Wikipedia

Janus kinase 3 inhibitor

Janus kinase 3 inhibitors, also called JAK3 inhibitors, are a new class of immunomodulatory agents that inhibit Janus kinase 3. They are used for the treatment of autoimmune diseases. The Janus kinases are a family of four nonreceptor tyrosine-protein kinases, JAK1, JAK2, JAK3, and TYK2. They signal via the JAK/STAT pathway, which is important in regulating the immune system.[1] Expression of JAK3 is largely restricted to lymphocytes (predominant expression is in the hematopoietic system), while the others are ubiquitously expressed, so selective targeting of JAK3 over the other JAK isozymes is attractive as a possible treatment of autoimmune diseases.[2][3]

Activation of JAK3 by cytokine receptors that contain the common gamma chain (γc)

Mechanism of action

edit

Janus kinase 3 inhibitors work by inhibiting the action of the enzyme Janus kinase 3, thereby interfering with the JAK-STAT signaling pathway. JAK3 is required for signaling by cytokines through the common γ chain of the interleukin receptors for IL-2, IL-4, IL-7, IL-9, IL-15, and IL-21.[4] However, JAK1 is also required as the two kinases cooperate for signaling.[5] This signaling process leads to phosphorylation and dimerization of the adaptor proteins STAT. When activated, they translocate into the nucleus, where they modulate gene transcription.[6] By selectively inhibiting JAK3, downward signaling can be blocked.

JAK3 is crucial in transmitting signals from cytokines that are responsible for either T-cell proliferation, differentiation, or development. It is also of high importance in the development of B-cells and NK-cells.[7] Inhibition of JAK3, then, could prove to be a powerful immunosuppressant. Since JAK3 is restricted to the immune system, while the other JAKs such as JAK1 are much more broadly expressed, selective targeting of JAK3 could decrease possible adverse effects and improve tolerability.[2][1]

As an immunosuppressant, JAK3 inhibitors could aid in autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, or other diseases where the immune system fails to distinguish self from nonself and starts attacking self cells.[8][9]

Discovery and development

edit

Discovery

edit

One of the first JAKs targeted in drug development for medical use was JAK3. Immune system depression is observed in patients with JAK3 defects. The role of JAK3 is greatly restricted to the immune system, so this enzyme was thought to be a good target for selective immunosuppressant.[10][3] Whether JAK3 alone is sufficient to suppress cytokine signaling is uncertain, as it can also be caused by stimulation of JAK1. Whether inhibiting JAK3 is as efficient as pan-JAK inhibition is under study.[5][11] Many compounds with high affinity and possible selectivity for JAK3 have been discovered with high-throughput screening.[4]

Development

edit

Currently, much attention is focused on developing Janus kinase inhibitors as drugs for immune diseases including inflammatory bowel diseases, rheumatoid arthritis, alopecia areata, and psoriases.[12]

The first JAK inhibitor approved for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis was tofacitinib. It has also shown promising results in other autoimmune disorders.[13][1] Initially, tofacitinib was thought to be a selective JAK3 inhibitor, but later was found to be a potent inhibitor of JAK1 and JAK2.[2] The value of developing a selective JAK3 targeting over the other JAKs is that JAK3 expression is restricted to the immune system, while the other JAKs are much more broadly expressed.[1] Since JAK3 is not as ubiquitously expressed, selective targeting could improve tolerability, and decrease possible adverse effects and safety concerns.[2] For example, dual inhibition of JAK1 and JAK3 might increase bacterial and viral infection because of a broader immunosuppressive effect. Inhibition of JAK2 has been linked to adverse effects such as anaemia and generalised leukopenia.[10]

 
Common structure groups of ATP and inhibitors that target the ATP binding site on JAK3.

Developing sufficiently selective JAK3 inhibitors has been difficult. One of the reason is the small variation in the ATP binding site of different JAKs. Another problem is that JAK3 has a higher affinity for ATP than the other JAKs, which can be a reason for a poor translation from in vitro enzymatic assay studies to cellular system studies.[3] An example of this is decernotinib, which showed 41-fold selectivity for JAK3 vs JAK1 in in vitro enzyme assays, while the selectivity for JAK3 was not maintained in cellular assays, where it showed a slight preference for JAK1.[11][14]

Structure activity relationship

edit

JAK3 inhibitors target the catalytic ATP-binding site of JAK3 and various moieties have been used to get a stronger affinity and selectivity to the ATP-binding pockets. The base that is often seen in compounds with selectivity for JAK3 is pyrrolopyrimidine, as it binds to the same region of the JAKs as purine of the ATP binds.[15][1] Another ring system that has been used in JAK3 inhibitor derivatives is 1H-pyrrolo[2,3-b]pyridine, as it mimics the pyrrolopyrimidine scaffold.[16]

Sequence alignment has shown that the ATP binding pockets of the JAKs are almost identical and only a few features distinguish JAK3 from the rest. One of these differences is the presence of cysteine residue (Cys909) in the front region of the ATP binding pocket, where the other JAKs have serine at that same position.[1][17] Only 10 other kinases possess a cysteine at that location, making cysteine even more intriguing as a target for a better selectivity.[18] The focus has been on structures that can react with cysteine and have the electrophilic warhead acrylamide have been of interest, as they should ideally react only with proximal cysteine.[19][11] Covalent cysteine targeting can be tricky, as off-target reaction can lead to adverse reactions, but as the JAKs resynthesize rapidly, covalent inhibition could be necessary to extend the pharmacodynamics.[20][3]

To compare inhibitors, the parameter of choice is IC50; by measuring IC50 for different JAKs, determining selectivity is possible. In the kinase family, JAK3 has the highest affinity for ATP, so measuring IC50 in high concentrations of ATP show whether the inhibitor can compete with ATP for the binding site.[3]

Medical use

edit

Several therapeutic options exist for the treatment of autoimmune diseases, but the search is still going on for safer, more effective, and more convenient treatments. Inhibition of JAK3 has in research shown to be a good target for immunosuppression.[2]

The only indication for a JAK3 inhibitor at the moment, rheumatoid arthritis, is for the nonselective JAK1/JAK3 inhibitor tofacitinib.[18] Other indications, such as psoriasis, alopecia areata, and ulcerative colitis are in clinical trials. Cytokines have an important role in autoimmune diseases and as the common γ chain cytokines interleukin IL-2, IL-4, IL-7, IL-9, IL-15, and IL-21 signal via JAK3, the inhibition of JAK3 and blocking of the signaling of these cytokines could affect many immune diseases and lead to development of new effective immunosuppressive drugs.[2]

List of JAK3 inhibitors

edit

Nonselective JAK3 inhibitor

edit
  • Tofacitinib (CP-690, 550)
    • An inhibitor of JAK1/JAK3, it was in 2012 granted approval from the FDA to treat rheumatoid arthritis.[21]

JAK3 inhibitors in clinical trials

edit
  • Decernotinib (VX-509)
    • A JAK3 inhibitor, it has shown efficacy in a phase IIa study in rheumatoid arthritis.[2]
  • Ritlecitinib
    • An irreversible covalent JAK3 selective inhibitor, it is in phase II in pipelines at Pfizer for alopecia areata, rheumatoid arthritis, and ulcerative colitis.[22]

References

edit
  1. ^ a b c d e f Tan, Li; Akahane, Koshi; McNally, Randall; Reyskens, Kathleen M. S. E.; Ficarro, Scott B.; Liu, Suhu; Herter-Sprie, Grit S.; Koyama, Shohei; Pattison, Michael J. (2015-08-27). "Development of Selective Covalent Janus Kinase 3 Inhibitors". Journal of Medicinal Chemistry. 58 (16): 6589–6606. doi:10.1021/acs.jmedchem.5b00710. ISSN 0022-2623. PMC 4777322. PMID 26258521.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Farmer, Luc J.; Ledeboer, Mark W.; Hoock, Thomas; Arnost, Michael J.; Bethiel, Randy S.; Bennani, Youssef L.; Black, James J.; Brummel, Christopher L.; Chakilam, Ananthsrinivas (2015-09-24). "Discovery of VX-509 (Decernotinib): A Potent and Selective Janus Kinase 3 Inhibitor for the Treatment of Autoimmune Diseases". Journal of Medicinal Chemistry. 58 (18): 7195–7216. doi:10.1021/acs.jmedchem.5b00301. ISSN 0022-2623. PMID 26230873.
  3. ^ a b c d e Thorarensen, Atli; Dowty, Martin E.; Banker, Mary Ellen; Juba, Brian; Jussif, Jason; Lin, Tsung; Vincent, Fabien; Czerwinski, Robert M.; Casimiro-Garcia, Agustin (2017-03-09). "Design of a Janus Kinase 3 (JAK3) Specific Inhibitor 1-((2S,5R)-5-((7H-Pyrrolo[2,3-d]pyrimidin-4-yl)amino)-2-methylpiperidin-1-yl)prop-2-en-1-one (PF-06651600) Allowing for the Interrogation of JAK3 Signaling in Humans". Journal of Medicinal Chemistry. 60 (5): 1971–1993. doi:10.1021/acs.jmedchem.6b01694. ISSN 0022-2623. PMID 28139931.
  4. ^ a b Chen, Xin; Wilson, Lawrence J.; Malaviya, Ravi; Argentieri, Rochelle L.; Yang, Shyh-Ming (2008-11-13). "Virtual Screening to Successfully Identify Novel Janus Kinase 3 Inhibitors: A Sequential Focused Screening Approach". Journal of Medicinal Chemistry. 51 (21): 7015–7019. doi:10.1021/jm800662z. ISSN 0022-2623. PMID 18844338.
  5. ^ a b Thoma, Gebhard; Nuninger, Francois; Falchetto, Rocco; Hermes, Erwin; Tavares, Gisele A.; Vangrevelinghe, Eric; Zerwes, Hans-Günter (2011-01-13). "Identification of a potent Janus kinase 3 inhibitor with high selectivity within the Janus kinase family". Journal of Medicinal Chemistry. 54 (1): 284–288. doi:10.1021/jm101157q. ISSN 1520-4804. PMID 21155605.
  6. ^ Imada, Kazuroni; Leonard, Warren J (2000-01-01). "The Jak-STAT pathway". Molecular Immunology. 37 (1): 1–11. doi:10.1016/S0161-5890(00)00018-3. PMID 10781830.
  7. ^ Ghoreschi, Kamran; Laurence, Arian; O’Shea, John J. (March 2009). "Janus kinases in immune cell signaling". Immunological Reviews. 228 (1): 273–287. doi:10.1111/j.1600-065X.2008.00754.x. ISSN 0105-2896. PMC 2782696. PMID 19290934.
  8. ^ O’Shea, John J.; Kontzias, Apostolos; Yamaoka, Kunihiro; Tanaka, Yoshiya; Laurence, Arian (April 2013). "Janus kinase Inhibitors in autoimmune diseases". Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases. 72: ii111–ii115. doi:10.1136/annrheumdis-2012-202576. ISSN 0003-4967. PMC 3616338. PMID 23532440.
  9. ^ Wang, Lifeng; Wang, Fu-Sheng; Gershwin, M. Eric (2015-10-01). "Human autoimmune diseases: a comprehensive update". Journal of Internal Medicine. 278 (4): 369–395. doi:10.1111/joim.12395. ISSN 1365-2796. PMID 26212387.
  10. ^ a b "Advances in the Discovery of Small Molecule JAK3 Inhibitors". ResearchGate. Retrieved 2017-09-27.
  11. ^ a b c Forster, Michael; Gehringer, Matthias; Laufer, Stefan A. (2017-09-15). "Recent advances in JAK3 inhibition: Isoform selectivity by covalent cysteine targeting". Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry Letters. 27 (18): 4229–4237. doi:10.1016/j.bmcl.2017.07.079. PMID 28844493.
  12. ^ De Vries, L. C. S.; Wildenberg, M. E.; De Jonge, W. J.; D'Haens, G. R. (2017-07-01). "The Future of Janus Kinase Inhibitors in Inflammatory Bowel Disease". Journal of Crohn's & Colitis. 11 (7): 885–893. doi:10.1093/ecco-jcc/jjx003. ISSN 1876-4479. PMC 5881740. PMID 28158411.
  13. ^ Baker, Kenneth F.; Isaacs, John D. (2017-08-01). "Novel therapies for immune-mediated inflammatory diseases: What can we learn from their use in rheumatoid arthritis, spondyloarthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, psoriasis, Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis?". Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases. 77 (2): annrheumdis–2017–211555. doi:10.1136/annrheumdis-2017-211555. ISSN 0003-4967. PMID 28765121.
  14. ^ Elwood, Fiona; Witter, David J.; Piesvaux, Jennifer; Kraybill, Brian; Bays, Nathan; Alpert, Carla; Goldenblatt, Peter; Qu, Yujie; Ivanovska, Irena (2017-05-01). "Evaluation of JAK3 Biology in Autoimmune Disease Using a Highly Selective, Irreversible JAK3 Inhibitor". Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics. 361 (2): 229–244. doi:10.1124/jpet.116.239723. ISSN 0022-3565. PMID 28193636.
  15. ^ Clark, James D.; Flanagan, Mark E.; Telliez, Jean-Baptiste (2014-06-26). "Discovery and Development of Janus Kinase (JAK) Inhibitors for Inflammatory Diseases". Journal of Medicinal Chemistry. 57 (12): 5023–5038. doi:10.1021/jm401490p. ISSN 0022-2623. PMID 24417533.
  16. ^ "Synthesis and Evaluation of 1 H -Pyrrolo[2,3- b ]pyridine Derivatives as Novel Immunomodulators Targeting Janus Kinase 3 (PDF Download Available)". ResearchGate. Retrieved 2017-09-26.
  17. ^ Chrencik, Jill E.; Patny, Akshay; Leung, Iris K.; Korniski, Brian; Emmons, Thomas L.; Hall, Troii; Weinberg, Robin A.; Gormley, Jennifer A.; Williams, Jennifer M. (2010-07-16). "Structural and Thermodynamic Characterization of the TYK2 and JAK3 Kinase Domains in Complex with CP-690550 and CMP-6". Journal of Molecular Biology. 400 (3): 413–433. doi:10.1016/j.jmb.2010.05.020. PMID 20478313.
  18. ^ a b Goedken, Eric R.; Argiriadi, Maria A.; Banach, David L.; Fiamengo, Bryan A.; Foley, Sage E.; Frank, Kristine E.; George, Jonathan S.; Harris, Christopher M.; Hobson, Adrian D. (2015-02-20). "Tricyclic covalent inhibitors selectively target Jak3 through an active site thiol". The Journal of Biological Chemistry. 290 (8): 4573–4589. doi:10.1074/jbc.M114.595181. ISSN 1083-351X. PMC 4335200. PMID 25552479.
  19. ^ Liu, Qingsong; Sabnis, Yogesh; Zhao, Zheng; Zhang, Tinghu; Buhrlage, Sara J.; Jones, Lyn H.; Gray, Nathanael S. (2013-02-21). "Developing irreversible inhibitors of the protein kinase cysteinome". Chemistry & Biology. 20 (2): 146–159. doi:10.1016/j.chembiol.2012.12.006. ISSN 1879-1301. PMC 3583020. PMID 23438744.
  20. ^ Singh, Juswinder; Petter, Russell C.; Baillie, Thomas A.; Whitty, Adrian (April 2011). "The resurgence of covalent drugs". Nature Reviews. Drug Discovery. 10 (4): 307–317. doi:10.1038/nrd3410. ISSN 1474-1784. PMID 21455239.
  21. ^ Vyas, Deepti; O'Dell, Kate M.; Bandy, Jason L.; Boyce, Eric G. (November 2013). "Tofacitinib: The First Janus Kinase (JAK) inhibitor for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis". The Annals of Pharmacotherapy. 47 (11): 1524–1531. doi:10.1177/1060028013512790. ISSN 1542-6270. PMID 24285764.
  22. ^ "Product Pipeline | Pfizer: One of the world's premier biopharmaceutical companies". www.pfizer.com. Retrieved 2017-10-02.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Janus_kinase_3_inhibitor&oldid=1229391794"