Discovery of novel and potent CDK8 inhibitors for the treatment of acute myeloid leukaemia.

It has been reported that CDK8 plays a key role in acute myeloid leukaemia. Here, a total of 40 compounds were rational designed and synthesised based on the previous SAR. Among them, compound 12 ( 3-(3-(furan-3-yl)-1H-pyrrolo[2,3-b]pyridin-5-yl)benzamide ) showed the most potent inhibiting activity against CDK8 with an IC ₅₀ value of 39.2 ± 6.3 nM and anti AML cell proliferation activity (molm-13 GC ₅₀ = 0.02 ± 0.01  μ M, MV4-11 GC ₅₀ = 0.03 ± 0.01  μ M). Mechanistic studies revealed that this compound 12 could inhibit the phosphorylation of STAT-1 and STAT-5. Importantly, compound 12 showed relative good bioavailability ( F  = 38.80%) and low toxicity in vivo . This study has great significance for the discovery of more efficient CDK8 inhibitors and the development of drugs for treating AML in the future.