 months after its approval for "the risk of life-threatening blood clots and severe narrowing of blood vessels".31 Although the suspension was partially lifted in December 2013, ponatinib prescription has to include a black-box warning and a risk-evaluation and mitigation strategy for concerns over risks of its usage. Thus, there is still an urgent need to develop improved therapy with reduced side effects to combat CML.</p><p>We hypothesize that the introduction of an alkyne linker at proper positions on alternative heterocyclic scaffolds can also lead to compounds that inhibit T315I Bcr-Abl by avoiding steric clash with I315 (Figure 1D). We have thus designed, synthesized, and characterized a series of alkyne-containing pyrazolo[3,4-d]pyrimidines for the inhibition of Abl kinases. Our results show that some pyrazolopyrimidines can potently inhibit both the catalytic activity of AblT315I in vitro and the activity of Bcr-AblT315I in Ba/F3 cells. Furthermore, our pyrazolopyrimidines have different kinase inhibition profiles from ponatinib. These pyrazolopyrimidines can serve as lead compounds for the development of improved therapy for overcoming drug resistance of CML.</p><!><p>We chose pyrazolo[3,4-d]pyrimidine as the scaffold because it is an isosteric mimic of adenine, which can bind to the adenine-binding pocket of numerous kinases including Abl with moderate affinity.32,33 The C3 position of pyrazolopyrimidine was chosen to tether alkynyl substituents because of its similar position and substitution angle to the C3 position of ponatinib (Figure 1). Initially, a series of pyrazolopyrimidines (2–13) that contain a phenylacetylenyl group at the 3 position were synthesized. They contain diverse substituents at different positions on the phenyl ring. The synthesis exploited a common starting material, 3-iodo-1-isopropyl-1H-pyrazolo-[3,4-d]pyrimidin-4-amine (1), which was prepared on the basis of previously described procedures.34 The Sonogashira coupling of 1 with various alkynes yielded 2–11 (Scheme 1). Treatment of 10 and 11 with BBr3 allowed for the removal of the methyl group to give corresponding phenol compounds 12 and 13. The Heck coupling of 3-vinylphenol with 1 yielded 14, which contains an alkene linker instead of alkyne (Scheme 1).</p><p>After the synthesis of pyrazolopyrimidines 2–14, their inhibitory activity against AblWT and AblT315I was evaluated using the phosphocellulose paper disk assay in vitro.35 Imatinib and ponatinib were included in the assay as controls. As shown in Table 1, imatinib potently inhibited the enzymatic activity of AblWT (IC50 = 170 nM), whereas its inhibition of AblT315I was rather poor (IC50 = 74 μM). This translates into an over 300-fold increase in the IC50 value of imatinib because of the T315I mutation, which is in agreement with previous reports.23,26 In contrast, ponatinib potently inhibited both AblWT and AblT315I with low nanomolar IC50 values (Table 1). Most of the alkyne-containing pyrazolopyrimidines among 2–13 inhibited AblWT and AblT315I with similar potency. Although alkene-containing analog 14 inhibits AblWT potently, its inhibition of AblT315I is ~5-fold less potent. These results are consistent with our hypothesis that an alkyne linker can avoid steric clash with an isoleucine residue at the gatekeeper position in Abl. Among 2–14, the most effective inhibitor of AblT315I is 3, which contains a meta-hydroxyl group on the phenyl ring. 3 inhibits AblWT and AblT315I with equal potency (IC50 = 8 nM). Nonetheless, its potency is lower than that of ponatinib. Noticing 3 and ponatinib are type I and type II inhibitors, respectively, we reasoned that the higher potency of ponatinib may stem from its additional binding to the allosteric pocket in Abl. We thus attached a 3-trifluoromethylphenyl group, a well-established binder of the allosteric pocket, via an amide linker (in forward or reverse orientation) to the meta position of the phenyl ring (Scheme 1).19 The resulting compounds (15 and 16) inhibited both AblWT and AblT315I potently, with IC50 values less than 2 nM (Table 1). Such potency is comparable to that of ponatinib (Table 1). These results suggest that the conversion of the alkyne-containing pyrazolopyrimidines from type I inhibitors to type II improved potency presumably because of additional binding to the allosteric pocket.</p><p>Having demonstrated potent inhibition of Abl by the alkyne-containing pyrazolopyrimidines in vitro, we subsequently examined their inhibition of Bcr-Abl activity in cells. Ba/F3 cells transformed with Bcr-Abl are routinely used to determine inhibition of Bcr-Abl activity in cells because their growth is dependent on the oncogenic Abl activity in the absence of the cytokine interleukin 3.36 Similar to the in vitro results, at high nanomolar concentrations imatinib inhibits the growth of Bcr-AblWT cells but not that of the T315I mutant. In comparison, ponatinib inhibits both forms with high potency (Table 2). Despite their potency spanning 3 orders of magnitude, our alkyne-containing pyrazolopyrimidines inhibited Bcr-AblWT and Bcr-AblT315I cells with similar potency (Figure 2). These results suggest that the alkyne linker enables potent inhibition of Bcr-AblT315I in cells by alleviating steric clash with the bulky gatekeeper residue. Among these pyrazolopyrimidines, 15 and 16 afforded the most potent growth inhibition of Ba/F3 cells expressing Bcr-Abl, demonstrating the superior potency of these two type II inhibitors in cells (Figure 2). To confirm that the observed antiproliferative effects are due to inhibition of Bcr-Abl rather than other cellular targets, we conducted a counterscreen of the two most potent pyrazolopyrimidines against parental Ba/F3 cells that do not express Bcr-Abl. 15 and 16 do not inhibit the proliferation of parental Ba/F3 cells at concentrations below 1 μM (Table S1). The over 100-fold window between IC50 values against parental Ba/F3 cells and those expressing Bcr-Abl suggests that antiproliferative effects of these two pyrazolopyrimidines are due to on-target inhibition of Bcr-Abl.</p><p>In addition to examining the effects of our pyrazolopyrimidines on viability of Ba/F3 cells expressing Bcr-Abl, we investigated their effects on phospho-signal transduction in cells. Specifically, the four most potent pyrazolopyrimidines (3 and 14–16) were selected along with imatinib and ponatinib and evaluated for their effects on phosphorylation of Bcr-Abl and STAT5 (Figure 3).37–40 Because Bcr-Abl activity has been established to lead to phosphorylation of Abl at Tyr412 and a downstream transcription factor STAT5 at Tyr694, phosphorylation levels at these sites are routinely used as markers of Bcr-Abl activity in cells. Immunoblots with anti-pAbl and anti-pSTAT5 antibodies revealed that 15 and 16 at a concentration of 500 nM abolished phosphorylation of Abl and STAT5 in a manner similar to that of ponatinib in both Bcr-AblWT and Bcr-AblT315I Ba/F3 cells (Figure 3). In contrast, 3 and 14 only partially inhibited the phosphorylation of Abl and STAT5 at 500 nM, reflecting their lower potency at inhibiting Bcr-Abl in cells (Figure 3). There is little effect of the inhibitors on the total protein levels of Abl or STAT5, consistent with the notion that they exert effects through inhibiting phosphorylation rather than changing protein stability. To evaluate the potency of 15 and 16 on Bcr-AblWT and Bcr-AblT315I in cells, we determined their EC50 by Western blot analysis. 15 and 16 potently and effectively suppress the autophosphorylation of Bcr-AblWT (1 and 3 nM, respectively) and Bcr-AblT315I (20 and 25 nM, respectively) in a dose-dependent manner (Figure 4).</p><p>To understand the binding mode of the alkyne-containing pyrazolopyrimidines, we conducted in silico docking. The two most potent Abl inhibitors, 15 and 16, were individually docked into AblT315I using AutoDock Vina. The docking models suggest that 15 and 16 can occupy the allosteric pocket and are thus type II inhibitors (Figure 5). Furthermore, these models indicate no steric clash between the bulky gatekeeper residue I315 and the alkyne linker in the pyrazolopyrimidine, which is in good agreement with the potent inhibition against AblT315I that we observed.</p><p>We determined the kinase inhibition profiles of 15, 16, and ponatinib using the SelectScreen Kinase Profiling Services offered by Life Technologies. A diverse set of 66 kinases was selected to include common oncogenic mutants of Abl and to cover the main kinase subfamilies (Table S2). The profiling data show that ponatinib inhibited more kinases than 15 and 16 when all the drugs were used at the same concentration of 50 nM. Despite the apparent potency difference between 15 and ponatinib, these two inhibitors share many targets in common. For example, 8 out of the 9 kinases potently inhibited (defined as >80% inhibition at 50 nM) by 15 are also potently inhibited by ponatinib. Furthermore, 15 affords moderate inhibition (40–80% inhibition) of many of the additional kinases that are potently inhibited by ponatinib, such as CSF1R and Yes1. Beyond the shared targets, ponatinib and 15 inhibited a few kinases with distinct potency. For example, Blk, MUSK, and TrkA are potently inhibited by ponatinib but are not significantly affected by 15. The two pyrazolopyrimidine isomers (15 and 16) share inhibition profiles that are very similar to each other, although the latter is generally less potent. These results suggest that the direction of the amide linker, the only structural difference between these two pyrazolopyrimidines, alters inhibitor potency but not inhibition profiles.</p><p>We had the pharmacokinetic (PK) parameters of our most potent Bcr-Abl inhibitor 15 determined by the Shanghai Medicilon, Inc. Plasma levels of 15 in male SD rats were monitored after a single intravenous (IV) administration of the drug at the dose of 2 mg/kg (Figure S1). The key PK parameters of 15 are summarized in Table 3. The half-life (t1/2) of 15 was calculated to be about 1.1 h.</p><!><p>In this study, we developed novel pyrazolopyrimidine-based inhibitors to overcome drug resistance caused by the T315I mutation in the Bcr-Abl kinase. An alkyne linker was featured in our inhibitor design to avoid steric clash with the isoleucine gatekeeper residue in Bcr-AblT315I. The comparable potency of these alkyne-containing pyrazolopyrimidines against Bcr-AblWT and Bcr-AblT315I suggests that the slim alkyne linker has fulfilled our design goal. Our best pyrazolopyrimidines are a few folds less potent than ponatinib at inhibiting Bcr-AblT315I in cells, which may be due to their suboptimal solubility and cell membrane permeability. Further chemical elaboration, such as installing the methyl group on the phenyl ring near the alkyne linker and the piperazine group at the end of the hydrophobic moiety, will likely improve the efficacy as well as selectivity at inhibiting Bcr-Abl in cells.</p><p>Our profiling results show that pyrazolopyrimidine 15 shares a number of kinase targets with ponatinib. Beyond these common targets, a few kinases including Blk, MUSK, and TrkA are potently inhibited by ponatinib but are not significantly affected by 15. This suggests that changing the heterocycle that occupies the adenine-binding pocket can alter the kinase inhibition profile. Whether this difference in inhibition profiles can translate into better therapeutic effects remains to be tested. Although the PK parameters of 15 are not excellent, it is likely that these parameters can be improved through further chemical modifications, such as installing groups to block drug metabolism or to enhance solubility.</p><p>Although structurally similar alkyne-containing pyrazolopyrimidines were recently reported, those pyrazolopyrimidines were only characterized for their inhibition of Src, an experimental drug target in triple-negative breast cancer.41 Our data show that these pyrazolopyrimidines inhibit not only Abl and Src but also a number of other kinases. It will be interesting to see if the polypharmacology feature of these alkyne-containing pyrazolopyrimidines can be exploited in disease settings such as CML. In another study, the imidazopyridazine core of ponatinib was replaced with a pyrazolopyridine ring to yield a small molecule GZD824 that potently inhibits Bcr-AblT315I.26 Although the pyrazolopyridine is an isostere of the pyrozolopyrimidine, the position of alkyne substitution differs between our study and theirs. The alkyne substituent was attached to the 5 position of the pyrazolopyridine in GZD824 instead of the 3 position of the pyrazolopyrimidine that we focus on here. In addition, modification beyond swapping the core with the pyrazolopyridine was not attempted at all in the study reporting GZD824.26 Together with these prior studies, our study strongly supports the notion that the use of an alkyne linker can be a general strategy for developing inhibitors of protein kinases containing a bulky gatekeeper residue. Specifically, our study raises the interesting possibility that modifying the additional known scaffolds targeting Bcr-Abl such as recently developed dasatinib, bosutinib, and tozasertib with an alkyne linker can lead to potent inhibitors of Bcr-AblT315I. This study is currently ongoing in our laboratory.</p><!><p>1H NMR spectra were acquired on a 400 MHz Varian spectrometer, and 13C NMR spectra were acquired on a 500 MHz Varian spectrometer. High-resolution mass was determined using Synapt G2-Si ESI/LC-MS. All the target molecules (2 – 16) were found to be >95% pure on the basis of HPLC analysis. (See pages 24–31 of Supporting Information.)</p><!><p>The title compound was synthesized on the basis of a known procedure.34</p><!><p>Solid components including 1 (0.33 mmol), tetrakis(triphenylphosphine)palladium (0.066 mmol), and CuI (0.165 mmol) were first added to a flask (50 mL). This was followed by addition of anhydrous THF (10 mL), the selected alkyne (1.32 mmol), and diisopropylamine (3.3 mmol). The reaction flask was covered with aluminum foil, and the mixture was stirred for 17 h at room temperature. The reaction mixture was concentrated under reduced pressure, and the crude product was purified by flash-column chromatography (hexanes/ethyl acetate).</p><!><p>This compound was synthesized using ethynylbenzene (yield = 73%). 1H NMR (400 MHz, DMSO, δ) 8.25 (s, 1H), 7.75–7.71 (m, 2H), 7.48–7.45 (m, 3H), 5.04 (sep, 1H), 1.47 (d, J = 8 Hz, 6H). 13C NMR (125 MHz, DMSO, δ) 157.60, 156.04, 152.09, 131.66, 129.23, 128.49, 124.85, 121.21, 92.76, 81.05, 48.58, 21.57 ppm. HRMS (ESI) calcd C16H16N5 [M + H]+, 278.1406; found, 278.1407.</p><!><p>This compound was synthesized using 3-ethynylphenol (yield = 68%). 1H NMR (400 MHz, DMSO) δ 9.76 (s, 1H), 8.24 (s, 1H), 7.26 (t, J = 6 Hz, 1H), 7.14 (d, J = 4 Hz, 1H), 7.07 (s, 1H), 6.88 (d, J = 4 Hz, 1H), 5.04 (sep, 1H), 1.47 (d, J = 4 Hz, 6H). 13C NMR (125 MHz, DMSO, δ) 157.56, 157.07, 155.99, 152.01, 129.61, 124.82, 122.41, 121.95, 117.94, 116.71, 100.46, 92.92, 80.41, 48.53, 21.51 ppm. HRMS (ESI) calcd C16H16N5O [M + H]+, 294.1355; found, 294.1355.</p><!><p>This compound was synthesized using 3-ethynylaniline (yield = 66%). 1H NMR (400 MHz, DMSO, δ) 8.24 (s, 1H), 7.09 (t, J = 6 Hz, 1H), 6.83 (s, 1H), 6.825 (d, J = 4 Hz, 1H), 6.655 (d, J = 4 Hz, 1H), 5.30 (s, 2H), 5.03 (sep, 1H), 1.47 (d, J = 4 Hz, 6H). 13C NMR (125 MHz, DMSO, δ) 157.82, 156.20, 152.19, 148.82, 129.22, 125.22, 121.42, 119.16, 116.32, 115.25, 100.68, 94.09, 79.87, 48.73, 21.74 ppm. HRMS (ESI) calcd C16H17N6 [M + H]+, 293.1515; found 293.1511.</p><!><p>This compound was synthesized using 1-ethynyl-3-fluorobenzene (yield = 50%). 1H NMR (400 MHz, DMSO, δ) 8.25 (s, 1H), 7.70–7.30 (m, 4H), 5.04 (sep, 1H), 1.47 (d, J = 6.8 Hz, 6H). 13C NMR (125 MHz, DMSO, δ) 162.55, 160.60, 157.48, 156.04, 152.12, 130.53, 128.04, 124.42, 123.23, 118.22, 116.37, 100.46, 91.25, 81.88, 21.53 ppm. HRMS (ESI) calcd C16H15FN5 [M + H]+, 296.1311; found, 296.1315.</p><!><p>This compound was synthesized using 1-chloro-3-ethynylbenzene (yield = 75%). 1H NMR (400 MHz, DMSO, δ) 8.24 (s, 1H), 7.91 (t, J = 2, 1H), 7.69 (dt, J = 7.6, 1.3 Hz, 1H), 7.56–7.46 (m, 2H), 5.04 (sep, 1H), 1.47 (d, J = 6.8 Hz, 6H). 13C NMR (125 MHz, DMSO, δ) 157.45, 156.00, 152,09, 132.97, 131.10, 130.31, 130.25, 129.17, 124.38, 123.22, 100.44, 91.01, 82.17, 48.58, 21.50 ppm. HRMS (ESI) calcd C16H15ClN5 [M + H]+, 312.1016; found, 312.1012.</p><!><p>This compound was synthesized using 1-ethynyl-3-methylbenzene (yield = 70%). 1H NMR (400 MHz, DMSO, δ) 8.25 (s, 1H), 7.57 (s, 1H), 7.52 (d, J = 7.6 Hz, 1H), 7.35 (t, J = 7.6 Hz, 1H), 7.29 (d, J = 7.6 Hz, 1H), 5.04 (sep, 1H), 2.35 (s, 3H), 1.47 (d, J = 6.8 Hz, 6H). 13C NMR (125 MHz, DMSO, δ) 157.57, 156.01, 152.06, 137.82, 131.98, 129.97, 128.73, 128.38, 124.86, 121.02, 100.45, 92.92, 80.75, 48.54, 21.55, 20.56 ppm. HRMS (ESI) calcd C17H18N5 [M + H]+, 292.1562; found, 292.1560.</p><!><p>This compound was synthesized using 1-ethynyl-3-(trifluoromethyl)benzene (yield = 45%). 1H NMR (400 MHz, DMSO, δ) 8.25 (s, 1H), 8.19 (s, 1H), 8.03 (d, J = 8 Hz, 1H), 7.826 (d, J = 8 Hz, 1H), 7.70 (t, J = 8 Hz, 1H), 5.05 (sep, 1H), 1.47 (d, J = 6.8 Hz, 6H). 13C NMR (125 MHz, DMSO, δ) 157.22, 155.80, 151.91, 135.31, 129.35, 128.07, 128.04, 125.32, 124.10, 122.24, 100.21, 90.66, 82.25, 54.47, 48.38, 21.29 ppm. HRMS (ESI) calcd C17H15F3N5 [M + H]+, 346.1280; found, 346.1271.</p><!><p>This compound was synthesized using 1-ethynyl-3-methoxybenzene (yield = 75%). 1H NMR (400 MHz, DMSO, δ) 8.24 (s, 1H), 7.38–7.26 (m, 3H), 7.05–7.01 (m, 1H), 5.04 (sep, 1H), 3.81 (s, 3H), 1.47 (d, J = 8 Hz, 6H). 13C NMR (125 MHz, DMSO, δ) 160.35, 158.96, 157.44, 153.50, 131.06, 126.18, 125.46, 123.64, 117.88, 117.10, 101.85, 94.07, 82.27, 56.57, 49.98, 22.97 ppm. HRMS (ESI) calcd C17H18N5O [M + H]+, 308.1511; found, 308.1509.</p><!><p>This compound was synthesized using 1-ethynyl-4-methoxybenzene (yield = 54%). 1H NMR (400 MHz, DMSO, δ) 8.34 (s, 1H), 7.53 (d, J = 8.8 Hz, 2H), 6.92 (d, J = 9.2 Hz, 2H), 6.22 (s, 2H), 5.15(sep, 1H), 3.85 (s, 3H), 1.59 (d, 6H). 13C NMR (125 MHz, DMSO, δ) 161.56, 157.87, 155.41, 153.00, 134.38, 127.68, 115.27, 114.30, 109.99, 95.59, 80.40, 56.36, 50.61, 22.95 ppm. HRMS (ESI) calcd C17H18N5O [M + H]+, 308.1511; found, 308.1505.</p><!><p>This compound was synthesized using 1-ethynyl-4-methoxybenzene (yield = 46%). 1H NMR (400 MHz, DMSO, δ) 8.26 (s, 1H), 7.59 (dd, J = 7.6, 1.2 Hz, 1H), 7.47 (td, J = 8.8, 1.6 Hz, 1H), 7.17 (d, J = 8.0 Hz, 1H), 7.05 (td, J = 7.2, 0.8 Hz, 1H), 5.02 (sep, 1H), 3.94 (s, 3H), 1.47 (d, J = 6.8 Hz, 6H). 13C NMR (125 MHz, DMSO, δ) 159.92, 157.66, 156.31, 152.00, 131.86, 131.04, 124.99, 120.75, 111.22, 109.72, 101.18, 90.88, 85.49, 55.62, 48.57, 21.58 ppm. HRMS (ESI) calcd C17H18N5O [M + H]+, 308.1511; found, 308.1509.</p><!><p>To a stirred solution of 10 (40 mg, 0.13 mmol) in 1 mL of dry dichloromethane was added at −78 °C a solution of 1 M BBr3 in dichloromethane (0.39 mL, 0.39 mmol). After 2 h, the mixture was warmed to 25 °C. The reaction was monitored by TLC; after completion, the mixture was quenched with saturated sodium bicarbonate, extracted by EtOAc, and washed with water and brine. The crude product was purified by flash-column chromatography (DCM/MeOH) to give a white solid (26.7 mg, 0.09 mmol, 70%). 1H NMR (400 MHz, DMSO, δ) 10.02 (s, 1H), 8.22 (s, 1H), 7.54 (d, J = 8.8 Hz, 2H), 6.83 (d, J = 8.4 Hz, 2H), 5.02 (sep, 1H), 1.46 (d, J = 6.4 Hz, 6H) 13C NMR (125 MHz, DMSO, δ) 158.63, 157.78, 156.14, 152.16, 133.56, 125.53, 115.67, 111.39, 100.48, 93.76, 79.41, 48.60, 21.73 ppm. HRMS (ESI) calcd C16H16N5O [M + H]+, 294.1355; found, 294.1355.</p><!><p>To a stirred solution of 11 (40 mg, 0.13 mmol) in 1 mL of dry dichloromethane was added at −78 °C a solution of 1 M BBr3 in dichloromethane (0.39 mL, 0.39 mmol). After 2 h, the reaction mixture was warmed to 25 °C. The progress of the reaction was monitored by TLC; after completion, the mixture was quenched with saturated sodium bicarbonate, extracted by EtOAc, and washed with water and brine. The crude product was purified by flash-column chromatography (DCM/MeOH) to give a white solid (23.3 mg, 0.09 mmol, 61%). 1H NMR (400 MHz, DMSO, δ) 10.68 (s, 1H), 8.24 (s, 1H), 7.48 (dd, J = 7.6 Hz, 1H), 7.31–7.26 (m, 1H), 6.99 (d, J = 8 Hz, 1H), 6.88 (t, J = 7.6 Hz, 1H), 5.02 (sep, 1H), 1.46 (d, J = 6.8 Hz, 6H) 13C NMR (125 MHz, DMSO, δ) 159.03, 157.77, 152.05, 131.73, 130.74, 125.31, 119.25, 115.27, 108.42, 101.00, 91.51, 84.91, 48.49, 21.61 ppm. HRMS (ESI) calcd C16H16N5O [M + H]+, 294.1355; found, 294.1356.</p><!><p>A mixture of 3-vinylphenol, 14a (100 mg, 0.83 mmol, Supporting Information), 1 (252.3 mg, 0.83 mmol), triethanolamine (124.2 mg, 0.83 mmol), and Pd(OAc)2 (8.3 mg, 0.037 mmol) was stirred under nitrogen at 100 °C for 24 h. The reaction mixture was cooled to 25 °C, quenched by the addition of diluted aqueous hydrochloric acid (2M, 10 mL), and extracted with ether (3 × 100 mL). The organic phases were dried with sodium sulfate, the solvents evaporated, and the crude product purified by flash-column chromatography (hexane/ethyl acetate) to give a white solid (48.2 mg, 0.16 mmol, 54%). 1H NMR (400 MHz, DMSO, δ) 9.40 (s, 1H), 8.15 (s, 1H), 7.58 (d, J = 16 Hz, 1H), 7.51 (s, 2H), 7.35 (d, J = 16 Hz, 1H), 7.21–7.15 (m, 3H), 6.74–6.71 (m, 1H), 5.01 (sep, 1H), 1.48 (d, J = 6.8 Hz, 6H) 13C NMR (125 MHz, DMSO, δ) 158.09, 157.50, 155.24, 140.23, 137.85, 131.24, 129.37, 118.41, 118.35, 115.16, 113.80, 98.15, 48.16, 21.75 ppm. HRMS (ESI) calcd C16H18N5O [M + H]+, 296.1511; found, 296.1507.</p><!><p>To a solution of 4 (100 mg, 0.34 mmol) in dichloromethane (2 mL) were added triethylamine (5.2 mg, 0.05 mmol) and 3-(trifluoromethyl)benzoyl chloride (70.9 mg, 0.34 mmol). The reaction mixture was stirred at room temperature overnight then extracted with DCM. The organic layer was washed with H2O and dried over sodium sulfate. The solvent was removed under reduced pressure. The residue was purified by flash-column chromatography (hexane/ethyl acetate) to give a yellowish solid (77.9 mg, 0.167 mmol, 49%). 1H NMR (400 MHz, DMSO, δ) 10.61 (s, 1H), 8.25 (s, 1H), 8.32–7.46 (m, 8H), 5.05 (sep, 1H), 1.48 (d, J = 6.8 Hz, 6H). 13C NMR (125 MHz, DMSO, δ) 174.58, 165.14, 158.71, 157.15, 153.20, 139.92, 136.43, 132.83, 130.76, 130.11, 130.02, 128.34, 125.82, 125.17, 124.40, 122.60, 122.50, 109.59, 101.60, 93.67, 82.13, 49.72, 22.66 ppm. HRMS (ESI) calcd C24H20F3N6O [M + H]+, 465.1651; found, 465.1643.</p><!><p>The following solid components were first added to flask: 1 (88 mg, 0.29 mmol), tetrakis(triphenylphosphine)palladium (67 mg, 0.058 mmol), and CuI (27.6 mg, 0.145 mmol); this was followed by addition of anhydrous THF (10 mL), 16b (335.5 mg, 1.16 mmol, Supporting Information), and diisopropylamine (293.45 mg, 2.9 mmol). The reaction flask was covered in foil, and the mixture was stirred for 17 h at room temperature. The reaction mixture was concentrated under reduced pressure. The compound was purified by flash-column chromatography (CH2Cl2/MeOH) to give a light-yellowish solid (60.7 mg, 0.13 mmol, 45%). 1H NMR (400 MHz, DMSO, δ) 10.66 (s, 1H), 8.35 (s, 1H), 7.47–8.24 (m, 8H) 5.04 (sep, 1H), 1.45 (d, 6H). 13C NMR (125 MHz, DMSO, δ) 164.84, 157.60, 156.08, 152.16, 139.64, 134.81, 134.63, 130.73, 129.79, 128.83, 128.52, 124.62, 123.65, 121.58, 120.00, 119.97, 116.27, 116.24, 116.21, 91.91, 81.87, 48.63, 21.59 ppm. HRMS (ESI) calcd C24H20F3N6O [M + H]+, 465.1651; found, 465.1644.</p><!><p>The kinase domain of human c-Abl (residues 227–515) in modified pET-N6 vector (Plexxikon) was expressed.42 Briefly, Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3) cotransformed with Abl (pET-N6) were grown at 37 °C,30 induced with IPTG (0.5 mM) between OD600 of 0.6–0.8 units, and then grown at 18 °C overnight. The cells were harvested by centrifugation at 4300 rpm, resuspended in lysis buffer (50 mM Tris, 500 mM NaCl, 25 mM imidazole, 5% glycerol, pH 7.5), and lysed by sonication (Q500 Sonicator, Qsonica). After the cell lysate was centrifuged at 10 200 × g for 1 h at 4 °C, the supernatant was incubated with Ni-NTA beads. Then, the resins were washed with wash buffer four times before proceeding to elute the protein with elution buffer. The wash buffer contains 20 mM Tris, 500 mM NaCl, and 25 mM imidazole at pH 7.5, whereas the elution buffer is identical excep for a higher concentration (300 mM) of imidazole. The elution fraction was collected and analyzed by SDS-PAGE gel for purity determination.</p><p>Chicken c-Src (residues 251–533) was prepared as previously described.43,44 In brief, the protein was coexpressed with full-length YopH phosphatase in E. coli BL21 (DE3) cells. The protein was initially purified by Ni-NTA beads. The 6×His tag was then removed by TEV cleavage. Protein purification was followed with anion-exchange and size-exclusion chromatography. Protein in 50 mM Tris (pH 8.0), 100 mM NaCl, 5% glycerol, and 1 mM DTT was concentrated to 10 mg/mL and flash frozen for storage at −80 °C.</p><!><p>The kinase activity was measured by quantifying the amount of 32P transfer from [γ−32P]-ATP to the peptide substrate. The assay was carried out in 50 mM Tris (pH 8.0), 10 mM MgCl2, 5.3 nM [γ−32P]-ATP (PerkinElmer), 1 mg/mL BSA, and 0.1 mM peptide substrate (EAIYAAPFAKKK, Genscript) along with different concentrations of inhibitors (2–16) at 25 °C in a 30 μL reaction. The kinase reaction was initiated by the addition of [γ−32P]-ATP and was allowed to proceed for 30 min. The reaction was transferred onto phosphocellulose filter disc paper (Whatman P81/GE Healthcare), quenched with 10% aqueous acetic acid, washed with 0.5% aqueous phosphoric acid (3 times), and rinsed with acetone. To the dried phosphocellulose filter was added scintillation fluid (BetaMax-ES, MP Biomedicals), and the samples were counted on a scintillation counter (Beckman LC6500). The data was analyzed with GraphPad Prism5 to calculate the IC50.</p><!><p>Ba/F3 cells expressing Bcr-AblWT and Bcr-AblT315I were obtained from Dr. Shah's laboratory (UCSF, San Francisco, CA, USA). The cells were maintained in RPMI 1640 (Corning) supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum (v/v, HyClone, ThermoScientific) and 1× penicillin, strepatmycin, and glutamine (GE Healthcare) at 37 °C and 5.0% CO2. Imatinib and ponatinib were purchased from Selleckchem. Dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) was purchased from Sigma-Aldrich (St. Louis, MO, USA). The following antibodies were purchased from Cell Signaling (Boston, MA, USA): anti-Abl, anti-phospho-Abl (Y412), anti-phospho-STAT5 (Tyr694), and anti-STAT5. Anti-actin antibody was purchased from Sigma-Aldrich (St. Louis, MO, USA). Anti-mouse secondary antibody was purchased from Jackson ImmunoResearch Laboratories (West Grove, PA, USA), whereas anti-rabbit secondary antibody was obtained from Abcam (Cambridge).</p><!><p>Ba/F3 cells expressing Bcr-Abl were treated with vehicle (DMSO) or drug at desired concentration for 3 h. The cells were lysed, collected, and normalized using BCA protein assay kit (Bio-Rad) before being diluted in 1× SDS loading buffer (Bio-Rad). The samples were resolved by 4–20% SDS-PAGE (Bio-Rad) and then transferred onto nitrocellulose membrane (Bio-Rad). Standard immunoblotting protocols were used. Briefly, all Western blots were blocked with 5% nonfat milk in TBST (10 mM Tris, 150 mM NaCl, 0.1% Tween-20, pH 8.0) for 1 h at room temperature. The primary antibodies were diluted to an appropriate concentration and incubated overnight at 4 °C. Subsequently, the blots were then probed with horseradish peroxidase (HRP)-conjugated secondary antibodies (1:10 000) for 1 h at room temperature and then developed using enhanced chemiluminescence (ECL, Bio-Rad) and visualized by ChemiDoc XRS+ molecular imager (Bio-Rad).</p><!><p>Ba/F3 cells were plated into 96-well plates (2 × 104 cells/well) and incubated with imatinib, ponatinib, or a pyrazolopyrimidine at the indicated concentrations for 48 h. Subsequently, cell viability was measured by adding MTT (Calbiochem) to all wells and incubating for 1 h. Upon completion, the reaction was quenched with formazan-solubilization reagent (50% DMF (v/v), 20% SDS w/v in H2O), and the absorbance was measured at 540 nm using SpectraFluoro Plus plate reader (Tecan) to determine the cell viability. Each assay was carried out in triplicate, and the IC50 values were calculated using Graphpad Prism with a nonlinear regression method.</p>