Understanding the mechanism of action of pyrrolo[3,2-b]quinoxaline-derivatives as kinase inhibitors† †Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available: General procedures for the synthesis, characterization and biological evaluation of all reported compounds can be found in the ESI. See DOI: 10.1039/d0md00049c

• Published in: RSC medicinal chemistry Vol. 11; no. 6; pp. 665 - 675
• Main Authors: Unzue, Andrea, Jessen-Trefzer, Claudia, Spiliotopoulos, Dimitrios, Gaudio, Eugenio, Tarantelli, Chiara, Dong, Jing, Zhao, Hongtao, Pachmayr, Johanna, Zahler, Stefan, Bernasconi, Elena, Sartori, Giulio, Cascione, Luciano, Bertoni, Francesco, Śledź, Paweł, Caflisch, Amedeo, Nevado, Cristina
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Royal Society of Chemistry 19.05.2020
• Subjects: Chemistry
• ISSN: 2632-8682
• DOI: 10.1039/d0md00049c

Two novel quinoxaline-based EphA3 tyrosine kinase inhibitors have been designed and characterized in vivo in a relevant lymphoma model, showing high efficacy in the control of tumor size. The X-ray structure of the catalytic domain of the EphA3 tyrosine kinase in complex with a previously reported type II inhibitor was used to design two novel quinoxaline derivatives, inspired by kinase inhibitors that have reached clinical development. These two new compounds were characterized by an array of cell-based assays and gene expression profiling experiments. A global chemical proteomics approach was used to generate the drug-protein interaction profile, which suggested suitable therapeutic indications. Both inhibitors, studied in the context of angiogenesis and in vivo in a relevant lymphoma model, showed high efficacy in the control of tumor size.