A dual non-ATP analogue inhibitor of aurora kinases A and B, derived from resorcinol with a mixed mode of inhibition

Abstract

Aurora kinases are the most commonly targeted mitotic kinases in the intervention of cancer progression. Here, we report a resorcinol derivative, 5‐methyl‐4‐(2‐thiazolylazo) resorcinol (PTK66), a dual inhibitor of Aurora A and Aurora B kinases. PTK66 is a surface binding non‐ATP analogue inhibitor that shows a mixed pattern of inhibition against both of Aurora A and B kinases. The in vitro IC₅₀ is approximately 47 and 40 μM for Aurora A and Aurora B kinases, respectively. In cellular systems, PTK66 exhibits a substantially low cytotoxicity at micromolar concentrations but it can induce aneuploidy under similar dosages as a consequence of Aurora kinase inhibition. This result was corroborated by a drop in the histone H3 (S10) phosphorylation level detected via Western blot analysis using three different cell types. Altogether, our findings indicate that the ligand containing resorcinol backbone is one of the novel scaffolds targeting the Aurora family of kinases, which could be a target for antineoplastic drug development.