Abstract 617: BH-30236, a novel macrocyclic CLK inhibitor modulating RNA splicing, demonstrates potent inhibition of cancer cell growth in a broad panel of cancer cell lines
Authors: Jiang Ping , Li Danan , Ling Nancy , Zhai Dayong , Deng Wei , Rui Eugene , Cui J. Jean 
Published: March 2024

Alternative splicing (AS) is a primary mechanism for mRNA transcript diversification and protein expression regulation. In cancer, altered mRNA splicing promotes oncogenic transformation, induces metastasis, and confers resistance to cancer treatment. Mutations or imbalanced expression/activity of splicing factors (SF), such as serine-arginine-rich SFs (SRSFs), often result in deregulation of RNA splicing and tumor progression. CDC2-like kinases (CLK) and dual-specificity tyrosine-regulated kinase (DYRK) are key regulators of AS via phosphorylation of SRSFs. BH-30236 is a novel macrocyclic ATP-competitive inhibitor of CLK1/2/4. It also inhibits DYRK1/2, provirus integration site for moloney leukemia virus 3 (PIM3) and FMS-like tyrosine kinase 3 (FLT3) at clinically relevant concentrations. The inhibitory activity of BH-30236 against CLK, DYRK, PIM3 and FLT3 in cancer cells was investigated via the phosphorylation inhibition of SRSFs, Tau, 4EBP1 and FLT3, respectively. A panel of 119 hematological and solid tumor cell lines were used to investigate the spectrum of BH-30236 against cancer cell growth. To understand the mechanism of anti-cancer cell growth, the effect of BH-30236 on AS and protein expression of key tumor related biomarkers were examined. In conclusion, BH-30236 effectively inhibited pSRSF (IC50 40-60 nM in IMR-32 cells), pTau (IC50 ~50 nM in SH-SY5Y cells), p4EBP1 (IC50 ~80 nM in MM1S cells) and pFLT3-ITD (IC50 0.16 nM in MV-4-11 cells). BH-30236 demonstrated broad inhibition of cancer cell growth with a median IC50 of 85.2 nM (range 0.55-393 nM) across 12 tumor types. BH-30236 showed great efficacy against cell lines derived from hematological malignancy (median IC50 23.34 nM), neuroblastoma (median IC50 25.73 nM), breast cancer (median IC50 83.80 nM), colon cancer (median IC50 85.17 nM), and lung cancer (median IC50 102.65 nM). Furthermore, BH-30236 demonstrated synergy with KRAS inhibitors in KRAS mutant cell lines, with EGFR inhibitors in RBM10 mutant H1975 cells, and with BCL2 inhibitor Venetoclax in MOLM-13 cells. Mechanistically, BH-30236 modulated AS by increasing pro-apoptotic and anti-proliferative splicing variants of key factors, such as BCL2L1, S6K, and BCLAF1. Meanwhile, BH-30236 downregulated RNA expression of SRSFs and modulated BCL2 family to increase apoptosis. These results strongly support the clinical applications of the novel multikinase CLK inhibitor BH-30236 in hematological malignancies and solid tumors as a single agent or in combination with other therapies.

Citation Format: Ping Jiang, Danan Li, Nancy Ling, Dayong Zhai, Wei Deng, Eugene Rui, J. Jean Cui. BH-30236, a novel macrocyclic CLK inhibitor modulating RNA splicing, demonstrates potent inhibition of cancer cell growth in a broad panel of cancer cell lines [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2024; Part 1 (Regular Abstracts); 2024 Apr 5-10; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2024;84(6_Suppl):Abstract nr 617.