Synthesis, Docking Study and Kinase Inhibitory Activity of a Number of New Substituted Pyrazolo[3,4-c]pyridines.

A series of new pyrazolo[3,4-c]pyridines bearing various 1, 3, 5 or 1, 3, 7 pattern substitutions, were designed and synthesized. Some of them showed interesting inhibitory activity mainly against glycogen synthase kinase 3 (GSK3)α/β as well as against cdc2-like kinases 1 (CLK1) and dual-specificity tyrosine phosphorylation-regulated kinase 1A (DYRK1A), with good selectivity and remarkable structure-activity relationships (SARs), without being cytotoxic. Molecular simulations in correlation with biological data revealed the importance of the existence of N1-H as well as the absence of a bulky 7-substituent.