Terphenyl-Based Small-Molecule Inhibitors of Programmed Cell Death-1/Programmed Death-Ligand 1 Protein–Protein Interaction

Abstract

We describe a new class of potent PD-L1/PD-1 inhibitors based on a terphenyl scaffold that is derived from the rigidified biphenyl-inspired structure. Using <i>in silico</i> docking, we designed and then experimentally demonstrated the effectiveness of the terphenyl-based scaffolds in inhibiting PD-1/PD-L1 complex formation using various biophysical and biochemical techniques. We also present a high-resolution structure of the complex of PD-L1 with one of our most potent inhibitors to identify key PD-L1/inhibitor interactions at the molecular level. In addition, we show the efficacy of our most potent inhibitors in activating the antitumor response using primary human immune cells from healthy donors.