Pyruvate kinase M2 (PKM2) inhibitor superior to shikonin.
Compound 3k (C3k) is a pyruvate kinase M2 (PKM2) inhibitor with 3-fold higher potency than shikonin (IC50 = 2.95 and 8.82 μM, respectively, by in vitro PKM2 LDH coupled assay). C3k exhibits potent cancer cell-selective antiproliferative activity in high PKM2-expressing cancer cultures (HCT116/HeLA/H1299 IC50 = 0.18/0.29/1.56 μM with C3k, 1.84/2.45/1.88 μM with shikonin) with much less cytotoxicity toward normal BEAS-2B human bronchial epithelial cells (IC50 = 18.46 μM; IC50 = 5.36 μM with shikonin).
