Abstract 3938: Discovery of a novel small molecule inhibitor of the YAP1/TAZ-TEAD transcriptional complex

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Abstract Hippo pathway alterations in human cancers often result in dephosphorylation of yes-associated protein (YAP1) and its paralog TAZ (WWTR1), allowing the formation of an active complex with transcriptional enhanced associate domain transcription factors (TEADs). This complex formation results in the activation of pro-survival and pro-proliferative transcriptional programs in cancer cells. Many tumor types harbor alterations in the Hippo pathway, including mesothelioma, where a high percentage of tumors are driven by YAP1/TEAD activity. Although traditionally difficult to drug with small molecules, identification of autopalmitoylation sites in the hydrophobic palmitate pocket of TEADs necessary for YAP1 interaction has enabled modern drug discovery platforms to generate compounds that allosterically inhibit YAP1/TAZ-TEAD complex formation and transcriptional activity. We report the discovery and characterization of the novel YAP1/TAZ-TEAD inhibitor MRK-A from an aryl ether chemical series demonstrating potent and specific inhibition of YAP1/TAZ-TEAD activity. In biochemical thermal shift assays, MRK-A caused a concentration-dependent melting temperature shift of 8-12.5 and 0.6-1.5 degrees for TEAD1 and TEAD2, respectively, indicating direct binding to TEAD protein. In cellular assays, MRK-A demonstrated inhibition of a TEAD-based reporter assay, with little to no activity in multiple orthogonal off-target reporter assays such as WNT, NF-KB, TGFB and PPARG (8.4 nM vs. >10000 nM), which is consistent with the exquisite selectivity profile of this molecule (>1000x selectivity against 350+ measured kinases and other common off-targets). In the NF2-deficient mesothelioma cell line H226, MRK-A suppressed the transcription of endogenous YAP/TAZ-TEAD target genes CYR61, ERBB3, ANKRD1 and CTGF (50-75% inhibition at 100 nM), but not LATS1, a non-TEAD regulated Hippo pathway gene. In co-immunoprecipitation assays, MRK-A disrupted the interaction of YAP1 and TEAD in H226 cells at concentrations consistent with inhibition of target genes. In addition, MRK-A potently blocked the clonogenic growth and viability of H226 cells in a dose-dependent manner (maximal response at 1 µM compound >90% growth inhibition), while sparing the Hippo wild-type mesothelioma cell line H28. Furthermore, structurally similar control compounds, MRK-B and MRK-C, without the ability to block TEAD-mediated transcription (TEAD reporter MCF7 assay IC50 > 10000 nM), did not impact the clonogenic growth of H226 cells. In vivo, MRK-A did not show acute tolerability signals in mice and demonstrated pharmacokinetics suitable for daily oral dosing in efficacy studies. In summary, we report the structure and characterization of MRK-A demonstrating potent and specific inhibition of YAP1/TAZ-TEAD mediated transcriptional responses, with potential implications for treating malignancies driven by altered Hippo signaling. Citation Format: Casey J. Moure, Christopher Sondey, Mangeng Cheng, My Mansueto, Rafael Fernandez, Sebastian E. Schneider, Julia V. Ramirez, Brian Long, Erin DiMauro, Brandon Vara, Charles Yeung, Abe Achab, Jongwon Lim, Ronald Kim, Cayetana Zarate, Jonathan Bennett, Rachel Palte, Robert Foti, Vladimir Simov, Evan Barry. Discovery of a novel small molecule inhibitor of the YAP1/TAZ-TEAD transcriptional complex [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2022; 2022 Apr 8-13. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2022;82(12_Suppl):Abstract nr 3938.

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