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Tabana Y, Babu D, Fahlman R, Siraki AG, Barakat K. Target identification of small molecules: an overview of the current applications in drug discovery. BMC Biotechnol 2023; 23:44. [PMID: 37817108 PMCID: PMC10566111 DOI: 10.1186/s12896-023-00815-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/20/2023] [Accepted: 09/22/2023] [Indexed: 10/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Target identification is an essential part of the drug discovery and development process, and its efficacy plays a crucial role in the success of any given therapy. Although protein target identification research can be challenging, two main approaches can help researchers make significant discoveries: affinity-based pull-down and label-free methods. Affinity-based pull-down methods use small molecules conjugated with tags to selectively isolate target proteins, while label-free methods utilize small molecules in their natural state to identify targets. Target identification strategy selection is essential to the success of any drug discovery process and must be carefully considered when determining how to best pursue a specific project. This paper provides an overview of the current target identification approaches in drug discovery related to experimental biological assays, focusing primarily on affinity-based pull-down and label-free approaches, and discusses their main limitations and advantages.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yasser Tabana
- Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada
| | - Dinesh Babu
- Li Ka Shing Applied Virology Institute, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, T6G 2E1, Canada
| | - Richard Fahlman
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada
| | - Arno G Siraki
- Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada
| | - Khaled Barakat
- Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada.
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Fancher AT, Hua Y, Close DA, Xu W, McDermott LA, Strock CJ, Santiago U, Camacho CJ, Johnston PA. Characterization of allosteric modulators that disrupt androgen receptor co-activator protein-protein interactions to alter transactivation-Drug leads for metastatic castration resistant prostate cancer. SLAS Discov 2023:S2472-5552(23)00053-9. [PMID: 37549772 DOI: 10.1016/j.slasd.2023.08.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/05/2023] [Revised: 07/06/2023] [Accepted: 08/04/2023] [Indexed: 08/09/2023]
Abstract
Three series of compounds were prioritized from a high content screening campaign that identified molecules that blocked dihydrotestosterone (DHT) induced formation of Androgen Receptor (AR) protein-protein interactions (PPIs) with the Transcriptional Intermediary Factor 2 (TIF2) coactivator and also disrupted preformed AR-TIF2 PPI complexes; the hydrobenzo-oxazepins (S1), thiadiazol-5-piperidine-carboxamides (S2), and phenyl-methyl-indoles (S3). Compounds from these series inhibited AR PPIs with TIF2 and SRC-1, another p160 coactivator, in mammalian 2-hybrid assays and blocked transcriptional activation in reporter assays driven by full length AR or AR-V7 splice variants. Compounds inhibited the growth of five prostate cancer cell lines, with many exhibiting differential cytotoxicity towards AR positive cell lines. Representative compounds from the 3 series substantially reduced both endogenous and DHT-enhanced expression and secretion of the prostate specific antigen (PSA) cancer biomarker in the C4-2 castration resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) cell line. The comparatively weak activities of series compounds in the H3-DHT and/or TIF2 box 3 LXXLL-peptide binding assays to the recombinant ligand binding domain of AR suggest that direct antagonism at the orthosteric ligand binding site or AF-2 surface respectively are unlikely mechanisms of action. Cellular enhanced thermal stability assays (CETSA) indicated that compounds engaged AR and reduced the maximum efficacy and right shifted the EC50 of DHT-enhanced AR thermal stabilization consistent with the effects of negative allosteric modulators. Molecular docking of potent representative hits from each series to AR structures suggest that S1-1 and S2-6 engage a novel binding pocket (BP-1) adjacent to the orthosteric ligand binding site, while S3-11 occupies the AR binding function 3 (BF-3) allosteric pocket. Hit binding poses indicate spaces and residues adjacent to the BP-1 and BF-3 pockets that will be exploited in future medicinal chemistry optimization studies. Small molecule allosteric modulators that prevent/disrupt AR PPIs with coactivators like TIF2 to alter transcriptional activation in the presence of orthosteric agonists might evade the resistance mechanisms to existing prostate cancer drugs and provide novel starting points for medicinal chemistry lead optimization and future development into therapies for metastatic CRPC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ashley T Fancher
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Pharmacy, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15261, USA; Nucleus Global, 2 Ravinia Drive, Suite 605, Atlanta, GA 30346, USA
| | - Yun Hua
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Pharmacy, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15261, USA
| | - David A Close
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Pharmacy, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15261, USA
| | - Wei Xu
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Pharmacy, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15261, USA
| | - Lee A McDermott
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Pharmacy, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15261, USA; PsychoGenics Inc, 215 College Road, Paramus, NJ 07652, USA
| | | | - Ulises Santiago
- Department of Computational and Systems Biology, School of Medicine, at the University of Pittsburgh, USA
| | - Carlos J Camacho
- Department of Computational and Systems Biology, School of Medicine, at the University of Pittsburgh, USA
| | - Paul A Johnston
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Pharmacy, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15261, USA; University of Pittsburgh Hillman Cancer Center, Pittsburgh, PA 15232, USA.
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Tu Y, Tan L, Tao H, Li Y, Liu H. CETSA and thermal proteome profiling strategies for target identification and drug discovery of natural products. Phytomedicine 2023; 116:154862. [PMID: 37216761 DOI: 10.1016/j.phymed.2023.154862] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/23/2023] [Revised: 04/21/2023] [Accepted: 05/04/2023] [Indexed: 05/24/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Monitoring target engagement at various stages of drug development is essential for natural product (NP)-based drug discovery and development. The cellular thermal shift assay (CETSA) developed in 2013 is a novel, broadly applicable, label-free biophysical assay based on the principle of ligand-induced thermal stabilization of target proteins, which enables direct assessment of drug-target engagement in physiologically relevant contexts, including intact cells, cell lysates and tissues. This review aims to provide an overview of the work principles of CETSA and its derivative strategies and their recent progress in protein target validation, target identification and drug lead discovery of NPs. METHODS A literature-based survey was conducted using the Web of Science and PubMed databases. The required information was reviewed and discussed to highlight the important role of CETSA-derived strategies in NP studies. RESULTS After nearly ten years of upgrading and evolution, CETSA has been mainly developed into three formats: classic Western blotting (WB)-CETSA for target validation, thermal proteome profiling (TPP, also known as MS-CETSA) for unbiased proteome-wide target identification, and high-throughput (HT)-CETSA for drug hit discovery and lead optimization. Importantly, the application possibilities of a variety of TPP approaches for the target discovery of bioactive NPs are highlighted and discussed, including TPP-temperature range (TPP-TR), TPP-compound concentration range (TPP-CCR), two-dimensional TPP (2D-TPP), cell surface-TPP (CS-TPP), simplified TPP (STPP), thermal stability shift-based fluorescence difference in 2D gel electrophoresis (TS-FITGE) and precipitate supported TPP (PSTPP). In addition, the key advantages, limitations and future outlook of CETSA strategies for NP studies are discussed. CONCLUSION The accumulation of CETSA-based data can significantly accelerate the elucidation of the mechanism of action and drug lead discovery of NPs, and provide strong evidence for NP treatment against certain diseases. The CETSA strategy will certainly bring a great return far beyond the initial investment and open up more possibilities for future NP-based drug research and development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yanbei Tu
- School of Pharmacy, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, Jiangsu 212013, China
| | - Lihua Tan
- State Key Laboratory of Quality Research in Chinese Medicine, Institute of Chinese Medical Sciences, University of Macau, Taipa, Macao SAR 999078, China
| | - Hongxun Tao
- School of Food and Biological Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, Jiangsu 212013, China
| | - Yanfang Li
- School of Chemical Engineering, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan 610065, China.
| | - Hanqing Liu
- School of Pharmacy, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, Jiangsu 212013, China.
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Caballero I, Lundgren S. A Shift in Thinking: Cellular Thermal Shift Assay-Enabled Drug Discovery. ACS Med Chem Lett 2023; 14:369-375. [PMID: 37077396 PMCID: PMC10108388 DOI: 10.1021/acsmedchemlett.2c00545] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/12/2023] [Accepted: 03/06/2023] [Indexed: 03/19/2023] Open
Abstract
A decade has passed since the cellular thermal shift assay (CETSA) was introduced to the drug discovery community. Over the years, the method has guided numerous projects by providing insights about, for example, target engagement, lead generation, target identification, lead optimization, and preclinical profiling. With this Microperspective, we intend to highlight recently published applications of CETSA and how the data generated can enable efficient decision-making and prioritization throughout the drug discovery and development value chain.
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Kurbatov I, Dolgalev G, Arzumanian V, Kiseleva O, Poverennaya E. The Knowns and Unknowns in Protein-Metabolite Interactions. Int J Mol Sci 2023; 24:ijms24044155. [PMID: 36835565 PMCID: PMC9964805 DOI: 10.3390/ijms24044155] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/08/2023] [Revised: 02/11/2023] [Accepted: 02/15/2023] [Indexed: 02/22/2023] Open
Abstract
Increasing attention has been focused on the study of protein-metabolite interactions (PMI), which play a key role in regulating protein functions and directing an orchestra of cellular processes. The investigation of PMIs is complicated by the fact that many such interactions are extremely short-lived, which requires very high resolution in order to detect them. As in the case of protein-protein interactions, protein-metabolite interactions are still not clearly defined. Existing assays for detecting protein-metabolite interactions have an additional limitation in the form of a limited capacity to identify interacting metabolites. Thus, although recent advances in mass spectrometry allow the routine identification and quantification of thousands of proteins and metabolites today, they still need to be improved to provide a complete inventory of biological molecules, as well as all interactions between them. Multiomic studies aimed at deciphering the implementation of genetic information often end with the analysis of changes in metabolic pathways, as they constitute one of the most informative phenotypic layers. In this approach, the quantity and quality of knowledge about PMIs become vital to establishing the full scope of crosstalk between the proteome and the metabolome in a biological object of interest. In this review, we analyze the current state of investigation into the detection and annotation of protein-metabolite interactions, describe the recent progress in developing associated research methods, and attempt to deconstruct the very term "interaction" to advance the field of interactomics further.
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Chakravarty A, Yang PL. Targeted protein degradation as an antiviral approach. Antiviral Res 2023; 210:105480. [PMID: 36567024 PMCID: PMC10178900 DOI: 10.1016/j.antiviral.2022.105480] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/17/2022] [Accepted: 12/01/2022] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
Targeted protein degradation (TPD) has emerged as a new modality in drug discovery. In this approach, small molecules are used to drive degradation of the target protein of interest. Whereas most direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) inhibit or derange the activity of their viral protein targets and have occupancy-driven pharmacology, small molecules with a TPD-based mechanism have event-driven pharmacology exerted through their ability to induce target degradation. These contrasting mechanisms can result in significant differences in drug efficacy and pharmacodynamics that may be useful in the development of new classes of antivirals. While now being widely pursued in cancer biology and autoimmune disease, TPD has not yet been widely applied as an antiviral strategy. Here, we briefly review TPD pharmacology along with the current status of tools available for developing small molecules that achieve antiviral activity through a TPD mechanism. We also highlight aspects of TPD that may be especially useful in the development of antivirals and that we hope will motivate pursuit of TPD-based antivirals by the antivirals research community.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antara Chakravarty
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA
| | - Priscilla L Yang
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA.
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7
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Abstract
Only around 20% of the human proteome is considered to be druggable with small-molecule antagonists. This leaves some of the most compelling therapeutic targets outside the reach of ligand discovery. The concept of targeted protein degradation (TPD) promises to overcome some of these limitations. In brief, TPD is dependent on small molecules that induce the proximity between a protein of interest (POI) and an E3 ubiquitin ligase, causing ubiquitination and degradation of the POI. In this perspective, we want to reflect on current challenges in the field, and discuss how advances in multiomics profiling, artificial intelligence, and machine learning (AI/ML) will be vital in overcoming them. The presented roadmap is discussed in the context of small-molecule degraders but is equally applicable for other emerging proximity-inducing modalities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Miquel Duran-Frigola
- CeMM
Research Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of
Sciences, 1090 Vienna, Austria,Ersilia
Open Source Initiative, 28 Belgrave Road, CB1 3DE, Cambridge, United Kingdom,
| | - Marko Cigler
- CeMM
Research Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of
Sciences, 1090 Vienna, Austria
| | - Georg E. Winter
- CeMM
Research Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of
Sciences, 1090 Vienna, Austria,
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Abstract
INTRODUCTION Luminescence-based technologies, specifically bioluminescence and chemiluminescence, are powerful tools with extensive use in drug discovery. Production of light during chemiluminescence and bioluminescence, unlike fluorescence, doesn't require an excitation light source, resulting in high signal-to-noise ratio, less background interference, and no issues from phototoxicity and photobleaching. These characteristics of luminescence technologies offer unique advantages for experimental designs, allowing for greater flexibility to target a wide range of proteins and biological processes for drug discovery at different stages. AREAS COVERED This review provides a basic overview of luciferase-based technologies and details recent advances and use cases of luciferase and luciferin variations and their applicability in the drug discovery toolset. The authors expand upon specific applications of luciferase technologies, including chemiluminescent and bioluminescent-based microscopy. Finally, the authors lay out forward-looking statements on the field of luminescence and how it may shape the translational scientists' work moving forward. EXPERT OPINION The demand for improved luciferase and luciferin pairs correlates strongly with efforts to improve the sensitivity and robustness of high-throughput assays. As luminescent reporter systems improve, so will the expansion of use cases for luminescence-based technologies in early-stage drug discovery. With the synthesis of novel, non-enzymatic chemiluminescence-based probes, which previously were restrained to only basic research applications, they may now be readily implemented in drug discovery campaigns.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bolormaa Baljinnyam
- Staff Scientist, National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Rockville, MD, USA
| | - Michael Ronzetti
- Predoctoral IRTA Fellow, National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Rockville, MD, USA
| | - Anton Simeonov
- Group Leader, Scientific Director, National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Rockville, MD, USA
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Feng F, Zhang W, Chai Y, Guo D, Chen X. Label-free target protein characterization for small molecule drugs: recent advances in methods and applications. J Pharm Biomed Anal 2023; 223:115107. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jpba.2022.115107] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/05/2022] [Revised: 10/08/2022] [Accepted: 10/11/2022] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
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10
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Han YN, Lambert LJ, De Backer LJS, Wu J, Cosford NDP, Tautz L. Detection of Cellular Target Engagement for Small-Molecule Modulators of Striatal-Enriched Protein Tyrosine Phosphatase (STEP). Methods Mol Biol 2023; 2706:167-175. [PMID: 37558948 PMCID: PMC10956569 DOI: 10.1007/978-1-0716-3397-7_12] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/11/2023]
Abstract
Striatal-enriched protein tyrosine phosphatase (STEP) is a brain-specific enzyme that regulates the signaling molecules that control synaptic plasticity and neuronal function. Dysregulation of STEP is linked to the pathophysiology of Alzheimer's disease and other neuropsychiatric disorders. Experimental results from neurological deficit disease models suggest that the modulation of STEP could be beneficial in a number of these disorders. This prompted our work to identify small-molecule modulators of STEP to provide the foundation of a drug discovery program. As a component of our testing funnel to identify small-molecule STEP inhibitors, we have developed a cellular target engagement assay that can identify compounds that interact with STEP46. We provide a comprehensive protocol to enable the use of this miniaturized assay, and we demonstrate its utility to benchmark the binding of newly discovered compounds.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ye Na Han
- NCI-Designated Cancer Center, Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Lester J Lambert
- NCI-Designated Cancer Center, Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Laurent J S De Backer
- NCI-Designated Cancer Center, Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Jiaqian Wu
- NCI-Designated Cancer Center, Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Nicholas D P Cosford
- NCI-Designated Cancer Center, Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Lutz Tautz
- NCI-Designated Cancer Center, Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute, La Jolla, CA, USA.
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11
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Abstract
Targeted protein degradation (TPD) provides unprecedented opportunities for drug discovery. While the proteolysis-targeting chimera (PROTAC) technology has already entered clinical trials and changed the landscape of small-molecule drugs, new degrader technologies harnessing alternative degradation machineries, especially lysosomal pathways, have emerged and broadened the spectrum of degradable targets. We have recently proposed the concept of autophagy-tethering compounds (ATTECs) that hijack the autophagy protein microtubule-associated protein 1A/1B light chain 3 (LC3) for targeted degradation. Other groups also reported degrader technologies engaging lysosomal pathways through different mechanisms including AUTACs, AUTOTACs, LYTACs and MoDE-As. In this review, we analyse and discuss ATTECs along with other lysosomal-relevant degrader technologies. Finally, we will briefly summarize the current status of these degrader technologies and envision possible future studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yu Ding
- Neurology Department at Huashan Hospital, State Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology and MOE Frontiers Center for Brain Science, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
| | - Dong Xing
- Shanghai Engineering Research Center of Molecular Therapeutics and New Drug Development, School of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China.
| | - Yiyan Fei
- Department of Optical Science and Engineering, Shanghai Engineering Research Center of Ultra-Precision Optical Manufacturing, Key Laboratory of Micro and Nano Photonic Structures (Ministry of Education), Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
| | - Boxun Lu
- Neurology Department at Huashan Hospital, State Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology and MOE Frontiers Center for Brain Science, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
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12
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Chen M, Zhu Z, Wisniewski T, Zhang X, McLaren DG, Weinglass A, Saldanha SA. Label-free LC-MS based assay to characterize small molecule compound binding to cells. SLAS Discov 2022; 27:405-412. [PMID: 36064100 DOI: 10.1016/j.slasd.2022.08.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/21/2022] [Revised: 08/29/2022] [Accepted: 08/31/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Study of small molecule binding to live cells provides important information on the characterization of ligands pharmacologically. Here we developed and validated a label-free, liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) based cell binding assay, using centrifugation to separate binders from non-binders. This assay was applied to various target classes, with particular emphasis on those for which protein-based binding assay can be difficult to achieve. In one example, to study a G protein coupled receptor (GPCR), we used one antagonist as probe and multiple other antagonists as competitor ligands. Binding of the probe was confirmed to be specific and saturable, reaching a fast equilibrium. Competition binding analysis by titration of five known ligands suggested a good correlation with their inhibition potency. In another example, this assay was applied to an ion channel target with its agonists, of which the determined binding affinity was consistent with functional assays. This versatile method allows quantitative characterization of ligand binding to cell surface expressed targets in a physiologically relevant environment.
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Sanchez TW, Ronzetti MH, Owens AE, Antony M, Voss T, Wallgren E, Talley D, Balakrishnan K, Leyes Porello SE, Rai G, Marugan JJ, Michael SG, Baljinnyam B, Southall N, Simeonov A, Henderson MJ. Real-Time Cellular Thermal Shift Assay to Monitor Target Engagement. ACS Chem Biol 2022; 17:2471-2482. [PMID: 36049119 PMCID: PMC9486815 DOI: 10.1021/acschembio.2c00334] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/19/2023]
Abstract
Determining a molecule's mechanism of action is paramount during chemical probe development and drug discovery. The cellular thermal shift assay (CETSA) is a valuable tool to confirm target engagement in cells for a small molecule that demonstrates a pharmacological effect. CETSA directly detects biophysical interactions between ligands and protein targets, which can alter a protein's unfolding and aggregation properties in response to thermal challenge. In traditional CETSA experiments, each temperature requires an individual sample, which restricts throughput and requires substantial optimization. To capture the full aggregation profile of a protein from a single sample, we developed a prototype real-time CETSA (RT-CETSA) platform by coupling a real-time PCR instrument with a CCD camera to detect luminescence. A thermally stable Nanoluciferase variant (ThermLuc) was bioengineered to withstand unfolding at temperatures greater than 90 °C and was compatible with monitoring target engagement events when fused to diverse targets. Utilizing well-characterized inhibitors of lactate dehydrogenase alpha, RT-CETSA showed significant correlation with enzymatic, biophysical, and other cell-based assays. A data analysis pipeline was developed to enhance the sensitivity of RT-CETSA to detect on-target binding. RT-CETSA technology advances capabilities of the CETSA method and facilitates the identification of ligand-target engagement in cells, a critical step in assessing the mechanism of action of a small molecule.
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14
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Abstract
Small molecule chemical probes are valuable tools for interrogating protein biological functions and relevance as a therapeutic target. Rigorous validation of chemical probe parameters such as cellular potency and selectivity is critical to unequivocally linking biological and phenotypic data resulting from treatment with a chemical probe to the function of a specific target protein. A variety of modern technologies are available to evaluate cellular potency and selectivity, target engagement, and functional response biomarkers of chemical probe compounds. Here, we review these technologies and the rationales behind using them for the characterization and validation of chemical probes. In addition, large-scale phenotypic characterization of chemical probes through chemical genetic screening is increasingly leading to a wealth of information on the cellular pharmacology and disease involvement of potential therapeutic targets. Extensive compound validation approaches and integration of phenotypic information will lay foundations for further use of chemical probes in biological discovery. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Biochemistry, Volume 91 is June 2022. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Victoria Vu
- Structural Genomics Consortium, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; .,Princess Margaret Cancer Centre and Department of Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Magdalena M Szewczyk
- Structural Genomics Consortium, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada;
| | - David Y Nie
- Structural Genomics Consortium, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; .,Princess Margaret Cancer Centre and Department of Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Cheryl H Arrowsmith
- Structural Genomics Consortium, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; .,Princess Margaret Cancer Centre and Department of Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Dalia Barsyte-Lovejoy
- Structural Genomics Consortium, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; .,Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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15
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Meissner F, Geddes-McAlister J, Mann M, Bantscheff M. The emerging role of mass spectrometry-based proteomics in drug discovery. Nat Rev Drug Discov 2022. [PMID: 35351998 DOI: 10.1038/s41573-022-00409-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 80] [Impact Index Per Article: 40.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 01/19/2022] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Proteins are the main targets of most drugs; however, system-wide methods to monitor protein activity and function are still underused in drug discovery. Novel biochemical approaches, in combination with recent developments in mass spectrometry-based proteomics instrumentation and data analysis pipelines, have now enabled the dissection of disease phenotypes and their modulation by bioactive molecules at unprecedented resolution and dimensionality. In this Review, we describe proteomics and chemoproteomics approaches for target identification and validation, as well as for identification of safety hazards. We discuss innovative strategies in early-stage drug discovery in which proteomics approaches generate unique insights, such as targeted protein degradation and the use of reactive fragments, and provide guidance for experimental strategies crucial for success.
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16
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Owens AE, Iannotti MJ, Sanchez TW, Voss T, Kapoor A, Hall MD, Marugan JJ, Michael S, Southall N, Henderson MJ. High-Throughput Cellular Thermal Shift Assay Using Acoustic Transfer of Protein Lysates. ACS Chem Biol 2022; 17:322-330. [PMID: 35119255 PMCID: PMC10026039 DOI: 10.1021/acschembio.1c00760] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
Cellular thermal shift assay (CETSA) is a valuable method to confirm target engagement within a complex cellular environment, by detecting changes in a protein's thermal stability upon ligand binding. The classical CETSA method measures changes in the thermal stability of endogenous proteins using immunoblotting, which is low-throughput and laborious. Reverse-phase protein arrays (RPPAs) have been demonstrated as a detection modality for CETSA; however, the reported procedure requires manual processing steps that limit throughput and preclude screening applications. We developed a high-throughput CETSA using an acoustic RPPA (HT-CETSA-aRPPA) protocol that is compatible with 96- and 384-well microplates from start-to-finish, using low speed centrifugation to remove thermally destabilized proteins. The utility of HT-CETSA-aRPPA for guiding structure-activity relationship studies was demonstrated for inhibitors of lactate dehydrogenase A. Additionally, a collection of kinase inhibitors was screened to identify compounds that engage MEK1, a clinically relevant kinase target.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ashley E. Owens
- National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Rockville, Maryland, 20850, USA
| | - Michael J. Iannotti
- National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Rockville, Maryland, 20850, USA
| | - Tino W. Sanchez
- National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Rockville, Maryland, 20850, USA
| | - Ty Voss
- National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Rockville, Maryland, 20850, USA
| | - Abhijeet Kapoor
- National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Rockville, Maryland, 20850, USA
| | - Matthew D. Hall
- National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Rockville, Maryland, 20850, USA
| | - Juan J. Marugan
- National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Rockville, Maryland, 20850, USA
| | - Sam Michael
- National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Rockville, Maryland, 20850, USA
| | - Noel Southall
- National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Rockville, Maryland, 20850, USA
| | - Mark J. Henderson
- National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Rockville, Maryland, 20850, USA
- Corresponding Author: Mark Henderson;
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17
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Deprez B, Bosc D, Charton J, Couturier C, Deprez-Poulain R, Flipo M, Leroux F, Villemagne B, Willand N. Molecular Design in Practice: A Review of Selected Projects in a French Research Institute That Illustrates the Link between Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry. Molecules 2021; 26:6083. [PMID: 34641626 PMCID: PMC8512331 DOI: 10.3390/molecules26196083] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/23/2021] [Revised: 09/19/2021] [Accepted: 10/05/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Chemical biology and drug discovery are two scientific activities that pursue different goals but complement each other. The former is an interventional science that aims at understanding living systems through the modulation of its molecular components with compounds designed for this purpose. The latter is the art of designing drug candidates, i.e., molecules that act on selected molecular components of human beings and display, as a candidate treatment, the best reachable risk benefit ratio. In chemical biology, the compound is the means to understand biology, whereas in drug discovery, the compound is the goal. The toolbox they share includes biological and chemical analytic technologies, cell and whole-body imaging, and exploring the chemical space through state-of-the-art design and synthesis tools. In this article, we examine several tools shared by drug discovery and chemical biology through selected examples taken from research projects conducted in our institute in the last decade. These examples illustrate the design of chemical probes and tools to identify and validate new targets, to quantify target engagement in vitro and in vivo, to discover hits and to optimize pharmacokinetic properties with the control of compound concentration both spatially and temporally in the various biophases of a biological system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Benoit Deprez
- Univ. Lille, Inserm, Institut Pasteur Lille, U1177-Drugs and Molecules for Living Systems, F-59000 Lille, France; (D.B.); (J.C.); (C.C.); (R.D.-P.); (M.F.); (F.L.); (B.V.)
- Univ. Lille, CNRS, Inserm, CHU Lille, Institut Pasteur de Lille, US 41-UMS 2014-PLBS, F-59000 Lille, France
| | - Damien Bosc
- Univ. Lille, Inserm, Institut Pasteur Lille, U1177-Drugs and Molecules for Living Systems, F-59000 Lille, France; (D.B.); (J.C.); (C.C.); (R.D.-P.); (M.F.); (F.L.); (B.V.)
| | - Julie Charton
- Univ. Lille, Inserm, Institut Pasteur Lille, U1177-Drugs and Molecules for Living Systems, F-59000 Lille, France; (D.B.); (J.C.); (C.C.); (R.D.-P.); (M.F.); (F.L.); (B.V.)
| | - Cyril Couturier
- Univ. Lille, Inserm, Institut Pasteur Lille, U1177-Drugs and Molecules for Living Systems, F-59000 Lille, France; (D.B.); (J.C.); (C.C.); (R.D.-P.); (M.F.); (F.L.); (B.V.)
- Univ. Lille, CNRS, Inserm, CHU Lille, Institut Pasteur de Lille, US 41-UMS 2014-PLBS, F-59000 Lille, France
| | - Rebecca Deprez-Poulain
- Univ. Lille, Inserm, Institut Pasteur Lille, U1177-Drugs and Molecules for Living Systems, F-59000 Lille, France; (D.B.); (J.C.); (C.C.); (R.D.-P.); (M.F.); (F.L.); (B.V.)
| | - Marion Flipo
- Univ. Lille, Inserm, Institut Pasteur Lille, U1177-Drugs and Molecules for Living Systems, F-59000 Lille, France; (D.B.); (J.C.); (C.C.); (R.D.-P.); (M.F.); (F.L.); (B.V.)
| | - Florence Leroux
- Univ. Lille, Inserm, Institut Pasteur Lille, U1177-Drugs and Molecules for Living Systems, F-59000 Lille, France; (D.B.); (J.C.); (C.C.); (R.D.-P.); (M.F.); (F.L.); (B.V.)
- Univ. Lille, CNRS, Inserm, CHU Lille, Institut Pasteur de Lille, US 41-UMS 2014-PLBS, F-59000 Lille, France
| | - Baptiste Villemagne
- Univ. Lille, Inserm, Institut Pasteur Lille, U1177-Drugs and Molecules for Living Systems, F-59000 Lille, France; (D.B.); (J.C.); (C.C.); (R.D.-P.); (M.F.); (F.L.); (B.V.)
| | - Nicolas Willand
- Univ. Lille, Inserm, Institut Pasteur Lille, U1177-Drugs and Molecules for Living Systems, F-59000 Lille, France; (D.B.); (J.C.); (C.C.); (R.D.-P.); (M.F.); (F.L.); (B.V.)
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18
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Dvorak V, Wiedmer T, Ingles-Prieto A, Altermatt P, Batoulis H, Bärenz F, Bender E, Digles D, Dürrenberger F, Heitman LH, IJzerman AP, Kell DB, Kickinger S, Körzö D, Leippe P, Licher T, Manolova V, Rizzetto R, Sassone F, Scarabottolo L, Schlessinger A, Schneider V, Sijben HJ, Steck AL, Sundström H, Tremolada S, Wilhelm M, Wright Muelas M, Zindel D, Steppan CM, Superti-Furga G. An Overview of Cell-Based Assay Platforms for the Solute Carrier Family of Transporters. Front Pharmacol 2021; 12:722889. [PMID: 34447313 PMCID: PMC8383457 DOI: 10.3389/fphar.2021.722889] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/10/2021] [Accepted: 07/19/2021] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
The solute carrier (SLC) superfamily represents the biggest family of transporters with important roles in health and disease. Despite being attractive and druggable targets, the majority of SLCs remains understudied. One major hurdle in research on SLCs is the lack of tools, such as cell-based assays to investigate their biological role and for drug discovery. Another challenge is the disperse and anecdotal information on assay strategies that are suitable for SLCs. This review provides a comprehensive overview of state-of-the-art cellular assay technologies for SLC research and discusses relevant SLC characteristics enabling the choice of an optimal assay technology. The Innovative Medicines Initiative consortium RESOLUTE intends to accelerate research on SLCs by providing the scientific community with high-quality reagents, assay technologies and data sets, and to ultimately unlock SLCs for drug discovery.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vojtech Dvorak
- CeMM Research Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna, Austria
| | - Tabea Wiedmer
- CeMM Research Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna, Austria
| | - Alvaro Ingles-Prieto
- CeMM Research Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna, Austria
| | | | - Helena Batoulis
- Drug Discovery Sciences–Lead Discovery, Bayer Pharmaceuticals, Wuppertal, Germany
| | - Felix Bärenz
- Sanofi-Aventis Deutschland GmbH, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - Eckhard Bender
- Drug Discovery Sciences–Lead Discovery, Bayer Pharmaceuticals, Wuppertal, Germany
| | - Daniela Digles
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | | | - Laura H. Heitman
- Division of Drug Discovery and Safety, LACDR, Leiden University, Leiden, Netherlands
| | - Adriaan P. IJzerman
- Division of Drug Discovery and Safety, LACDR, Leiden University, Leiden, Netherlands
| | - Douglas B. Kell
- Department of Biochemistry and Systems Biology, Institute of Systems, Molecular and Integrative Biology, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, United Kingdom
- Novo Nordisk Foundation Centre for Biosustainability, Technical University of Denmark, Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark
| | - Stefanie Kickinger
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Daniel Körzö
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Philipp Leippe
- Department of Chemical Biology, Max Planck Institute for Medical Research, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Thomas Licher
- Sanofi-Aventis Deutschland GmbH, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | | | | | | | | | - Avner Schlessinger
- Department of Pharmacological Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, United States
| | - Vanessa Schneider
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Hubert J. Sijben
- Division of Drug Discovery and Safety, LACDR, Leiden University, Leiden, Netherlands
| | | | | | | | | | - Marina Wright Muelas
- Department of Biochemistry and Systems Biology, Institute of Systems, Molecular and Integrative Biology, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, United Kingdom
| | - Diana Zindel
- Drug Discovery Sciences–Lead Discovery, Bayer Pharmaceuticals, Wuppertal, Germany
| | - Claire M. Steppan
- Pfizer Worldwide Research, Development and Medical, Groton, MA, United States
| | - Giulio Superti-Furga
- CeMM Research Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna, Austria
- Center for Physiology and Pharmacology, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
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19
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Cho EJ, Dalby KN. Luminescence Energy Transfer-Based Screening and Target Engagement Approaches for Chemical Biology and Drug Discovery. SLAS Discov 2021; 26:984-994. [PMID: 34330171 DOI: 10.1177/24725552211036056] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Luminescence is characterized by the spontaneous emission of light resulting from either chemical or biological reactions. Because of their high sensitivity, reduced background interference, and applicability to numerous situations, luminescence-based assay strategies play an essential role in early-stage drug discovery. Newer developments in luminescence-based technologies have dramatically affected the ability of researchers to investigate molecular binding events. At the forefront of these developments are the nano bioluminescence resonance energy transfer (NanoBRET) and amplified luminescent proximity homogeneous assay (Alpha) technologies. These technologies have opened up numerous possibilities for analyzing the molecular biophysical properties of complexes in environments such as cell lysates. Moreover, NanoBRET enables the validation and quantitation of the interactions between therapeutic targets and small molecules in live cells, representing an essential benchmark for preclinical drug discovery. Both techniques involve proximity-based luminescence energy transfer, in which excited-state energy is transferred from a donor to an acceptor, where the efficiency of transfer depends on proximity. Both approaches can be applied to high-throughput compound screening in biological samples, with the NanoBRET assay providing opportunities for live-cell screening. Representative applications of both technologies for assessing physical interactions and associated challenges are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eun Jeong Cho
- Targeted Therapeutic Drug Discovery and Development Program, Division of Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry, College of Pharmacy, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA
| | - Kevin N Dalby
- Targeted Therapeutic Drug Discovery and Development Program, Division of Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry, College of Pharmacy, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA
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20
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Affiliation(s)
- Martin J Main
- Medicines Discovery Catapult, Alderley Park, Cheshire, UK
| | - Andrew X Zhang
- Discovery Sciences, BioPharmaceuticals R&D, AstraZeneca, Boston, MA, USA
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21
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Moreira-Filho JT, Silva AC, Dantas RF, Gomes BF, Souza Neto LR, Brandao-Neto J, Owens RJ, Furnham N, Neves BJ, Silva-Junior FP, Andrade CH. Schistosomiasis Drug Discovery in the Era of Automation and Artificial Intelligence. Front Immunol 2021; 12:642383. [PMID: 34135888 PMCID: PMC8203334 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2021.642383] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2020] [Accepted: 04/30/2021] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Schistosomiasis is a parasitic disease caused by trematode worms of the genus Schistosoma and affects over 200 million people worldwide. The control and treatment of this neglected tropical disease is based on a single drug, praziquantel, which raises concerns about the development of drug resistance. This, and the lack of efficacy of praziquantel against juvenile worms, highlights the urgency for new antischistosomal therapies. In this review we focus on innovative approaches to the identification of antischistosomal drug candidates, including the use of automated assays, fragment-based screening, computer-aided and artificial intelligence-based computational methods. We highlight the current developments that may contribute to optimizing research outputs and lead to more effective drugs for this highly prevalent disease, in a more cost-effective drug discovery endeavor.
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Affiliation(s)
- José T. Moreira-Filho
- LabMol – Laboratory for Molecular Modeling and Drug Design, Faculdade de Farmácia, Universidade Federal de Goiás – UFG, Goiânia, Brazil
| | - Arthur C. Silva
- LabMol – Laboratory for Molecular Modeling and Drug Design, Faculdade de Farmácia, Universidade Federal de Goiás – UFG, Goiânia, Brazil
| | - Rafael F. Dantas
- LaBECFar – Laboratório de Bioquímica Experimental e Computacional de Fármacos, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Barbara F. Gomes
- LaBECFar – Laboratório de Bioquímica Experimental e Computacional de Fármacos, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Lauro R. Souza Neto
- LaBECFar – Laboratório de Bioquímica Experimental e Computacional de Fármacos, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Jose Brandao-Neto
- Diamond Light Source Ltd., Didcot, United Kingdom
- Research Complex at Harwell, Didcot, United Kingdom
| | - Raymond J. Owens
- The Rosalind Franklin Institute, Harwell, United Kingdom
- Division of Structural Biology, The Wellcome Centre for Human Genetic, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Nicholas Furnham
- Department of Infection Biology, Faculty of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom
| | - Bruno J. Neves
- LabMol – Laboratory for Molecular Modeling and Drug Design, Faculdade de Farmácia, Universidade Federal de Goiás – UFG, Goiânia, Brazil
| | - Floriano P. Silva-Junior
- LaBECFar – Laboratório de Bioquímica Experimental e Computacional de Fármacos, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Carolina H. Andrade
- LabMol – Laboratory for Molecular Modeling and Drug Design, Faculdade de Farmácia, Universidade Federal de Goiás – UFG, Goiânia, Brazil
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22
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Yang X, Zhong J, Zhang Q, Feng L, Zheng Z, Zhang J, Lu S. Advances and Insights of APC-Asef Inhibitors for Metastatic Colorectal Cancer Therapy. Front Mol Biosci 2021; 8:662579. [PMID: 33968990 PMCID: PMC8100458 DOI: 10.3389/fmolb.2021.662579] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/01/2021] [Accepted: 03/24/2021] [Indexed: 12/26/2022] Open
Abstract
In Colorectal cancer (CRC), adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) directly interacts with the Rho guanine nucleotide exchange factor 4 (Asef) and releases its GEF activity. Activated Asef promotes the aberrant migration and invasion of CRC cell through a CDC42-mediated pathway. Knockdown of either APC or Asef significantly decreases the migration of CRC cells. Therefore, disrupting the APC-Asef interaction is a promising strategy for the treatment of invasive CRC. With the growth of structural information, APC-Asef inhibitors have been designed, providing hope for CRC therapy. Here, we will review the APC-Asef interaction in cancer biology, the structural complex of APC-Asef, two generations of peptide inhibitors of APC-Asef, and small molecule inhibitors of APC-Asef, focusing on research articles over the past 30 years. We posit that these advances in the discovery of APC-Asef inhibitors establish the protein-protein interaction (PPI) as targetable and provide a framework for other PPI programs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiuyan Yang
- Department of Pathophysiology, Key Laboratory of Cell Differentiation and Apoptosis of Chinese Ministry of Education, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
| | - Jie Zhong
- Medicinal Chemistry and Bioinformatics Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
| | - Qiufen Zhang
- Medicinal Chemistry and Bioinformatics Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
| | - Li Feng
- Medicinal Chemistry and Bioinformatics Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
| | - Zhen Zheng
- Medicinal Chemistry and Bioinformatics Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
| | - Jian Zhang
- Department of Pathophysiology, Key Laboratory of Cell Differentiation and Apoptosis of Chinese Ministry of Education, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.,Medicinal Chemistry and Bioinformatics Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
| | - Shaoyong Lu
- Department of Pathophysiology, Key Laboratory of Cell Differentiation and Apoptosis of Chinese Ministry of Education, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
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23
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Sanchez TW, Owens A, Martinez NJ, Wallgren E, Simeonov A, Henderson MJ. High-Throughput Detection of Ligand-Protein Binding Using a SplitLuc Cellular Thermal Shift Assay. Methods Mol Biol 2021; 2365:21-41. [PMID: 34432237 PMCID: PMC9502016 DOI: 10.1007/978-1-0716-1665-9_2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/21/2023]
Abstract
The confirmation of a small molecule binding to a protein target can be challenging when switching from biochemical assays to physiologically relevant cellular models. The cellular thermal shift assay (CETSA) is an approach to validate ligand-protein binding in a cellular environment by examining a protein's melting profile which can shift to a higher or lower temperature when bound by a small molecule. Traditional CETSA uses SDS-PAGE and Western blotting to quantify protein levels, a process that is both time consuming and low-throughput when screening multiple compounds and concentrations. Herein, we outline the reagents and methods to implement split Nano Luciferase (SplitLuc) CETSA, which is a reporter-based target engagement assay designed for high-throughput screening in 384- or 1536-well plate formats.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tino W Sanchez
- National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Rockville, MD, USA
| | - Ashley Owens
- National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Rockville, MD, USA
| | - Natalia J Martinez
- National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Rockville, MD, USA
| | - Eric Wallgren
- National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Rockville, MD, USA
| | - Anton Simeonov
- National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Rockville, MD, USA
| | - Mark J Henderson
- National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Rockville, MD, USA.
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24
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Abstract
Dynamic proteins perform critical roles in cellular machines, including those that control proteostasis, transcription, translation, and signaling. Thus, dynamic proteins are prime candidates for chemical probe and drug discovery but difficult targets because they do not conform to classical rules of design and screening. Selectivity is pivotal for candidate probe molecules due to the extensive interaction network of these dynamic hubs. Recognition that the traditional rules of probe discovery are not necessarily applicable to dynamic proteins and their complexes, as well as technological advances in screening, have produced remarkable results in the last 2-4 years. Particularly notable are the improvements in target selectivity for small-molecule modulators of dynamic proteins, especially with techniques that increase the discovery likelihood of allosteric regulatory mechanisms. We focus on approaches to small-molecule screening that appear to be more suitable for highly dynamic targets and have the potential to streamline identification of selective modulators.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julie M Garlick
- Department of Chemistry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
| | - Anna K Mapp
- Department of Chemistry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA; Life Sciences Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA; Program in Chemical Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.
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25
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Carolino K, Winzeler EA. The antimalarial resistome - finding new drug targets and their modes of action. Curr Opin Microbiol 2020; 57:49-55. [PMID: 32682267 PMCID: PMC7763834 DOI: 10.1016/j.mib.2020.06.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/04/2020] [Revised: 06/02/2020] [Accepted: 06/08/2020] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
To this day, malaria remains a global burden, affecting millions of people, especially those in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. The rise of drug resistance to current antimalarial treatments, including artemisinin-based combination therapies, has made discovering new small molecule compounds with novel modes of action an urgent matter. The concerted effort to construct enormous compound libraries and develop high-throughput phenotypic screening assays to find compounds effective at specifically clearing malaria-causing Plasmodium parasites at any stage of the life cycle has provided many antimalarial prospects, but does not indicate their target or mode of action. Here, we review recent advances in antimalarial drug discovery efforts, focusing on the following 'omics' approaches in mode of action studies: IVIEWGA, CETSA, metabolomic profiling.
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Affiliation(s)
- Krypton Carolino
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, United States
| | - Elizabeth A Winzeler
- Department of Pediatrics, University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine, La Jolla, CA 92093, United States.
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26
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Abstract
Fragment-based drug discovery (FBDD) has come of age in the last decade with the FDA approval of four fragment-derived drugs. Biophysical methods are at the heart of hit discovery and validation in FBDD campaigns. The three most commonly used methods, thermal shift, surface plasmon resonance, and nuclear magnetic resonance, can be daunting for the novice user. We aim here to provide the nonexpert user of these methods with a summary of problems and challenges that might be faced, but also highlight the potential gains that each method can contribute to an FBDD project. While our view on FBDD is slightly biased toward enabling structure-guided drug discovery, most of the points we address in this review are also valid for non-structure-focused FBDD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joe Coyle
- Astex Pharmaceuticals, Cambridge, UK
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27
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Manz TD, Sivakumaren SC, Ferguson FM, Zhang T, Yasgar A, Seo HS, Ficarro SB, Card JD, Shim H, Miduturu CV, Simeonov A, Shen M, Marto JA, Dhe-Paganon S, Hall MD, Cantley LC, Gray NS. Discovery and Structure-Activity Relationship Study of ( Z)-5-Methylenethiazolidin-4-one Derivatives as Potent and Selective Pan-phosphatidylinositol 5-Phosphate 4-Kinase Inhibitors. J Med Chem 2020; 63:4880-4895. [PMID: 32298120 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.0c00227] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
Due to their role in many important signaling pathways, phosphatidylinositol 5-phosphate 4-kinases (PI5P4Ks) are attractive targets for the development of experimental therapeutics for cancer, metabolic, and immunological disorders. Recent efforts to develop small molecule inhibitors for these lipid kinases resulted in compounds with low- to sub-micromolar potencies. Here, we report the identification of CVM-05-002 using a high-throughput screen of PI5P4Kα against our in-house kinase inhibitor library. CVM-05-002 is a potent and selective inhibitor of PI5P4Ks, and a 1.7 Å X-ray structure reveals its binding interactions in the ATP-binding pocket. Further investigation of the structure-activity relationship led to the development of compound 13, replacing the rhodanine-like moiety present in CVM-05-002 with an indole, a potent pan-PI5P4K inhibitor with excellent kinome-wide selectivity. Finally, we employed isothermal cellular thermal shift assays (CETSAs) to demonstrate the effective cellular target engagement of PI5P4Kα and -β by the inhibitors in HEK 293T cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Theresa D Manz
- Department of Cancer Biology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, 360 Longwood Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, United States.,Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, United States.,Department of Pharmaceutical and Medicinal Chemistry, Saarland University, 66123 Saarbruecken, Germany
| | - Sindhu Carmen Sivakumaren
- Department of Cancer Biology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, 360 Longwood Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, United States.,Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, United States
| | - Fleur M Ferguson
- Department of Cancer Biology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, 360 Longwood Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, United States.,Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, United States
| | - Tinghu Zhang
- Department of Cancer Biology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, 360 Longwood Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, United States.,Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, United States
| | - Adam Yasgar
- National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Rockville, Maryland 20850 United States
| | - Hyuk-Soo Seo
- Department of Cancer Biology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, 360 Longwood Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, United States.,Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, United States
| | - Scott B Ficarro
- Department of Cancer Biology and Blais Proteomics Center, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts, 02215, United States.,Department of Oncologic Pathology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, 360 Longwood Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, United States.,Department of Pathology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, United States
| | - Joseph D Card
- Department of Cancer Biology and Blais Proteomics Center, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts, 02215, United States.,Department of Oncologic Pathology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, 360 Longwood Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, United States.,Department of Pathology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, United States
| | - Hyeseok Shim
- Meyer Cancer Center, Weill Cornell Medicine and New York Presbyterian Hospital, New York, New York 10065, United States
| | - Chandrasekhar V Miduturu
- Department of Cancer Biology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, 360 Longwood Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, United States.,Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, United States
| | - Anton Simeonov
- National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Rockville, Maryland 20850 United States
| | - Min Shen
- National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Rockville, Maryland 20850 United States
| | - Jarrod A Marto
- Department of Cancer Biology and Blais Proteomics Center, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts, 02215, United States.,Department of Oncologic Pathology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, 360 Longwood Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, United States.,Department of Pathology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, United States
| | - Sirano Dhe-Paganon
- Department of Cancer Biology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, 360 Longwood Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, United States.,Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, United States
| | - Matthew D Hall
- National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Rockville, Maryland 20850 United States
| | - Lewis C Cantley
- Meyer Cancer Center, Weill Cornell Medicine and New York Presbyterian Hospital, New York, New York 10065, United States
| | - Nathanael S Gray
- Department of Cancer Biology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, 360 Longwood Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, United States.,Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, United States
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