We report the discovery of a potent and isozyme-selective MTHFD2 inhibitor, DS18561882 (2). Through investigation of the substituents on our tricyclic coumarin scaffold (1,2,3,4-tetrahydrochromeno­[3,4-c]­pyridin-5-one), MTHFD2 inhibitory activity was shown to be elevated by incorporating an amine moiety at the 8-position and a methyl group at the 7-position of the initial lead 1. X-ray structure analysis revealed that a key interaction for enhanced potency was salt bridge formation between the amine moiety and the diphosphate linker of an NAD+ cofactor. Furthermore, ortho-substituted sulfonamide in place of benzoic acid of 1 significantly improved cell permeability and cell-based growth inhibition against a human breast cancer cell line. The thus-optimized DS18561882 showed the strongest cell-based activity (GI50 = 140 nM) in the class, a good oral pharmacokinetic profile, and thereby tumor growth inhibition in a mouse xenograft model upon oral administration.

Methylenetetrahydrofolate dehydrogenase 2 (MTHFD2) plays a key role in one-carbon (1C) metabolism in human mitochondria, and its high expression correlates with poor survival of patients with various types of cancer. An isozymeselective MTHFD2 inhibitor is highly attractive for potential use in cancer treatment. Herein, we disclose a novel isozymeselective MTHFD2 inhibitor DS44960156, with a tricyclic coumarin scaffold, which was initially discovered via high-throughput screening (HTS) and improved using structure-based drug design (SBDD). DS44960156 would offer a good starting point for further optimization based on the following features: (1) unprecedented selectivity (>18-fold) for MTHFD2 over MTHFD1, (2) a molecular weight of less than 400, and (3) good ligand efficiency (LE).

Our exploratory study was based on the concept that a non-amidine factor Xa (fXa) inhibitor is suitable for an orally available anticoagulant. We synthesized and evaluated a series of N-(6-chloronaphthalen-2-yl)sulfonylpiperazine derivatives incorporating various fused-bicyclic rings containing an aliphatic amine expected to be S4 binding element. Among this series, 5-methyl-4,5,6,7-tetrahydrothiazolo[5,4-c]pyridine type 61 displayed orally potent anti-fXa activity and evident prolongation of prothrombin time (PT) with the moderate bioavailability in rats. The X-ray crystal analysis afforded an obvious binding mode that 5-methyl-4,5,6,7-tetrahydrothiazolo[5,4-c]pyridine and 6-chloronaphthalene respectively bound to S4 and S1 subsites. In this X-ray study, we discovered a novel intramolecular S-O close contact. Ab initio energy calculations of model compounds deduced that conformers with the most close S-O proximity were most stable. The Mulliken population analysis proposed that this energy profile was caused by both of electrostatic S-O affinity and N-O repulsion. The results of these calculations and X-ray analysis suggested a possibility that the restricted conformation effected the affinity to S4 subsite of fXa.

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