Discovery of cell-active phenyl-imidazole Pin1 inhibitors by structure-guided fragment evolution

Pin1 is an emerging oncology target strongly implicated in Ras and ErbB2-mediated tumourigenesis. Pin1 isomerizes bonds linking phospho-serine/threonine moieties to proline enabling it to play a key role in proline-directed kinase signalling. Here we report a novel series of Pin1 inhibitors based on a phenyl imidazole acid core that contains sub-μM inhibitors. Compounds have been identified that block prostate cancer cell growth under conditions where Pin1 is essential.

Graphical abstractStructure-guided techniques were used to evolve a 5-pyridinyl pyrazole-3-carboxylate fragment into a series of 5-aryl-carbamoyl-3-phenyl-imidazole-4-carboxylates, examples of which inhibited the Pin1 PPIase with sub-μM IC50 and blocked proliferation of prostate cancer cells.Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide