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Kazi A, Ranjan A, Kumar M.V. V, Agianian B, Garcia Chavez M, Vudatha V, Wang R, Vangipurapu R, Chen L, Kennedy P, Subramanian K, Quirke JC, Beato F, Underwood PW, Fleming JB, Trevino J, Hergenrother PJ, Gavathiotis E, Sebti SM. Discovery of KRB-456, a KRAS G12D Switch-I/II Allosteric Pocket Binder That Inhibits the Growth of Pancreatic Cancer Patient-derived Tumors. Cancer Res Commun 2023; 3:2623-2639. [PMID: 38051103 PMCID: PMC10754035 DOI: 10.1158/2767-9764.crc-23-0222] [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] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/16/2023] [Revised: 08/26/2023] [Accepted: 11/15/2023] [Indexed: 12/07/2023]
Abstract
Currently, there are no clinically approved drugs that directly thwart mutant KRAS G12D, a major driver of human cancer. Here, we report on the discovery of a small molecule, KRB-456, that binds KRAS G12D and inhibits the growth of pancreatic cancer patient-derived tumors. Protein nuclear magnetic resonance studies revealed that KRB-456 binds the GDP-bound and GCP-bound conformation of KRAS G12D by forming interactions with a dynamic allosteric binding pocket within the switch-I/II region. Isothermal titration calorimetry demonstrated that KRB-456 binds potently to KRAS G12D with 1.5-, 2-, and 6-fold higher affinity than to KRAS G12V, KRAS wild-type, and KRAS G12C, respectively. KRB-456 potently inhibits the binding of KRAS G12D to the RAS-binding domain (RBD) of RAF1 as demonstrated by GST-RBD pulldown and AlphaScreen assays. Treatment of KRAS G12D-harboring human pancreatic cancer cells with KRB-456 suppresses the cellular levels of KRAS bound to GTP and inhibits the binding of KRAS to RAF1. Importantly, KRB-456 inhibits P-MEK, P-AKT, and P-S6 levels in vivo and inhibits the growth of subcutaneous and orthotopic xenografts derived from patients with pancreatic cancer whose tumors harbor KRAS G12D and KRAS G12V and who relapsed after chemotherapy and radiotherapy. These results warrant further development of KRB-456 for pancreatic cancer. SIGNIFICANCE There are no clinically approved drugs directly abrogating mutant KRAS G12D. Here, we discovered a small molecule, KRB-456, that binds a dynamic allosteric binding pocket within the switch-I/II region of KRAS G12D. KRB-456 inhibits P-MEK, P-AKT, and P-S6 levels in vivo and inhibits the growth of subcutaneous and orthotopic xenografts derived from patients with pancreatic cancer. This discovery warrants further advanced preclinical and clinical studies in pancreatic cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aslamuzzaman Kazi
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology and Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia
- Drug Discovery Department, Moffitt Cancer Center, Tampa, Florida
| | - Alok Ranjan
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology and Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia
| | - Vasantha Kumar M.V.
- Department of Biochemistry, Department of Medicine, Montefiore Einstein Comprehensive Cancer Center, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York
| | - Bogos Agianian
- Department of Biochemistry, Department of Medicine, Montefiore Einstein Comprehensive Cancer Center, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York
| | - Martin Garcia Chavez
- Department of Chemistry, Cancer Center at Illinois, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois
| | - Vignesh Vudatha
- Department of Surgery, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia
| | - Rui Wang
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology and Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia
| | | | - Liwei Chen
- Drug Discovery Department, Moffitt Cancer Center, Tampa, Florida
| | - Perry Kennedy
- Drug Discovery Department, Moffitt Cancer Center, Tampa, Florida
| | - Karthikeyan Subramanian
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology and Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia
| | - Jonathan C.K. Quirke
- Department of Chemistry, Cancer Center at Illinois, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois
| | - Francisca Beato
- Department of Gastrointestinal Oncology, Moffitt Cancer Center, Tampa, Florida
| | | | - Jason B. Fleming
- Department of Gastrointestinal Oncology, Moffitt Cancer Center, Tampa, Florida
| | - Jose Trevino
- Department of Surgery, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia
- Department of Surgery, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida
| | - Paul J. Hergenrother
- Department of Chemistry, Cancer Center at Illinois, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois
| | - Evripidis Gavathiotis
- Department of Biochemistry, Department of Medicine, Montefiore Einstein Comprehensive Cancer Center, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York
| | - Said M. Sebti
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology and Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia
- Drug Discovery Department, Moffitt Cancer Center, Tampa, Florida
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Geddes EJ, Gugger MK, Garcia A, Chavez MG, Lee MR, Perlmutter SJ, Bieniossek C, Guasch L, Hergenrother PJ. Porin-independent accumulation in Pseudomonas enables antibiotic discovery. Nature 2023; 624:145-153. [PMID: 37993720 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-06760-8] [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] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/24/2022] [Accepted: 10/18/2023] [Indexed: 11/24/2023]
Abstract
Gram-negative antibiotic development has been hindered by a poor understanding of the types of compounds that can accumulate within these bacteria1,2. The presence of efflux pumps and substrate-specific outer-membrane porins in Pseudomonas aeruginosa renders this pathogen particularly challenging3. As a result, there are few antibiotic options for P. aeruginosa infections4 and its many porins have made the prospect of discovering general accumulation guidelines seem unlikely5. Here we assess the whole-cell accumulation of 345 diverse compounds in P. aeruginosa and Escherichia coli. Although certain positively charged compounds permeate both bacterial species, P. aeruginosa is more restrictive compared to E. coli. Computational analysis identified distinct physicochemical properties of small molecules that specifically correlate with P. aeruginosa accumulation, such as formal charge, positive polar surface area and hydrogen bond donor surface area. Mode of uptake studies revealed that most small molecules permeate P. aeruginosa using a porin-independent pathway, thus enabling discovery of general P. aeruginosa accumulation trends with important implications for future antibiotic development. Retrospective antibiotic examples confirmed these trends and these discoveries were then applied to expand the spectrum of activity of a gram-positive-only antibiotic, fusidic acid, into a version that demonstrates a dramatic improvement in antibacterial activity against P. aeruginosa. We anticipate that these discoveries will facilitate the design and development of high-permeating antipseudomonals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emily J Geddes
- Department of Chemistry and Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL, USA
| | - Morgan K Gugger
- Department of Chemistry and Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL, USA
| | - Alfredo Garcia
- Department of Chemistry and Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL, USA
| | - Martin Garcia Chavez
- Department of Chemistry and Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL, USA
| | - Myung Ryul Lee
- Department of Chemistry and Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL, USA
| | - Sarah J Perlmutter
- Department of Chemistry and Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL, USA
| | - Christoph Bieniossek
- Roche Pharma Research and Early Development, Innovation Center Basel, F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Laura Guasch
- Roche Pharma Research and Early Development, Innovation Center Basel, F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Paul J Hergenrother
- Department of Chemistry and Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL, USA.
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Garcia Chavez M, Garcia A, Lee HY, Lau GW, Parker EN, Komnick KE, Hergenrother PJ. Synthesis of Fusidic Acid Derivatives Yields a Potent Antibiotic with an Improved Resistance Profile. ACS Infect Dis 2021; 7:493-505. [PMID: 33522241 DOI: 10.1021/acsinfecdis.0c00869] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
Fusidic acid (FA) is a potent steroidal antibiotic that has been used in Europe for more than 60 years to treat a variety of infections caused by Gram-positive pathogens. Despite its clinical success, FA requires significantly elevated dosing (3 g on the first day, 1.2 g on subsequent days) to minimize resistance, as FA displays a high resistance frequency, and a large shift in minimum inhibitory concentration is observed for resistant bacteria. Despite efforts to improve on these aspects, all previously constructed derivatives of FA have worse antibacterial activity against Gram-positive bacteria than the parent natural product. Here, we report the creation of a novel FA analogue that has equivalent potency against clinical isolates of Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) and Enterococcus faecium (E. faecium) as well as an improved resistance profile in vitro when compared to FA. Importantly, this new compound displays efficacy against an FA-resistant strain of S. aureus in a soft-tissue murine infection model. This work delineates the structural features of FA necessary for potent antibiotic activity and demonstrates that the resistance profile can be improved for this scaffold and target.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martin Garcia Chavez
- Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana−Champaign, Roger Adams
Laboratory, 600 South Mathews Avenue, Urbana, Illinois 61801, United States
- Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana−Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, United States
| | - Alfredo Garcia
- Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana−Champaign, Roger Adams
Laboratory, 600 South Mathews Avenue, Urbana, Illinois 61801, United States
- Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana−Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, United States
| | - Hyang Yeon Lee
- Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana−Champaign, Roger Adams
Laboratory, 600 South Mathews Avenue, Urbana, Illinois 61801, United States
- Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana−Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, United States
| | - Gee W. Lau
- Department of Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Illinois at Urbana−Champaign, 2001 South Lincoln Avenue, Urbana, Illinois 61801, United States
| | - Erica N. Parker
- Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana−Champaign, Roger Adams
Laboratory, 600 South Mathews Avenue, Urbana, Illinois 61801, United States
- Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana−Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, United States
| | - Kailey E. Komnick
- Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana−Champaign, Roger Adams
Laboratory, 600 South Mathews Avenue, Urbana, Illinois 61801, United States
- Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana−Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, United States
| | - Paul J. Hergenrother
- Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana−Champaign, Roger Adams
Laboratory, 600 South Mathews Avenue, Urbana, Illinois 61801, United States
- Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana−Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, United States
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