2-Benzamido- N -(1 H -benzo[ d ]imidazol-2-yl)thiazole-4-carboxamide derivatives as potent inhibitors of CK1δ/ε

In this study we identified two heterocyclic compounds ( 5 and 6 ) as potent and specific inhibitors of CK1δ (IC 50 = 0.040 and 0.042 μM, respectively). Whereas compound 5 exhibited fivefold higher affinity towards CK1δ than to CK1ε (IC 50 CK1ε = 0.199 μM), compound 6 also inhibited CK1ε (IC 50 = 0.0326 μM) in the same range as CK1δ. Selected compound 5 was screened over 442 kinases identifying 5 as a highly potent and selective inhibitor of CK1δ. X-ray analysis of 5 bound to CK1δ demonstrated its binding mode. In addition, characterization of 5 and 6 in a cell biological approach revealed the ability of both compounds to inhibit proliferation of tumor cell lines in a dose and cell line specific manner. In summary, our optimizations lead to the development of new highly selective CK1δ and ε specific inhibitors with biological activity.