The discovery of somatic Jak2 mutations in patients with chronic myeloproliferative neoplasms has led to significant interest in discovering selective Jak2 inhibitors for use in treating these disorders. A high-throughput screening effort identified the pyrazolo[1,5-a]pyrimidine scaffold as a potent inhibitor of Jak2. Optimization of lead compounds 7a-b and 8 in this chemical series for activity against Jak2, selectivity against other Jak family kinases, and good in vivo pharmacokinetic properties led to the discovery of 7j. In a SET2 xenograft model that is dependent on Jak2 for growth, 7j demonstrated a time-dependent knock-down of pSTAT5, a downstream target of Jak2.

The kinetics of pyruvate kinase from Saccharomyces cerevisiae were studied in assays at pH 6.2 at 25 degrees C as a function of the concentrations of the substrates ADP, phosphoenolpyruvate and Mg2+ and the concentration of the effector fructose 1,6-bisphosphate. The enzyme was activated by 100 mM-K+ and 32 mM-NH4+ throughout. It was found that an increase in the fructose bisphosphate concentration from 24 microM to 1.2 mM brings about a transition from a sigmoidal to a non-inflected form in the relationships v = f([phosphoenolpyruvate]) and v = f([Mg2+]) together with a large increase in the affinity of these substrates for the enzyme. The binding behaviour of ADP is barely affected by the same change in effector concentration. By contrast, increase in fructose bisphosphate concentration below 24 microM increases the affinity of the enzyme for all its substrates and the sigmoidicity of the corresponding velocity-substrate-concentration relationships. As a result of this change in behaviour it has been found impossible to represent all the data by the exponential model for a regulatory enzyme, and it is suggested (supported by comparisons with previous work) that the failure may reflect a secondary action of the effector upon the enzyme.

The kinetics of pyruvate kinase from Saccharomyces cerevisiae were studied at 25 degrees C as a function of the concentrations of the substrates ADP, phosphoenolpyruvate and Mg2+ and the effector H+ in the pH range 5-6.6. The enzyme was activated by 100 mM-K+ and 32 mM-NH4+ throughout. It was found that the data could be described by the exponential model for a regulatory enzyme. On that basis, it was concluded that the binding of H+ is positively interactive and that the protonated enzyme is catalytically inactive. It was also found that H+ interacts positively with phosphoenolpyruvate but negatively with both ADP and Mg2+.

The kinetics of pyruvate kinase from Saccharomyces cerevisiae were studied in assays at pH 6.2 where the relationships between the initial velocities of the catalysed reaction and the concentrations of the substrates ADP, phosphoenolpyruvate and Mg2+ are non-hyperbolic. The findings were represented empirically by the exponential model for a regulatory enzyme. The analysis shows that ADP, phosphoenolpyruvate and Mg2+ display positive homotropic interaction in their binding behaviour with (calculated) Hill slopes at half-saturation equal to 1.06, 2.35 and 3.11 respectively [Ainsworth (1977) J. Theor. Biol. 68, 391-413]. The direct heterotropic interaction between ADP and phosphoenolpyruvate is small and negative, but the overall interaction between these substrates becomes positive when their positive interactions with Mg2+ are taken into account. The heterotropic interactions of the substrates, though smaller in magnitude, are comparable with those revealed by the rabbit muscle enzyme [Ainsworth, Kinderlerer & Gregory (1983) Biochem. J. 209, 401-411], and it is suggested that they have a common origin in charge interactions within the active site.

The kinetics of pyruvate kinase from Saccharomyces cerevisiae were studied at 25 degrees C and pH 6.2 as a function of the concentrations of ADP, phosphoenolpyruvate, Mg2+ and either NH4+ or K+. The data were analysed by the exponential model for four substrates, obtained by extension of the model described by Ainsworth, Kinderlerer & Gregory [(1983) Biochem. J. 209, 401-411]. On that basis, it was concluded that NH4+ binding is almost non-interactive but leads to the appearance of positive interaction in the velocity response to increase in its concentration because of positive interactions with phosphoenolpyruvate and Mg2+. The data obtained with K+ lead to the same conclusions and differ only in suggesting that NH4+ is bound more strongly to the enzyme than is K+. Both data sets are used as the basis for a discussion of the substrate interactions of pyruvate kinase and it appears therefrom that the heterotropic interactions accord with what is known of the events that take place at the active site during catalysis. The paper also reports a determination of the dissociation constants for the NH4+ complexes with ADP and phosphoenolpyruvate and an examination of the simultaneous activation of pyruvate kinase by K+ and NH4+ ions.