Phosphorylation of eIF4E by human mitogen‐activated protein kinase (MAPK)‐interacting kinases (Mnks) is crucial for human tumourigenesis and development. Targeting Mnks may provide a novel anticancer therapeutic strategy. However, the lack of selective Mnk inhibitors has so far hampered pharmacological target validation and clinical drug development. Herein, we report, for the first time, the discovery of a series of 5‐(2‐(phenylamino)pyrimidin‐4‐yl)thiazole‐2(3H)‐one derivatives as Mnk inhibitors. Several derivatives demonstrate very potent Mnk2 inhibitory activity. The most active and selective compounds were tested against a panel of cancer cell lines, and the results confirm the cell‐type‐specific effect of these Mnk inhibitors. Detailed cellular mechanistic studies reveal that Mnk inhibitors are capable of reducing the expression level of anti‐apoptotic protein Mcl‐1, and of promoting apoptosis in MV4‐11 acute myeloid leukaemia cells.

中文翻译：

---

发现作为有效Mnk2抑制剂的5-（2-（苯氨基）嘧啶-4-基）噻唑-2（3H）-one衍生物：合成，SAR分析和生物学评估

人类促分裂原激活蛋白激酶（MAPK）相互作用激酶（Mnks）对eIF4E的磷酸化对于人类肿瘤的发生和发展至关重要。靶向Mnks可能提供一种新颖的抗癌治疗策略。然而，迄今为止缺乏选择性的Mnk抑制剂已经阻碍了药理学靶标的验证和临床药物的开发。在此，我们首次报告了一系列5-（2-（苯基氨基）嘧啶-4-基）噻唑-2（3 H一种衍生物作为Mnk抑制剂。几种衍生物表现出非常强的Mnk2抑制活性。针对一组癌细胞系测试了最具活性和选择性的化合物，结果证实了这些Mnk抑制剂的细胞类型特异性作用。详细的细胞机制研究表明，Mnk抑制剂能够降低抗凋亡蛋白Mcl-1的表达水平，并能促进MV4-11急性髓性白血病细胞的凋亡。