Identification of a New Heterocyclic Scaffold for Inhibitors of the Polo-Box Domain of Polo-like Kinase 1

As a mitotic-specific target widely deregulated in various human cancers, polo-like kinase 1 (Plk1) has been extensively explored for anticancer activity and drug discovery. Although multiple catalytic domain inhibitors were tested in preclinical and clinical studies, their efficacies are limited by dose-limiting cytotoxicity, mainly from off-target cross reactivity. The Cterminal noncatalytic polo-box domain (PBD) of Plk1 has emerged as an attractive target for generating new protein-protein interaction inhibitors. Here, we identified a 1-thioxo-2,4-dihydro-[1,2,4]triazolo[4,3-a]quinazolin-5(1H)-one scaffold that efficiently inhibits Plk1 PBD but not its related Plk2 and Plk3 PBDs. Structure-activity relationship studies led to multiple inhibitors having >= 10-fold higher inhibitory activity than the previously characterized Plk1 PBD-specific phosphopeptide, PLHSpT (K-d similar to 450 nM). In addition, S-methyl prodrugs effectively inhibited mitotic progression and cell proliferation and their metabolic stability was determined. These data describe a novel class of small-molecule inhibitors that offer a promising avenue for future drug discovery against Plk1-addicted cancers.