Targeting the PPM1D phenotype; 2,4-bisarylthiazoles cause highly selective apoptosis in PPM1D amplified cell-lines

Identification of Small Molecule Inhibitors of PPM1D Using a Novel Drug Discovery Platform

Protein phosphatase, Mg2+/Mn2+ dependent 1D (PPM1D), is a serine/threonine phosphatase that is recurrently activated in cancer, regulates the DNA damage response (DDR), and suppresses the activation of p53. Consistent with its oncogenic properties, genetic loss or pharmacologic inhibition of PPM1D impairs tumor growth and sensitizes cancer cells to cytotoxic therapies in a wide range of preclinical models. Given the therapeutic potential of targeting PPM1D specifically and the DDR and p53 pathway more generally, we sought to deepen our biological understanding of PPM1D as a drug target and determine how PPM1D inhibition differs from other therapeutic approaches to activate the DDR. We performed a high throughput screen to identify new allosteric inhibitors of PPM1D, then generated and optimized a suite of enzymatic, cell-based, and in vivo pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic assays to drive medicinal chemistry efforts and to further interrogate the biology of PPM1D. Importantly, this drug discovery platform can be readily adapted to broadly study the DDR and p53. We identified compounds distinct from previously reported allosteric inhibitors and showed in vivo on-target activity. Our data suggest that the biological effects of inhibiting PPM1D are distinct from inhibitors of the MDM2-p53 interaction and standard cytotoxic chemotherapies. These differences also highlight the potential therapeutic contexts in which targeting PPM1D would be most valuable. Therefore, our studies have identified a series of new PPM1D inhibitors, generated a suite of in vitro and in vivo assays that can be broadly used to interrogate the DDR, and provided important new insights into PPM1D as a drug target.

The biological function and the regulatory roles of wild-type p53-induced phosphatase 1 in immune system

Wild-type p53-induced phosphatase 1 (WIP1) belongs to the protein phosphatase 2C (PP2C) family and is a mammalian serine/threonine specific protein phosphatase to dephosphorylate numerous signaling molecules. Mammalian WIP1 regulates a wide array of targeting molecules and plays key regulatory roles in many cell processes such as DNA damage and repair, cell proliferation, differentiation, apoptosis, and senescence. WIP1 promotes the formation and development of tumors as an oncogene and a negative regulator of p53. It is also involved in the regulation of aging, neurological diseases and immune diseases. Recent studies demonstrated the critical roles of WIP1 in the differentiation and function of immune cells including T cells, neutrophils and macrophages. In the present manuscript, we briefly summarized the expression patterns, biological function and the target molecules and signal pathways of WIP1 and mainly discussed the latest advances on the regulatory effects of WIP1 in the immune system. WIP1 may be a potential target molecule to treat cancers and immune diseases such as allergic asthma.

Discovery of a Chemical Probe Bisamide (CCT251236): An Orally Bioavailable Efficacious Pirin Ligand from a Heat Shock Transcription Factor 1 (HSF1) Phenotypic Screen

Phenotypic screens, which focus on measuring and quantifying discrete cellular changes rather than affinity for individual recombinant proteins, have recently attracted renewed interest as an efficient strategy for drug discovery. In this article, we describe the discovery of a new chemical probe, bisamide (CCT251236), identified using an unbiased phenotypic screen to detect inhibitors of the HSF1 stress pathway. The chemical probe is orally bioavailable and displays efficacy in a human ovarian carcinoma xenograft model. By developing cell-based SAR and using chemical proteomics, we identified pirin as a high affinity molecular target, which was confirmed by SPR and crystallography.

Wip1 inhibitor GSK2830371 inhibits neuroblastoma growth by inducing Chk2/p53-mediated apoptosis

Neuroblastoma (NB) is the most common extracranial tumor in children. Unlike in most adult tumors, tumor suppressor protein 53 (p53) mutations occur with a relatively low frequency in NB and the downstream function of p53 is intact in NB cell lines. Wip1 is a negative regulator of p53 and hindrance of Wip1 activity by novel inhibitor GSK2830371 is a potential strategy to activate p53’s tumor suppressing function in NB. Yet, the in vivo efficacy and the possible mechanisms of GSK2830371 in NB have not yet been elucidated. Here we report that novel Wip1 inhibitor GSK2830371 induced Chk2/p53-mediated apoptosis in NB cells in a p53-dependent manner. In addition, GSK2830371 suppressed the colony-formation potential of p53 wild-type NB cell lines. Furthermore, GSK2830371 enhanced doxorubicin- (Dox) and etoposide- (VP-16) induced cytotoxicity in a subset of NB cell lines, including the chemoresistant LA-N-6 cell line. More importantly, GSK2830371 significantly inhibited tumor growth in an orthotopic xenograft NB mouse model by inducing Chk2/p53-mediated apoptosis in vivo. Taken together, this study suggests that GSK2830371 induces Chk2/p53-mediated apoptosis both in vitro and in vivo in a p53 dependent manner.

Approaches toward improving the prognosis of pediatric patients with glioma: pursuing mutant drug targets with emerging small molecules

Gliomas represent approximately 70% of all pediatric brain tumors, and most of these are of astrocytic lineage; furthermore, malignant or high-grade astrocytomas account for approximately 20% of pediatric astrocytoma. Treatment options for pediatric patients with glioma are limited. Although low-grade astrocytomas are relatively slow-growing tumors that can often be cured through surgical resection, a significant proportion of cases recur, as such, new treatments are desperately needed. This review covers the various approaches that are currently being made toward improving the prognosis of pediatric patients with glioma by pursuing pediatric-selective mutant drug targets with emerging small molecules.