Design, Synthesis, and Structure–Activity Relationships of 1,2,3-Triazole Benzenesulfonamides as New Selective Leucine-Zipper and Sterile-α Motif Kinase (ZAK) Inhibitors

ZAK is a new promising target for discovery of drugs with activity against antihypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). A series of 1,2,3-triazole benzenesulfonamides were designed and synthesized as selective ZAK inhibitors. One of these compounds, 6p binds tightly to ZAK protein (Kd = 8.0 nM) and potently suppresses the kinase function of ZAK with single-digit nM (IC50 = 4.0 nM) and exhibits excellent selectivity in a KINOMEscan screening platform against a panel of 403 wild-type kinases. This compound dose dependently blocks p38/GATA-4 and JNK/c-Jun signaling and demonstrates promising in vivo anti-HCM efficacy upon oral administration in a spontaneous hypertensive rat (SHR) model. Compound 6p may serve as a lead compound for new anti-HCM drug discovery.