Discovery of the Selective and Orally Available Galectin-1 Inhibitor GB1908 as a Potential Treatment for Lung Cancer

We have previously described a new series of selective and orally available galectin-1 inhibitors resulting in the thiazole-containing glycomimetic GB1490. Here, we show that the introduction of polar substituents to the thiazole ring results in galectin-1-specific compounds with low nM affinities. X-ray structural analysis of a new ligand-galectin-1 complex shows changes in the binding mode and ligand-protein hydrogen bond interactions compared to the GB1490-galectin-1 complex. These new high affinity ligands were further optimized with respect to affinity and ADME properties resulting in the galectin-1-selective GB1908 (<i>K</i>_d galectin-1/3 0.057/6.0 μM). In vitro GB1908 inhibited galectin-1-induced apoptosis in Jurkat cells (IC₅₀ = 850 nM). Pharmacokinetic experiments in mice revealed that a dose of 30 mg/kg b.i.d. results in free levels of GB1908 in plasma over galectin-1 <i>K</i>_d for 24 h. GB1908 dosed with this regimen reduced the growth of primary lung tumor LL/2 in a syngeneic mouse model.