MK-8033 is a new and selective dual ATP competitive c-Met/Ron inhibitor (IC50: 1 nM Wt c-Met).

c-Met (WT):1 nM (cell free), c-Met (N1100Y):1 nM (cell free)

MK-8033 binds 3-fold more tightly to phosphorylated c-Met kinase domain (Kd: 3.2 nM) than to its unphosphorylated counterpart (Kd = 10.4 nM). Significantly, MK-8033 potently inhibits the kinase activity of three oncogenic c-Met activation loop mutants, Y1230C, Y1230H, and Y1235D (IC50s: 0.6~1 nM at 50 uM ATP) in addition to other c-Met activating mutants N1100Y and M1250T. MK-8033 potently inhibited GTL-16 proliferation (IC50: 582 nM). By contrast, the HCT116 cell line, which does not harbor basal c-Met activation, was not inhibited by MK-8033 (IC50 > 10000 nM) [1]. MK-8033 radiosensitizer the high-c-Met-expressing EBC-1 and H1993 cells but not the low-c-Met-expressing cell lines A549 and H460. However, irradiation of A549 and H460 cells increased the expression of c-Met protein at 30 minutes after the irradiation. Subsequent targeting of this up-regulated c-Met by using MK-8033 followed by a second radiation dose reduced the clonogenic survival of both A549 and H460 cells. MK-8033reduced the levels of radiation-induced phosphorylated (activated) c-Met in A549 cells [2].

MK-8033 was orally dosed in GTL-16 tumor xenograft bearing mice. Mice were euthanized 1 h after dosing and tested for p-Met (Y1349) in tumors and MK-8033 concentrations in plasma. At 100 mg/kg, essentially complete inhibition of p-Met (Y1349) was achieved. An in vivo IC50 of 1.3 uM was deduced from the relationship between plasma MK-8033 level and Met pY1349. Dosing at 3, 10, 30, and 100 mg/kg resulted in 22, 18, 57, and 86% tumor growth inhibition, respectively, relative to the tumor from vehicle-treated mice [1].