Importantly, co-treatments exhibited greater inhibition of tumor growth than single treatments in cell line- and patient-derived xenograft models. Taken together, our data revealed that THZ1 or TG02 enhanced in vitro and in vivo efficacy of afatinib, suggesting a potential novel combination therapeutic strategy for patients with chordoma.

Our findings indicate that the combination of AZD5438 and PD0325901 holds therapeutic potential for the treatment of HPV (-) HNSCC, particularly in tumors with a high mutational burden. By targeting complementary pathways, this combination may improve treatment outcomes in this aggressive cancer subtype.

This study designed and synthesized two series (A and B) of 28 unreported compounds based on rational structural modification of the lead compound AZD5438...Mechanistic studies demonstrated that B11 induces apoptosis in HCT116 cells by elevating intracellular ROS levels through suppression of anti-apoptotic protein expression and activating the caspase-3 pathway. In conclusion, compound B11 may serve as a novel selective CDK9 inhibitor worthy of further development for colorectal cancer treatment.

Moreover, intravenous administration of dCDK9-202 effectively inhibits TC-71 tumor growth without any signs of toxicity in mice. This promising CDK9 degrader dCDK9-202 has a high potential for advanced preclinical development in the treatment of CDK9-addicted human cancers.

P1, N=86, Active, not recruiting, Prelude Therapeutics | Trial primary completion date: Nov 2025 --> Jun 2025

Enitociclib also potentiates the cytotoxicity of venetoclax in relatively venetoclax-resistant KMT2A-r leukemic cells. Overall, enitociclib has shown measurable in vitro antitumor activity in KMT2A-r infant leukemia and is a rational therapeutic option to explore in future clinical trials.

Specifically, our results reveal that GBP1 regulates PD-L1 expression by activating CDK9 and promoting STAT3 phosphorylation. These findings suggest that targeting GBP1 may represent a promising therapeutic strategy for the treatment of osteosarcoma by impairing tumor immune evasion.

To obtain CDK9 inhibitors with high activity and safety, we designed and synthesized a series of sulfonamide derivatives as CDK9 inhibitors based on BAY1143572, the first selective CDK9 inhibitor to enter clinical trials...Further studies showed that L18 possessed moderate metabolic properties and exhibited an in vivo safety profile superior to that of the positive control. This study provides a potential lead compound for the development of CDK9 inhibitors for cancer therapy.

Pharmacological screening further identified distinct therapeutic vulnerabilities, demonstrating distinct subtype-specific sensitivity of MYCN-driven cells to transcriptional inhibitors (THZ1, Flavopiridol) and the cell-cycle inhibitor Volasertib, indicative of a unique oncogene-addicted state compared to RB1-deficient retinoblastoma cells. Collectively, our study elucidates the developmental and molecular mechanisms underpinning MYCN-driven retinoblastoma, establishes a robust and clinically relevant human retinal organoid platform, and highlights targeted transcriptional inhibition as a promising therapeutic approach for this aggressive pediatric cancer subtype.

We also examine structures affected by a transcription inhibitor, flavopiridol...Along with a reduction in peroxisome function, dissociation of peroxisome pore proteins PEX13 and PEX14 was detected by STORM microscopy. We conclude that SEC-MS combined with crosslinking is a valuable method to detect and quantify drug or disease effects on subcellular structures and may shed light on new aspects to mechanisms underlying their biologic outcomes.

These effects were recapitulated by the CDK9-selective inhibitor enitociclib, which downregulated TFE3 targets and suppressed tRCC cell growth. Our findings nominate CDK9 inhibition as a therapeutic strategy in tRCC and demonstrate the utility of mechanism-informed phenotypic screening for challenging targets.

The CDK9/T1 inhibition study indicates that a piperidine ring at the C8 position of the chromone nucleus is crucial, as C6-regioisomers show significantly reduced or no inhibition. The developed method for producing clinically important piperidine alkaloids is straightforward, is scalable, and involves only a few chromatographic purification steps.