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Tsuji K, Hymel D, Ma B, Tamamura H, Nussinov R, Burke TR. Development of ultra-high affinity bivalent ligands targeting the polo-like kinase 1. RSC Chem Biol 2022; 3:1111-1120. [PMID: 36128509 PMCID: PMC9428768 DOI: 10.1039/d2cb00153e] [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: 06/22/2022] [Accepted: 07/14/2022] [Indexed: 02/01/2023] Open
Abstract
The polo-like kinase 1 (Plk1) is an important mediator of cell cycle regulation and a recognized anti-cancer molecular target. In addition to its catalytic kinase domain (KD), Plk1 contains a polo-box domain (PBD), which engages in protein–protein interactions (PPIs) essential to proper Plk1 function. We have developed a number of extremely high-affinity PBD-binding peptide inhibitors. However, we have reached an apparent limit to increasing the affinities of these monovalent ligands. Accordingly, we undertook an extensive investigation of bivalent ligands, designed to engage both KD and PBD regions of Plk1. This has resulted in bivalent constructs exhibiting more than 100-fold Plk1 affinity enhancement relative to the best monovalent PBD-binding ligands. Startlingly, and in contradiction to widely accepted notions of KD–PBD interactions, we have found that full affinities can be retained even with minimal linkers between KD and PBD-binding components. In addition to significantly advancing the development of PBD-binding ligands, our findings may cause a rethinking of the structure – function of Plk1. The polo-like kinase 1 (Plk1) is an important mediator of cell cycle regulation and a recognized anti-cancer molecular target.![]()
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Affiliation(s)
- Kohei Tsuji
- Chemical Biology Laboratory, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Frederick, MD 21702, USA
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Institute of Biomaterials and Bioengineering, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Tokyo 101-0062, Japan
| | - David Hymel
- Chemical Biology Laboratory, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Frederick, MD 21702, USA
| | - Buyong Ma
- Computational Structural Biology Section, Laboratory of Immunometabolism, Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute at Frederick, Frederick, MD 21702, USA
| | - Hirokazu Tamamura
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Institute of Biomaterials and Bioengineering, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Tokyo 101-0062, Japan
| | - Ruth Nussinov
- Computational Structural Biology Section, Laboratory of Immunometabolism, Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute at Frederick, Frederick, MD 21702, USA
| | - Terrence R. Burke
- Chemical Biology Laboratory, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Frederick, MD 21702, USA
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