Design, synthesis and biological evaluation of imidazolidine-2,4-dione and 2-thioxothiazolidin-4-one derivatives as lymphoid-specific tyrosine phosphatase inhibitors

Lymphoid-specific tyrosine phosphatase (LYP), which exclusively exists in immune cells and down-regulates T cell receptor signaling (TCR), has becoming a potent target for various autoimmune diseases. Herein, we designed and synthesized imidazolidine-2,4-dione and 2-thioxothiazolidin-4-one derivatives as new LYP inhibitors. Among them, the cinnamic acids-based inhibitors (9p and 9r) displayed good LYP inhibitory activities (IC50 = 2.85-6.95 mu M). Especially, the most potent inhibitor 9r was identified as competitive inhibitor (K-i = 1.09 mu M) and bind LYP reversibly. Meanwhile, 9r exhibited better selectivity over other phosphatases than known LYP inhibitor A15. Furthermore, compound 9r could regulate TCR associated signaling pathway in Jurkat T cell.