Design, Synthesis, and Biological Evaluation of Potent and Selective PROTAC Degraders of Oncogenic KRAS<sup>G12D</sup>
Chuan Zhou, Zisheng Fan, Yuejiao Gu, Zhiming Ge, Zhaofan Tao, Rongrong Cui, Yupeng Li, Guizhen Zhou, Ruifeng Huo, Mingshan Gao, Dan Wang, Wei He, Mingyue Zheng, Sulin Zhang, Tianfeng Xu
Abstract
KRAS G12D, the most frequent KRAS oncogenic mutation, is a promising target for cancer therapy. Herein, we report the design, synthesis, and biological evaluation of a series of KRAS G12D PROTACs by connecting the analogues of MRTX1133 and the VHL ligand. Structural modifications of the linker moiety and KRAS inhibitor part suggested a critical role of membrane permeability in the degradation activity of the KRAS G12D PROTACs. Mechanism studies with the representative compound 8o demonstrated that the potent, rapid, and selective degradation of KRAS G12D induced by 8o was via a VHL- and proteasome-dependent manner. This compound selectively and potently suppressed the growth of multiple KRAS G12D mutant cancer cells, displayed favorable pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties in mice, and showed significant antitumor efficacy in the AsPC-1 xenograft mouse model. Further optimization of 8o appears to be promising for the development of a new chemotherapy for KRAS G12D -driven cancers as the complementary therapeutic strategy to KRAS inhibition.