Selective estrogen receptor degraders with novel structural motifs induce regression in a tamoxifen-resistant breast cancer xenograft.

Potent estrogen receptor ligands typically contain a phenolic hydrogen-bond donor. The indazole of the selective estrogen receptor degrader (SERD) ARN-810 is believed to mimic this. Disclosed herein is the discovery of ARN-810 analogs which lack this hydrogen-bond donor. These SERDs induced tumor regression in a tamoxifen-resistant breast cancer xenograft, demonstrating that the indazole NH is not necessary for robust ER-modulation and anti-tumor activity.

Optimization of an indazole series of selective estrogen receptor degraders: Tumor regression in a tamoxifen-resistant breast cancer xenograft.

Selective estrogen receptor degraders (SERDs) have shown promise for the treatment of ER+ breast cancer. Disclosed herein is the continued optimization of our indazole series of SERDs. Exploration of ER degradation and antagonism in vitro followed by in vivo antagonism and oral exposure culminated in the discovery of indazoles 47 and 56, which induce tumor regression in a tamoxifen-resistant breast cancer xenograft.

The glucocorticoid receptor represses cyclin D1 by targeting the Tcf-beta-catenin complex.

The ability of glucocorticoids (GCs) to regulate cell proliferation plays an important role in their therapeutic use. The canonical Wnt pathway, which promotes the proliferation of many cancers and differentiated tissues, is an emerging target for the actions of GCs, albeit existing links between these signaling pathways are indirect. By screening known Wnt target genes for their ability to respond differently to GCs in cells whose proliferation is either positively or negatively regulated by GCs, we identified c-myc, c-jun, and cyclin D1, which encode rate-limiting factors for G(1) progression of the cell cycle. Here we show that in U2OS/GR cells, which are growth-arrested by GCs, the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) represses cyclin D1 via Tcf-beta-catenin, the transcriptional effector of the canonical Wnt pathway. We demonstrate that GR can bind beta-catenin in vitro, suggesting that GC and Wnt signaling pathways are linked directly through their effectors. Down-regulation of beta-catenin by RNA interference impeded the expression of cyclin D1 but not of c-myc or c-jun and had no significant effect on the proliferation of U2OS/GR cells. Although these results revealed that beta-catenin and cyclin D1 are not essential for the regulation of U2OS/GR cell proliferation, considering the importance of the Wnt pathway for proliferation and differentiation of other cells, the repression of Tcf-beta-catenin activity by GR could open new possibilities for tissue-selective GC therapies.

Target-specific utilization of transcriptional regulatory surfaces by the glucocorticoid receptor.

The glucocorticoid receptor (GR) activates or represses transcription depending on the sequence and architecture of the glucocorticoid response elements in target genes and the availability and activity of interacting cofactors. Numerous GR cofactors have been identified, but they alone are insufficient to dictate the specificity of GR action. Furthermore, the role of different functional surfaces on the receptor itself in regulating its targets is unclear, due in part to the paucity of known target genes. Using DNA microarrays and real-time quantitative PCR, we identified genes transcriptionally activated by GR, in a translation-independent manner, in two human cell lines. We then assessed in U2OS osteosarcoma cells the consequences of individually disrupting three GR domains, the N-terminal activation function (AF) 1, the C-terminal AF2, or the dimer interface, on activation of these genes. We found that GR targets differed in their requirements for AF1 or AF2, and that the dimer interface was dispensable for activation of some genes in each class. Thus, in a single cell type, different GR surfaces were used in a gene-specific manner. These findings have strong implications for the nature of gene response element signaling, the composition and structure of regulatory complexes, and the mechanisms of context-specific transcriptional regulation.

Finding specificity within a conserved interaction site.

Recently developed approaches to generate drugs that regulate hormone-induced gene activation focus on modulating the interaction of nuclear receptors with coactivators. A study by Geistlinger and Guy demonstrates the feasibility of this approach and provides surprising evidence for specificity within the conserved nuclear receptor:coactivator interaction surface.

A C-terminal inhibitory domain controls the activity of p63 by an intramolecular mechanism.

The human genome is far smaller than originally estimated, and one explanation is that alternative splicing creates greater proteomic complexity than a simple count of open reading frames would suggest. The p53 homologue p63, for example, is a tetrameric transcription factor implicated in epithelial development and expressed as at least six isoforms with widely differing transactivation potential. In particular, p63alpha isoforms contain a 27-kDa C-terminal region that drastically reduces their activity and is of clear biological importance, since patients with deletions in this C terminus have phenotypes very similar to patients with mutations in the DNA-binding domain. We have identified a novel domain within this C terminus that is necessary and sufficient for transcriptional inhibition and which acts by binding to a region in the N-terminal transactivation domain of p63 homologous to the MDM2 binding site in p53. Based on this mechanism, we provide a model that explains the transactivation potential of homo- and heterotetramers composed of different p63 isoforms and their effect on p53.