YKL-5-124 TFA, a potent and selective irreversible covalent inhibitor of CDK7, demonstrates IC50 values of 53.5 nM for CDK7 and 9.7 nM for the CDK7/Mat1/CycH complex. It exhibits over 100-fold selectivity for CDK7 over CDK9 and CDK2, while showing no activity against CDK12 and CDK13. This compound effectively induces cell-cycle arrest, inhibits E2F-driven gene expression, and has minimal impact on the phosphorylation status of RNA polymerase II.

CDK9:3020 nM, CDK7-CyclinH-MAT1:9.7 nM, CDK7:53.5 nM, CDK2:1300 nM