Academic literature on the topic 'CR13626'

Abstract BACKGROUND Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most malignant primary brain cancer. Several mutations and alterations of key cellular pathways including tyrosine kinases (TKs) are involved in GBM etiopathogenesis. Currently there is no cure for GBM. Tumour heterogeneity and the presence of the blood brain barrier (BBB), with efflux transporters, are some of the causes of failure of novel therapeutic agents. Thus, appropriate target selectivity and pharmacokinetics (including brain penetration) are critical issues for the generation of potential drug candidates. The main in-vitro and in-vivo properties and antitumour activity of CR13626, a novel brain penetrant TK inhibitor, are presented. MATERIAL AND METHODS CR13626 inhibitory activity against a panel of 173 kinases was assessed. The effect on cellular proliferation was verified in different 2D human glioblastoma cell lines (U87MG, U373, U87MG vIII) and in a U87MG 3D spheroid model by ViaCount assays. The in-vivo antitumour activity was determined in a mouse model of glioblastoma based on the orthotopic injection of U87MG-Luciferase GBM cells in nude mice: oral treatment started on day 9 post-implantation and continued for 10 days (50 mg/kg/daily). Tumour progression was evaluated through the measurement of bioluminescence (BLI) at the end of dosing (day 19) and during follow-up (day 26–33). Survival was also monitored. The pharmacokinetics and brain exposure of CR13626 were assessed by LC/MS/MS in plasma and brain homogenate tissues of CD1 and tumour-bearing nude mice. RESULTS CR13626 potently inhibited FYN, YES, KDR and EGFR kinases, relevant for GBM development, with IC50 values of 69 nM, 3.6 nM, 82 nM and 6 nM, respectively. The compound reduced the proliferation of different human glioblastoma cell lines (GI50 1–3 µM). In CD1 mice, CR13626 had a good oral bioavailability (72%) and brain penetration (brain/plasma ratio of 1.4). In-vivo BLI analysis indicated a time-dependent reduction of tumour growth, reaching 60% on the last BLI evaluation 33 days post-implantation (i.e. 15 days after the end of dosing). Tumour growth inhibition translated into an increase of 25% of the median survival time of animals treated with CR13626 compared to the vehicle group (p<0.05). The observed antitumour effects agreed with the exposure of tumour-bearing mice to CR13626, which was above the TKs in-vitro IC50 values. CONCLUSION The combined abilities of CR13626 to inhibit the activity of TKs involved in GBM development, to cross the BBB, and to reduce tumour growth in-vivo leading to increased survival, warrant its further development as a drug candidate in GBM.

Presso l’azienda Rottapharm Biotech è emersa una nuova piccola molecola chiamata CR13626 che è stata identificata come un inibitore tirosin chinasico innovativo caratterizzato da un buon tropismo cerebrale e in grado di inibire alcune chinasi rilevanti nello sviluppo del glioblastoma (GBM), la più comune e maligna forma di tumore primario cerebrale nell’uomo, quali le chinasi EGFR, VEGR2, Fyn, Yes, Lck, HGK e RET. Inoltre, CR13626 non è risultato essere un substrato dei trasportatori di membrana implicati nel processo di resistenza multifarmaco e che in un contesto tumorale contribuiscono alla resistenza del tumore ad uno specifico trattamento farmacologico. Così, lo scopo del mio progetto di tesi è stato quello di caratterizzare l’attività di CR13626, sia in vitro che in vivo, in modo da sondare il suo potenziale per la terapia del glioblastoma. Con questo scopo per prima cosa ho valutato l’abilità di CR13626 di inibire l’attivazione indotta da ligando dei recettori EGFR e VEGFR2 in cellule di glioblastoma U87MG e in cellule endoteliali HUVEC-C, rispettivamente, attraverso esperimenti di immunoblotting. Inoltre, per definire meglio la potenza di CR13626 nell’inibire la chinasi Fyn in un modello cellulare, ho valutato la capacità del composto nel ridurre i livelli di fosforilazione di Tau mediati da Fyn utilizzando cellule HEK-239 co-transfettate per esprimere sia Fyn e Tau e un saggio ELISA messo a punto ad hoc. Inoltre, dal momento che VEGFR2 è ampiamente coinvolto nel promuovere il processo di angiogenesi, il quale a sua volta contribuisce a fornire un appropriato sostentamento al tumore, ho valutato la capacità di CR13626 di ridurre la formazione di strutture rappresentative di nuovi vasi come indicazione di eventuali proprietà antiangiogenetiche del composto in un saggio volto a investigare la formazione di queste strutture mediante l’utilizzo di cellule HUVEC-C. Successivamente ho verificato l’effetto di CR13626 sulla proliferazione cellulare in diverse linee cellulari di glioblastoma coltivate in 2D, ed in particolare nelle seguenti linee: U87MG, U373, U87MG vIII e T98G. Ciascuna di esse possiede infatti alterazioni e mutazioni genetiche presenti anche nelle cellule tumorali di GBM. Con lo scopo di verificare un’eventuale tossicità di CR13626 nei confronti di cellule non tumorali, ho verificato l’effetto di CR13626 sulla linea non tumorale di cellule HEK-293. Inoltre, dal momento che gli sferoidi 3D sono considerati più rappresentativi della complessità del microambiente tumorale rispetto alle colture 2D, costituendo quindi un modello più attendibile per verificare la risposta cellulare ad un trattamento farmacologico, ho valutato l’efficacia di CR13626 nel ridurre la proliferazione di cellule U87MG coltivate in 3D. Infine, l’attività antitumorale in vivo di CR13626 è stata valutata in un modello murino ortotopico eterologo di glioblastoma basato sull’impianto di cellule U87MG-Luciferate nel cervello di topi nudi (esperimento condotto presso i laboratori della società Accelera Srl, Nerviano, Italia). Gli animali sono stati trattati oralmente con CR13626 alla dose di 50 mg/kg/giorno o con il rispettivo veicolo per 10 giorni, partendo al giorno 9 dall’impianto delle cellule tumorali. La progressione del tumore è stata valutata tramite la misura di bioluminescenza (BLI) alla fine del trattamento (giorno 19) e durante i successivi giorni di osservazione (giorni 26 e 33) e la sopravvivenza degli animali è stata successivamente monitorata. In parallelo, in un gruppo satellite di animali con analogo impianto tumorale e trattati oralmente con CR13626 per 5 giorni alla dose di 50 mg/kg/giorno, sono state determinate le concentrazioni cerebrali e plasmatiche del composto.
At Rottapharm Biotech, a novel small molecule compound called CR13626 has emerged as a novel tyrosine kinase inhibitor with a good tropism for the brain and the ability to inhibit EGFR, VEGR2, Fyn, Yes, Lck, HGK and RET kinases relevant for the development of glioblastoma (GBM), the most common and malignant type of primary brain tumor. In addition, CR13626 resulted to be not a substrate of multidrug transporters involved in tumour resistance. Thus, the aim of my project is to characterize the activity of the compound, both in vitro and in vivo, to investigate the potential of CR13626 for glioblastoma therapy. To this purpose, I firstly investigated the ability of CR13626 to inhibit the ligand-induced activation of EGFR and VEGFR2 receptors in U87MG GBM and HUVEC-C cells, respectively, through western blot experiments. To better define the potency of CR13626 on Fyn kinase in a cellular model, I exploited the Fyn-mediated phosphorylation levels of Tau in Fyn/Tau co-transfected HEK-293 cells through a customized indirect-ELISA. Because of VEGFR2 is largely involved in promoting angiogenesis process, which contributes to tumor sustenance, I evaluated the ability of CR13626 to reduce the formation of new vessel-like structures in a HUVEC-C tube formation assay, as an indication of its antiangiogenic properties. Then I verified the effect of CR13626 on cellular proliferation in different 2D human GBM cell lines such as U87MG, U373, U87MG vIII and T98G, each harboring some of the genetic alterations/mutations present in GBM tumor cells. I also evaluated the activity of CR13626 on HEK-293 cells to assess the effect of the compound on a non-tumoral human cell line and to exclude a potential toxicity on healthy cells. Since 3D cell spheroids are more representative of the complexity of tumor environment with respect to 2D cultures and represents a more reliable model to assess cellular response to a drug treatment, I also investigated the efficacy of CR13626 in reducing cellular proliferation in U87MG cells cultured as 3D spheroids. Finally, the antitumor activity of CR13626 was investigated in vivo in an orthotopic xenograft mouse model of GBM based on the injection of U87MG-Luciferase cells in nude mice (experiment performed at Accelera Srl, Nerviano, Italy). Animals were orally treated with CR13626 (50 mg/kg/daily) or vehicle for 10 days, starting on day 9 post-implantation. Tumour progression was evaluated through the measurement of bioluminescence (BLI) at the end of dosing (day 19) and during follow-up (days 26 and 33). The survival of animals was also evaluated. In addition, the plasma and brain concentrations of CR13626 in tumour-bearing mice were determined in a satellite group of animals orally treated for 5 days with CR13626 (50 mg/kg/daily).