Discovery of Potent, Selective, and Orally Bioavailable DYRK2 Inhibitors for the Treatment of Prostate Cancer

Prostate cancer (PCa) seriously threatens male health, and targeting dual-specificity tyrosine phosphorylation-regulated kinase 2 (DYRK2) has been verified to reduce PCa burden, while the research progress on the DYRK2 inhibitors was relatively slow. In this work, we discovered DYRK2 inhibitor 12 (IC₅₀ = 9681 nM) through virtual screening. Subsequently, we performed systematic structural optimization to obtain 54 (IC₅₀ = 14 nM). Compound 54 exhibited high selectivity among 215 kinases and significantly suppressed the proliferation and metastasis of PCa cells in vitro. Moreover, compound 54 displayed high safety, favorable bioavailability, and potent tumor growth inhibitory activity in vivo, which could be used as a potential candidate in the discovery of novel anti-PCa drugs.