1
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McCoy MA, Spicer D, Wells N, Hoogewijs K, Fiedler M, Baud MGJ. Biophysical Survey of Small-Molecule β-Catenin Inhibitors: A Cautionary Tale. J Med Chem 2022; 65:7246-7261. [PMID: 35581674 PMCID: PMC9150122 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.2c00228] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
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The canonical Wingless-related
integration site signaling pathway
plays a critical role in human physiology, and its dysregulation can
lead to an array of diseases. β-Catenin is a multifunctional
protein within this pathway and an attractive yet challenging therapeutic
target, most notably in oncology. This has stimulated the search for
potent small-molecule inhibitors binding directly to the β-catenin
surface to inhibit its protein–protein interactions and downstream
signaling. Here, we provide an account of the claimed (and some putative)
small-molecule ligands of β-catenin from the literature. Through
in silico analysis, we show that most of these molecules contain promiscuous
chemical substructures notorious for interfering with screening assays.
Finally, and in line with this analysis, we demonstrate using orthogonal
biophysical techniques that none of the examined small molecules bind
at the surface of β-catenin. While shedding doubts on their
reported mode of action, this study also reaffirms β-catenin
as a prominent target in drug discovery.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael A McCoy
- School of Chemistry, University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 1BJ, U.K
| | - Dominique Spicer
- School of Chemistry, University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 1BJ, U.K
| | - Neil Wells
- School of Chemistry, University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 1BJ, U.K
| | - Kurt Hoogewijs
- National University of Ireland, University Road, Galway H91 TK33, Ireland
| | - Marc Fiedler
- Medical Research Council, Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Francis Crick Avenue, Cambridge CB2 0QH, U.K
| | - Matthias G J Baud
- School of Chemistry, University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 1BJ, U.K
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2
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Applications of Solution NMR in Drug Discovery. Molecules 2021; 26:molecules26030576. [PMID: 33499337 PMCID: PMC7865596 DOI: 10.3390/molecules26030576] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/11/2020] [Revised: 01/18/2021] [Accepted: 01/18/2021] [Indexed: 01/13/2023] Open
Abstract
During the past decades, solution nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy has demonstrated itself as a promising tool in drug discovery. Especially, fragment-based drug discovery (FBDD) has benefited a lot from the NMR development. Multiple candidate compounds and FDA-approved drugs derived from FBDD have been developed with the assistance of NMR techniques. NMR has broad applications in different stages of the FBDD process, which includes fragment library construction, hit generation and validation, hit-to-lead optimization and working mechanism elucidation, etc. In this manuscript, we reviewed the current progresses of NMR applications in fragment-based drug discovery, which were illustrated by multiple reported cases. Moreover, the NMR applications in protein-protein interaction (PPI) modulators development and the progress of in-cell NMR for drug discovery were also briefly summarized.
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4
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Wang Y, Wach JY, Sheehan P, Zhong C, Zhan C, Harris R, Almo SC, Bishop J, Haggarty SJ, Ramek A, Berry KN, O’Herin C, Koehler AN, Hung AW, Young DW. Diversity-Oriented Synthesis as a Strategy for Fragment Evolution against GSK3β. ACS Med Chem Lett 2016; 7:852-6. [PMID: 27660690 DOI: 10.1021/acsmedchemlett.6b00230] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/04/2016] [Accepted: 07/14/2016] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Traditional fragment-based drug discovery (FBDD) relies heavily on structural analysis of the hits bound to their targets. Herein, we present a complementary approach based on diversity-oriented synthesis (DOS). A DOS-based fragment collection was able to produce initial hit compounds against the target GSK3β, allow the systematic synthesis of related fragment analogues to explore fragment-level structure-activity relationship, and finally lead to the synthesis of a more potent compound.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yikai Wang
- Chemical
Biology Program, The Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, 415
Main Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142, United States
| | - Jean-Yves Wach
- Chemical
Biology Program, The Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, 415
Main Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142, United States
| | - Patrick Sheehan
- Chemical
Biology Program, The Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, 415
Main Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142, United States
| | - Cheng Zhong
- Chemical
Biology Program, The Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, 415
Main Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142, United States
| | - Chenyang Zhan
- Department
of Biochemistry, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, 1300 Morris
Park Avenue, Bronx, New York 10461, United States
| | - Richard Harris
- Department
of Biochemistry, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, 1300 Morris
Park Avenue, Bronx, New York 10461, United States
| | - Steven C. Almo
- Department
of Biochemistry, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, 1300 Morris
Park Avenue, Bronx, New York 10461, United States
| | - Joshua Bishop
- Chemical
Biology Program, The Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, 415
Main Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142, United States
- Department of Neurology & Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital, 185 Cambridge Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02114, United States
| | - Stephen J. Haggarty
- Chemical
Biology Program, The Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, 415
Main Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142, United States
- Department of Neurology & Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital, 185 Cambridge Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02114, United States
| | - Alexander Ramek
- Chemical
Biology Program, The Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, 415
Main Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142, United States
| | - Kayla N. Berry
- Chemical
Biology Program, The Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, 415
Main Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142, United States
| | - Conor O’Herin
- Chemical
Biology Program, The Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, 415
Main Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142, United States
| | - Angela N. Koehler
- Chemical
Biology Program, The Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, 415
Main Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142, United States
| | - Alvin W. Hung
- Chemical
Biology Program, The Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, 415
Main Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142, United States
| | - Damian W. Young
- Chemical
Biology Program, The Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, 415
Main Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142, United States
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5
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Bartolowits M, Davisson VJ. Considerations of Protein Subpockets in Fragment-Based Drug Design. Chem Biol Drug Des 2015; 87:5-20. [PMID: 26307335 DOI: 10.1111/cbdd.12631] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
While the fragment-based drug design approach continues to gain importance, gaps in the tools and methods available in the identification and accurate utilization of protein subpockets have limited the scope. The importance of these features of small molecule-protein recognition is highlighted with several examples. A generalized solution for the identification of subpockets and corresponding chemical fragments remains elusive, but there are numerous advancements in methods that can be used in combination to address subpockets. Finally, additional examples of approaches that consider the relative importance of small-molecule co-dependence of protein conformations are highlighted to emphasize an increased significance of subpockets, especially at protein interfaces.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew Bartolowits
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, College of Pharmacy, Purdue University, 575 Stadium Mall Dr., West Lafayette, IN, 47907, USA
| | - V Jo Davisson
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, College of Pharmacy, Purdue University, 575 Stadium Mall Dr., West Lafayette, IN, 47907, USA
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6
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Geist L, Henen MA, Haiderer S, Schwarz TC, Kurzbach D, Zawadzka-Kazimierczuk A, Saxena S, Zerko S, Koźmiński W, Hinderberger D, Konrat R. Protonation-dependent conformational variability of intrinsically disordered proteins. Protein Sci 2014; 22:1196-205. [PMID: 23821606 DOI: 10.1002/pro.2304] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/21/2013] [Revised: 06/20/2013] [Accepted: 06/21/2013] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
Intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) are characterized by substantial conformational plasticity and undergo rearrangements of the time-averaged conformational ensemble on changes of environmental conditions (e.g., in ionic strength, pH, molecular crowding). In contrast to stably folded proteins, IDPs often form compact conformations at acidic pH. The biological relevance of this process was, for example, demonstrated by nuclear magnetic resonance studies of the aggregation prone (low pH) state of α-synuclein. In this study, we report a large-scale analysis of the pH dependence of disordered proteins using the recently developed meta-structure approach. The meta-structure analysis of a large set of IDPs revealed a significant tendency of IDPs to form α-helical secondary structure elements and to preferentially fold into more compact structures under acidic conditions. The predictive validity of this novel approach was demonstrated with applications to the tumor-suppressor BASP1 and the transcription factor Tcf4.
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Affiliation(s)
- Leonhard Geist
- Department of Computational and Structural Biology, Max F. Perutz Laboratories, University of Vienna, Campus Vienna Biocenter 5, A-1030, Vienna, Austria
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7
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Brown MS, Bennett T, Coker JA. Niche Genetic Algorithms are better than traditional Genetic Algorithms for de novo Protein Folding. F1000Res 2014. [DOI: 10.12688/f1000research.5412.1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Here we demonstrate that Niche Genetic Algorithms (NGA) are better at computing de novo protein folding than traditional Genetic Algorithms (GA). Previous research has shown that proteins can fold into their active forms in a limited number of ways; however, predicting how a set of amino acids will fold starting from the primary structure is still a mystery. GAs have a unique ability to solve these types of scientific problems because of their computational efficiency. Unfortunately, GAs are generally quite poor at solving problems with multiple optima. However, there is a special group of GAs called Niche Genetic Algorithms (NGA) that are quite good at solving problems with multiple optima. In this study, we use a specific NGA: the Dynamic-radius Species-conserving Genetic Algorithm (DSGA), and show that DSGA is very adept at predicting the folded state of proteins, and that DSGA is better than a traditional GA in deriving the correct folding pattern of a protein.
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8
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Konrat R. NMR contributions to structural dynamics studies of intrinsically disordered proteins. JOURNAL OF MAGNETIC RESONANCE (SAN DIEGO, CALIF. : 1997) 2014; 241:74-85. [PMID: 24656082 PMCID: PMC3985426 DOI: 10.1016/j.jmr.2013.11.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 130] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/20/2013] [Revised: 11/13/2013] [Accepted: 11/18/2013] [Indexed: 05/04/2023]
Abstract
Intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) are characterized by substantial conformational plasticity. Given their inherent structural flexibility X-ray crystallography is not applicable to study these proteins. In contrast, NMR spectroscopy offers unique opportunities for structural and dynamic studies of IDPs. The past two decades have witnessed significant development of NMR spectroscopy that couples advances in spin physics and chemistry with a broad range of applications. This article will summarize key advances in basic physical-chemistry and NMR methodology, outline their limitations and envision future R&D directions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert Konrat
- Department of Structural and Computational Biology, Max F. Perutz Laboratories, University of Vienna, Campus Vienna Biocenter 5, A-1030 Vienna, Austria.
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9
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Abstract
G-protein–coupled receptors (GPCRs) still offer enormous scope for new therapeutic targets. Currently marketed agents are dominated by those with activity at aminergic receptors and yet they account for only ~10% of the family. Progress up until now with other subfamilies, notably orphans, Family A/peptide, Family A/lipid, Family B, Family C, and Family F, has been, at best, patchy. This may be attributable to the heterogeneous nature of GPCRs, their endogenous ligands, and consequently their binding sites. Our appreciation of receptor similarity has arguably been too simplistic, and screening collections have not necessarily been well suited to identifying leads in new areas. Despite the relative shortage of high-quality tool molecules in a number of cases, there is an emerging, and increasingly substantial, body of evidence associating many as yet “undrugged” receptors with a very wide range of diseases. Significant advances in our understanding of receptor pharmacology and technical advances in screening, protein X-ray crystallography, and ligand design methods are paving the way for new successes in the area. Exploitation of allosteric mechanisms; alternative signaling pathways such as G12/13, Gβγ, and β-arrestin; the discovery of “biased” ligands; and the emergence of GPCR-protein complexes as potential drug targets offer scope for new and much improved drugs.
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10
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Kalliokoski T, Olsson TSG, Vulpetti A. Subpocket analysis method for fragment-based drug discovery. J Chem Inf Model 2013; 53:131-41. [PMID: 23327721 DOI: 10.1021/ci300523r] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
Abstract
Although two binding sites might be dissimilar overall, they might still bind the same fragments if they share suitable subpockets. Information about shared subpockets can be therefore used in fragment-based drug design to suggest new fragments or to replace existing fragments within an already known compound. A novel computational method called SubCav is described which allows the similarity searching and alignment of subpockets from a PDB-wide database against a user-defined query. The method is based on pharmacophoric fingerprints combined with a subpocket alignment algorithm. SubCav was shown to be effective in producing reasonable alignments for subpockets with low sequence similarity and be able to retrieve relevant subpockets from a large database of structures including those with different folds. It can also be used to analyze subpockets inside a protein family to facilitate drug design and to rationalize compound selectivity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tuomo Kalliokoski
- Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research, Postfach, CH-4002 Basel, Switzerland
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