1
|
Atkinson BN, Willis NJ, Zhao Y, Patel C, Frew S, Costelloe K, Magno L, Svensson F, Jones EY, Fish PV. Designed switch from covalent to non-covalent inhibitors of carboxylesterase Notum activity. Eur J Med Chem 2023; 251:115132. [PMID: 36934521 PMCID: PMC10626578 DOI: 10.1016/j.ejmech.2023.115132] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/08/2022] [Revised: 01/14/2023] [Accepted: 01/15/2023] [Indexed: 01/22/2023]
Abstract
N-Acyl indolines 4 are potent, non-covalent Notum inhibitors developed from a covalent virtual screening hit 2a. The lead compounds were simple to synthesise, achieved excellent potency in a biochemical Notum-OPTS assay and restored Wnt signalling in a cell-based TCF/LEF reporter assay. Multiple high resolution X-ray structures established a common binding mode of these inhibitors with the indoline bound centred in the palmiteolate pocket with key interactions being aromatic stacking and a water mediated hydrogen bond to the oxyanion hole. These N-acyl indolines 4 will be useful tools for use in vitro studies to investigate the role of Notum in disease models, especially when paired with a structurally related covalent inhibitor (e.g. 4w and 2a). Overall, this study highlights the designed switch from covalent to non-covalent Notum inhibitors and so illustrates a complementary approach for hit generation and target inhibition.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Benjamin N Atkinson
- Alzheimer's Research UK UCL Drug Discovery Institute, University College London, The Cruciform Building, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT, UK
| | - Nicky J Willis
- Alzheimer's Research UK UCL Drug Discovery Institute, University College London, The Cruciform Building, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT, UK
| | - 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, UK
| | - Chandni Patel
- Alzheimer's Research UK UCL Drug Discovery Institute, University College London, The Cruciform Building, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT, UK
| | - Sarah Frew
- Alzheimer's Research UK UCL Drug Discovery Institute, University College London, The Cruciform Building, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT, UK
| | - Kathryn Costelloe
- Alzheimer's Research UK UCL Drug Discovery Institute, University College London, The Cruciform Building, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT, UK
| | - Lorenza Magno
- Alzheimer's Research UK UCL Drug Discovery Institute, University College London, The Cruciform Building, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT, UK
| | - Fredrik Svensson
- Alzheimer's Research UK UCL Drug Discovery Institute, University College London, The Cruciform Building, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT, UK.
| | - 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, UK
| | - Paul V Fish
- Alzheimer's Research UK UCL Drug Discovery Institute, University College London, The Cruciform Building, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT, UK
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Gao M, Günther S. HyperCys: A Structure- and Sequence-Based Predictor of Hyper-Reactive Druggable Cysteines. Int J Mol Sci 2023; 24:ijms24065960. [PMID: 36983037 PMCID: PMC10054327 DOI: 10.3390/ijms24065960] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/13/2023] [Revised: 03/15/2023] [Accepted: 03/17/2023] [Indexed: 03/30/2023] Open
Abstract
The cysteine side chain has a free thiol group, making it the amino acid residue most often covalently modified by small molecules possessing weakly electrophilic warheads, thereby prolonging on-target residence time and reducing the risk of idiosyncratic drug toxicity. However, not all cysteines are equally reactive or accessible. Hence, to identify targetable cysteines, we propose a novel ensemble stacked machine learning (ML) model to predict hyper-reactive druggable cysteines, named HyperCys. First, the pocket, conservation, structural and energy profiles, and physicochemical properties of (non)covalently bound cysteines were collected from both protein sequences and 3D structures of protein-ligand complexes. Then, we established the HyperCys ensemble stacked model by integrating six different ML models, including K-nearest neighbors, support vector machine, light gradient boost machine, multi-layer perceptron classifier, random forest, and the meta-classifier model logistic regression. Finally, based on the hyper-reactive cysteines' classification accuracy and other metrics, the results for different feature group combinations were compared. The results show that the accuracy, F1 score, recall score, and ROC AUC values of HyperCys are 0.784, 0.754, 0.742, and 0.824, respectively, after performing 10-fold CV with the best window size. Compared to traditional ML models with only sequenced-based features or only 3D structural features, HyperCys is more accurate at predicting hyper-reactive druggable cysteines. It is anticipated that HyperCys will be an effective tool for discovering new potential reactive cysteines in a wide range of nucleophilic proteins and will provide an important contribution to the design of targeted covalent inhibitors with high potency and selectivity.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Mingjie Gao
- Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, Hermann-Herder-Straße 9, 79104 Freiburg, Germany
| | - Stefan Günther
- Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, Hermann-Herder-Straße 9, 79104 Freiburg, Germany
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Shi JH, Zhao B, Song LL, Song YQ, Sun MR, Tian T, Chen HY, Song YQ, Sun JM, Ge GB. Chalcone derivatives as novel, potent and selective inhibitors against human Notum: Structure–activity relationships and biological evaluations. CHINESE CHEM LETT 2023. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cclet.2023.108405] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/03/2023]
|
4
|
Du H, Jiang D, Gao J, Zhang X, Jiang L, Zeng Y, Wu Z, Shen C, Xu L, Cao D, Hou T, Pan P. Proteome-Wide Profiling of the Covalent-Druggable Cysteines with a Structure-Based Deep Graph Learning Network. Research (Wash D C) 2022; 2022:9873564. [PMID: 35958111 PMCID: PMC9343084 DOI: 10.34133/2022/9873564] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/06/2022] [Accepted: 06/27/2022] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Abstract
Covalent ligands have attracted increasing attention due to their unique advantages, such as long residence time, high selectivity, and strong binding affinity. They also show promise for targets where previous efforts to identify noncovalent small molecule inhibitors have failed. However, our limited knowledge of covalent binding sites has hindered the discovery of novel ligands. Therefore, developing in silico methods to identify covalent binding sites is highly desirable. Here, we propose DeepCoSI, the first structure-based deep graph learning model to identify ligandable covalent sites in the protein. By integrating the characterization of the binding pocket and the interactions between each cysteine and the surrounding environment, DeepCoSI achieves state-of-the-art predictive performances. The validation on two external test sets which mimic the real application scenarios shows that DeepCoSI has strong ability to distinguish ligandable sites from the others. Finally, we profiled the entire set of protein structures in the RCSB Protein Data Bank (PDB) with DeepCoSI to evaluate the ligandability of each cysteine for covalent ligand design, and made the predicted data publicly available on website.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Hongyan Du
- Innovation Institute for Artificial Intelligence in Medicine of Zhejiang University, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058 Zhejiang, China
- State Key Lab of CAD&CG, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058 Zhejiang, China
| | - Dejun Jiang
- Innovation Institute for Artificial Intelligence in Medicine of Zhejiang University, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058 Zhejiang, China
- State Key Lab of CAD&CG, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058 Zhejiang, China
| | - Junbo Gao
- Innovation Institute for Artificial Intelligence in Medicine of Zhejiang University, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058 Zhejiang, China
| | - Xujun Zhang
- Innovation Institute for Artificial Intelligence in Medicine of Zhejiang University, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058 Zhejiang, China
| | - Lingxiao Jiang
- Innovation Institute for Artificial Intelligence in Medicine of Zhejiang University, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058 Zhejiang, China
| | - Yundian Zeng
- Innovation Institute for Artificial Intelligence in Medicine of Zhejiang University, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058 Zhejiang, China
| | - Zhenxing Wu
- Innovation Institute for Artificial Intelligence in Medicine of Zhejiang University, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058 Zhejiang, China
| | - Chao Shen
- Innovation Institute for Artificial Intelligence in Medicine of Zhejiang University, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058 Zhejiang, China
| | - Lei Xu
- Institute of Bioinformatics and Medical Engineering, School of Electrical and Information Engineering, Jiangsu University of Technology, Changzhou 213001, China
| | - Dongsheng Cao
- Xiangya School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Central South University, Changsha, 410004 Hunan, China
| | - Tingjun Hou
- Innovation Institute for Artificial Intelligence in Medicine of Zhejiang University, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058 Zhejiang, China
- State Key Lab of CAD&CG, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058 Zhejiang, China
| | - Peichen Pan
- Innovation Institute for Artificial Intelligence in Medicine of Zhejiang University, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058 Zhejiang, China
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
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
|
6
|
Willis N, Mahy W, Sipthorp J, Zhao Y, Woodward HL, Atkinson BN, Bayle ED, Svensson F, Frew S, Jeganathan F, Monaghan A, Benvegnù S, Jolly S, Vecchia L, Ruza RR, Kjær S, Howell S, Snijders AP, Bictash M, Salinas PC, Vincent JP, Jones EY, Whiting P, Fish PV. Design of a Potent, Selective, and Brain-Penetrant Inhibitor of Wnt-Deactivating Enzyme Notum by Optimization of a Crystallographic Fragment Hit. J Med Chem 2022; 65:7212-7230. [PMID: 35536179 PMCID: PMC9150124 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.2c00162] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/28/2022] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
Abstract
Notum is a carboxylesterase that suppresses Wnt signaling through deacylation of an essential palmitoleate group on Wnt proteins. There is a growing understanding of the role Notum plays in human diseases such as colorectal cancer and Alzheimer's disease, supporting the need to discover improved inhibitors, especially for use in models of neurodegeneration. Here, we have described the discovery and profile of 8l (ARUK3001185) as a potent, selective, and brain-penetrant inhibitor of Notum activity suitable for oral dosing in rodent models of disease. Crystallographic fragment screening of the Diamond-SGC Poised Library for binding to Notum, supported by a biochemical enzyme assay to rank inhibition activity, identified 6a and 6b as a pair of outstanding hits. Fragment development of 6 delivered 8l that restored Wnt signaling in the presence of Notum in a cell-based reporter assay. Assessment in pharmacology screens showed 8l to be selective against serine hydrolases, kinases, and drug targets.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Nicky
J. Willis
- Alzheimer’s
Research UK UCL Drug Discovery Institute, University College London, Cruciform Building, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, U.K.
| | - William Mahy
- Alzheimer’s
Research UK UCL Drug Discovery Institute, University College London, Cruciform Building, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, U.K.
| | - James Sipthorp
- Alzheimer’s
Research UK UCL Drug Discovery Institute, University College London, Cruciform Building, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, U.K.
- The
Francis Crick Institute, 1 Midland Road, Kings Cross, London NW1 1AT, U.K.
| | - 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.
| | - Hannah L. Woodward
- Alzheimer’s
Research UK UCL Drug Discovery Institute, University College London, Cruciform Building, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, U.K.
| | - Benjamin N. Atkinson
- Alzheimer’s
Research UK UCL Drug Discovery Institute, University College London, Cruciform Building, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, U.K.
| | - Elliott D. Bayle
- Alzheimer’s
Research UK UCL Drug Discovery Institute, University College London, Cruciform Building, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, U.K.
- The
Francis Crick Institute, 1 Midland Road, Kings Cross, London NW1 1AT, U.K.
| | - Fredrik Svensson
- Alzheimer’s
Research UK UCL Drug Discovery Institute, University College London, Cruciform Building, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, U.K.
- The
Francis Crick Institute, 1 Midland Road, Kings Cross, London NW1 1AT, U.K.
| | - Sarah Frew
- Alzheimer’s
Research UK UCL Drug Discovery Institute, University College London, Cruciform Building, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, U.K.
| | - Fiona Jeganathan
- Alzheimer’s
Research UK UCL Drug Discovery Institute, University College London, Cruciform Building, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, U.K.
| | - Amy Monaghan
- Alzheimer’s
Research UK UCL Drug Discovery Institute, University College London, Cruciform Building, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, U.K.
| | - Stefano Benvegnù
- Alzheimer’s
Research UK UCL Drug Discovery Institute, University College London, Cruciform Building, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, U.K.
| | - Sarah Jolly
- Alzheimer’s
Research UK UCL Drug Discovery Institute, University College London, Cruciform Building, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, 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.
| | - Svend Kjær
- The
Francis Crick Institute, 1 Midland Road, Kings Cross, London NW1 1AT, U.K.
| | - Steven Howell
- 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, 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.
| | - Jean-Paul Vincent
- 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.
| | - Paul Whiting
- Alzheimer’s
Research UK UCL Drug Discovery Institute, University College London, Cruciform Building, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, U.K.
| | - Paul V. Fish
- Alzheimer’s
Research UK UCL Drug Discovery Institute, University College London, Cruciform Building, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, U.K.
- The
Francis Crick Institute, 1 Midland Road, Kings Cross, London NW1 1AT, U.K.
| |
Collapse
|
7
|
Yildiz I, Yildiz BS. Computational Analysis of the Inhibition Mechanism of NOTUM by the ONIOM Method. ACS OMEGA 2022; 7:13333-13342. [PMID: 35474786 PMCID: PMC9026088 DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.2c01044] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/21/2022] [Accepted: 03/28/2022] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Notum is a member of serine hydrolyses that cleaves the palmitoleate moiety from Wingless-related integration site (Wnt) ligands. This enzyme plays crucial functions through modulating the Wnt signaling pathway. Inhibition of Notum carries therapeutic effects against a number of maladies including osteoporosis, cancer, and Alzheimer's disease. Recently, a class of irreversible inhibitors based on esters of 4-(indolin-1-yl)-4-oxobutanoic acid have been reported. Using the crystal structures of enzyme-4-(indolin-1-yl)-4-oxobutanoate adduct and 4-(indolin-1-yl)-4-oxobutanoic acid-enzyme complex, we studied computationally the proposed inhibition mechanism using model systems based on the own n-layered integrated molecular orbital and molecular mechanics (ONIOM) method. In the first place, model systems were formulated to investigate the transesterification between the catalytic serine residue, Ser-232, and the methyl ester of 4-(indolin-1-yl)-4-oxobutanoate. In the second place, the hydrolysis mechanism of the resultant enzyme-inhibitor adduct was studied. The energetics of these steps were analyzed using a density functional theory functional in the ONIOM method. In addition, the roles of active-site residues during these steps were highlighted. It was found that the hydrolysis of the covalent adduct is highly endergonic corroborating the irreversible inhibition mechanism. These results will shed light not only on the inhibition mechanism but also on the catalytic mechanism.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ibrahim Yildiz
- Chemistry
Department, Khalifa University, PO Box 127788, Abu Dhabi 00000, UAE
| | | |
Collapse
|
8
|
Steadman D, Atkinson BN, Zhao Y, Willis NJ, Frew S, Monaghan A, Patel C, Armstrong E, Costelloe K, Magno L, Bictash M, Jones EY, Fish PV, Svensson F. Virtual Screening Directly Identifies New Fragment-Sized Inhibitors of Carboxylesterase Notum with Nanomolar Activity. J Med Chem 2022; 65:562-578. [PMID: 34939789 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.1c01735] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/09/2023]
Abstract
Notum is a negative regulator of Wnt signaling acting through the hydrolysis of a palmitoleoylate ester, which is required for Wnt activity. Inhibitors of Notum could be of use in diseases where dysfunctional Notum activity is an underlying cause. A docking-based virtual screen (VS) of a large commercial library was used to shortlist 952 compounds for experimental validation as inhibitors of Notum. The VS was successful with 31 compounds having an IC50 < 500 nM. A critical selection process was then applied with two clusters and two singletons (1-4d) selected for hit validation. Optimization of 4d guided by structural biology identified potent inhibitors of Notum activity that restored Wnt/β-catenin signaling in cell-based models. The [1,2,4]triazolo[4,3-b]pyradizin-3(2H)-one series 4 represent a new chemical class of Notum inhibitors and the first to be discovered by a VS campaign. These results demonstrate the value of VS with well-designed docking models based on X-ray structures.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- David Steadman
- Alzheimer's Research UK UCL Drug Discovery Institute, University College London, The Cruciform Building, Gower Street, LondonWC1E 6BT, U.K
| | - Benjamin N Atkinson
- Alzheimer's Research UK UCL Drug Discovery Institute, University College London, The Cruciform Building, Gower Street, LondonWC1E 6BT, U.K
| | - Yuguang Zhao
- Division of Structural Biology, Wellcome Centre for Human Genetics, University of Oxford, The Henry Wellcome Building for Genomic Medicine, Roosevelt Drive, OxfordOX3 7BN, U.K
| | - Nicky J Willis
- Alzheimer's Research UK UCL Drug Discovery Institute, University College London, The Cruciform Building, Gower Street, LondonWC1E 6BT, U.K
| | - Sarah Frew
- Alzheimer's Research UK UCL Drug Discovery Institute, University College London, The Cruciform Building, Gower Street, LondonWC1E 6BT, U.K
| | - Amy Monaghan
- Alzheimer's Research UK UCL Drug Discovery Institute, University College London, The Cruciform Building, Gower Street, LondonWC1E 6BT, U.K
| | - Chandni Patel
- Alzheimer's Research UK UCL Drug Discovery Institute, University College London, The Cruciform Building, Gower Street, LondonWC1E 6BT, U.K
| | - Emma Armstrong
- Alzheimer's Research UK UCL Drug Discovery Institute, University College London, The Cruciform Building, Gower Street, LondonWC1E 6BT, U.K
| | - Kathryn Costelloe
- Alzheimer's Research UK UCL Drug Discovery Institute, University College London, The Cruciform Building, Gower Street, LondonWC1E 6BT, U.K
| | - Lorenza Magno
- Alzheimer's Research UK UCL Drug Discovery Institute, University College London, The Cruciform Building, Gower Street, LondonWC1E 6BT, U.K
| | - Magda Bictash
- Alzheimer's Research UK UCL Drug Discovery Institute, University College London, The Cruciform Building, Gower Street, LondonWC1E 6BT, 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, OxfordOX3 7BN, U.K
| | - Paul V Fish
- Alzheimer's Research UK UCL Drug Discovery Institute, University College London, The Cruciform Building, Gower Street, LondonWC1E 6BT, U.K
| | - Fredrik Svensson
- Alzheimer's Research UK UCL Drug Discovery Institute, University College London, The Cruciform Building, Gower Street, LondonWC1E 6BT, U.K
| |
Collapse
|