Hepsin inhibitors

1. A method for substantially impairing cancer progression or metastasis in a subject known to have, or suspected of being at risk for having, prostate cancer, ovarian carcinoma, endometrial cancer or renal cell carcinoma, comprising:

administering to the subject a therapeutically effective amount of a hepsin inhibitor that comprises at least one compound that is selected from a compound of formula (IV) and a compound of formula (V):

wherein:

each n is 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5;

each r is 1, 2, 3 or 4;

q is 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6;

each R 1a and R 1b is independently selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, alkyl, halo, haloalkyl, optionally substituted aryl, optionally substituted aralkyl, —OR 7 , —CN, —C(O)R 7 , —C(O)OR 7 , —C(O)N(R 7 )R 8 , —NO 2 , —N(R 7 )R 8 , —N(R 7 )C(O)R 8 , and —N(R 7 )C(O)OR 8 ;

each R 2 is independently selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, alkyl, halo, haloalkyl, optionally substituted aryl and optionally substituted aralkyl;

each R 3 and R 4 is independently selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, alkyl, optionally substituted aryl and optionally substituted aralkyl; and

each R 7 and R 8 is independently selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, alkyl, optionally substituted aryl and optionally substituted aralkyl;

as a single stereoisomer or a mixture thereof;

or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the compound is a compound of formula (IV):

wherein:

n is 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5;

q is 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6;

each R 1a and R 1b is independently selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, alkyl, halo, haloalkyl, optionally substituted aryl, optionally substituted aralkyl, —OR 7 , —CN, —C(O)R 7 , —C(O)OR 7 , —C(O)N(R 7 )R 8 , —NO 2 , —N(R 7 )R 8 , —N(R 7 )C(O)R 8 , and —N(R 7 )C(O)OR 8 ;

R 3 and R 4 are each independently selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, alkyl, optionally substituted aryl and optionally substituted aralkyl; and

each R 7 and R 8 is independently selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, alkyl, optionally substituted aryl and optionally substituted aralkyl;

as a single stereoisomer or a mixture thereof;

or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the compound is a compound of formula (IV) wherein:

n is 1;

q is 1;

R 1a and R 1b are each independently selected from the group consisting of hydrogen and alkyl; and

R 3 and R 4 are each independently selected from the group consisting of hydrogen and alkyl.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein the compound of formula (IV) is 2-(3-methylphenyl)-2,3-dihydro-1H-perimidine.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the compound is a compound of formula (V):

wherein:

n is 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5;

each r is 1, 2, 3 or 4;

each R 1a and R 1b is independently selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, alkyl, halo, haloalkyl, optionally substituted aryl, optionally substituted aralkyl, —OR 7 , —CN, —C(O)R 7 , —C(O)OR 7 , —C(O)N(R 7 )R 8 , —NO 2 , —N(R 7 )R 8 , —N(R 7 )C(O)R 8 , and —N(R 7 )C(O)OR 8 ;

each R 2 is independently selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, alkyl, halo, haloalkyl, optionally substituted aryl and optionally substituted aralkyl;

R 3 is selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, alkyl, optionally substituted aryl and optionally substituted aralkyl; and

each R 7 and R 8 is independently selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, alkyl, optionally substituted aryl and optionally substituted aralkyl;

as a single stereoisomer or a mixture thereof

or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof

6. The method of claim 5 wherein the compound is a compound of formula (V) wherein:

n is 1;

each r is 1;

R 1a and R 1b are each independently selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, halo, haloalkyl and —NO 2 ;

R 2 is selected from the group consisting of hydrogen and alkyl; and

R 3 is selected from the group consisting of hydrogen and alkyl.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein the compound of formula (V) is selected from the group consisting of:

4-(4-nitrophenyl)-6-(trifluoromethyl)-3a,4,5,9b-tetrahydro-3H-cyclopenta[c]quinoline; and

8-chloro-4-(3-nitrophenyl)-3a,4,5,9b-tetrahydro-3H-cyclopenta[c]quinoline.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the compound is selected from the group consisting of:

2-(3-methylphenyl)-2,3-dihydro-1H-perimidine;

4-(4-nitrophenyl)-6-(trifluoromethyl)-3a,4,5,9b-tetrahydro-3H-cyclopenta[c]quinoline; and

8-chloro-4-(3-nitrophenyl)-3a,4,5,9b-tetrahydro-3H-cyclopenta[c]quinoline.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein the subject has or is suspected of being at risk for having prostate cancer.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein the subject has prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia, prostate-confined non-invasive low grade cancer, prostate-confined invasive cancer, or metastatic prostate cancer.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein the subject has or is suspected of being at risk for having ovarian cancer.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein the subject has stage I, stage II, stage III, stage IV or recurrent ovarian cancer.

13. The method of claim 1 wherein the subject has or is suspected of being at risk for having renal cell carcinoma.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein the subject has stage I, stage II, stage III, or stage IV renal cell carcinoma.

15. The method of claim 1 wherein the subject has or is suspected of being at risk for having endometrial cancer.

16. The method of claim 15 wherein the subject has stage I, stage II, stage III, or stage IV endometrial cancer.

17. The method of claim 1 wherein the hepsin inhibitor is administered orally, parenterally, intraperitoneally, intravenously, intraarterially, transdermally, sublingually, subcutaneously, intramuscularly, rectally, transbuccally, intranasally, liposomally, via inhalation, intraoccularly, via local delivery, subcutaneously, intraadiposally, intraarticularly or intrathecally.

18. A method of inhibiting hepsin proteolytic activity on a cell surface, comprising:

contacting (i) a cell that comprises a cell surface hepsin polypeptide and (ii) a hepsin inhibitor, under conditions and for a time sufficient for the hepsin inhibitor to interact specifically with the cell surface hepsin polypeptide, and thereby inhibiting hepsin proteolytic activity on the cell surface, wherein the cell surface hepsin polypeptide is selected from the group consisting of:

(i) a cell surface polypeptide comprising the amino acid sequence set forth in any one of SEQ ID NOS:1, 6 and 9,

(ii) a cell surface polypeptide comprising an amino acid sequence that is at least 85%, 90% or 95% identical to the polypeptide of (i) and that is capable of specific enzymatic cleavage of a chromogenic serine protease substrate that comprises L-pyroglutamyl-L-prolyl-L-arginine-p-nitroaniline hydrochloride (Glu-Pro-Arg-pNA), and

(iii) a cell surface polypeptide that comprises a hepsin catalytic domain or a functional fragment thereof, said hepsin catalytic domain or functional fragment thereof comprising an amino acid sequence that is at least 80%, 85%, 90% or 95% identical to the amino acid sequence set forth in any one of SEQ ID NOS:5, 8 and 11 and that is capable of specific enzymatic cleavage of a chromogenic serine protease substrate that comprises L-pyroglutamyl-L-prolyl-L-arginine-p-nitroaniline hydrochloride (pyroGlu-Pro-Arg-pNA),

and wherein the hepsin inhibitor comprises at least one compound that is selected from a compound of formula (IV) and a compound of formula (V):

wherein:

each n is 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5;

each r is 1, 2, 3 or 4;

q is 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6;

w is 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 or 8;

each R 1a and R 1b , is independently selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, alkyl, halo, haloalkyl, optionally substituted aryl, optionally substituted aralkyl, —OR 7 , —CN, —C(O)R 7 , —C(O)OR 7 , —C(O)N(R 7 )R 8 , —NO 2 , —N(R 7 )R 8 , —N(R 7 )C(O)R 8 , and —N(R 7 )C(O)OR 8 ;

each R 2 is independently selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, alkyl, halo, haloalkyl, optionally substituted aryl and optionally substituted aralkyl;

each R 3 and R 4 is independently selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, alkyl, optionally substituted aryl and optionally substituted aralkyl;

each R 7 and R 8 is independently selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, alkyl, optionally substituted aryl and optionally substituted aralkyl;

as a single stereoisomer or a mixture thereof;

or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof.

19. The method of claim 18 wherein the cell is a cancer cell selected from the group consisting of a prostate cancer cell, an ovarian carcinoma cell, an endometrial cancer cell and a renal carcinoma cell.

20. A method of inhibiting hepsin proteolytic activity, comprising contacting a hepsin polypeptide and a hepsin inhibitor under conditions and for a time sufficient for the hepsin inhibitor to interact specifically with the hepsin polypeptide, wherein the hepsin polypeptide is selected from the group consisting of:

(i) a polypeptide comprising the amino acid sequence set forth in any one of SEQ ID NOS:1, 6 and 9,

(ii) a polypeptide comprising an amino acid sequence that is at least 85%, 90% or 95% identical to the polypeptide of (i) and that is capable of specific enzymatic cleavage of a chromogenic serine protease substrate that comprises L-pyroglutamyl-L-prolyl-L-arginine-p-nitroaniline hydrochloride (Glu-Pro-Arg-pNA), and

(iii) a polypeptide that comprises a hepsin catalytic domain or a functional fragment thereof, said hepsin catalytic domain or functional fragment thereof comprising an amino acid sequence that is at least 80%, 85%, 90% or 95% identical to the amino acid sequence set forth in any one of SEQ ID NOS:5, 8 and 11 and that is capable of specific enzymatic cleavage of a chromogenic serine protease substrate that comprises L-pyroglutamyl-L-prolyl-L-arginine-p-nitroaniline hydrochloride (pyroGlu-Pro-Arg-pNA),

and wherein the hepsin inhibitor comprises at least one compound that is selected from a compound of formula (IV) and a compound of formula (V):

wherein:

each n is 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5;

each r is 1, 2, 3 or 4;

q is 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6;

w is 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 or 8;

each R 1a and R 1b is independently selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, alkyl, halo, haloalkyl, optionally substituted aryl, optionally substituted aralkyl, —OR 7 , —CN, —C(O)R 7 , —C(O)OR 7 , —C(O)N(R 7 )R 8 , —NO 2 , —N(R 7 )R 8 , —N(R 7 )C(O)R 8 , and —N(R 7 )C(O)OR 8 ;

each R 2 is independently selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, alkyl, halo, haloalkyl, optionally substituted aryl and optionally substituted aralkyl;

each R 3 and R 4 is independently selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, alkyl, optionally substituted aryl and optionally substituted aralkyl;

each R 7 and R 8 is independently selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, alkyl, optionally substituted aryl and optionally substituted aralkyl; and

as a single stereoisomer or a mixture thereof

or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof

21. The method of claim 1 wherein the subject is a human.

22. The method of claim 1 wherein the subject is a mammal.

23. The method of claim 22 wherein the mammal is selected from the group consisting of a non-human primate, a mouse, a rat, a rabbit, a dog, a cat, a hamster, a gerbil, a guinea pig, a goat, a sheep, a bovine, a swine and a horse.