Pyrazolo[3,4-b]quinoxalines. A new class of cyclin-dependent kinases inhibitors

Bioorg Med Chem. 2002 Jul;10(7):2177-84. doi: 10.1016/s0968-0896(02)00069-x.

Abstract

Protein kinases are involved in most physiological processes and in numerous diseases. Therefore, inhibitors of protein kinases have therefore a wide therapeutic potential. While screening for inhibitors of cyclin-dependent kinases (CDK's) and glycogen synthase kinase-3 (GSK-3), we identified pyrazolo[3,4-b]quinoxalines as sub-micromolar inhibitors of CDK1/cyclin B. A preliminary structure-activity relationship study suggests that this family of compounds can be optimized to inhibit CDK's and GSK-3. Compounds were tested for their anti-proliferative activity and the results show that several of them displayed a significant inhibitory effect on CDK1/cyclin B. The most active compound (1) was also tested against the brain kinases CDK5/p25 and GSK-3, and proved to be a good inhibitor of both of them. On the contrary, none of the compounds showed any activity in the CDC25 phosphatase assay. As an additional approach, affinity chromatography on immobilized pyrazolo[3,4-b]quinoxalines will be used to identify the intracellular targets of this family of compounds.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Amino Acid Sequence
  • Cyclin-Dependent Kinases / antagonists & inhibitors*
  • Enzyme Inhibitors / pharmacology*
  • Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Pyrazoles / chemistry*
  • Quinoxalines / chemistry
  • Quinoxalines / pharmacology*
  • Spectrophotometry, Infrared

Substances

  • Enzyme Inhibitors
  • Pyrazoles
  • Quinoxalines
  • Cyclin-Dependent Kinases