Recent studies revealed that MALT1 is a promising therapeutic target for the treatment of ABC-DLBCL. Among several reported MALT1 inhibitors, MI-2 as an irreversible inhibitor represents a new class of ABC-DLBCL therapeutics. Due to its inherent potential cross-reactivity, further structure–activity relationship (SAR) study is imperative. In this work, five focused compound libraries based on the chemical structure of MI-2 are designed and synthesized. The systematic SARs revealed that the side chain of 2-methoxyethoxy has little impact on the activity and can be replaced by other functionalized groups, providing new MI-2 analogues with retained or enhanced potency. Compounds 81–83 with terminal hydroxyl group as side chain displayed enhanced activities against MALT1. Replacement of triazole core with pyrazole is also tolerant, while structural modifications on other sites are detrimental. These findings will facilitate further development of small-molecule MALT1 inhibitors.

最近的研究表明，MALT1是ABC-DLBCL的有希望的治疗靶标。在几种报道的MALT1抑制剂中，作为不可逆抑制剂的MI-2代表了一类新的ABC-DLBCL治疗剂。由于其固有的潜在交叉反应性，必须进行进一步的结构-活性关系（SAR）研究。在这项工作中，基于MI-2的化学结构，设计并合成了五个重点化合物库。系统的SARs显示2-甲氧基乙氧基的侧链对活性几乎没有影响，可以被其他官能团取代，从而提供具有保留或增强效力的新MI-2类似物。化合物81 – 83带有末端羟基的侧链显示出对MALT1的增强活性。用吡唑代替三唑核心也是可以容忍的，而其他位点的结构修饰是有害的。这些发现将促进小分子MALT1抑制剂的进一步开发。