Discovery of novel leucyladenylate sulfamate surrogates as leucyl-tRNA synthetase (LRS)-targeted mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) inhibitors.

According to recent studies, leucyl-tRNA synthetase (LRS) acts as a leucine sensor and modulates the activation of the mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) activation. Because overactive mTORC1 is associated with several diseases, including colon cancer, LRS-targeted mTORC1 inhibitors represent a potential option for anti-cancer therapy. In this work, we developed a series of simplified leucyladenylate sulfamate analogues that contain the N-(3-chloro-4-fluorophenyl)quinazolin-4-amine moiety to replace the adenine group. We identified several compounds with comparable activity to previously reported inhibitors and exhibited selective mTORC1 inhibition and anti-cancer activity. This study further supports the hypothesis that LRS is a promising target to modulate the mTORC1 pathway.