GDC-0941 (Synonyms: GDC-0941)

GDC-0941 is a novel selective class I phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase (PI3K) inhibitor. Activation of PI3K/Akt signaling pathway is frequently associated with tumorigenesis. Deregulation of this pathway occurs frequently with a variety of cancers and may contribute to the resistance to many anticancer agents. [1] Developing novel small molecules that specifically block the PI3K/Akt pathway may inhibit tumor growth. GDC-0941 is designed to bind the ATP-binding pocket of PI3K and to prevent formation of phosphatidylinositol-3, 4, 5-triphosphate (PIP3), a second messenger that transmits PI3K downstream signals. [2, 3] It binds to PI3K in an ATP-competitive manner.

GDC-0941 is a potent small-molecule thieno [3, 2-d] pyrimidine inhibitor of the class I PI3K. It is highly selective against isoforms p110( and p110( with IC50 of 3 nM, and moderately selective against isoforms p110( and p110( with IC50s of 33 nM and 75 nM, respectively.

GDC-0941 inhibits cell proliferation in vitro and in vivo. It causes growth inhibition in a variety of cancer cell lines, including A2780, MDA-MB-361, PC3, and U87MG. [2] It also inhibits the growth of trastuzumab–sensitive and –resistant HER2-amplied cancer cells which harbor p110( mutations or PTEN loss. [4] GDC-0941 also reduces tumor volume in different xenograft models. [4]

GDC-0941 can be taken orally.

References:
[1]Yuan TL, Cantley LC. PI3K pathway alterations in cancer: variations on a theme. Oncogene. 2008;27:5497-5510.
[2]Folkes AJ, Ahmadi K, Alderton WK, et al. The identification of 2-(1H-Indazol-4-yl)-6-(4-methanesulfonyl-piperazin-1-ylmethyl)-4-morpholin-4-yl-thieno[3,2-d]pyrimidine (GDC-0941) as a potent, selective, orally bioavailable inhibitor of class I PI3 kinase for the treatment of cancer. J Med Chem. 2008; 51: 5522-5532.
[3]Knight ZA, Shokat KM. Chemically targeting the PI3K family. Biochem Soc Trans. 2007; 35: 245-249.
[4]Junttila TT, Akita RW, Parsons K, Fields C, Lewis Phillips GD, Friedman LS, Sampath D, Sliwkowski MX. Ligand-independent HER2/HER3/PI3K complex is disrupted by trastuzumab and is effectively inhibited by the PI3K inhibitor GDC-0941. Br J Cancer. 2011; 104(7): 1116-25.