1
|
Zhao Y, Mahy W, Willis NJ, Woodward HL, Steadman D, Bayle ED, Atkinson BN, Sipthorp J, Vecchia L, Ruza RR, Harlos K, Jeganathan F, Constantinou S, Costa A, Kjær S, Bictash M, Salinas PC, Whiting P, Vincent JP, Fish PV, Jones EY. Structural Analysis and Development of Notum Fragment Screening Hits. ACS Chem Neurosci 2022; 13:2060-2077. [PMID: 35731924 PMCID: PMC9264368 DOI: 10.1021/acschemneuro.2c00325] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
The Wnt signaling suppressor Notum is a promising target for osteoporosis, Alzheimer's disease, and colorectal cancers. To develop novel Notum inhibitors, we used an X-ray crystallographic fragment screen with the Diamond-SGC Poised Library (DSPL) and identified 59 fragment hits from the analysis of 768 data sets. Fifty-eight of the hits were found bound at the enzyme catalytic pocket with potencies ranging from 0.5 to >1000 μM. Analysis of the fragments' diverse binding modes, enzymatic inhibitory activities, and chemical properties led to the selection of six hits for optimization, and five of these resulted in improved Notum inhibitory potencies. One hit, 1-phenyl-1,2,3-triazole 7, and its related cluster members, have shown promising lead-like properties. These became the focus of our fragment development activities, resulting in compound 7d with IC50 0.0067 μM. The large number of Notum fragment structures and their initial optimization provided an important basis for further Notum inhibitor development.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Yuguang Zhao
- Division
of Structural Biology, Wellcome Centre for Human Genetics, University of Oxford, The Henry Wellcome Building for Genomic Medicine,
Roosevelt Drive, Oxford OX3 7BN, U.K.
| | - William Mahy
- Alzheimer’s
Research UK UCL Drug Discovery Institute, University College London, The Cruciform Building, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, U.K.
| | - Nicky J. Willis
- Alzheimer’s
Research UK UCL Drug Discovery Institute, University College London, The Cruciform Building, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, U.K.
| | - Hannah L. Woodward
- Alzheimer’s
Research UK UCL Drug Discovery Institute, University College London, The Cruciform Building, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, U.K.
| | - David Steadman
- Alzheimer’s
Research UK UCL Drug Discovery Institute, University College London, The Cruciform Building, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, U.K.
| | - Elliott D. Bayle
- Alzheimer’s
Research UK UCL Drug Discovery Institute, University College London, The Cruciform Building, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, U.K.
- The
Francis Crick Institute, 1 Midland Road, Kings Cross, London NW1 1AT, U.K.
| | - Benjamin N. Atkinson
- Alzheimer’s
Research UK UCL Drug Discovery Institute, University College London, The Cruciform Building, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, U.K.
| | - James Sipthorp
- Alzheimer’s
Research UK UCL Drug Discovery Institute, University College London, The Cruciform Building, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, U.K.
- The
Francis Crick Institute, 1 Midland Road, Kings Cross, London NW1 1AT, U.K.
| | - Luca Vecchia
- Division
of Structural Biology, Wellcome Centre for Human Genetics, University of Oxford, The Henry Wellcome Building for Genomic Medicine,
Roosevelt Drive, Oxford OX3 7BN, U.K.
| | - Reinis R. Ruza
- Division
of Structural Biology, Wellcome Centre for Human Genetics, University of Oxford, The Henry Wellcome Building for Genomic Medicine,
Roosevelt Drive, Oxford OX3 7BN, U.K.
| | - Karl Harlos
- Division
of Structural Biology, Wellcome Centre for Human Genetics, University of Oxford, The Henry Wellcome Building for Genomic Medicine,
Roosevelt Drive, Oxford OX3 7BN, U.K.
| | - Fiona Jeganathan
- Alzheimer’s
Research UK UCL Drug Discovery Institute, University College London, The Cruciform Building, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, U.K.
| | - Stefan Constantinou
- Alzheimer’s
Research UK UCL Drug Discovery Institute, University College London, The Cruciform Building, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, U.K.
| | - Artur Costa
- Alzheimer’s
Research UK UCL Drug Discovery Institute, University College London, The Cruciform Building, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, U.K.
| | - Svend Kjær
- The
Francis Crick Institute, 1 Midland Road, Kings Cross, London NW1 1AT, U.K.
| | - Magda Bictash
- Alzheimer’s
Research UK UCL Drug Discovery Institute, University College London, The Cruciform Building, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, U.K.
| | - Patricia C. Salinas
- Department
of Cell and Developmental Biology, Laboratory for Molecular and Cellular
Biology, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, U.K.
| | - Paul Whiting
- Alzheimer’s
Research UK UCL Drug Discovery Institute, University College London, The Cruciform Building, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, U.K.
| | - Jean-Paul Vincent
- The
Francis Crick Institute, 1 Midland Road, Kings Cross, London NW1 1AT, U.K.
| | - Paul V. Fish
- Alzheimer’s
Research UK UCL Drug Discovery Institute, University College London, The Cruciform Building, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, U.K.
- The
Francis Crick Institute, 1 Midland Road, Kings Cross, London NW1 1AT, U.K.
| | - E. Yvonne Jones
- Division
of Structural Biology, Wellcome Centre for Human Genetics, University of Oxford, The Henry Wellcome Building for Genomic Medicine,
Roosevelt Drive, Oxford OX3 7BN, U.K.
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Interactions between Triterpenes and a P-I Type Snake Venom Metalloproteinase: Molecular Simulations and Experiments. Toxins (Basel) 2018; 10:toxins10100397. [PMID: 30274214 PMCID: PMC6215199 DOI: 10.3390/toxins10100397] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/24/2018] [Revised: 09/19/2018] [Accepted: 09/26/2018] [Indexed: 12/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Small molecule inhibitors of snake venom metalloproteinases (SVMPs) could provide a means to rapidly halt the progression of local tissue damage following viperid snake envenomations. In this study, we examine the ability of candidate compounds based on a pentacyclic triterpene skeleton to inhibit SVMPs. We leverage molecular dynamics simulations to estimate the free energies of the candidate compounds for binding to BaP1, a P-I type SVMP, and compare these results with experimental assays of proteolytic activity inhibition in a homologous enzyme (Batx-I). Both simulation and experiment suggest that betulinic acid is the most active candidate, with the simulations predicting a standard binding free energy of ΔG∘=−11.0±1.4 kcal/mol. The simulations also reveal the atomic interactions that underlie binding between the triterpenic acids and BaP1, most notably the electrostatic interaction between carboxylate groups of the compounds and the zinc cofactor of BaP1. Together, our simulations and experiments suggest that occlusion of the S1′ subsite is essential for inhibition of proteolytic activity. While all active compounds make hydrophobic contacts in the S1′ site, β-boswellic acid, with its distinct carboxylate position, does not occlude the S1′ site in simulation and exhibits negligible activity in experiment.
Collapse
|
6
|
Ma R, Wang P, Wu J, Ruan K. Process of Fragment-Based Lead Discovery-A Perspective from NMR. Molecules 2016; 21:molecules21070854. [PMID: 27438813 PMCID: PMC6273320 DOI: 10.3390/molecules21070854] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/28/2016] [Revised: 05/22/2016] [Accepted: 05/24/2016] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Fragment-based lead discovery (FBLD) has proven fruitful during the past two decades for a variety of targets, even challenging protein–protein interaction (PPI) systems. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy plays a vital role, from initial fragment-based screening to lead generation, because of its power to probe the intrinsically weak interactions between targets and low-molecular-weight fragments. Here, we review the NMR FBLD process from initial library construction to lead generation. We describe technical aspects regarding fragment library design, ligand- and protein-observed screening, and protein–ligand structure model generation. For weak binders, the initial hit-to-lead evolution can be guided by structural information retrieved from NMR spectroscopy, including chemical shift perturbation, transferred pseudocontact shifts, and paramagnetic relaxation enhancement. This perspective examines structure-guided optimization from weak fragment screening hits to potent leads for challenging PPI targets.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Rongsheng Ma
- Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Science at the Microscale, School of Life Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230027, Anhui, China.
| | - Pengchao Wang
- Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Science at the Microscale, School of Life Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230027, Anhui, China.
| | - Jihui Wu
- Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Science at the Microscale, School of Life Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230027, Anhui, China.
| | - Ke Ruan
- Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Science at the Microscale, School of Life Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230027, Anhui, China.
| |
Collapse
|