AZ960 is a novel inhibitor of janus-associated kinases (JAKs) that exhibits a potent inhibition against janus kinase 2 (JAK2) with the value of inhibition constant of K_i of 0.45 nmol/L. It also exhibits a lesser inhibitory effects against other JAKs family members, including JAK1, JAK3 and TYK2 as well as other kinases, including TrkA, Aurora A and FAK, with 50% inhibition concentration IC₅₀ of around 0.1 μmol/L. In recent studies, AZ960 demonstrates potential anti-cancer activity against adult T-cell leukemia (ATL), an aggressive malignancy of CD4+ T lymphocytes, by effectively inducing growth arrest and apoptosis in human T-cell lumphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1) infected T cells.

Reference

Yang J, Ikezoe T, Nishioka C, Furihata M, Yokoyama A. AZ960, a novel Jak2 inhibitor, induces growth arrest and apoptosis in adult T-cell leukemia cells. Mol Cancer Ther. 2010;9(12):3386-3395.