iTAG an optimized IMiD-induced degron for targeted protein degradation in human and murine cells.

To address the limitation associated with degron based systems, we have developed iTAG, a synthetic tag based on IMiDs/CELMoDs mechanism of action that improves and addresses the limitations of both PROTAC and previous IMiDs/CeLMoDs based tags. Using structural and sequence analysis, we systematically explored native and chimeric degron containing domains (DCDs) and evaluated their ability to induce degradation. We identified the optimal chimeric iTAG(DCD23 60aa) that elicits robust degradation of targets across cell types and subcellular localizations without exhibiting the well documented "hook effect" of PROTAC-based systems. We showed that iTAG can also induce target degradation by murine CRBN and enabled the exploration of natural neo-substrates that can be degraded by murine CRBN. Hence, the iTAG system constitutes a versatile tool to degrade targets across the human and murine proteome.

Discovery of an In Vivo Chemical Probe for BCL6 Inhibition by Optimization of Tricyclic Quinolinones.

B-cell lymphoma 6 (BCL6) is a transcriptional repressor and oncogenic driver of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). Here, we report the optimization of our previously reported tricyclic quinolinone series for the inhibition of BCL6. We sought to improve the cellular potency and in vivo exposure of the non-degrading isomer, CCT373567, of our recently published degrader, CCT373566. The major limitation of our inhibitors was their high topological polar surface areas (TPSA), leading to increased efflux ratios. Reducing the molecular weight allowed us to remove polarity and decrease TPSA without considerably reducing solubility. Careful optimization of these properties, as guided by pharmacokinetic studies, led to the discovery of CCT374705, a potent inhibitor of BCL6 with a good in vivo profile. Modest in vivo efficacy was achieved in a lymphoma xenograft mouse model after oral dosing.

Discovering cell-active BCL6 inhibitors: effectively combining biochemical HTS with multiple biophysical techniques, X-ray crystallography and cell-based assays.

By suppressing gene transcription through the recruitment of corepressor proteins, B-cell lymphoma 6 (BCL6) protein controls a transcriptional network required for the formation and maintenance of B-cell germinal centres. As BCL6 deregulation is implicated in the development of Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma, we sought to discover novel small molecule inhibitors that disrupt the BCL6-corepressor protein-protein interaction (PPI). Here we report our hit finding and compound optimisation strategies, which provide insight into the multi-faceted orthogonal approaches that are needed to tackle this challenging PPI with small molecule inhibitors. Using a 1536-well plate fluorescence polarisation high throughput screen we identified multiple hit series, which were followed up by hit confirmation using a thermal shift assay, surface plasmon resonance and ligand-observed NMR. We determined X-ray structures of BCL6 bound to compounds from nine different series, enabling a structure-based drug design approach to improve their weak biochemical potency. We developed a time-resolved fluorescence energy transfer biochemical assay and a nano bioluminescence resonance energy transfer cellular assay to monitor cellular activity during compound optimisation. This workflow led to the discovery of novel inhibitors with respective biochemical and cellular potencies (IC50s) in the sub-micromolar and low micromolar range.

Improved Binding Affinity and Pharmacokinetics Enable Sustained Degradation of BCL6 In Vivo.

The transcriptional repressor BCL6 is an oncogenic driver found to be deregulated in lymphoid malignancies. Herein, we report the optimization of our previously reported benzimidazolone molecular glue-type degrader CCT369260 to CCT373566, a highly potent probe suitable for sustained depletion of BCL6 in vivo. We observed a sharp degradation SAR, where subtle structural changes conveyed the ability to induce degradation of BCL6. CCT373566 showed modest in vivo efficacy in a lymphoma xenograft mouse model following oral dosing.

Optimizing Shape Complementarity Enables the Discovery of Potent Tricyclic BCL6 Inhibitors.

To identify new chemical series with enhanced binding affinity to the BTB domain of B-cell lymphoma 6 protein, we targeted a subpocket adjacent to Val18. With no opportunities for strong polar interactions, we focused on attaining close shape complementarity by ring fusion onto our quinolinone lead series. Following exploration of different sized rings, we identified a conformationally restricted core which optimally filled the available space, leading to potent BCL6 inhibitors. Through X-ray structure-guided design, combined with efficient synthetic chemistry to make the resulting novel core structures, a >300-fold improvement in activity was obtained by the addition of seven heavy atoms.

Discovery and Characterization of a Cryptic Secondary Binding Site in the Molecular Chaperone HSP70.

Heat Shock Protein 70s (HSP70s) are key molecular chaperones that are overexpressed in many cancers and often associated with metastasis and poor prognosis. It has proven difficult to develop ATP-competitive, drug-like small molecule inhibitors of HSP70s due to the flexible and hydrophilic nature of the HSP70 ATP-binding site and its high affinity for endogenous nucleotides. The aim of this study was to explore the potential for the inhibition of HSP70 through alternative binding sites using fragment-based approaches. A surface plasmon resonance (SPR) fragment screen designed to detect secondary binding sites in HSP70 led to the identification by X-ray crystallography of a cryptic binding site in the nucleotide-binding domain (NBD) of HSP70 adjacent to the ATP-binding site. Fragment binding was confirmed and characterized as ATP-competitive using SPR and ligand-observed NMR methods. Molecular dynamics simulations were applied to understand the interactions with the protein upon ligand binding, and local secondary structure changes consistent with interconversion between the observed crystal structures with and without the cryptic pocket were detected. A virtual high-throughput screen (vHTS) against the cryptic pocket was conducted, and five compounds with diverse chemical scaffolds were confirmed to bind to HSP70 with micromolar affinity by SPR. These results identified and characterized a new targetable site on HSP70. While targeting HSP70 remains challenging, the new site may provide opportunities to develop allosteric ATP-competitive inhibitors with differentiated physicochemical properties from current series.

Into Deep Water: Optimizing BCL6 Inhibitors by Growing into a Solvated Pocket.

We describe the optimization of modestly active starting points to potent inhibitors of BCL6 by growing into a subpocket, which was occupied by a network of five stably bound water molecules. Identifying potent inhibitors required not only forming new interactions in the subpocket but also perturbing the water network in a productive, potency-increasing fashion while controlling the physicochemical properties. We achieved this goal in a sequential manner by systematically probing the pocket and the water network, ultimately achieving a 100-fold improvement of activity. The most potent compounds displaced three of the five initial water molecules and formed hydrogen bonds with the remaining two. Compound 25 showed a promising profile for a lead compound with submicromolar inhibition of BCL6 in cells and satisfactory pharmacokinetic (PK) properties. Our work highlights the importance of finding productive ways to perturb existing water networks when growing into solvent-filled protein pockets.

Achieving In Vivo Target Depletion through the Discovery and Optimization of Benzimidazolone BCL6 Degraders.

Deregulation of the transcriptional repressor BCL6 enables tumorigenesis of germinal center B-cells, and hence BCL6 has been proposed as a therapeutic target for the treatment of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). Herein we report the discovery of a series of benzimidazolone inhibitors of the protein-protein interaction between BCL6 and its co-repressors. A subset of these inhibitors were found to cause rapid degradation of BCL6, and optimization of pharmacokinetic properties led to the discovery of 5-((5-chloro-2-((3R,5S)-4,4-difluoro-3,5-dimethylpiperidin-1-yl)pyrimidin-4-yl)amino)-3-(3-hydroxy-3-methylbutyl)-1-methyl-1,3-dihydro-2H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-one (CCT369260), which reduces BCL6 levels in a lymphoma xenograft mouse model following oral dosing.

Structural and functional characterisation of human RNA helicase DHX8 provides insights into the mechanism of RNA-stimulated ADP release.

DHX8 is a crucial DEAH-box RNA helicase involved in splicing and required for the release of mature mRNA from the spliceosome. Here, we report the biochemical characterisation of full-length human DHX8 and the catalytically active helicase core DHX8Δ547, alongside crystal structures of DHX8Δ547 bound to ADP and a structure of DHX8Δ547 bound to poly(A)6 single-strand RNA. Our results reveal that DHX8 has an in vitro binding preference for adenine-rich RNA and that RNA binding triggers the release of ADP through significant conformational flexibility in the conserved DEAH-, P-loop and hook-turn motifs. We demonstrate the importance of R620 and both the hook-turn and hook-loop regions for DHX8 helicase activity and propose that the hook-turn acts as a gatekeeper to regulate the directional movement of the 3' end of RNA through the RNA-binding channel. This study provides an in-depth understanding of the activity of DHX8 and contributes insights into the RNA-unwinding mechanisms of the DEAH-box helicase family.

C8-substituted pyrido[3,4-d]pyrimidin-4(3H)-ones: Studies towards the identification of potent, cell penetrant Jumonji C domain containing histone lysine demethylase 4 subfamily (KDM4) inhibitors, compound profiling in cell-based target engagement assays.

Residues in the histone substrate binding sites that differ between the KDM4 and KDM5 subfamilies were identified. Subsequently, a C8-substituted pyrido[3,4-d]pyrimidin-4(3H)-one series was designed to rationally exploit these residue differences between the histone substrate binding sites in order to improve affinity for the KDM4-subfamily over KDM5-subfamily enzymes. In particular, residues E169 and V313 (KDM4A numbering) were targeted. Additionally, conformational restriction of the flexible pyridopyrimidinone C8-substituent was investigated. These approaches yielded potent and cell-penetrant dual KDM4/5-subfamily inhibitors including 19a (KDM4A and KDM5B Ki = 0.004 and 0.007 µM, respectively). Compound cellular profiling in two orthogonal target engagement assays revealed a significant reduction from biochemical to cell-based activity across multiple analogues; this decrease was shown to be consistent with 2OG competition, and suggests that sub-nanomolar biochemical potency will be required with C8-substituted pyrido[3,4-d]pyrimidin-4(3H)-one compounds to achieve sub-micromolar target inhibition in cells.

Privileged Structures and Polypharmacology within and between Protein Families.

Polypharmacology is often a key contributor to the efficacy of a drug, but is also a potential risk. We investigated two hits discovered via a cell-based phenotypic screen, the CDK9 inhibitor CCT250006 (1) and the pirin ligand CCT245232 (2), to establish methodology to elucidate their secondary protein targets. Using computational pocket-based analysis, we discovered intrafamily polypharmacology for our kinase inhibitor, despite little overall sequence identity. The interfamily polypharmacology of 2 with B-Raf was used to discover a novel pirin ligand from a very small but privileged compound library despite no apparent ligand or binding site similarity. Our data demonstrates that in areas of drug discovery where intrafamily polypharmacology is often an issue, ligand dissimilarity cannot necessarily be used to assume different off-target profiles and that understanding interfamily polypharmacology will be important in the future to reduce the risk of idiopathic toxicity and in the design of screening libraries.

An Irreversible Inhibitor of HSP72 that Unexpectedly Targets Lysine-56.

The stress-inducible molecular chaperone, HSP72, is an important therapeutic target in oncology, but inhibiting this protein with small molecules has proven particularly challenging. Validating HSP72 inhibitors in cells is difficult owing to competition with the high affinity and abundance of its endogenous nucleotide substrates. We hypothesized this could be overcome using a cysteine-targeted irreversible inhibitor. Using rational design, we adapted a validated 8-N-benzyladenosine ligand for covalent bond formation and confirmed targeted irreversible inhibition. However, no cysteine in the protein was modified; instead, we demonstrate that lysine-56 is the key nucleophilic residue. Targeting this lysine could lead to a new design paradigm for HSP72 chemical probes and drugs.

A higher-order entity formed by the flexible assembly of RAP1 with TRF2.

Telomere integrity is essential to maintain genome stability, and telomeric dysfunctions are associated with cancer and aging pathologies. In human, the shelterin complex binds TTAGGG DNA repeats and provides capping to chromosome ends. Within shelterin, RAP1 is recruited through its interaction with TRF2, and TRF2 is required for telomere protection through a network of nucleic acid and protein interactions. RAP1 is one of the most conserved shelterin proteins although one unresolved question is how its interaction may influence TRF2 properties and regulate its capacity to bind multiple proteins. Through a combination of biochemical, biophysical and structural approaches, we unveiled a unique mode of assembly between RAP1 and TRF2. The complete interaction scheme between the full-length proteins involves a complex biphasic interaction of RAP1 that directly affects the binding properties of the assembly. These results reveal how a non-DNA binding protein can influence the properties of a DNA-binding partner by mutual conformational adjustments.