Discovery of dioxo-benzo[b]thiophene derivatives as potent YAP-TEAD interaction inhibitors for treating breast cancer

Disruption of protein–protein interaction between transcriptional enhancer factor (TEA)-domain (TEAD; a transcription factor) and its co-activator Yes-associated protein (YAP)/ transcriptional co-activator with PDZ-binding motif (TAZ) is a potential therapeutic strategy against various types of solid tumors. Based on hit compound 8 and 9a, hydrazone derivatives with dioxo-benzo[d]isothiazole (9b–n) and oxime ester (10a-s) or amide derivatives (11a-r) with dioxo-benzo[b]thiophene were designed and synthesized as novel TEAD-YAP interaction inhibitors. Amide derivative 11q exhibited a higher potency in inhibiting TEAD-YAP reporter expression activity (IC₅₀ = 12.7 μM), endogenous target gene (e.g., CTGF and CYR61) expression, breast cancer cell growth (GI₅₀ = 3.2 μM), and anchorage-independent growth in soft agar. Molecular docking analysis suggested that the newly synthesized compounds bound to interface 2 of TEAD had lower docking scores compared to the compounds that bind to interface 3; moreover, they were predicted to overlap with YAP. Therefore, we identified 11q as an attractive therapeutic agent for treating solid tumors overexpressing YAP/TAZ.