JAK2 inhibitor

Hyperactivation of the Janus kinase 2 (JAK2) signaling pathway leads to myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs) and targeting JAK2 can be used as an effective strategy for the treatment of MPNs. Here, our study indicated that WWQ-131 was a highly selective JAK2 inhibitor (IC50 =2.36 nM), with 182-fold and 171-fold more selective to JAK1 and JAK3, respectively. In JAK2V617F-dependent cell lines, WWQ-131 efficaciously inhibited cell proliferation, induced cell cycle arrest at the G2/M phase and apoptosis, and blocked the aberrant activation of JAK2 signaling pathway. In a mouse Ba/F3_JAK2V617F driven disease model, WWQ-131 effectively suppressed STAT5 phosphorylation in spleen and liver, and inhibited Ba/F3_JAK2V617F cells spreading and proliferation in vivo. In addition, WWQ-131 suppressed rhEPO-induced extramedullary erythropoiesis and polycythemia in mice, as well as hematocrits and spleen sizes, especially had no effect on white blood cell count. Furthermore, WWQ-131 (75 mg/kg) exhibited stronger therapeutic effects than fedratinib (120 mg/kg) in these two MPN models. Taken together, this study suggests that WWQ-131 will be a promising candidate for the treatment of MPNs 1)

1)
Ge H, Wang C, Tian C, Diao Y, Wang W, Ma X, Zhang J, Li H, Zhao Z, Zhu L. Efficacy of WWQ-131, a highly selective JAK2 inhibitor, in mouse models of myeloproliferative neoplasms. Biomed Pharmacother. 2022 Oct 25;156:113884. doi: 10.1016/j.biopha.2022.113884. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 36306591.