Drug – bio-affecting and body treating compositions – Designated organic active ingredient containing – Having -c- – wherein x is chalcogen – bonded directly to...
Reexamination Certificate
2001-12-13
2004-01-20
Gerstl, Robert (Department: 1626)
Drug, bio-affecting and body treating compositions
Designated organic active ingredient containing
Having -c-, wherein x is chalcogen, bonded directly to...
C548S455000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06680335
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The following description of the background of the invention is provided to aid in understanding the invention, but is not admitted to describe or constitute prior art to the invention.
Cellular signal transduction is a fundamental mechanism whereby extracellular stimuli are relayed to the interior of cells and subsequently regulate diverse cellular processes. One of the key biochemical mechanisms of signal transduction involves the reversible phosphorylation of proteins. Phosphorylation of polypeptides regulates the activity of mature proteins by altering their structure and function. Phosphate most often resides on the hydroxyl moiety (—OH) of serine, threonine, or tyrosine amino acids in proteins.
Enzymes that mediate phosphorylation of cellular effectors generally fall into two classes. The first class consists of protein kinases which transfer a phosphate moiety from adenosine triphosphate to protein substrates. The second class consists of protein phosphatases which hydrolyze phosphate moieties from phosphoryl protein substrates. The converse functions of protein kinases and protein phosphatases balance and regulate the flow of signals in signal transduction processes.
Protein kinases and protein phosphatases are generally divided into two groups—receptor and non-receptor type proteins. Most receptor-type protein tyrosine phosphatases contain two conserved catalytic domains, each of which encompasses a segment of 240 amino acid residues. Saito et al., 1991
, Cell Growth and Diff
2:59-65. Receptor protein tyrosine phosphatases can be subclassified further based upon the amino acid sequence diversity of their extracellular domains. Saito et al., supra; Krueger et al., 1992
, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA
89:7417-7421.
Protein kinases and protein phosphatases are also typically divided into three classes based upon the amino acids they act upon. Some catalyze the addition or hydrolysis of phosphate on serine or threonine only, some catalyze the addition or hydrolysis of phosphate on tyrosine only, and some catalyze the addition or hydrolysis of phosphate on serine, threonine, and tyrosine.
Tyrosine kinases can regulate the catalytic activity of other protein kinases involved in cell proliferation. Protein kinases with inappropriate activity are also involved in some types of cancer. Abnormally elevated levels of cell proliferation are associated with receptor and non-receptor protein kinases with unregulated activity.
In addition to their role in cellular proliferation, protein kinases are thought to be involved in cellular differentiation processes. Cell differentiation occurs in some cells upon nerve growth factor (NGF) or epidermal growth factor (EGF) stimulation. Cellular differentiation is characterized by rapid membrane ruffling, cell flattening, and increases in cell adhesion. Chao, 1992
, Cell
68:995-997.
In an effort to discover novel treatments for cancer and other diseases, biomedical researchers and chemists have designed, synthesized, and tested molecules that inhibit the function of protein kinases. Some small organic molecules form a class of compounds that modulate the function of protein kinases. Examples of molecules that have been reported to inhibit the function of protein kinases are bis-monocyclic, bicyclic or heterocyclic aryl compounds (PCT WO 92/20642), vinylene-azaindole derivatives (PCT WO 94/14808), 1-cyclopropyl-4-pyridyl-quinolones (U.S. Pat. No. 5,330,992), styryl compounds (by Levitzki, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,217,999, and entitled “Styryl Compounds which Inhibit EGF Receptor Protein Tyrosine Kinase), styryl-substituted pyridyl compounds (U.S. Pat. No. 5,302,606), certain quinazoline derivatives (EP Application No. 0 566 266 A1), seleoindoles and selenides (PCT WO 94/03427), tricyclic polyhydroxylic compounds (PCT WO 92/21660), and benzylphosphonic acid compounds (PCT WO 91/15495).
The compounds that can traverse cell membranes and are resistant to acid hydrolysis are potentially advantageous therapeutics as they can become highly bioavailable after being administered orally to patients. However, many of these protein kinase inhibitors only weakly inhibit the function of protein kinases. In addition, many inhibit a variety of protein kinases and will therefore cause multiple side-effects as therapeutics for diseases.
Despite the significant progress that has been made in developing compounds for the treatment of cancer, there remains a need in the art to identify the particular structures and substitution patterns that form the compounds capable of modulating the function of particular protein kinases.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is directed in part towards indolinone compounds and methods of modulating the function of protein tyrosine kinases with the indolinone compounds. The methods incorporate cells that express a protein tyrosine kinase. In addition, the invention describes methods of preventing and treating protein tyrosine kinases-related abnormal conditions in organisms with a compound identified by the methods described herein. Furthermore, the invention pertains to pharmaceutical compositions comprising compounds identified by methods of the invention.
The present invention features indolinone compounds that potently inhibit protein kinases and related products and methods. Inhibitors of protein kinases can be obtained by adding chemical substituents to an indolinone compound. The compounds of the invention represent a new generation of therapeutics for diseases associated with one or more functional or non-functional protein kinases. Neuro-degenerative diseases and certain types of cancer fall into this class of diseases. The compounds can be modified such that they are specific to their target or targets and will subsequently cause few side effects and thus represent a new generation of potential cancer therapeutics. These properties are significant improvements over the currently utilized cancer therapeutics that cause multiple side effects and deleteriously weaken patients.
It is believed the compounds of the invention will minimize or obliterate solid tumors by inhibiting the activity of the protein tyrosine kinases, or will at least modulate or inhibit tumor growth and/or metastases. Protein tyrosine kinases regulate proliferation of blood vessels during angiogenesis, among other functions. Increased rates of angiogenesis accompany cancer tumor growth in cells as cancer tumors must be nourished by oxygenated blood during growth. Therefore, inhibition of the protein tyrosine kinase and the corresponding decreases in angiogenesis will starve tumors of nutrients and most likely obliterate them.
While a precise understanding of the mechanism by which compounds inhibit PTKs (e.g., the fibroblast growth factor receptor 1 [FGFR1]) is not required in order to practice the present invention, the compounds are believed to interact with the amino acids of the PTKs' catalytic region. PTKs typically possess a bi-lobate structure, and ATP appears to bind in the cleft between the two lobes in a region where the amino acids are conserved among PTKs; inhibitors of PTKs are believed to bind to the PTKs through non-covalent interactions such as hydrogen bonding, Van der Waals interactions, and ionic bonding, in the same general region that ATP binds to the PTKs. More specifically, it is thought that the oxindole component of the compounds of the present invention binds in the same general space occupied by the adenine ring of ATP. Specificity of an indolinone PTK inhibitor for a particular PTK may be conferred by interactions between the constituents around the oxindole core with amino acid domains specific to individual PTKs. Thus, different indolinone substitutents may contribute to preferential binding to particular PTKs. The ability to select those compounds active at different ATP binding sites makes them useful in targeting any protein with such a site, not only protein tyrosine kinases, but also serine/threonine kinases and protein phosphatases. Thus, such compounds have utili
Burrous Beth A.
Foley & Lardner
Gerstl Robert
Sugen Inc.
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