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Romano F, Di Porzio A, Iaccarino N, Riccardi G, Di Lorenzo R, Laneri S, Pagano B, Amato J, Randazzo A. G-quadruplexes in cancer-related gene promoters: from identification to therapeutic targeting. Expert Opin Ther Pat 2023; 33:745-773. [PMID: 37855085 DOI: 10.1080/13543776.2023.2271168] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/26/2023] [Accepted: 10/11/2023] [Indexed: 10/20/2023]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Guanine-rich DNA sequences can fold into four-stranded noncanonical secondary structures called G-quadruplexes (G4s) which are widely distributed in functional regions of the human genome, such as telomeres and gene promoter regions. Compelling evidence suggests their involvement in key genome functions such as gene expression and genome stability. Notably, the abundance of G4-forming sequences near transcription start sites suggests their potential involvement in regulating oncogenes. AREAS COVERED This review provides an overview of current knowledge on G4s in human oncogene promoters. The most representative G4-binding ligands have also been documented. The objective of this work is to present a comprehensive overview of the most promising targets for the development of novel and highly specific anticancer drugs capable of selectively impacting the expression of individual or a limited number of genes. EXPERT OPINION Modulation of G4 formation by specific ligands has been proposed as a powerful new tool to treat cancer through the control of oncogene expression. Actually, most of G4-binding small molecules seem to simultaneously target a range of gene promoter G4s, potentially influencing several critical driver genes in cancer, thus producing significant therapeutic benefits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Francesca Romano
- Department of Pharmacy, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy
| | - Anna Di Porzio
- Department of Pharmacy, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy
| | - Nunzia Iaccarino
- Department of Pharmacy, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy
| | | | | | - Sonia Laneri
- Department of Pharmacy, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy
| | - Bruno Pagano
- Department of Pharmacy, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy
| | - Jussara Amato
- Department of Pharmacy, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy
| | - Antonio Randazzo
- Department of Pharmacy, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy
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Yin S, Lan W, Hou X, Liu Z, Xue H, Wang C, Tang GL, Cao C. Trioxacarcin A Interactions with G-Quadruplex DNA Reveal Its Potential New Targets as an Anticancer Agent. J Med Chem 2023; 66:6798-6810. [PMID: 37154782 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.3c00178] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/10/2023]
Abstract
Trioxacarcin (TXN) A was reported to be an anticancer agent through alkylation of dsDNA. G-quadruplex DNA (G4-DNA) is frequently formed in the promoter regions of oncogenes and the ends of telomerase genes, considered as promising drug targets for anticancer therapy. There are no reports about TXN A interactions with G4-DNA. Here, we tested TXN A's interactions with several G4-DNA oligos with parallel, antiparallel, or hybrid folding, respectively. We demonstrated that TXN A preferred to alkylate one flexible guanine in the loops of parallel G4-DNA. The position of the alkylated guanine is in favor of interactions of G4-DNA with TXN A. The structure of TXN A covalently bound RET G4-DNA indicated that TXN A alkylation on RET G4-DNA stabilizes the G4-DNA conformation. These studies opened a new window of how TXN A interacted with G4-DNA, which might hint a new mode of its function as an anticancer agent.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shaowen Yin
- State Key Laboratory of Bioorganic and Natural Product Chemistry, Center for Excellence in Molecular Synthesis, Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 345 Lingling Road, Shanghai 200032, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Science, No. 19A, Yuquan Road, Shijingshan District, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Wenxian Lan
- The Core Facility Centre of CAS Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences, 300 Fengling Road, Shanghai 200032, China
| | - Xianfeng Hou
- State Key Laboratory of Bioorganic and Natural Product Chemistry, Center for Excellence in Molecular Synthesis, Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 345 Lingling Road, Shanghai 200032, China
| | - Zhijun Liu
- National Center for Protein Science in Shanghai, Shanghai Advanced Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 333 Kaike Road, Shanghai 201210, China
| | - Hongjuan Xue
- National Center for Protein Science in Shanghai, Shanghai Advanced Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 333 Kaike Road, Shanghai 201210, China
| | - Chunxi Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Bioorganic and Natural Product Chemistry, Center for Excellence in Molecular Synthesis, Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 345 Lingling Road, Shanghai 200032, China
| | - Gong-Li Tang
- State Key Laboratory of Bioorganic and Natural Product Chemistry, Center for Excellence in Molecular Synthesis, Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 345 Lingling Road, Shanghai 200032, China
| | - Chunyang Cao
- State Key Laboratory of Bioorganic and Natural Product Chemistry, Center for Excellence in Molecular Synthesis, Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 345 Lingling Road, Shanghai 200032, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Science, No. 19A, Yuquan Road, Shijingshan District, Beijing 100049, China
- Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Life Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 345 Lingling Road, Shanghai 200032, China
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Zhang Y, Lan W, Wang C, Xue H, Cao C. Dimeric G‐quadruplex
DNA
Structure in the Proximal Promoter of
VEGFR
‐2 Reveals A New Drug Target to Inhibit Tumor Angiogenesis. CHINESE J CHEM 2022. [DOI: 10.1002/cjoc.202200260] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Yipeng Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Bioorganic and Natural Product Chemistry, Center for Excellence in Molecular Synthesis, Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 345 Lingling Road Shanghai 200032 China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, No.19(A) Yuquan Road, Shijingshan District Beijing 100049 China
| | - Wenxian Lan
- The Core Facility Centre of CAS Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences, 300 Fengling Road Shanghai 200032 China
| | - Chunxi Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Bioorganic and Natural Product Chemistry, Center for Excellence in Molecular Synthesis, Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 345 Lingling Road Shanghai 200032 China
| | - Hongjuan Xue
- National Center for Protein Science in Shanghai, Shanghai Advanced Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences,333 Kaike Road Shanghai 201210 China
| | - Chunyang Cao
- State Key Laboratory of Bioorganic and Natural Product Chemistry, Center for Excellence in Molecular Synthesis, Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 345 Lingling Road Shanghai 200032 China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, No.19(A) Yuquan Road, Shijingshan District Beijing 100049 China
- Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Life Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 345 Lingling Road Shanghai 200032 China
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Dickerhoff J, Brundridge N, McLuckey SA, Yang D. Berberine Molecular Recognition of the Parallel MYC G-Quadruplex in Solution. J Med Chem 2021; 64:16205-16212. [PMID: 34677968 PMCID: PMC8614230 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.1c01508] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
The medicinal natural product berberine is one of the most actively studied and pursued G-quadruplex (G4)-ligands. The major G-quadruplex formed in the promoter region of the MYC oncogene (MycG4) is an attractive drug target and a prominent example and model structure for parallel G-quadruplexes. G4-targeted berberine derivatives have been actively developed; however, the analogue design was based on a previous crystal structure in which berberine binds as a dimer to a parallel G-quadruplex. Herein, we show that in solution, the binding mode and stoichiometry of berberine are substantially different from the crystal structure: berberine binds as a monomer to MycG4 using a base-recruitment mechanism with a reversed orientation in that the positively charged convex side is actually positioned above the tetrad center. Our structure provides a physiologically relevant basis for the future structure-based rational design of G4-targeted berberine derivatives, and this study demonstrates that it is crucial to validate the ligand-DNA interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jonathan Dickerhoff
- Medicinal Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, College of Pharmacy, Purdue University, 575 W Stadium Avenue, West Lafayette, Indiana 47904, United States
| | - Nicole Brundridge
- Department of Chemistry, Purdue University, 560 Oval Drive, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907, United States
| | - Scott A McLuckey
- Department of Chemistry, Purdue University, 560 Oval Drive, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907, United States
| | - Danzhou Yang
- Medicinal Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, College of Pharmacy, Purdue University, 575 W Stadium Avenue, West Lafayette, Indiana 47904, United States
- Department of Chemistry, Purdue University, 560 Oval Drive, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907, United States
- Purdue Center for Cancer Research, and Purdue Institute for Drug Discovery, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907, United States
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Wang KB, Dickerhoff J, Yang D. Solution Structure of Ternary Complex of Berberine Bound to a dGMP-Fill-In Vacancy G-Quadruplex Formed in the PDGFR-β Promoter. J Am Chem Soc 2021; 143:16549-16555. [PMID: 34586799 PMCID: PMC8626096 DOI: 10.1021/jacs.1c06200] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
Abstract
The G-quadruplexes (G4s) formed in the PDGFR-β gene promoter are transcriptional modulators and amenable to small-molecule targeting. Berberine (BER), a clinically important natural isoquinoline alkaloid, has gained increasing attention due to its potential as anticancer drug. We previously showed that the PDGFR-β gene promoter forms a unique vacancy G4 (vG4) that can be filled in and stabilized by guanine metabolites, such as dGMP. Herein, we report the high-resolution NMR structure of a ternary complex of berberine bound to the dGMP-fill-in PDGFR-β vG4 in potassium solution. This is the first small-molecule complex structure of a fill-in vG4. This ternary complex has a 2:1:1 binding stoichiometry with a berberine molecule bound at each the 5'- and 3'-end of the 5'-dGMP-fill-in PDGFR-β vG4. Each berberine recruits the adjacent adenine residue from the 5'- or 3'-flanking sequence to form a "quasi-triad plane" that covers the external G-tetrad of the fill-in vG4, respectively. Significantly, berberine covers and stabilizes the fill-in dGMP. The binding of berberine involves both π-stacking and electrostatic interactions, and the fill-in dGMP is covered and well-protected by berberine. The NMR structure can guide rational design of berberine analogues that target the PDGFR-β vG4 or dGMP-fill-in vG4. Moreover, our structure provides a molecular basis for designing small-molecule guanine conjugates to target vG4s.
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