Background:

GDC-0994 is a potent and selective inhibitor of ERK1/2 with IC50 values of 1.1 and 0.3 nM, respectively [1].

The extracellular-signal-regulated kinases (ERK1 and ERK2) are members of the MAP kinase family and act downstream of the RAS/RAF/MEK/ERK signaling cascade that are commonly activated by upstream oncogenic signaling or oncogenic mutations in BRAF or RAS. ERK1/2 play important roles in proliferation, differentiation and cell cycle progression [1].

GDC-0994 is an orally available and potent ERK1/2 inhibitor with potential antineoplastic activity. In mice bearing KRAS-mutant and BRAF-mutant human xenograft tumors, GDC-0994 exhibited significant single-agent activity and inhibited phospho-p90RSK [1]. When orally administration, GDC-0994 inhibited both activation of ERK-mediated signal transduction pathways and ERK phosphorylation, which then inhibited ERK-dependent tumor cell survival and proliferation.

参考文献:
[1].  Robarge K, Schwarz J, Blake J, et al. Abstract DDT02-03: Discovery of GDC-0994, a potent and selective ERK1/2 inhibitor in early clinical development. AACR Annual Meeting, 2014, San Diego, CA.