Dash inhibitors, and uses related thereto

1. A compound represented by formula II, III, or IV, or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof:

wherein

ring A, along with each occurrence of R 1a , represents a 7-12 membered polycyclic ring structure;

R 1 represents, for each occurrence, a hydrogen, a halogen, a lower alkyl, a lower alkenyl, a lower alkynyl, a carbonyl, a thiocarbonyl, an amino, an acylamino, an amido, a cyano, a nitro, an azido, a sulfate, a sulfonate, a sulfonamido, —CF 3 , —(CH 2 ) m —R 3 , —(CH 2 ) m OH, —(CH 2 ) m —O-lower alkyl, —(CH 2 ) m —O-lower alkenyl, —(CH 2 ) n —O—(CH 2 ) m —R 3 , —(CH 2 ) m —SH, —(CH 2 ) m —S-lower alkyl, —(CH 2 ) m —S-lower alkenyl, or —(CH 2 ) n —S—(CH 2 ) m —R 3 ;

R 1a represents a lower alkyl, —(CH 2 ) m —, —(CH 2 ) m —O—(CH 2 ) m —; —(CH 2 ) m —N—(CH 2 ) m —; or —(CH 2 ) m —S—(CH 2 ) m —;

R 2 represents, for each occurrence, hydrogen, alkyl, alkynyl, —(CH 2 ) m —R 3 , —C(═O)-alkyl, —C(═O)-alkenyl, —C(═O)-alkynyl, or —C(═O)—(CH 2 ) m —R 3 ;

R 3 represents, for each occurrence, hydrogen, or a substituted or unsubstituted alkyl, alkenyl, aryl, aralkyl, cycloalkyl, cycloalkenyl, or heterocycle;

R 7 represents hydrogen, a lower alkyl, an amine, or OR 8 ;

R 8 represents hydrogen, a substituted or unsubstituted alkyl, alkenyl, aryl, aralkyl, cycloalkyl, cycloalkenyl or heterocyclyl;

for formulae I and IV, R 9 represents one, two, or three substitutions to the ring A to which they are appended, each of which can independently be a halogen, a lower alkyl, a lower alkenyl, a lower alkynyl, a carboxyl, an ester, a formate, a ketone, a thioester, a thioacetate, a thioformate, an amino, an acylamino, an amido, a cyano, an isocyano, a thiocyanato, an isothiocyanato, a cyanato, a nitro, an azido, a sulfate, a sulfonate, a sulfonamido, lower alkyl-C(O)OH, —O-lower alkyl-C(O)OH, -guanidinyl; —(CH 2 ) m —R 7 , —(CH 2 ) m —OH, —(CH 2 ) m —O-lower alkyl, —(CH 2 ) m —O-lower alkenyl, —(CH 2 ) n —O—(CH 2 ) m —R 3 , —(CH 2 ) m —SH, —(CH 2 ) m —S-lower alkyl, —(CH 2 ) m —S-lower alkenyl, —(CH 2 ) n —S—(CH 2 ) m —R 3 ;

for formula II, R 9 is absent or represents one, two, or three substitutions to the ring A to which they are appended, each of which can independently be a halogen, a lower alkyl, a lower alkenyl, a lower alkynyl, a carboxyl, an ester, a formate, a ketone, a thioester, a thioacetate, a thioformate, an amino, an acylamino, an amido, a cyano, an isocyano, a thiocyanato, an isothiocyanato, a cyanato, a nitro, an azido, a sulfate, a sulfonate, a sulfonamido, lower alkyl-C(O)OH, —O-lower alkyl-C(O)OH, -guanidinyl; —(CH 2 ) m —R 7 , —(CH 2 ) m —OH, —(CH 2 ) m —O-lower alkyl, —(CH 2 ) m —O-lower alkenyl, —(CH 2 ) n —O—(CH 2 ) m —R 3 , —(CH 2 ) m —SH, —(CH 2 ) m —S-lower alkyl, —(CH 2 ) m —S-lower alkenyl, —(CH 2 ) n —S—(CH 2 ) m —R 3 ;

R 10 is absent or represents one, two, or three substitutions to the ring Z to which they are appended, each of which can independently be a halogen, a lower alkyl, a lower alkenyl, a lower alkynyl, a carboxyl, an ester, a formate, a ketone), a thioester, a thioacetate, a thioformate), an amino, an acylamino, an amido, a cyano, an isocyano, a thiocyanato, an isothiocyanato, a cyanato, a nitro, an azido, a sulfate, a sulfonate, a sulfonamido, lower alkyl-C(O)OH, —O-lower alkyl-C(O)OH, -guanidinyl; —(CH 2 ) m —R 7 , —(CH 2 ) m —OH, —(CH 2 ) m —O-lower alkyl, —(CH 2 ) m —O-lower alkenyl, —(CH 2 ) n —O—(CH 2 ) m —R 3 , —(CH 2 ) m —SH, —(CH 2 ) m —S-lower alkyl, —(CH 2 ) m —S-lower alkenyl, —(CH 2 ) n —S—(CH 2 ) m —R 3 ;

X is O;

X 2 represents a halogen;

Y is C or N;

n is 0, 1, 2, or 3;

m is 0, 1, 2, or 3; and

p is 1, 2, or 3.

2. A compound selected from the group consisting of:

3. A compound selected from the group consisting of:

4. The compound of claim 2 , wherein the compound is represented by:

5. The compound of claim 3 , wherein the compound is represented by:

6. A pharmaceutical composition, comprising a compound of claim 1 and a pharmaceutically acceptable excipient.

7. A method for enhancing an immune response against a cancer, comprising:

administering to a patient in need thereof a therapeutically effective amount of an immuno-DASH inhibitor of claim 1 , thereby enhancing a cell-mediated immune response against the cancer,

wherein:

(a) at the therapeutically effective amount, the immuno-DASH inhibitor is characterized by a pharmacokinetic profile of being an inhibitor of DPP8, DPP9 and DPP4; and

(b) the immuno-DASH inhibitor has: i) an in vivo IC 50 for DPP4 inhibition of less than 50 nM, and ii) an intracellular IC 50 for DPP8 and DPP9 inhibition less than 50 nM.

8. The compound of claim 3 , wherein the compound is:

9. The compound of claim 2 , wherein the compound is represented by:

10. The method of claim 7 , further comprising administering to the patient a PGE2 antagonist.

11. A method for treating a myeloproliferative disease, comprising:

administering to a patient in need thereof a therapeutically effective amount of an immuno-DASH inhibitor of claim 1 , thereby enhancing an immune response against the myeloproliferative disease,

wherein:

(a) at the therapeutically effective amount, the immuno-DASH inhibitor is characterized by a pharmacokinetic profile of being an inhibitor of DPP8, DPP9 and DPP4; and

(b) the immuno-DASH inhibitor has: i) an in vivo IC 50 for DPP4 inhibition of less than 50 nM, and ii) an intracellular IC 50 for DPP8 and DPP9 inhibition less than 50 nM.

12. A method for treating a relapse of a cancer, comprising:

administering to a patient in remission of a cancer a therapeutically effective amount of an immuno-DASH inhibitor of claim 1 , thereby increasing G-CSF and CXCL1 cytokines in serum and enhance T-cell immunity against a cancer,

wherein:

(a) at the therapeutically effective amount, the immuno-DASH inhibitor is characterized by a pharmacokinetic profile of being an inhibitor DPP8, DPP9 and DPP4; and

(b) the immuno-DASH inhibitor has: i) an in vivo IC50 for DPP4 inhibition of less than 50 nM, and ii) an intracellular IC50 for DPP8 and DPP9 inhibition less than 50 nM.

13. The method of claim 7 , further comprising administering to the patient one or more chemotherapeutic agents or radiation therapy.

14. The method of claim 7 , further comprising administering to the patient a cancer vaccine.

15. The method of claim 7 , further comprising administering to the patient an adoptive cell transfer.

16. The method of claim 7 , further comprising administering to the patient an antibody therapy.

17. The method of claim 7 , further comprising administering to the patient at least one additional checkpoint inhibitor.

18. The method of claim 7 , further comprising administering to the patient a MAP kinase pathway inhibitor or a WNT pathway inhibitor.