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Su P, Lu Q, Wang Y, Mou Y, Jin W. Targeting MELK in tumor cells and tumor microenvironment: from function and mechanism to therapeutic application. Clin Transl Oncol 2024:10.1007/s12094-024-03664-5. [PMID: 39187643 DOI: 10.1007/s12094-024-03664-5] [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: 06/27/2024] [Accepted: 08/07/2024] [Indexed: 08/28/2024]
Abstract
Maternal embryonic leucine zipper kinase (MELK), a member of the adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK) protein family, has been reported to be involved in the regulation of many cellular events. The aberrant expression of MELK is associated with tumorigenesis and malignant progression of various tumors. Moreover, MELK plays an essential role in the regulation of tumor microenvironment (TME), which affects the function of immune cells and the responsiveness to immunotherapy. Currently, small molecule inhibitors targeting MELK have been developed and evaluated in clinical trials. A comprehensive understanding of MELK may provide clues and confidence for subsequent basic research and scientific transformation. In this review, we provide a comprehensive overview of the structural features, molecular biological functions, and critical roles of MELK in tumors and TME, as well as the targeted agents under development for the treatment of tumors and discuss the perspective for MELK-targeted therapies for tumors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pengfei Su
- Department of General Surgery, Cancer Center, Division of Gastrointestinal and Pancreatic Surgery, Zhejiang Provincial People's Hospital, Affiliated People's Hospital, Hangzhou Medical College, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 310000, People's Republic of China
- Key Laboratory of Gastroenterology of Zhejiang Province, Zhejiang Provincial People's Hospital, Affiliated People's Hospital, Hangzhou Medical College, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 310000, People's Republic of China
| | - Qiliang Lu
- Department of General Surgery, Cancer Center, Division of Gastrointestinal and Pancreatic Surgery, Zhejiang Provincial People's Hospital, Affiliated People's Hospital, Hangzhou Medical College, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 310000, People's Republic of China
| | - Yuanyu Wang
- Department of General Surgery, Cancer Center, Division of Gastrointestinal and Pancreatic Surgery, Zhejiang Provincial People's Hospital, Affiliated People's Hospital, Hangzhou Medical College, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 310000, People's Republic of China
| | - Yiping Mou
- Department of General Surgery, Cancer Center, Division of Gastrointestinal and Pancreatic Surgery, Zhejiang Provincial People's Hospital, Affiliated People's Hospital, Hangzhou Medical College, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 310000, People's Republic of China
- Key Laboratory of Gastroenterology of Zhejiang Province, Zhejiang Provincial People's Hospital, Affiliated People's Hospital, Hangzhou Medical College, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 310000, People's Republic of China
| | - Weiwei Jin
- Department of General Surgery, Cancer Center, Division of Gastrointestinal and Pancreatic Surgery, Zhejiang Provincial People's Hospital, Affiliated People's Hospital, Hangzhou Medical College, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 310000, People's Republic of China.
- Key Laboratory of Gastroenterology of Zhejiang Province, Zhejiang Provincial People's Hospital, Affiliated People's Hospital, Hangzhou Medical College, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 310000, People's Republic of China.
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Sun Y, Liu X, He Q, Zhang N, Yan W, Lv X, Wang Y. Discovery of first-in-class PROTACs targeting maternal embryonic leucine zipper kinase (MELK) for the treatment of Burkitt lymphoma. RSC Med Chem 2024; 15:2351-2356. [PMID: 39026635 PMCID: PMC11253867 DOI: 10.1039/d4md00252k] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/12/2024] [Accepted: 06/04/2024] [Indexed: 07/20/2024] Open
Abstract
Maternal embryonic leucine zipper kinase (MELK) is a novel target for the treatment of various kinds of B-cell malignancies. However, the toxicity of inhibitors of MELK has led to clinical failures in cancer treatments. Moreover, inactivation of MELK catalytic domain is insufficient for achieving cancer cell apoptosis. To further confirm the role of MELK in Burkitt lymphoma treatment, we describe herein a structure-guided design of PROTACs targeting MELK. Through design, computer-assisted optimization and SAR studies, we developed the first-in-class MELK-targeting PROTAC MGP-39, which promoted a rapid and potent degradation of MELK in RAMOS cells. Additionally, the newly designed MELK degrader induced significant cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in cancer cells. Notably, compared to MELK inhibitors, MGP-39 has better anti-cancer activity and lower toxicity, indicating the practical role of PROTACs in avoiding the side effects of traditional inhibitors. More importantly, our results show that the use of a PROTAC can be adopted as a general and effective strategy for targeted cancer therapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yonghui Sun
- State Key Laboratory of Bioactive Substance and Function of Natural Medicines, Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College Beijing 100050 China
| | - Xiao Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Bioactive Substance and Function of Natural Medicines, Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College Beijing 100050 China
| | - Qiyu He
- State Key Laboratory of Bioactive Substance and Function of Natural Medicines, Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College Beijing 100050 China
| | - Naizhen Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Bioactive Substance and Function of Natural Medicines, Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College Beijing 100050 China
| | - Wei Yan
- State Key Laboratory of Bioactive Substance and Function of Natural Medicines, Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College Beijing 100050 China
| | - Xucheng Lv
- State Key Laboratory of Bioactive Substance and Function of Natural Medicines, Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College Beijing 100050 China
| | - Yanjie Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Bioactive Substance and Function of Natural Medicines, Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College Beijing 100050 China
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Zhang J, Shi J, Wang L, Liu X, Cao Z, Ruan C, Ning G, Feng S, Yao X, Gao S. Re-analysis of single-cell RNA-seq data reveals the origin and roles of cycling myeloid cells. Stem Cells 2024; 42:593-606. [PMID: 38655770 DOI: 10.1093/stmcls/sxae030] [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: 12/07/2023] [Accepted: 04/02/2024] [Indexed: 04/26/2024]
Abstract
Cycling myeloid cells (CMCs) are often detected from various tissues using single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) datasets, however, their research value was not noticed before. For the first time, our study preliminarily revealed the origin, differentiation, and roles of CMCs in physiological processes. Particularly, subgroup a of cycling myeloid cells (aCMCs) were conclusively identified as belonging to a specific cell type. In an active state, aCMCs rapidly proliferate during the early stages of an embryonic development. With an individual maturing, most aCMCs differentiate into specialized cells, while a small portion of them enter an inactive or dormant state. Under pathological conditions, aCMCs restore their proliferative and differentiation capacities via activation or revival. The present study has set the stage for future research on CMCs by linking them with progenitors of immune cells, and provided a crucial starting point to understand the origin, differentiation, and roles of CMCs in various physiological and pathological processes, particularly those related to traumatic injury, cancer, and pathogen infection, leading to develop targeted therapies or interventions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jiawei Zhang
- Tianjin Key Laboratory of Spine and Spinal Cord, International Science and Technology Cooperation Base of Spinal Cord Injury, Department of Orthopedics, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, International Chinese Musculoskeletal Research Society Collaborating Center for Spinal Cord Injury, Tianjin, Tianjin 300050, People's Republic of China
| | - Jingsong Shi
- National Clinical Research Center for Kidney Diseases, Jinling Hospital, Affiliated Hospital of Medical School, Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210016, People's Republic of China
- College of Life Sciences, Nankai University, Tianjin, Tianjin 300071, People's Republic of China
| | - Liangge Wang
- Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Nanjing Mingzhou Rehabilitation Hospital, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210000, People's Republic of China
| | - Xinjie Liu
- Tianjin Key Laboratory of Spine and Spinal Cord, International Science and Technology Cooperation Base of Spinal Cord Injury, Department of Orthopedics, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, International Chinese Musculoskeletal Research Society Collaborating Center for Spinal Cord Injury, Tianjin, Tianjin 300050, People's Republic of China
| | - Zemin Cao
- Tianjin Key Laboratory of Spine and Spinal Cord, International Science and Technology Cooperation Base of Spinal Cord Injury, Department of Orthopedics, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, International Chinese Musculoskeletal Research Society Collaborating Center for Spinal Cord Injury, Tianjin, Tianjin 300050, People's Republic of China
| | - Cihan Ruan
- College of Life Sciences, Nankai University, Tianjin, Tianjin 300071, People's Republic of China
| | - Guangzhi Ning
- Tianjin Key Laboratory of Spine and Spinal Cord, International Science and Technology Cooperation Base of Spinal Cord Injury, Department of Orthopedics, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, International Chinese Musculoskeletal Research Society Collaborating Center for Spinal Cord Injury, Tianjin, Tianjin 300050, People's Republic of China
| | - Shiqing Feng
- Tianjin Key Laboratory of Spine and Spinal Cord, International Science and Technology Cooperation Base of Spinal Cord Injury, Department of Orthopedics, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, International Chinese Musculoskeletal Research Society Collaborating Center for Spinal Cord Injury, Tianjin, Tianjin 300050, People's Republic of China
| | - Xue Yao
- Tianjin Key Laboratory of Spine and Spinal Cord, International Science and Technology Cooperation Base of Spinal Cord Injury, Department of Orthopedics, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, International Chinese Musculoskeletal Research Society Collaborating Center for Spinal Cord Injury, Tianjin, Tianjin 300050, People's Republic of China
| | - Shan Gao
- College of Life Sciences, Nankai University, Tianjin, Tianjin 300071, People's Republic of China
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Tang B, Zhu J, Shi Y, Wang Y, Zhang X, Chen B, Fang S, Yang Y, Zheng L, Qiu R, Weng Q, Xu M, Zhao Z, Tu J, Chen M, Ji J. Tumor cell-intrinsic MELK enhanced CCL2-dependent immunosuppression to exacerbate hepatocarcinogenesis and confer resistance of HCC to radiotherapy. Mol Cancer 2024; 23:137. [PMID: 38970074 PMCID: PMC11225310 DOI: 10.1186/s12943-024-02049-0] [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: 07/22/2023] [Accepted: 06/21/2024] [Indexed: 07/07/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The outcome of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is limited by its complex molecular characteristics and changeable tumor microenvironment (TME). Here we focused on elucidating the functional consequences of Maternal embryonic leucine zipper kinase (MELK) in the tumorigenesis, progression and metastasis of HCC, and exploring the effect of MELK on immune cell regulation in the TME, meanwhile clarifying the corresponding signaling networks. METHODS Bioinformatic analysis was used to validate the prognostic value of MELK for HCC. Murine xenograft assays and HCC lung metastasis mouse model confirmed the role of MELK in tumorigenesis and metastasis in HCC. Luciferase assays, RNA sequencing, immunopurification-mass spectrometry (IP-MS) and coimmunoprecipitation (CoIP) were applied to explore the upstream regulators, downstream essential molecules and corresponding mechanisms of MELK in HCC. RESULTS We confirmed MELK to be a reliable prognostic factor of HCC and identified MELK as an effective candidate in facilitating the tumorigenesis, progression, and metastasis of HCC; the effects of MELK depended on the targeted regulation of the upstream factor miR-505-3p and interaction with STAT3, which induced STAT3 phosphorylation and increased the expression of its target gene CCL2 in HCC. In addition, we confirmed that tumor cell-intrinsic MELK inhibition is beneficial in stimulating M1 macrophage polarization, hindering M2 macrophage polarization and inducing CD8 + T-cell recruitment, which are dependent on the alteration of CCL2 expression. Importantly, MELK inhibition amplified RT-related immune effects, thereby synergizing with RT to exert substantial antitumor effects. OTS167, an inhibitor of MELK, was also proven to effectively impair the growth and progression of HCC and exert a superior antitumor effect in combination with radiotherapy (RT). CONCLUSIONS Altogether, our findings highlight the functional role of MELK as a promising target in molecular therapy and in the combination of RT therapy to improve antitumor effect for HCC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bufu Tang
- Key Laboratory of Imaging Diagnosis and Minimally Invasive Intervention Research, School of Medicine, Lishui Hospital, Zhejiang University, Lishui, 323000, China
- Department of Radiology, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, 310016, China
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Zhongshan Hospital Affiliated to Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Jinyu Zhu
- Key Laboratory of Imaging Diagnosis and Minimally Invasive Intervention Research, School of Medicine, Lishui Hospital, Zhejiang University, Lishui, 323000, China
- Key Laboratory of Carcinogenesis and Translational Research (Ministry of Education/Beijing), Department of Nuclear Medicine, Peking University Cancer Hospital & Institute, Peking University, Beijing, 100142, China
| | - Yueli Shi
- Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, The Fourth Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Yiwu, 322000, China
| | - Yajie Wang
- Key Laboratory of Imaging Diagnosis and Minimally Invasive Intervention Research, School of Medicine, Lishui Hospital, Zhejiang University, Lishui, 323000, China
- Institute of Imaging Diagnosis and Minimally Invasive Intervention Research, The Fifth Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Lishui, 323000, China
| | - Xiaojie Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Imaging Diagnosis and Minimally Invasive Intervention Research, School of Medicine, Lishui Hospital, Zhejiang University, Lishui, 323000, China
- Institute of Imaging Diagnosis and Minimally Invasive Intervention Research, The Fifth Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Lishui, 323000, China
- Clinical College of The Affiliated Central Hospital, Lishui University, Lishui, 323000, China
| | - Biao Chen
- Key Laboratory of Imaging Diagnosis and Minimally Invasive Intervention Research, School of Medicine, Lishui Hospital, Zhejiang University, Lishui, 323000, China
- Institute of Imaging Diagnosis and Minimally Invasive Intervention Research, The Fifth Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Lishui, 323000, China
- Clinical College of The Affiliated Central Hospital, Lishui University, Lishui, 323000, China
| | - Shiji Fang
- Key Laboratory of Imaging Diagnosis and Minimally Invasive Intervention Research, School of Medicine, Lishui Hospital, Zhejiang University, Lishui, 323000, China
- Institute of Imaging Diagnosis and Minimally Invasive Intervention Research, The Fifth Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Lishui, 323000, China
- Clinical College of The Affiliated Central Hospital, Lishui University, Lishui, 323000, China
| | - Yang Yang
- Key Laboratory of Imaging Diagnosis and Minimally Invasive Intervention Research, School of Medicine, Lishui Hospital, Zhejiang University, Lishui, 323000, China
- Institute of Imaging Diagnosis and Minimally Invasive Intervention Research, The Fifth Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Lishui, 323000, China
- Clinical College of The Affiliated Central Hospital, Lishui University, Lishui, 323000, China
| | - Liyun Zheng
- Key Laboratory of Imaging Diagnosis and Minimally Invasive Intervention Research, School of Medicine, Lishui Hospital, Zhejiang University, Lishui, 323000, China
- Institute of Imaging Diagnosis and Minimally Invasive Intervention Research, The Fifth Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Lishui, 323000, China
- Clinical College of The Affiliated Central Hospital, Lishui University, Lishui, 323000, China
| | - Rongfang Qiu
- Key Laboratory of Imaging Diagnosis and Minimally Invasive Intervention Research, School of Medicine, Lishui Hospital, Zhejiang University, Lishui, 323000, China
- Institute of Imaging Diagnosis and Minimally Invasive Intervention Research, The Fifth Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Lishui, 323000, China
- Clinical College of The Affiliated Central Hospital, Lishui University, Lishui, 323000, China
| | - Qiaoyou Weng
- Key Laboratory of Imaging Diagnosis and Minimally Invasive Intervention Research, School of Medicine, Lishui Hospital, Zhejiang University, Lishui, 323000, China
- Institute of Imaging Diagnosis and Minimally Invasive Intervention Research, The Fifth Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Lishui, 323000, China
- Clinical College of The Affiliated Central Hospital, Lishui University, Lishui, 323000, China
| | - Min Xu
- Key Laboratory of Imaging Diagnosis and Minimally Invasive Intervention Research, School of Medicine, Lishui Hospital, Zhejiang University, Lishui, 323000, China
- Institute of Imaging Diagnosis and Minimally Invasive Intervention Research, The Fifth Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Lishui, 323000, China
- Clinical College of The Affiliated Central Hospital, Lishui University, Lishui, 323000, China
| | - Zhongwei Zhao
- Key Laboratory of Imaging Diagnosis and Minimally Invasive Intervention Research, School of Medicine, Lishui Hospital, Zhejiang University, Lishui, 323000, China
- Institute of Imaging Diagnosis and Minimally Invasive Intervention Research, The Fifth Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Lishui, 323000, China
- Clinical College of The Affiliated Central Hospital, Lishui University, Lishui, 323000, China
| | - Jianfei Tu
- Key Laboratory of Imaging Diagnosis and Minimally Invasive Intervention Research, School of Medicine, Lishui Hospital, Zhejiang University, Lishui, 323000, China.
- Institute of Imaging Diagnosis and Minimally Invasive Intervention Research, The Fifth Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Lishui, 323000, China.
- Clinical College of The Affiliated Central Hospital, Lishui University, Lishui, 323000, China.
| | - Minjiang Chen
- Key Laboratory of Imaging Diagnosis and Minimally Invasive Intervention Research, School of Medicine, Lishui Hospital, Zhejiang University, Lishui, 323000, China.
- Institute of Imaging Diagnosis and Minimally Invasive Intervention Research, The Fifth Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Lishui, 323000, China.
- Clinical College of The Affiliated Central Hospital, Lishui University, Lishui, 323000, China.
| | - Jiansong Ji
- Key Laboratory of Imaging Diagnosis and Minimally Invasive Intervention Research, School of Medicine, Lishui Hospital, Zhejiang University, Lishui, 323000, China.
- Institute of Imaging Diagnosis and Minimally Invasive Intervention Research, The Fifth Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Lishui, 323000, China.
- Clinical College of The Affiliated Central Hospital, Lishui University, Lishui, 323000, China.
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Arnold CR, Mangesius J, Portnaia I, Ganswindt U, Wolff HA. Innovative therapeutic strategies to overcome radioresistance in breast cancer. Front Oncol 2024; 14:1379986. [PMID: 38873260 PMCID: PMC11169591 DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2024.1379986] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2024] [Accepted: 05/10/2024] [Indexed: 06/15/2024] Open
Abstract
Despite a comparatively favorable prognosis relative to other malignancies, breast cancer continues to significantly impact women's health globally, partly due to its high incidence rate. A critical factor in treatment failure is radiation resistance - the capacity of tumor cells to withstand high doses of ionizing radiation. Advancements in understanding the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying radioresistance, coupled with enhanced characterization of radioresistant cell clones, are paving the way for the development of novel treatment modalities that hold potential for future clinical application. In the context of combating radioresistance in breast cancer, potential targets of interest include long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), micro RNAs (miRNAs), and their associated signaling pathways, along with other signal transduction routes amenable to pharmacological intervention. Furthermore, technical, and methodological innovations, such as the integration of hyperthermia or nanoparticles with radiotherapy, have the potential to enhance treatment responses in patients with radioresistant breast cancer. This review endeavors to provide a comprehensive survey of the current scientific landscape, focusing on novel therapeutic advancements specifically addressing radioresistant breast cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Julian Mangesius
- Department of Radiation-Oncology, Medical University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria
| | - Iana Portnaia
- Department of Internal Medicine II, Medical University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria
| | - Ute Ganswindt
- Department of Radiation-Oncology, Medical University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria
| | - Hendrik Andreas Wolff
- Department of Radiology, Nuclear Medicine, and Radiotherapy, Radiology Munich, Munich, Germany
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Islam S, Gour J, Beer T, Tang HY, Cassel J, Salvino JM, Busino L. A Tandem-Affinity Purification Method for Identification of Primary Intracellular Drug-Binding Proteins. ACS Chem Biol 2024; 19:233-242. [PMID: 38271588 PMCID: PMC10878392 DOI: 10.1021/acschembio.3c00570] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/14/2023] [Revised: 12/22/2023] [Accepted: 01/04/2024] [Indexed: 01/27/2024]
Abstract
In the field of drug discovery, understanding how small molecule drugs interact with cellular components is crucial. Our study introduces a novel methodology to uncover primary drug targets using Tandem Affinity Purification for identification of Drug-Binding Proteins (TAP-DBP). Central to our approach is the generation of a FLAG-hemagglutinin (HA)-tagged chimeric protein featuring the FKBP12(F36V) adaptor protein and the TurboID enzyme. Conjugation of drug molecules with the FKBP12(F36V) ligand allows for the coordinated recruitment of drug-binding partners effectively enabling in-cell TurboID-mediated biotinylation. By employing a tandem affinity purification protocol based on FLAG-immunoprecipitation and streptavidin pulldown, alongside mass spectrometry analysis, TAP-DBP allows for the precise identification of drug-primary binding partners. Overall, this study introduces a systematic, unbiased method for identification of drug-protein interactions, contributing a clear understanding of target engagement and drug selectivity to advance the mode of action of a drug in cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sehbanul Islam
- University
of Pennsylvania, Perelman School
of Medicine, Department of Cancer Biology, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, United States
| | - Jitendra Gour
- Medicinal
Chemistry and Molecular and Cellular Oncogenesis (MCO) Program, The Wistar Institute, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, United States
| | - Thomas Beer
- Medicinal
Chemistry and Molecular and Cellular Oncogenesis (MCO) Program, The Wistar Institute, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, United States
| | - Hsin-Yao Tang
- Medicinal
Chemistry and Molecular and Cellular Oncogenesis (MCO) Program, The Wistar Institute, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, United States
| | - Joel Cassel
- Molecular
Screening and Protein Expression Shared Resource, The Wistar Institute, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, United States
| | - Joseph M. Salvino
- Medicinal
Chemistry and Molecular and Cellular Oncogenesis (MCO) Program, The Wistar Institute, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, United States
| | - Luca Busino
- University
of Pennsylvania, Perelman School
of Medicine, Department of Cancer Biology, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, United States
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Liu G, Zhang S, Lin R, Cao X, Yuan L. Anti-tumor target screening of sea cucumber saponin Frondoside A: a bioinformatics and molecular docking analysis. Front Oncol 2023; 13:1307838. [PMID: 38144520 PMCID: PMC10739435 DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2023.1307838] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/05/2023] [Accepted: 11/23/2023] [Indexed: 12/26/2023] Open
Abstract
Cancer remains the leading cause of death worldwide. In spite of significant advances in targeted and immunotherapeutic approaches, clinical outcomes for cancer remain poor. The aim of the present study was to investigate the potential mechanisms and therapeutic targets of Frondoside A for the treatment of liver, pancreatic, and bladder cancers. The data presented in our study demonstrated that Frondoside A reduced the viability and migration of HepG2, Panc02, and UM-UC-3 cancer cell in vitro. Moreover, we utilized the GEO database to screen and identify for differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in liver, pancreatic, and bladder cancers, which resulted in the identification of 714, 357, and 101 DEGs, respectively. Gene Ontology (GO) analysis and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway annotation were performed using the Metascape database for DEGs that were significantly associated with cancer development. The protein-protein interaction (PPI) networks of the identified DEGs in liver, pancreatic, and bladder cancers were analyzed using Cytoscape 3.9.0 software, and subsequently identified potential key genes that were associated with these networks. Subsequently, their prognostic values were assessed by gene expression level analysis and Kaplan-Meier survival analysis (GEPIA). Furthermore, we utilized TIMER 2.0 to investigate the correlation between the expression of the identified key gene and cancer immune infiltration. Finally, molecular docking simulations were performed to assess the affinity of Frondoside A and key genes. Our results showed a significant correlation between these DEGs and cancer progression. Combined, these analyses revealed that Frondoside A involves in the regulation of multiple pathways, such as drug metabolism, cell cycle in liver cancer by inhibiting the expression of CDK1, TOP2A, CDC20, and KIF20A, and regulates protein digestion and absorption, receptor interaction in pancreatic cancer by down-regulation of ASPM, TOP2A, DLGAP5, TPX2, KIF23, MELK, LAMA3, and ANLN. While in bladder cancer, Frondoside A regulates muscle contraction, complement and coagulation cascade by increase FLNC expression. In conclusion, the present study offers valuable insights into the molecular mechanism underlying the anticancer effects of Frondoside A, and suggests that Frondoside A can be used as a functional food supplement or further developed as a natural anti-cancer drug.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guangchun Liu
- School of Biosciences and Biopharmaceutics, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Shenglin Zhang
- School of Biosciences and Biopharmaceutics, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Ruoyan Lin
- School of Biosciences and Biopharmaceutics, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Xudong Cao
- Deparment of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada
| | - Lihong Yuan
- School of Biosciences and Biopharmaceutics, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou, China
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Shah HS, Zaib S, Khan I, Sliem MA, Alharbi O, Al-Ghorbani M, Jawad Z, Shahzadi K, Awan S. Preparation and investigation of a novel combination of Solanum nigrum-loaded, arabinoxylan-cross-linked β-cyclodextrin nanosponges for the treatment of cancer: in vitro, in vivo, and in silico evaluation. Front Pharmacol 2023; 14:1325498. [PMID: 38125886 PMCID: PMC10730681 DOI: 10.3389/fphar.2023.1325498] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/21/2023] [Accepted: 11/10/2023] [Indexed: 12/23/2023] Open
Abstract
Introduction: Cancer contributes to a high mortality rate worldwide spanning its diversity from genetics to resistant therapeutic response. To date emerging strategies to combat and manage cancer are particularly focused on the development of targeted therapies as conventional treatments account for the destruction of normal cells as well. In this regard, medicinal plant-based therapies are quite promising in imposing minimal side effects; however, limitations like poor bioavailability and stability of bioactive phytochemicals are associated with them. In parallel, nanotechnology provides nominal solution to deliver particular therapeutic agent without compromising its stability. Methods: In this study, Solanum nigrum, an effective medicinal plant, loaded arabinoxylan cross-linked β-cyclodextrin nanosponges (SN-AXCDNS) were designed to evaluate antitumor activity against breast cancer. Therefore, SN-AXCDNS were prepared by using cross-linker melt method and characterized by physicochemical and pharmacological parameters. Results: Hydrodynamic size, zeta potential and entrapment efficiency (EE%) were estimated as 226 ± 4 nm, -29.15 ± 5.71 mV and 93%, respectively. Surface morphology of nanocomposites showed spherical, smooth, and porous form. Antitumor pharmacological characterization showed that SN loaded nanosponge demonstrated higher cytotoxicity (22.67 ± 6.11 μg/mL), by inducing DNA damage as compared to void SN extract. Flow cytometry analysis reported that encapsulated extract promoted cell cycle arrest at sub-G1 (9.51%). Moreover, in vivo analysis demonstrates the reduction in tumor weight and 85% survival chances in nanosponge treated mice featuring its effectiveness. In addition, in silico analysis revealed that β-cyclodextrin potentially inhibits MELK in breast cancer cell lines (B.E = -10.1 Kcal/mol). Conclusion: Therefore, findings of current study elucidated the therapeutic potential of β-cyclodextrin based nanosponges to be an alternative approach regarding the delivery and solubilization of antitumor drugs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hamid Saeed Shah
- Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Lahore, Pakistan
| | - Sumera Zaib
- Department of Basic and Applied Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Central Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan
| | - Imtiaz Khan
- Department of Chemistry and Manchester Institute of Biotechnology, The University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom
| | - Mahmoud A. Sliem
- Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Taibah University, Medinah, Saudi Arabia
| | - Osama Alharbi
- Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Taibah University, Medinah, Saudi Arabia
| | - Mohammed Al-Ghorbani
- Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Taibah University, Medinah, Saudi Arabia
| | - Zobia Jawad
- Ladywillingdon Hospital, King Edward Medical University, Lahore, Pakistan
| | - Kiran Shahzadi
- Department of Basic and Applied Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Central Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan
| | - Sajjad Awan
- College of Pharmacy, University of Sargodha, Sargodha, Pakistan
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Li B, Zhou Q, Wan Q, Qiao X, Chen S, Zhou J, Wuxiao Z, Luo L, Ng SB, Li J, Chng WJ. EZH2 K63-polyubiquitination affecting migration in extranodal natural killer/T-cell lymphoma. Clin Epigenetics 2023; 15:187. [PMID: 38031139 PMCID: PMC10685657 DOI: 10.1186/s13148-023-01606-6] [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: 09/11/2023] [Accepted: 11/20/2023] [Indexed: 12/01/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Overexpressed EZH2 is oncogenically involved in the pathogenesis of different cancerous contexts including extranodal natural killer/T cell lymphoma (ENKTL). However, the underlying mechanisms of EZH2 upregulation have not been fully clarified and it is still difficult to target EZH2 in ENKTL. RESULTS Current study identifies an E3 ligase TRIP12 that triggers K63-linked polyubiquitination of EZH2 in ENKTL and unexpectedly, stabilizes EZH2. As determined by gene expression profiling (GEP), TRIP12 and EZH2 levels correlate with each other in ENKTL patient samples. Aided by quantitative mass spectrometry (MS) and follow-up analysis, we identify K634 as the ubiquitination site of EZH2. Further study confirms that TRIP12-mediated EZH2 K634 ubiquitination enhances the interaction between EZH2 and SUZ12 or CDK1 and increases the level of EZH2 T487 phosphorylation. This study further demonstrates the TRIP12-EZH2 signaling might be regulated by cytoplasmic HSP60. Importantly, the TRIP12-EZH2 axis mediates ENKTL cell migration via accelerating epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). Moreover, our study finds out dexamethasone treatment manipulates TRIP12-EZH2 signaling and may represent a novel therapeutic strategy against ENKTL metastasis. CONCLUSIONS Altogether, TRIP12 induces K63-linked site-specific polyubiquitination of EZH2 for stabilization, which promotes ENKTL cell migration and could be targeted by dexamethasone treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Boheng Li
- College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing, China.
| | - Qidi Zhou
- College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
| | - Qin Wan
- College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
| | - Xuan Qiao
- College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
| | - Shangying Chen
- Bioinformatics Core, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
| | - Jianbiao Zhou
- Cancer Science Institute of Singapore, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
| | - Zhijun Wuxiao
- Department of Hematology, Lymphoma and Myeloma Center, The First Affiliated Hospital of Hainan Medical University, Haikou, China
| | - Lei Luo
- College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
| | - Siok-Bian Ng
- Cancer Science Institute of Singapore, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
- Department of Pathology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
| | - Jieping Li
- Department of Hematology Oncology, Chongqing University Cancer Hospital, Chongqing, China.
| | - Wee-Joo Chng
- Cancer Science Institute of Singapore, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore.
- Department of Medicine, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore.
- Department of Hematology-Oncology, National University Cancer Institute of Singapore, National University Health System, Singapore, Singapore.
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10
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Bhattacharjee D, Bakar J, Chitnis SP, Sausville EL, Ashtekar KD, Mendelson BE, Long K, Smith JC, Heppner DE, Sheltzer JM. Inhibition of a lower potency target drives the anticancer activity of a clinical p38 inhibitor. Cell Chem Biol 2023; 30:1211-1222.e5. [PMID: 37827156 DOI: 10.1016/j.chembiol.2023.09.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/02/2022] [Revised: 06/27/2023] [Accepted: 09/21/2023] [Indexed: 10/14/2023]
Abstract
The small-molecule drug ralimetinib was developed as an inhibitor of the p38α mitogen-activated protein kinase, and it has advanced to phase 2 clinical trials in oncology. Here, we demonstrate that ralimetinib resembles EGFR-targeting drugs in pharmacogenomic profiling experiments and that ralimetinib inhibits EGFR kinase activity in vitro and in cellulo. While ralimetinib sensitivity is unaffected by deletion of the genes encoding p38α and p38β, its effects are blocked by expression of the EGFR-T790M gatekeeper mutation. Finally, we solved the cocrystal structure of ralimetinib bound to EGFR, providing further evidence that this drug functions as an ATP-competitive EGFR inhibitor. We conclude that, though ralimetinib is >30-fold less potent against EGFR compared to p38α, its ability to inhibit EGFR drives its primary anticancer effects. Our results call into question the value of p38α as an anticancer target, and we describe a multi-modal approach that can be used to uncover a drug's mechanism-of-action.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Jaweria Bakar
- Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06511, USA
| | - Surbhi P Chitnis
- Department of Chemistry, The University at Buffalo, State University of New York, Buffalo, NY 14260, USA
| | | | - Kumar Dilip Ashtekar
- Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06511, USA; Department of Pharmacology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06511, USA; Yale Cancer Biology Institute, West Haven, CT 06516, USA
| | | | - Kaitlin Long
- Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06511, USA
| | - Joan C Smith
- Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06511, USA; Meliora Therapeutics, New Haven, CT 06511, USA
| | - David E Heppner
- Department of Chemistry, The University at Buffalo, State University of New York, Buffalo, NY 14260, USA; Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, Buffalo, NY 14203, USA.
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11
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Stuart DD, Guzman-Perez A, Brooijmans N, Jackson EL, Kryukov GV, Friedman AA, Hoos A. Precision Oncology Comes of Age: Designing Best-in-Class Small Molecules by Integrating Two Decades of Advances in Chemistry, Target Biology, and Data Science. Cancer Discov 2023; 13:2131-2149. [PMID: 37712571 PMCID: PMC10551669 DOI: 10.1158/2159-8290.cd-23-0280] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/06/2023] [Revised: 04/27/2023] [Accepted: 07/28/2023] [Indexed: 09/16/2023]
Abstract
Small-molecule drugs have enabled the practice of precision oncology for genetically defined patient populations since the first approval of imatinib in 2001. Scientific and technology advances over this 20-year period have driven the evolution of cancer biology, medicinal chemistry, and data science. Collectively, these advances provide tools to more consistently design best-in-class small-molecule drugs against known, previously undruggable, and novel cancer targets. The integration of these tools and their customization in the hands of skilled drug hunters will be necessary to enable the discovery of transformational therapies for patients across a wider spectrum of cancers. SIGNIFICANCE Target-centric small-molecule drug discovery necessitates the consideration of multiple approaches to identify chemical matter that can be optimized into drug candidates. To do this successfully and consistently, drug hunters require a comprehensive toolbox to avoid following the "law of instrument" or Maslow's hammer concept where only one tool is applied regardless of the requirements of the task. Combining our ever-increasing understanding of cancer and cancer targets with the technological advances in drug discovery described below will accelerate the next generation of small-molecule drugs in oncology.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | | | | | - Axel Hoos
- Scorpion Therapeutics, Boston, Massachusetts
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12
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Hameed Y. Decoding the significant diagnostic and prognostic importance of maternal embryonic leucine zipper kinase in human cancers through deep integrative analyses. J Cancer Res Ther 2023; 19:1852-1864. [PMID: 38376289 DOI: 10.4103/jcrt.jcrt_1902_21] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/22/2021] [Accepted: 02/11/2022] [Indexed: 02/21/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Cancer is a multifactorial disease and the second leading cause of human deaths worldwide. So far, the underlying mechanisms of cancer have not been yet fully elucidated. METHODS By using TCGA expression data, we determine the pathogenic roles of the maternal embryonic leucine zipper kinase (MELK) gene in various human cancers in this study. For this purpose, different online databases and tools (UALCAN, Kaplan-Meier (KM) plotter, TNMplot, GENT2, GEPIA, HPA, cBioPortal, STRING, Enrichr, TIMER, Cytoscape, DAVID, MuTarget, and CTD) were used. RESULTS MELK gene expression was analyzed in a total of 24 human cancers and was found notably up-regulated in all the 24 analyzed tumor tissues relative to controls. Moreover, across a few specific cancers, including kidney renal clear cell carcinoma (KIRC), stomach adenocarcinoma (STAD), lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD), and liver hepatocellular carcinoma (LIHC) patients, MELK up-regulation was observed to be correlated with the shorter survival duration and metastasis. This valuable information highlighted that MELK plays a significant role in the development and progression of these four cancers. Based on clinical variables, MELK higher expression was also found in KIRC, STAD, LUAD, and LIHC patients with different clinical variables. Gene ontology and pathway analysis outcomes showed that MELK-associated genes notably co-expressed with MELK and belongs to a variety of diverse biological processes, molecular functions, and pathways. MELK expression was also correlated with promoter methylation levels, genetic alterations, other mutant genes, tumor purity, CD8+ T, and CD+4 T immune cells infiltrations in KIRC, STAD, LUAD, and LIHC. CONCLUSION This pan-cancer study revealed the diagnostic and prognostic roles of MELK across four different cancers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yasir Hameed
- Department of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Bahawalpur, Pakistan
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13
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Xie X, Chauhan GB, Edupuganti R, Kogawa T, Park J, Tacam M, Tan AW, Mughees M, Vidhu F, Liu DD, Taliaferro JM, Pitner MK, Browning LS, Lee JH, Bertucci F, Shen Y, Wang J, Ueno NT, Krishnamurthy S, Hortobagyi GN, Tripathy D, Van Laere SJ, Bartholomeusz G, Dalby KN, Bartholomeusz C. Maternal Embryonic Leucine Zipper Kinase is Associated with Metastasis in Triple-negative Breast Cancer. CANCER RESEARCH COMMUNICATIONS 2023; 3:1078-1092. [PMID: 37377604 PMCID: PMC10281291 DOI: 10.1158/2767-9764.crc-22-0330] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/16/2022] [Revised: 03/21/2023] [Accepted: 05/24/2023] [Indexed: 06/29/2023]
Abstract
Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) has high relapse and metastasis rates and a high proportion of cancer stem-like cells (CSC), which possess self-renewal and tumor initiation capacity. MELK (maternal embryonic leucine zipper kinase), a protein kinase of the Snf1/AMPK kinase family, is known to promote CSC maintenance and malignant transformation. However, the role of MELK in TNBC metastasis is unknown; we sought to address this in the current study. We found that MELK mRNA levels were higher in TNBC tumors [8.11 (3.79-10.95)] than in HR+HER2- tumors [6.54 (2.90-9.26)]; P < 0.001]. In univariate analysis, patients with breast cancer with high-MELK-expressing tumors had worse overall survival (P < 0.001) and distant metastasis-free survival (P < 0.01) than patients with low-MELK-expressing tumors. In a multicovariate Cox regression model, high MELK expression was associated with shorter overall survival after adjusting for other baseline risk factors. MELK knockdown using siRNA or MELK inhibition using the MELK inhibitor MELK-In-17 significantly reduced invasiveness, reversed epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition, and reduced CSC self-renewal and maintenance in TNBC cells. Nude mice injected with CRISPR MELK-knockout MDA-MB-231 cells exhibited suppression of lung metastasis and improved overall survival compared with mice injected with control cells (P < 0.05). Furthermore, MELK-In-17 suppressed 4T1 tumor growth in syngeneic BALB/c mice (P < 0.001). Our findings indicate that MELK supports metastasis by promoting epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition and the CSC phenotype in TNBC. Significance These findings indicate that MELK is a driver of aggressiveness and metastasis in TNBC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xuemei Xie
- Section of Translational Breast Cancer Research, Houston, Texas
- Department of Breast Medical Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas
- Current Institution: Cancer Biology Program, University of Hawai'i Cancer Center, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA
| | - Gaurav B. Chauhan
- Section of Translational Breast Cancer Research, Houston, Texas
- Department of Breast Medical Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas
| | - Ramakrishna Edupuganti
- Division of Chemical Biology & Medicinal Chemistry, College of Pharmacy, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas
| | - Takahiro Kogawa
- Section of Translational Breast Cancer Research, Houston, Texas
- Department of Breast Medical Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas
| | - Jihyun Park
- Section of Translational Breast Cancer Research, Houston, Texas
- Department of Breast Medical Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas
| | - Moises Tacam
- Section of Translational Breast Cancer Research, Houston, Texas
- Department of Breast Medical Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas
| | - Alex W. Tan
- Section of Translational Breast Cancer Research, Houston, Texas
- Department of Breast Medical Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas
| | - Mohd Mughees
- Section of Translational Breast Cancer Research, Houston, Texas
- Department of Breast Medical Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas
| | - Fnu Vidhu
- Section of Translational Breast Cancer Research, Houston, Texas
- Department of Breast Medical Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas
| | - Diane D. Liu
- Department of Biostatistics, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas
| | - Juliana M. Taliaferro
- Division of Chemical Biology & Medicinal Chemistry, College of Pharmacy, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas
| | - Mary Kathryn Pitner
- Section of Translational Breast Cancer Research, Houston, Texas
- Department of Breast Medical Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas
| | - Luke S. Browning
- Division of Chemical Biology & Medicinal Chemistry, College of Pharmacy, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas
| | - Ju-Hyeon Lee
- Division of Chemical Biology & Medicinal Chemistry, College of Pharmacy, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas
| | - François Bertucci
- Predictive Oncology Laboratory, Marseille Research Cancer Center, INSERM U1068, CNRS U7258, Institut Paoli-Calmettes, Aix Marseille University, 13009 Marseille, France
| | - Yu Shen
- Department of Biostatistics, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas
| | - Jian Wang
- Department of Biostatistics, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas
| | - Naoto T. Ueno
- Section of Translational Breast Cancer Research, Houston, Texas
- Department of Breast Medical Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas
- Current Institution: Cancer Biology Program, University of Hawai'i Cancer Center, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA
| | - Savitri Krishnamurthy
- Department of Pathology, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas
- Division of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas
| | - Gabriel N. Hortobagyi
- Department of Breast Medical Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas
| | - Debu Tripathy
- Department of Breast Medical Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas
| | - Steven J. Van Laere
- Center for Oncological Research, Integrated Personalized and Precision Oncology Network, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Wilrijk
- Department Oncology, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Geoffrey Bartholomeusz
- Experimental Therapeutics, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas
| | - Kevin N. Dalby
- Division of Chemical Biology & Medicinal Chemistry, College of Pharmacy, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas
| | - Chandra Bartholomeusz
- Section of Translational Breast Cancer Research, Houston, Texas
- Department of Breast Medical Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas
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14
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Li Q, Zhou L, Qin S, Huang Z, Li B, Liu R, Yang M, Nice EC, Zhu H, Huang C. Proteolysis-targeting chimeras in biotherapeutics: Current trends and future applications. Eur J Med Chem 2023; 257:115447. [PMID: 37229829 DOI: 10.1016/j.ejmech.2023.115447] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/12/2023] [Revised: 05/02/2023] [Accepted: 05/02/2023] [Indexed: 05/27/2023]
Abstract
The success of inhibitor-based therapeutics is largely constrained by the acquisition of therapeutic resistance, which is partially driven by the undruggable proteome. The emergence of proteolysis targeting chimera (PROTAC) technology, designed for degrading proteins involved in specific biological processes, might provide a novel framework for solving the above constraint. A heterobifunctional PROTAC molecule could structurally connect an E3 ubiquitin ligase ligand with a protein of interest (POI)-binding ligand by chemical linkers. Such technology would result in the degradation of the targeted protein via the ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS), opening up a novel way of selectively inhibiting undruggable proteins. Herein, we will highlight the advantages of PROTAC technology and summarize the current understanding of the potential mechanisms involved in biotherapeutics, with a particular focus on its application and development where therapeutic benefits over classical small-molecule inhibitors have been achieved. Finally, we discuss how this technology can contribute to developing biotherapeutic drugs, such as antivirals against infectious diseases, for use in clinical practices.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qiong Li
- West China School of Basic Medical Sciences and Forensic Medicine, State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy and Cancer Center, and West China Hospital, Sichuan University, and Collaborative Innovation Center for Biotherapy, Chengdu, 610041, PR China
| | - Li Zhou
- Key Laboratory of Molecular Biology for Infectious Diseases (Ministry of Education), Institute for Viral Hepatitis, Department of Infectious Diseases, The Second Affiliated Hospital, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, 400016, PR China
| | - Siyuan Qin
- West China School of Basic Medical Sciences and Forensic Medicine, State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy and Cancer Center, and West China Hospital, Sichuan University, and Collaborative Innovation Center for Biotherapy, Chengdu, 610041, PR China
| | - Zhao Huang
- West China School of Basic Medical Sciences and Forensic Medicine, State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy and Cancer Center, and West China Hospital, Sichuan University, and Collaborative Innovation Center for Biotherapy, Chengdu, 610041, PR China
| | - Bowen Li
- West China School of Basic Medical Sciences and Forensic Medicine, State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy and Cancer Center, and West China Hospital, Sichuan University, and Collaborative Innovation Center for Biotherapy, Chengdu, 610041, PR China
| | - Ruolan Liu
- School of Basic Medical Sciences, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, 611137, PR China
| | - Mei Yang
- West China School of Basic Medical Sciences and Forensic Medicine, State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy and Cancer Center, and West China Hospital, Sichuan University, and Collaborative Innovation Center for Biotherapy, Chengdu, 610041, PR China
| | - Edouard C Nice
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Monash University, Clayton, VIC, Australia
| | - Huili Zhu
- Department of Reproductive Medicine, Key Laboratory of Birth Defects and Related Diseases of Women and Children of Ministry of Education, West China Second University Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610041, PR China.
| | - Canhua Huang
- West China School of Basic Medical Sciences and Forensic Medicine, State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy and Cancer Center, and West China Hospital, Sichuan University, and Collaborative Innovation Center for Biotherapy, Chengdu, 610041, PR China; School of Basic Medical Sciences, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, 611137, PR China.
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15
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Hartman ML, Czyz M. BCL-G: 20 years of research on a non-typical protein from the BCL-2 family. Cell Death Differ 2023:10.1038/s41418-023-01158-5. [PMID: 37031274 DOI: 10.1038/s41418-023-01158-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/28/2022] [Revised: 03/24/2023] [Accepted: 03/28/2023] [Indexed: 04/10/2023] Open
Abstract
Proteins from the BCL-2 family control cell survival and apoptosis in health and disease, and regulate apoptosis-unrelated cellular processes. BCL-Gonad (BCL-G, also known as BCL2-like 14) is a non-typical protein of the family as its long isoform (BCL-GL) consists of BH2 and BH3 domains without the BH1 motif. BCL-G is predominantly expressed in normal testes and different organs of the gastrointestinal tract. The complexity of regulatory mechanisms of BCL-G expression and post-translational modifications suggests that BCL-G may play distinct roles in different types of cells and disorders. While several genetic alterations of BCL2L14 have been reported, gene deletions and amplifications prevail, which is also confirmed by the analysis of sequencing data for different types of cancer. Although the studies validating the phenotypic consequences of genetic manipulations of BCL-G are limited, the role of BCL-G in apoptosis has been undermined. Recent studies using gene-perturbation approaches have revealed apoptosis-unrelated functions of BCL-G in intracellular trafficking, immunomodulation, and regulation of the mucin scaffolding network. These studies were, however, limited mainly to the role of BCL-G in the gastrointestinal tract. Therefore, further efforts using state-of-the-art methods and various types of cells are required to find out more about BCL-G activities. Deciphering the isoform-specific functions of BCL-G and the BCL-G interactome may result in the designing of novel therapeutic approaches, in which BCL-G activity will be either imitated using small-molecule BH3 mimetics or inhibited to counteract BCL-G upregulation. This review summarizes two decades of research on BCL-G.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mariusz L Hartman
- Department of Molecular Biology of Cancer, Medical University of Lodz, 6/8 Mazowiecka Street, 92-215, Lodz, Poland.
| | - Malgorzata Czyz
- Department of Molecular Biology of Cancer, Medical University of Lodz, 6/8 Mazowiecka Street, 92-215, Lodz, Poland
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16
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Tang BF, Yan RC, Wang SW, Zeng ZC, Du SS. Maternal embryonic leucine zipper kinase in tumor cell and tumor microenvironment: Emerging player and promising therapeutic opportunities. Cancer Lett 2023; 560:216126. [PMID: 36933780 DOI: 10.1016/j.canlet.2023.216126] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/25/2023] [Revised: 03/02/2023] [Accepted: 03/11/2023] [Indexed: 03/18/2023]
Abstract
Maternal embryonic leucine zipper kinase (MELK) is a member of the AMPK (AMP-activated protein kinase) protein family, which is widely and highly expressed in multiple cancer types. Through direct and indirect interactions with other proteins, it mediates various cascades of signal transduction processes and plays an important role in regulating tumor cell survival, growth, invasion and migration and other biological functions. Interestingly, MELK also plays an important role in the regulation of the tumor microenvironment, which can not only predict the responsiveness of immunotherapy, but also affect the function of immune cells to regulate tumor progression. In addition, more and more small molecule inhibitors have been developed for the target of MELK, which exert important anti-tumor effects and have achieved excellent results in a number of clinical trials. In this review, we outline the structural features, molecular biological functions, potential regulatory mechanisms and important roles of MELK in tumors and tumor microenvironment, as well as substances targeting MELK. Although many molecular mechanisms of MELK in the process of tumor regulation are still unknown, it is worth affirming that MELK is a potential tumor molecular therapeutic target, and its unique superiority and important role provide clues and confidence for subsequent basic research and scientific transformation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bu-Fu Tang
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Fudan University Zhongshan Hospital, Fenglin Road 188, 200030, Shanghai, China
| | - Ruo-Chen Yan
- School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Si-Wei Wang
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Fudan University Zhongshan Hospital, Fenglin Road 188, 200030, Shanghai, China
| | - Zhao-Chong Zeng
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Fudan University Zhongshan Hospital, Fenglin Road 188, 200030, Shanghai, China
| | - Shi-Suo Du
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Fudan University Zhongshan Hospital, Fenglin Road 188, 200030, Shanghai, China.
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17
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Wang L, Klionsky DJ, Shen HM. The emerging mechanisms and functions of microautophagy. Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol 2023; 24:186-203. [PMID: 36097284 DOI: 10.1038/s41580-022-00529-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 129] [Impact Index Per Article: 129.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 08/02/2022] [Indexed: 02/08/2023]
Abstract
'Autophagy' refers to an evolutionarily conserved process through which cellular contents, such as damaged organelles and protein aggregates, are delivered to lysosomes for degradation. Different forms of autophagy have been described on the basis of the nature of the cargoes and the means used to deliver them to lysosomes. At present, the prevailing categories of autophagy in mammalian cells are macroautophagy, microautophagy and chaperone-mediated autophagy. The molecular mechanisms and biological functions of macroautophagy and chaperone-mediated autophagy have been extensively studied, but microautophagy has received much less attention. In recent years, there has been a growth in research on microautophagy, first in yeast and then in mammalian cells. Here we review this form of autophagy, focusing on selective forms of microautophagy. We also discuss the upstream regulatory mechanisms, the crosstalk between macroautophagy and microautophagy, and the functional implications of microautophagy in diseases such as cancer and neurodegenerative disorders in humans. Future research into microautophagy will provide opportunities to develop novel interventional strategies for autophagy- and lysosome-related diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Liming Wang
- School of Biomedical Sciences, Hunan University, Changsha, China
| | - Daniel J Klionsky
- Life Sciences Institute and Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
| | - Han-Ming Shen
- Faculty of Health Sciences, Ministry of Education Frontiers Science Center for Precision Oncology, University of Macau, Macau, China. .,Department of Physiology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore.
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18
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Mehta S, Buyanbat A, Orkin S, Nabet B. High-efficiency knock-in of degradable tags (dTAG) at endogenous loci in cell lines. Methods Enzymol 2023; 681:1-22. [PMID: 36764753 DOI: 10.1016/bs.mie.2022.08.045] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/05/2022]
Abstract
The dTAG system is a versatile strategy for tunable control of protein abundance and facilitates the time-resolved assessment of disease-associated protein function. A "co-opted" fusion-based degron peptide, the "dTAG" facilitates the study of endogenous protein function when knocked-in at the endogenous genetic loci of proteins of interest. We combine CRISPR/Cas9 mediated induction of double-strand breaks (DSB) with the delivery of a single-stranded DNA HDR-donor-template via crude preparations of recombinant adeno-associated virus (rAAV). Our approach to knock-in of large (1-2kb) DNA fragments via crude-rAAV mediated HDR donor delivery is rapid and inexpensive. It facilitates genetic modification of a variety of human as well as mouse cell lines at high efficiency and precision.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stuti Mehta
- Dana-Farber/Boston Children's Cancer and Blood Disorders Center, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Altantsetseg Buyanbat
- Dana-Farber/Boston Children's Cancer and Blood Disorders Center, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Stuart Orkin
- Dana-Farber/Boston Children's Cancer and Blood Disorders Center, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Behnam Nabet
- Human Biology Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, Seattle, WA, United States.
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19
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Johnson JL, Yaron TM, Huntsman EM, Kerelsky A, Song J, Regev A, Lin TY, Liberatore K, Cizin DM, Cohen BM, Vasan N, Ma Y, Krismer K, Robles JT, van de Kooij B, van Vlimmeren AE, Andrée-Busch N, Käufer NF, Dorovkov MV, Ryazanov AG, Takagi Y, Kastenhuber ER, Goncalves MD, Hopkins BD, Elemento O, Taatjes DJ, Maucuer A, Yamashita A, Degterev A, Uduman M, Lu J, Landry SD, Zhang B, Cossentino I, Linding R, Blenis J, Hornbeck PV, Turk BE, Yaffe MB, Cantley LC. An atlas of substrate specificities for the human serine/threonine kinome. Nature 2023; 613:759-766. [PMID: 36631611 PMCID: PMC9876800 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-05575-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 168] [Impact Index Per Article: 168.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/01/2022] [Accepted: 11/17/2022] [Indexed: 01/13/2023]
Abstract
Protein phosphorylation is one of the most widespread post-translational modifications in biology1,2. With advances in mass-spectrometry-based phosphoproteomics, 90,000 sites of serine and threonine phosphorylation have so far been identified, and several thousand have been associated with human diseases and biological processes3,4. For the vast majority of phosphorylation events, it is not yet known which of the more than 300 protein serine/threonine (Ser/Thr) kinases encoded in the human genome are responsible3. Here we used synthetic peptide libraries to profile the substrate sequence specificity of 303 Ser/Thr kinases, comprising more than 84% of those predicted to be active in humans. Viewed in its entirety, the substrate specificity of the kinome was substantially more diverse than expected and was driven extensively by negative selectivity. We used our kinome-wide dataset to computationally annotate and identify the kinases capable of phosphorylating every reported phosphorylation site in the human Ser/Thr phosphoproteome. For the small minority of phosphosites for which the putative protein kinases involved have been previously reported, our predictions were in excellent agreement. When this approach was applied to examine the signalling response of tissues and cell lines to hormones, growth factors, targeted inhibitors and environmental or genetic perturbations, it revealed unexpected insights into pathway complexity and compensation. Overall, these studies reveal the intrinsic substrate specificity of the human Ser/Thr kinome, illuminate cellular signalling responses and provide a resource to link phosphorylation events to biological pathways.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jared L Johnson
- Meyer Cancer Center, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA
- Department of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA
| | - Tomer M Yaron
- Meyer Cancer Center, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA
- Department of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA
- Englander Institute for Precision Medicine, Institute for Computational Biomedicine, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA
- Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA
- Tri-Institutional PhD Program in Computational Biology & Medicine, Weill Cornell Medicine, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Emily M Huntsman
- Meyer Cancer Center, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA
- Department of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA
| | - Alexander Kerelsky
- Meyer Cancer Center, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA
- Department of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA
- Englander Institute for Precision Medicine, Institute for Computational Biomedicine, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA
| | - Junho Song
- Meyer Cancer Center, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA
- Department of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA
| | - Amit Regev
- Meyer Cancer Center, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA
- Department of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA
| | - Ting-Yu Lin
- Meyer Cancer Center, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA
- Department of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA
- Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Cell and Developmental Biology Program, New York, NY, USA
| | - Katarina Liberatore
- Meyer Cancer Center, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA
- Department of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA
| | - Daniel M Cizin
- Meyer Cancer Center, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA
- Department of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA
| | - Benjamin M Cohen
- Meyer Cancer Center, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA
- Department of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA
| | - Neil Vasan
- Department of Medicine, Division of Hematology/Oncology, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY, USA
- Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY, USA
| | - Yilun Ma
- Meyer Cancer Center, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA
- Department of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA
| | - Konstantin Krismer
- Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Center for Precision Cancer Medicine, Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Biology, Departments of Biology and Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Jaylissa Torres Robles
- Department of Pharmacology, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA
- Department of Chemistry, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Bert van de Kooij
- Center for Precision Cancer Medicine, Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Biology, Departments of Biology and Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Anne E van Vlimmeren
- Center for Precision Cancer Medicine, Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Biology, Departments of Biology and Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Nicole Andrée-Busch
- Institute of Genetics, Technische Universität Braunschweig, Braunschweig, Germany
| | - Norbert F Käufer
- Institute of Genetics, Technische Universität Braunschweig, Braunschweig, Germany
| | - Maxim V Dorovkov
- Department of Pharmacology, Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Piscataway, NJ, USA
| | - Alexey G Ryazanov
- Department of Pharmacology, Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Piscataway, NJ, USA
| | - Yuichiro Takagi
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, USA
| | - Edward R Kastenhuber
- Meyer Cancer Center, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA
- Department of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA
| | - Marcus D Goncalves
- Meyer Cancer Center, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA
- Division of Endocrinology, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA
| | - Benjamin D Hopkins
- Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
| | - Olivier Elemento
- Englander Institute for Precision Medicine, Institute for Computational Biomedicine, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA
- Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA
| | - Dylan J Taatjes
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA
| | - Alexandre Maucuer
- SABNP, Univ Evry, INSERM U1204, Université Paris-Saclay, Evry, France
| | - Akio Yamashita
- Department of Investigative Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, University of the Ryukyus, Nishihara-cho, Japan
| | - Alexei Degterev
- Department of Developmental, Molecular and Chemical Biology, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Mohamed Uduman
- Department Of Bioinformatics, Cell Signaling Technology, Danvers, MA, USA
| | - Jingyi Lu
- Department Of Bioinformatics, Cell Signaling Technology, Danvers, MA, USA
| | - Sean D Landry
- Department Of Bioinformatics, Cell Signaling Technology, Danvers, MA, USA
| | - Bin Zhang
- Department Of Bioinformatics, Cell Signaling Technology, Danvers, MA, USA
| | - Ian Cossentino
- Department Of Bioinformatics, Cell Signaling Technology, Danvers, MA, USA
| | - Rune Linding
- Rewire Tx, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - John Blenis
- Meyer Cancer Center, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA
- Department of Pharmacology, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA
- Department of Biochemistry, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA
| | - Peter V Hornbeck
- Department Of Bioinformatics, Cell Signaling Technology, Danvers, MA, USA
| | - Benjamin E Turk
- Department of Pharmacology, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA.
| | - Michael B Yaffe
- Center for Precision Cancer Medicine, Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Biology, Departments of Biology and Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.
- Divisions of Acute Care Surgery, Trauma, and Surgical Critical Care, and Surgical Oncology, Department of Surgery, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
- Surgical Oncology Program, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
| | - Lewis C Cantley
- Meyer Cancer Center, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA.
- Department of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA.
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20
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Ren L, Guo JS, Li YH, Dong G, Li XY. Structural classification of MELK inhibitors and prospects for the treatment of tumor resistance: A review. Biomed Pharmacother 2022; 156:113965. [DOI: 10.1016/j.biopha.2022.113965] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/08/2022] [Revised: 10/31/2022] [Accepted: 11/01/2022] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
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21
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Ruffilli C, Roth S, Rodrigo M, Boyd H, Zelcer N, Moreau K. Proteolysis Targeting Chimeras (PROTACs): A Perspective on Integral Membrane Protein Degradation. ACS Pharmacol Transl Sci 2022; 5:849-858. [PMID: 36268122 PMCID: PMC9578132 DOI: 10.1021/acsptsci.2c00142] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/22/2022] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Targeted protein degradation (TPD) is a promising therapeutic modality to modulate protein levels and its application promises to reduce the "undruggable" proteome. Among TPD strategies, Proteolysis TArgeting Chimera (PROTAC) technology has shown a tremendous potential with attractive advantages when compared to the inhibition of the same target. While PROTAC technology has had a significant impact in scientific research, its application to degrade integral membrane proteins (IMPs) is still in its beginnings. Among the 15 compounds having entered clinical trials by the end of 2021, only two targets are membrane-associated proteins. In this review we are discussing the potential reasons which may underlie this, and we are presenting new tools that have been recently developed to solve these limitations and to empower the use of PROTACs to target IMPs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Camilla Ruffilli
- Safety
Innovation and PROTAC Safety, Clinical Pharmacology & Safety Sciences, R&D, AstraZeneca, Cambridge CB2 0SL, United Kingdom
- Department
of Medical Biochemistry, Amsterdam UMC,
University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam 1000 GG, The Netherlands
| | - Sascha Roth
- Safety
Innovation and PROTAC Safety, Clinical Pharmacology & Safety Sciences, R&D, AstraZeneca, Cambridge CB2 0SL, United Kingdom
| | - Monica Rodrigo
- Safety
Innovation and PROTAC Safety, Clinical Pharmacology & Safety Sciences, R&D, AstraZeneca, Cambridge CB2 0SL, United Kingdom
| | - Helen Boyd
- Precision
Medicine & Biosamples, R&D, AstraZeneca, Cambridge CB2 0SL, United Kingdom
| | - Noam Zelcer
- Department
of Medical Biochemistry, Amsterdam UMC,
University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam 1000 GG, The Netherlands
| | - Kevin Moreau
- Safety
Innovation and PROTAC Safety, Clinical Pharmacology & Safety Sciences, R&D, AstraZeneca, Cambridge CB2 0SL, United Kingdom
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22
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Mehta S, Buyanbat A, Kai Y, Karayel O, Goldman SR, Seruggia D, Zhang K, Fujiwara Y, Donovan KA, Zhu Q, Yang H, Nabet B, Gray NS, Mann M, Fischer ES, Adelman K, Orkin SH. Temporal resolution of gene derepression and proteome changes upon PROTAC-mediated degradation of BCL11A protein in erythroid cells. Cell Chem Biol 2022; 29:1273-1287.e8. [PMID: 35839780 PMCID: PMC9391307 DOI: 10.1016/j.chembiol.2022.06.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2021] [Revised: 04/01/2022] [Accepted: 06/20/2022] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
Reactivation of fetal hemoglobin expression by the downregulation of BCL11A is a promising treatment for β-hemoglobinopathies. A detailed understanding of BCL11A-mediated repression of γ-globin gene (HBG1/2) transcription is lacking, as studies to date used perturbations by shRNA or CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing. We leveraged the dTAG PROTAC degradation platform to acutely deplete BCL11A protein in erythroid cells and examined consequences by nascent transcriptomics, proteomics, chromatin accessibility, and histone profiling. Among 31 genes repressed by BCL11A, HBG1/2 and HBZ show the most abundant and progressive changes in transcription and chromatin accessibility upon BCL11A loss. Transcriptional changes at HBG1/2 were detected in <2 h. Robust HBG1/2 reactivation upon acute BCL11A depletion occurred without the loss of promoter 5-methylcytosine (5mC). Using targeted protein degradation, we establish a hierarchy of gene reactivation at BCL11A targets, in which nascent transcription is followed by increased chromatin accessibility, and both are uncoupled from promoter DNA methylation at the HBG1/2 loci.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stuti Mehta
- Dana-Farber/Boston Children's Cancer and Blood Disorders Center, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Altantsetseg Buyanbat
- Dana-Farber/Boston Children's Cancer and Blood Disorders Center, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Yan Kai
- Dana-Farber/Boston Children's Cancer and Blood Disorders Center, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Ozge Karayel
- Department of Proteomics and Signal Transduction, Max-Planck Institute of Biochemistry, 82152 Planegg, Germany
| | - Seth Raphael Goldman
- Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Blavatnik Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Davide Seruggia
- St. Anna Children's Cancer Research Institute (CCRI), Vienna, Austria; CeMM Research Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna, Austria
| | - Kevin Zhang
- Dana-Farber/Boston Children's Cancer and Blood Disorders Center, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Yuko Fujiwara
- Dana-Farber/Boston Children's Cancer and Blood Disorders Center, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Katherine A Donovan
- Department of Cancer Biology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA 02115, USA; Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Blavatnik Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Qian Zhu
- Dana-Farber/Boston Children's Cancer and Blood Disorders Center, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Huan Yang
- Dana-Farber/Boston Children's Cancer and Blood Disorders Center, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Behnam Nabet
- Human Biology Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, Seattle, WA 98109, USA
| | - Nathanael S Gray
- Department of Chemical and Systems Biology, CHEM-H and SCI, Stanford Medical School, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Matthias Mann
- Department of Proteomics and Signal Transduction, Max-Planck Institute of Biochemistry, 82152 Planegg, Germany
| | - Eric S Fischer
- Department of Cancer Biology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA 02115, USA; Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Blavatnik Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Karen Adelman
- Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Blavatnik Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Stuart H Orkin
- Dana-Farber/Boston Children's Cancer and Blood Disorders Center, Boston, MA 02115, USA; Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
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23
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Identification of crucial hub genes and potential molecular mechanisms in breast cancer by integrated bioinformatics analysis and experimental validation. Comput Biol Med 2022; 149:106036. [DOI: 10.1016/j.compbiomed.2022.106036] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/24/2022] [Revised: 08/14/2022] [Accepted: 08/20/2022] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
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24
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Rangwala AM, Mingione VR, Georghiou G, Seeliger MA. Kinases on Double Duty: A Review of UniProtKB Annotated Bifunctionality within the Kinome. Biomolecules 2022; 12:biom12050685. [PMID: 35625613 PMCID: PMC9138534 DOI: 10.3390/biom12050685] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/06/2022] [Revised: 05/03/2022] [Accepted: 05/09/2022] [Indexed: 01/27/2023] Open
Abstract
Phosphorylation facilitates the regulation of all fundamental biological processes, which has triggered extensive research of protein kinases and their roles in human health and disease. In addition to their phosphotransferase activity, certain kinases have evolved to adopt additional catalytic functions, while others have completely lost all catalytic activity. We searched the Universal Protein Resource Knowledgebase (UniProtKB) database for bifunctional protein kinases and focused on kinases that are critical for bacterial and human cellular homeostasis. These kinases engage in diverse functional roles, ranging from environmental sensing and metabolic regulation to immune-host defense and cell cycle control. Herein, we describe their dual catalytic activities and how they contribute to disease pathogenesis.
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25
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Rácz A, Palkó R, Csányi D, Riedl Z, Bajusz D, Keserű GM. Consensus Virtual Screening Identified [1,2,4]Triazolo[1,5-b]isoquinolines As MELK Inhibitor Chemotypes. ChemMedChem 2022; 17:e202100569. [PMID: 34632716 PMCID: PMC9298037 DOI: 10.1002/cmdc.202100569] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/24/2021] [Revised: 10/06/2021] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
Maternal Embryonic Leucine-zipper Kinase (MELK) is a current oncotarget involved in a diverse range of human cancers, with the usage of MELK inhibitors being explored clinically. Here, we aimed to discover new MELK inhibitor chemotypes from our in-house compound library with a consensus-based virtual screening workflow, employing three screening concepts. After careful retrospective validation, prospective screening and in vitro enzyme inhibition testing revealed a series of [1,2,4]triazolo[1,5-b]isoquinolines as a new structural class of MELK inhibitors, with the lead compound of the series exhibiting a sub-micromolar inhibitory activity. The structure-activity relationship of the series was explored by testing further analogs based on a structure-guided selection process. Importantly, the present work marks the first disclosure of the synthesis and bioactivity of this class of compounds.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anita Rácz
- Plasma Chemistry Research GroupResearch Centre for Natural SciencesMagyar tudósok krt. 21117BudapestHungary
- Medicinal Chemistry Research GroupResearch Centre for Natural SciencesMagyar tudósok krt. 21117BudapestHungary
| | - Roberta Palkó
- Medicinal Chemistry Research GroupResearch Centre for Natural SciencesMagyar tudósok krt. 21117BudapestHungary
- Present affiliation: Organocatalysis Research GroupResearch Centre for Natural SciencesMagyar tudósok krt. 21117BudapestHungary
| | - Dorottya Csányi
- Medicinal Chemistry Research GroupResearch Centre for Natural SciencesMagyar tudósok krt. 21117BudapestHungary
| | - Zsuzsanna Riedl
- Medicinal Chemistry Research GroupResearch Centre for Natural SciencesMagyar tudósok krt. 21117BudapestHungary
| | - Dávid Bajusz
- Medicinal Chemistry Research GroupResearch Centre for Natural SciencesMagyar tudósok krt. 21117BudapestHungary
| | - György M. Keserű
- Medicinal Chemistry Research GroupResearch Centre for Natural SciencesMagyar tudósok krt. 21117BudapestHungary
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26
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Guarnaccia AD, Weissmiller AM, Tansey WP. Gene-specific quantification of nascent transcription following targeted degradation of endogenous proteins in cultured cells. STAR Protoc 2021; 2:101000. [PMID: 34917979 PMCID: PMC8669106 DOI: 10.1016/j.xpro.2021.101000] [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: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Genome-wide nuclear run-ons are a powerful way to determine the impact of a perturbation such as transcription factor degradation on transcriptional patterns. But often investigators are interested in monitoring transcriptional effects at specific sets of genes, rather than the entire genome. Here we describe an approach that couples genome engineering to tag endogenous proteins for degradation with a streamlined nuclear run-on assay to yield gene-specific information on primary transcriptional changes elicited by factor depletion. For complete details on the use and execution of this protocol, please refer to Guarnaccia et al. (2021).
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Affiliation(s)
- Alissa D. Guarnaccia
- Department of Discovery Oncology, Genentech Inc., 1 DNA Way, South San Francisco, CA 94080, USA
- Department of Microchemistry, Proteomics, Lipidomics, and Next Generation Sequencing, Genentech Inc., 1 DNA Way, South San Francisco, CA 94080, USA
| | - April M. Weissmiller
- Department of Biology, Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, TN 32132, USA
| | - William P. Tansey
- Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN 37232, USA
- Department of Biochemistry, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN 37232, USA
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27
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Zhou L, Zheng S, Rosas Bringas FR, Bakker B, Simon JE, Bakker PL, Kazemier HG, Schubert M, Roorda M, van Vugt MATM, Chang M, Foijer F. A synthetic lethal screen identifies HDAC4 as a potential target in MELK overexpressing cancers. G3 (BETHESDA, MD.) 2021; 11:jkab335. [PMID: 34550356 PMCID: PMC8664443 DOI: 10.1093/g3journal/jkab335] [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] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/16/2021] [Accepted: 09/15/2021] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
Maternal embryonic leucine zipper kinase (MELK) is frequently overexpressed in cancer, but the role of MELK in cancer is still poorly understood. MELK was shown to have roles in many cancer-associated processes including tumor growth, chemotherapy resistance, and tumor recurrence. To determine whether the frequent overexpression of MELK can be exploited in therapy, we performed a high-throughput screen using a library of Saccharomyces cerevisiae mutants to identify genes whose functions become essential when MELK is overexpressed. We identified two such genes: LAG2 and HDA3. LAG2 encodes an inhibitor of the Skp, Cullin, F-box containing (SCF) ubiquitin-ligase complex, while HDA3 encodes a subunit of the HDA1 histone deacetylase complex. We find that one of these synthetic lethal interactions is conserved in mammalian cells, as inhibition of a human homolog of HDA3 (Histone Deacetylase 4, HDAC4) is synthetically toxic in MELK overexpression cells. Altogether, our work identified a novel potential drug target for tumors that overexpress MELK.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lin Zhou
- European Research Institute for the Biology of Ageing, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen 9713 AV, The Netherlands
| | - Siqi Zheng
- European Research Institute for the Biology of Ageing, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen 9713 AV, The Netherlands
| | - Fernando R Rosas Bringas
- European Research Institute for the Biology of Ageing, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen 9713 AV, The Netherlands
| | - Bjorn Bakker
- European Research Institute for the Biology of Ageing, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen 9713 AV, The Netherlands
| | - Judith E Simon
- European Research Institute for the Biology of Ageing, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen 9713 AV, The Netherlands
| | - Petra L Bakker
- European Research Institute for the Biology of Ageing, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen 9713 AV, The Netherlands
| | - Hinke G Kazemier
- European Research Institute for the Biology of Ageing, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen 9713 AV, The Netherlands
| | - Michael Schubert
- European Research Institute for the Biology of Ageing, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen 9713 AV, The Netherlands
| | - Maurits Roorda
- Department of Medical Oncology, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen 9713 AV, The Netherlands
| | - Marcel A T M van Vugt
- Department of Medical Oncology, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen 9713 AV, The Netherlands
| | - Michael Chang
- European Research Institute for the Biology of Ageing, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen 9713 AV, The Netherlands
| | - Floris Foijer
- European Research Institute for the Biology of Ageing, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen 9713 AV, The Netherlands
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28
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Baek HS, Kwon TU, Shin S, Kwon YJ, Chun YJ. Steroid sulfatase deficiency causes cellular senescence and abnormal differentiation by inducing Yippee-like 3 expression in human keratinocytes. Sci Rep 2021; 11:20867. [PMID: 34675221 PMCID: PMC8531280 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-00051-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/29/2021] [Accepted: 10/05/2021] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Human steroid sulfatase (STS) is an enzyme that catalyzes the hydrolysis of dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS), estrone sulfate (E1S), and cholesterol sulfate. Abnormal expression of STS causes several diseases including colorectal, breast, and prostate cancer and refractory skin disease. In particular, accumulation of intracellular cholesterol sulfate by STS deficiency leads to a skin disorder with abnormal keratinization called X-linked ichthyosis (XLI). To determine the detailed mechanisms of XLI, we performed RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) analysis using human keratinocyte HaCaT cells treated with cholesterol and cholesterol sulfate. Of the genes with expression changes greater than 1.5-fold, Yippee-like 3 (YPEL3), a factor expected to affect cell differentiation, was found. Induction of YPEL3 causes permanent growth arrest, cellular senescence, and inhibition of metastasis in normal and tumor cells. In this study, we demonstrate that YPEL3 expression was induced by STS deficiency and, using the CRISPR/Cas9 system, a partial knock-out (STS+/−) cell line was constructed to establish a disease model for XLI studies. Furthermore, we show that increased expression of YPEL3 in STS-deficient cell lines promoted cellular senescence and expression of keratinization-related proteins such as involucrin and loricrin. Our results suggest that upregulation of YPEL3 expression by STS deficiency may play a crucial role in inducing cellular senescence and abnormal differentiation in human keratinocytes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hyoung-Seok Baek
- College of Pharmacy and Center for Metareceptome Research, Chung-Ang University, Seoul, Republic of Korea, 06974
| | - Tae-Uk Kwon
- College of Pharmacy and Center for Metareceptome Research, Chung-Ang University, Seoul, Republic of Korea, 06974
| | - Sangyun Shin
- College of Pharmacy and Center for Metareceptome Research, Chung-Ang University, Seoul, Republic of Korea, 06974
| | - Yeo-Jung Kwon
- College of Pharmacy and Center for Metareceptome Research, Chung-Ang University, Seoul, Republic of Korea, 06974
| | - Young-Jin Chun
- College of Pharmacy and Center for Metareceptome Research, Chung-Ang University, Seoul, Republic of Korea, 06974.
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ZMYND8-regulated IRF8 transcription axis is an acute myeloid leukemia dependency. Mol Cell 2021; 81:3604-3622.e10. [PMID: 34358447 DOI: 10.1016/j.molcel.2021.07.018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/30/2020] [Revised: 07/13/2021] [Accepted: 07/13/2021] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
The transformed state in acute leukemia requires gene regulatory programs involving transcription factors and chromatin modulators. Here, we uncover an IRF8-MEF2D transcriptional circuit as an acute myeloid leukemia (AML)-biased dependency. We discover and characterize the mechanism by which the chromatin "reader" ZMYND8 directly activates IRF8 in parallel with the MYC proto-oncogene through their lineage-specific enhancers. ZMYND8 is essential for AML proliferation in vitro and in vivo and associates with MYC and IRF8 enhancer elements that we define in cell lines and in patient samples. ZMYND8 occupancy at IRF8 and MYC enhancers requires BRD4, a transcription coactivator also necessary for AML proliferation. We show that ZMYND8 binds to the ET domain of BRD4 via its chromatin reader cassette, which in turn is required for proper chromatin occupancy and maintenance of leukemic growth in vivo. Our results rationalize ZMYND8 as a potential therapeutic target for modulating essential transcriptional programs in AML.
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30
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Nowak RP, Xiong Y, Kirmani N, Kalabathula J, Donovan KA, Eleuteri NA, Yuan JC, Fischer ES. Structure-Guided Design of a "Bump-and-Hole" Bromodomain-Based Degradation Tag. J Med Chem 2021; 64:11637-11650. [PMID: 34279939 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.1c00958] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Chemical biology tools to modulate protein levels in cells are critical to decipher complex biology. Targeted protein degradation offers the potential for rapid and dose-dependent protein depletion through the use of protein fusion tags toward which protein degraders have been established. Here, we present a newly developed protein degradation tag BRD4BD1L94V along with the corresponding cereblon (CRBN)-based heterobifunctional degrader based on a "bump-and-hole" approach. The resulting compound XY-06-007 shows a half-degradation concentration (DC50, 6 h) of 10 nM against BRD4BD1L94V with no degradation of off-targets, as assessed by whole proteome mass spectrometry, and demonstrates suitable pharmacokinetics for in vivo studies. We demonstrate that BRD4BD1L94V can be combined with the dTAG approach to achieve simultaneous degrader-mediated depletion of their respective protein fusions. This orthogonal system complements currently available protein degradation tags and enables investigation into the consequences resulting from rapid degradation of previously undruggable disease codependencies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Radosław P Nowak
- Department of Cancer Biology, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, United States.,Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, United States
| | - Yuan Xiong
- Department of Cancer Biology, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, United States.,Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, United States
| | - Nadia Kirmani
- Department of Cancer Biology, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, United States
| | - Joann Kalabathula
- Department of Cancer Biology, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, United States
| | - Katherine A Donovan
- Department of Cancer Biology, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, United States.,Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, United States
| | - Nicholas A Eleuteri
- Department of Cancer Biology, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, United States
| | - J Christine Yuan
- Department of Cancer Biology, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, United States
| | - Eric S Fischer
- Department of Cancer Biology, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, United States.,Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, United States
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31
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Mammalian cell proliferation requires noncatalytic functions of O-GlcNAc transferase. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2021; 118:2016778118. [PMID: 33419956 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2016778118] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/25/2022] Open
Abstract
O-GlcNAc transferase (OGT), found in the nucleus and cytoplasm of all mammalian cell types, is essential for cell proliferation. Why OGT is required for cell growth is not known. OGT performs two enzymatic reactions in the same active site. In one, it glycosylates thousands of different proteins, and in the other, it proteolytically cleaves another essential protein involved in gene expression. Deconvoluting OGT's myriad cellular roles has been challenging because genetic deletion is lethal; complementation methods have not been established. Here, we developed approaches to replace endogenous OGT with separation-of-function variants to investigate the importance of OGT's enzymatic activities for cell viability. Using genetic complementation, we found that OGT's glycosyltransferase function is required for cell growth but its protease function is dispensable. We next used complementation to construct a cell line with degron-tagged wild-type OGT. When OGT was degraded to very low levels, cells stopped proliferating but remained viable. Adding back catalytically inactive OGT rescued growth. Therefore, OGT has an essential noncatalytic role that is necessary for cell proliferation. By developing a method to quantify how OGT's catalytic and noncatalytic activities affect protein abundance, we found that OGT's noncatalytic functions often affect different proteins from its catalytic functions. Proteins involved in oxidative phosphorylation and the actin cytoskeleton were especially impacted by the noncatalytic functions. We conclude that OGT integrates both catalytic and noncatalytic functions to control cell physiology.
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32
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Ectopic expression of MELK in oral squamous cell carcinoma and its correlation with epithelial mesenchymal transition. Aging (Albany NY) 2021; 13:13048-13060. [PMID: 33962400 PMCID: PMC8148453 DOI: 10.18632/aging.202986] [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: 10/01/2020] [Accepted: 03/23/2021] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
Epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) is closely correlated to metastasis formation generation and maintenance of cancer stem cells, nevertheless, the underlying mechanisms are unclear. The aim of this study is to investigate the role of maternal embryonic leucine-zipper kinase (MELK) in EMT regulation in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). We found that there was overexpression of MELK in human OSCC tissues, and high MELK expression was correlated with lymphatic metastasis and led to poor prognosis in patients with OSCC. We also confirmed that MELK is closely correlated to the EMT process using a human OSCC tissue microarray. Additionally, MELK expression was observed to be regulated in several OSCC cell lines, and knockdown of MELK genes inhibited cell proliferation, migration, invasion and EMT of OSCC cells in vitro. Furthermore, silencing of MELK suppressed tumour growth in vivo, and experimental research verified that MELK may augment OSCC development via mediating the Wnt/Notch signalling pathway. Our findings suggest that MELK serves as an oncogene to improve malignant development of OSCC via enhancing EMT, and MELK might be a potential target for anticancer therapeutic.
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34
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Hoque M, Wai Wong S, Recasens A, Abbassi R, Nguyen N, Zhang D, Stashko MA, Wang X, Frye S, Day BW, Baell J, Munoz L. MerTK activity is not necessary for the proliferation of glioblastoma stem cells. Biochem Pharmacol 2021; 186:114437. [PMID: 33571503 DOI: 10.1016/j.bcp.2021.114437] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/26/2020] [Revised: 01/17/2021] [Accepted: 01/20/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
MerTK has been identified as a promising target for therapeutic intervention in glioblastoma. Genetic studies documented a range of oncogenic processes that MerTK targeting could influence, however robust pharmacological validation has been missing. The aim of this study was to assess therapeutic potential of MerTK inhibitors in glioblastoma therapy. Unlike previous studies, our work provides several lines of evidence that MerTK activity is dispensable for glioblastoma growth. We observed heterogeneous responses to MerTK inhibitors that could not be correlated to MerTK inhibition or MerTK expression in cells. The more selective MerTK inhibitors UNC2250 and UNC2580A lack the anti-proliferative potency of less-selective inhibitors exemplified by UNC2025. Functional assays in MerTK-high and MerTK-deficient cells further demonstrate that the anti-cancer efficacy of UNC2025 is MerTK-independent. However, despite its efficacy in vitro, UNC2025 failed to attenuate glioblastoma growth in vivo. Gene expression analysis from cohorts of glioblastoma patients identified that MerTK expression correlates negatively with proliferation and positively with quiescence genes, suggesting that MerTK regulates dormancy rather than proliferation in glioblastoma. In summary, this study demonstrates the importance of orthogonal inhibitors and disease-relevant models in target validation studies and raises a possibility that MerTK inhibitors could be used to target dormant glioblastoma cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Monira Hoque
- School of Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health and Charles Perkins Centre, The University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
| | - Siu Wai Wong
- Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Monash University, Parkville, VIC 3052, Australia
| | - Ariadna Recasens
- School of Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health and Charles Perkins Centre, The University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
| | - Ramzi Abbassi
- School of Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health and Charles Perkins Centre, The University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
| | - Nghi Nguyen
- Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Monash University, Parkville, VIC 3052, Australia; The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, 1G Royal Parade, Parkville, VIC 3052, Australia
| | - Dehui Zhang
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Eshelman School of Pharmacy, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Michael A Stashko
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Eshelman School of Pharmacy, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Xiaodong Wang
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Eshelman School of Pharmacy, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Stephen Frye
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Eshelman School of Pharmacy, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Bryan W Day
- QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, 300 Herston Road, Herston, QLD 4006, Australia
| | - Jonathan Baell
- Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Monash University, Parkville, VIC 3052, Australia; School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Nanjing Tech University, Nanjing 211816, People's Republic of China
| | - Lenka Munoz
- School of Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health and Charles Perkins Centre, The University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia.
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35
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Sheppard HE, Dall’Agnese A, Park WD, Shamim MH, Dubrulle J, Johnson HL, Stossi F, Cogswell P, Sommer J, Levy J, Sharifnia T, Wawer MJ, Nabet B, Gray NS, Clemons PA, Schreiber SL, Workman P, Young RA, Lin CY. Targeted brachyury degradation disrupts a highly specific autoregulatory program controlling chordoma cell identity. CELL REPORTS MEDICINE 2021; 2:100188. [PMID: 33521702 PMCID: PMC7817874 DOI: 10.1016/j.xcrm.2020.100188] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/04/2019] [Revised: 08/14/2020] [Accepted: 12/17/2020] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
Chordomas are rare spinal tumors addicted to expression of the developmental transcription factor brachyury. In chordomas, brachyury is super-enhancer associated and preferentially downregulated by pharmacologic transcriptional CDK inhibition, leading to cell death. To understand the underlying basis of this sensitivity, we dissect the brachyury transcription regulatory network and compare the consequences of brachyury degradation with transcriptional CDK inhibition. Brachyury defines the chordoma super-enhancer landscape and autoregulates through binding its super-enhancer, and its locus forms a transcriptional condensate. Transcriptional CDK inhibition and brachyury degradation disrupt brachyury autoregulation, leading to loss of its transcriptional condensate and transcriptional program. Compared with transcriptional CDK inhibition, which globally downregulates transcription, leading to cell death, brachyury degradation is much more selective, inducing senescence and sensitizing cells to anti-apoptotic inhibition. These data suggest that brachyury downregulation is a core tenet of transcriptional CDK inhibition and motivates developing strategies to target brachyury and its autoregulatory feedback loop. Brachyury defines the chordoma super-enhancer landscape Brachyury autoregulates through a transcriptional condensate CDK7/12/13i and brachyury degradation target the brachyury transcriptional condensate Brachyury degradation inhibits chordoma identity genes and induces senescence
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Affiliation(s)
- Hadley E. Sheppard
- Department of Molecular and Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | | | - Woojun D. Park
- Department of Molecular and Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - M. Hamza Shamim
- Department of Molecular and Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Julien Dubrulle
- Integrated Microscopy Core, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Hannah L. Johnson
- Integrated Microscopy Core, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Fabio Stossi
- Integrated Microscopy Core, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | | | | | - Joan Levy
- Chordoma Foundation, Durham, NC 27713, USA
| | - Tanaz Sharifnia
- Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, Cambridge, MA, 02142, USA
| | | | - Behnam Nabet
- Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02215, USA
- Department of Cancer Biology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA 02215, USA
| | - Nathanael S. Gray
- Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02215, USA
- Department of Cancer Biology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA 02215, USA
| | - Paul A. Clemons
- Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, Cambridge, MA, 02142, USA
| | - Stuart L. Schreiber
- Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, Cambridge, MA, 02142, USA
- Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
| | - Paul Workman
- Cancer Research UK Cancer Therapeutics Unit, The Institute of Cancer Research, London SM2 5NG, UK
| | - Richard A. Young
- Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA
- Department of Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
| | - Charles Y. Lin
- Department of Molecular and Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
- Therapeutic Innovation Center, Verna and Marrs McLean Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
- Corresponding author
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36
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Guarnaccia AD, Rose KL, Wang J, Zhao B, Popay TM, Wang CE, Guerrazzi K, Hill S, Woodley CM, Hansen TJ, Lorey SL, Shaw JG, Payne WG, Weissmiller AM, Olejniczak ET, Fesik SW, Liu Q, Tansey WP. Impact of WIN site inhibitor on the WDR5 interactome. Cell Rep 2021; 34:108636. [PMID: 33472061 PMCID: PMC7871196 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2020.108636] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/20/2020] [Revised: 11/17/2020] [Accepted: 12/21/2020] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
Abstract
The chromatin-associated protein WDR5 is a promising pharmacological target in cancer, with most drug discovery efforts directed against an arginine-binding cavity in WDR5 called the WIN site. Despite a clear expectation that WIN site inhibitors will alter the repertoire of WDR5 interaction partners, their impact on the WDR5 interactome remains unknown. Here, we use quantitative proteomics to delineate how the WDR5 interactome is changed by WIN site inhibition. We show that the WIN site inhibitor alters the interaction of WDR5 with dozens of proteins, including those linked to phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) signaling. As proof of concept, we demonstrate that the master kinase PDPK1 is a bona fide high-affinity WIN site binding protein that engages WDR5 to modulate transcription of genes expressed in the G2 phase of the cell cycle. This dataset expands our understanding of WDR5 and serves as a resource for deciphering the action of WIN site inhibitors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alissa D Guarnaccia
- Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN 37232, USA
| | - Kristie L Rose
- Department of Biochemistry, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN 37232, USA; Mass Spectrometry Research Center, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN 37232, USA
| | - Jing Wang
- Department of Biostatistics, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN 37232, USA; Center for Quantitative Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, 37232, USA
| | - Bin Zhao
- Department of Biochemistry, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN 37232, USA
| | - Tessa M Popay
- Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN 37232, USA
| | - Christina E Wang
- Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN 37232, USA
| | - Kiana Guerrazzi
- Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN 37232, USA
| | - Salisha Hill
- Mass Spectrometry Research Center, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN 37232, USA
| | - Chase M Woodley
- Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN 37232, USA
| | - Tyler J Hansen
- Department of Biochemistry, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN 37232, USA
| | - Shelly L Lorey
- Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN 37232, USA
| | - J Grace Shaw
- Department of Biochemistry, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN 37232, USA
| | - William G Payne
- Department of Biochemistry, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN 37232, USA
| | - April M Weissmiller
- Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN 37232, USA
| | - Edward T Olejniczak
- Department of Biochemistry, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN 37232, USA
| | - Stephen W Fesik
- Department of Biochemistry, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN 37232, USA; Department of Pharmacology, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN 37232, USA; Department of Chemistry, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37232, USA
| | - Qi Liu
- Department of Biostatistics, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN 37232, USA; Center for Quantitative Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, 37232, USA
| | - William P Tansey
- Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN 37232, USA; Department of Biochemistry, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN 37232, USA.
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Sreekanth V, Zhou Q, Kokkonda P, Bermudez-Cabrera HC, Lim D, Law BK, Holmes BR, Chaudhary SK, Pergu R, Leger BS, Walker JA, Gifford DK, Sherwood RI, Choudhary A. Chemogenetic System Demonstrates That Cas9 Longevity Impacts Genome Editing Outcomes. ACS CENTRAL SCIENCE 2020; 6:2228-2237. [PMID: 33376784 PMCID: PMC7760466 DOI: 10.1021/acscentsci.0c00129] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/02/2020] [Indexed: 06/02/2023]
Abstract
Prolonged Cas9 activity can hinder genome engineering as it causes off-target effects, genotoxicity, heterogeneous genome-editing outcomes, immunogenicity, and mosaicism in embryonic editing-issues which could be addressed by controlling the longevity of Cas9. Though some temporal controls of Cas9 activity have been developed, only cumbersome systems exist for modifying the lifetime. Here, we have developed a chemogenetic system that brings Cas9 in proximity to a ubiquitin ligase, enabling rapid ubiquitination and degradation of Cas9 by the proteasome. Despite the large size of Cas9, we were able to demonstrate efficient degradation in cells from multiple species. Furthermore, by controlling the Cas9 lifetime, we were able to bias the DNA repair pathways and the genotypic outcome for both templated and nontemplated genome editing. Finally, we were able to dosably control the Cas9 activity and specificity to ameliorate the off-target effects. The ability of this system to change the Cas9 lifetime and, therefore, bias repair pathways and specificity in the desired direction allows precision control of the genome editing outcome.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vedagopuram Sreekanth
- Chemical Biology and Therapeutics Science Program, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142, United States
- Divisions of Renal Medicine and Engineering, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
- Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
| | - Qingxuan Zhou
- Chemical Biology and Therapeutics Science Program, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142, United States
- Divisions of Renal Medicine and Engineering, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
- Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
| | - Praveen Kokkonda
- Chemical Biology and Therapeutics Science Program, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142, United States
- Divisions of Renal Medicine and Engineering, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
- Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
| | - Heysol C. Bermudez-Cabrera
- Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
- Division of Genetics, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
| | - Donghyun Lim
- Chemical Biology and Therapeutics Science Program, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142, United States
- Divisions of Renal Medicine and Engineering, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
- Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
| | - Benjamin K. Law
- Chemical Biology and Therapeutics Science Program, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142, United States
- Divisions of Renal Medicine and Engineering, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
- Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
| | - Benjamin R. Holmes
- McGovern Institute for Brain Research at MIT, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142, United States
- Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, United States
| | - Santosh K. Chaudhary
- Chemical Biology and Therapeutics Science Program, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142, United States
- Divisions of Renal Medicine and Engineering, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
- Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
| | - Rajaiah Pergu
- Chemical Biology and Therapeutics Science Program, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142, United States
- Divisions of Renal Medicine and Engineering, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
- Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
| | - Brittany S. Leger
- Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02114, United States
| | - James A. Walker
- Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02114, United States
- Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02114, United States
| | - David K. Gifford
- McGovern Institute for Brain Research at MIT, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142, United States
- Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, United States
- Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, United States
- Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, United States
| | - Richard I. Sherwood
- Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
- Division of Genetics, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
- Hubrecht Institute for Developmental Biology and Stem Cell Research, Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW), Utrecht 3584 CT, The Netherlands
| | - Amit Choudhary
- Chemical Biology and Therapeutics Science Program, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142, United States
- Divisions of Renal Medicine and Engineering, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
- Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
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38
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Prozzillo Y, Fattorini G, Santopietro MV, Suglia L, Ruggiero A, Ferreri D, Messina G. Targeted Protein Degradation Tools: Overview and Future Perspectives. BIOLOGY 2020; 9:biology9120421. [PMID: 33256092 PMCID: PMC7761331 DOI: 10.3390/biology9120421] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/30/2020] [Revised: 11/23/2020] [Accepted: 11/25/2020] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
Simple Summary Gene inactivation is a powerful strategy to study the function of specific proteins in the context of cellular physiology that can be applied for only non-essential genes since their DNA sequence is destroyed. On the other hand, perturbing the amount of the transcript can lead to incomplete protein depletion and generate potential off-target effects. Instead, targeting at the protein level is desirable to overcome these limitations. In the last decade, several approaches have been developed and wisely improved, including compartment delocalization tools and protein degradation systems. This review highlights the most recent advances in targeted protein inactivation (TPI) and focuses on a putative novel tool to specifically degrade endogenous genetically unmodified target protein. Abstract Targeted protein inactivation (TPI) is an elegant approach to investigate protein function and its role in the cellular landscape, overcoming limitations of genetic perturbation strategies. These systems act in a reversible manner and reduce off-target effects exceeding the limitations of CRISPR/Cas9 and RNA interference, respectively. Several TPI have been developed and wisely improved, including compartment delocalization tools and protein degradation systems. However, unlike chemical tools such as PROTACs (PROteolysis TArgeting Chimeras), which work in a wild-type genomic background, TPI technologies require adding an aminoacidic signal sequence (tag) to the protein of interest (POI). On the other hand, the design and optimization of PROTACs are very laborious and time-consuming. In this review, we focus on anchor-away, deGradFP, auxin-inducible degron (AID) and dTAG technologies and discuss their recent applications and advances. Finally, we propose nano-grad, a novel nanobody-based protein degradation tool, which specifically proteolyzes endogenous tag-free target protein.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuri Prozzillo
- Department of Biology and Biotechnology “Charles Darwin”, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy; (G.F.); (M.V.S.); (L.S.); (D.F.)
- Correspondence: (Y.P.); (G.M.)
| | - Gaia Fattorini
- Department of Biology and Biotechnology “Charles Darwin”, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy; (G.F.); (M.V.S.); (L.S.); (D.F.)
| | - Maria Virginia Santopietro
- Department of Biology and Biotechnology “Charles Darwin”, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy; (G.F.); (M.V.S.); (L.S.); (D.F.)
| | - Luigi Suglia
- Department of Biology and Biotechnology “Charles Darwin”, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy; (G.F.); (M.V.S.); (L.S.); (D.F.)
| | - Alessandra Ruggiero
- Department of Clinical Infection, Microbiology and Immunology, Institute of Infection and Global Health, University of Liverpool, Liverpool L69 3BX, UK;
- Immune and Infectious Disease Division, Academic Department of Pediatrics (DPUO), Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital, 00165 Rome, Italy
| | - Diego Ferreri
- Department of Biology and Biotechnology “Charles Darwin”, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy; (G.F.); (M.V.S.); (L.S.); (D.F.)
| | - Giovanni Messina
- Department of Biology and Biotechnology “Charles Darwin”, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy; (G.F.); (M.V.S.); (L.S.); (D.F.)
- Pasteur Institute of Italy, Fondazione Cenci-Bolognetti, 00161 Rome, Italy
- Correspondence: (Y.P.); (G.M.)
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39
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Nabet B. Charting a New Path Towards Degrading Every Protein. Chembiochem 2020; 22:483-484. [PMID: 33103843 DOI: 10.1002/cbic.202000531] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/31/2020] [Revised: 09/16/2020] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
Strategies to directly alter protein abundance such as small-molecule-induced targeted protein degradation (TPD) are innovative pharmacological modalities with promising clinical potential. Herein, I describe my experience with the development of the degradation tag (dTAG) system, which is a chemical biology strategy to induce rapid and precise degradation of any target protein. Open-source collaborative discovery has been critical for advancing the versatility and accessibility of the dTAG system and will be necessary to understand the benefits and limits of TPD-based strategies in the clinic.
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Affiliation(s)
- Behnam Nabet
- Department of Cancer Biology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02215, USA
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Thangaraj K, Ponnusamy L, Natarajan SR, Manoharan R. MELK/MPK38 in cancer: from mechanistic aspects to therapeutic strategies. Drug Discov Today 2020; 25:2161-2173. [PMID: 33010478 DOI: 10.1016/j.drudis.2020.09.029] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/23/2020] [Revised: 08/11/2020] [Accepted: 09/24/2020] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
Maternal embryonic leucine zipper kinase (MELK)/Murine protein serine-threonine kinase 38 (MPK38) is a member of the AMP-related serine-threonine kinase family, which has been reported to be involved in the regulation of many cellular events, including cell proliferation, apoptosis, and metabolism, partly by phosphorylation and regulation of several signaling molecules. The abnormal expression of MELK has been associated with tumorigenesis and malignant progression in various types of cancer. Currently, several small-molecule inhibitors of MELK are under investigation although only OTS167 has entered clinical trials. In this review, we elaborate on the relative contributions of MELK pathways in the physiological process, their oncogenic role in carcinogenesis, and targeted agents under development for the treatment of cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Karthik Thangaraj
- Department of Biochemistry, Guindy Campus, University of Madras, Chennai 600025, India
| | - Lavanya Ponnusamy
- Department of Biochemistry, Guindy Campus, University of Madras, Chennai 600025, India
| | - Sathan Raj Natarajan
- Department of Biochemistry, Guindy Campus, University of Madras, Chennai 600025, India
| | - Ravi Manoharan
- Department of Biochemistry, Guindy Campus, University of Madras, Chennai 600025, India.
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Nabet B, Ferguson FM, Seong BKA, Kuljanin M, Leggett AL, Mohardt ML, Robichaud A, Conway AS, Buckley DL, Mancias JD, Bradner JE, Stegmaier K, Gray NS. Rapid and direct control of target protein levels with VHL-recruiting dTAG molecules. Nat Commun 2020; 11:4687. [PMID: 32948771 PMCID: PMC7501296 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-18377-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 130] [Impact Index Per Article: 32.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/05/2020] [Accepted: 08/06/2020] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Chemical biology strategies for directly perturbing protein homeostasis including the degradation tag (dTAG) system provide temporal advantages over genetic approaches and improved selectivity over small molecule inhibitors. We describe dTAGV-1, an exclusively selective VHL-recruiting dTAG molecule, to rapidly degrade FKBP12F36V-tagged proteins. dTAGV-1 overcomes a limitation of previously reported CRBN-recruiting dTAG molecules to degrade recalcitrant oncogenes, supports combination degrader studies and facilitates investigations of protein function in cells and mice.
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Affiliation(s)
- Behnam Nabet
- Department of Cancer Biology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA.
- Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
| | - Fleur M Ferguson
- Department of Cancer Biology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Bo Kyung A Seong
- Department of Pediatric Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA
- The Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Miljan Kuljanin
- Division of Radiation and Genome Stability, Department of Radiation Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Alan L Leggett
- Department of Cancer Biology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Mikaela L Mohardt
- Department of Cancer Biology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Amanda Robichaud
- Department of Pediatric Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Amy S Conway
- Department of Pediatric Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Dennis L Buckley
- Department of Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA
- Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Joseph D Mancias
- Division of Radiation and Genome Stability, Department of Radiation Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA
| | - James E Bradner
- Department of Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Kimberly Stegmaier
- Department of Pediatric Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA
- The Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Division of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Nathanael S Gray
- Department of Cancer Biology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA.
- Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
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Luh LM, Scheib U, Juenemann K, Wortmann L, Brands M, Cromm PM. Prey for the Proteasome: Targeted Protein Degradation-A Medicinal Chemist's Perspective. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl 2020; 59:15448-15466. [PMID: 32428344 PMCID: PMC7496094 DOI: 10.1002/anie.202004310] [Citation(s) in RCA: 97] [Impact Index Per Article: 24.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/24/2020] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Targeted protein degradation (TPD), the ability to control a proteins fate by triggering its degradation in a highly selective and effective manner, has created tremendous excitement in chemical biology and drug discovery within the past decades. The TPD field is spearheaded by small molecule induced protein degradation with molecular glues and proteolysis targeting chimeras (PROTACs) paving the way to expand the druggable space and to create a new paradigm in drug discovery. However, besides the therapeutic angle of TPD a plethora of novel techniques to modulate and control protein levels have been developed. This enables chemical biologists to better understand protein function and to discover and verify new therapeutic targets. This Review gives a comprehensive overview of chemical biology techniques inducing TPD. It explains the strengths and weaknesses of these methods in the context of drug discovery and discusses their future potential from a medicinal chemist's perspective.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura M. Luh
- Research and DevelopmentPharmaceuticalsBayer AG13353BerlinGermany
| | - Ulrike Scheib
- Research and DevelopmentPharmaceuticalsBayer AG13353BerlinGermany
| | - Katrin Juenemann
- Research and DevelopmentPharmaceuticalsBayer AG13353BerlinGermany
| | - Lars Wortmann
- Research and DevelopmentPharmaceuticalsBayer AG13353BerlinGermany
| | - Michael Brands
- Research and DevelopmentPharmaceuticalsBayer AG13353BerlinGermany
| | - Philipp M. Cromm
- Research and DevelopmentPharmaceuticalsBayer AG13353BerlinGermany
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Luh LM, Scheib U, Juenemann K, Wortmann L, Brands M, Cromm PM. Beute für das Proteasom: Gezielter Proteinabbau aus medizinalchemischer Perspektive. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl 2020. [DOI: 10.1002/ange.202004310] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Laura M. Luh
- Research and Development Pharmaceuticals Bayer AG 13353 Berlin Germany
| | - Ulrike Scheib
- Research and Development Pharmaceuticals Bayer AG 13353 Berlin Germany
| | - Katrin Juenemann
- Research and Development Pharmaceuticals Bayer AG 13353 Berlin Germany
| | - Lars Wortmann
- Research and Development Pharmaceuticals Bayer AG 13353 Berlin Germany
| | - Michael Brands
- Research and Development Pharmaceuticals Bayer AG 13353 Berlin Germany
| | - Philipp M. Cromm
- Research and Development Pharmaceuticals Bayer AG 13353 Berlin Germany
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Girish V, Sheltzer JM. A CRISPR Competition Assay to Identify Cancer Genetic Dependencies. Bio Protoc 2020; 10:e3682. [PMID: 33659353 DOI: 10.21769/bioprotoc.3682] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/29/2019] [Revised: 04/29/2020] [Accepted: 05/28/2020] [Indexed: 11/02/2022] Open
Abstract
The CRISPR/Cas9 system is a powerful tool for genome editing, wherein the RNA-guided nuclease Cas9 can be directed to introduce double-stranded breaks (DSBs) at a targeted locus. In mammalian cells, these DSBs are typically repaired through error-prone processes, resulting in insertions or deletions (indels) at the targeted locus. Researchers can use these Cas9-mediated lesions to probe the consequences of loss-of-function perturbations in genes of interest. Here, we describe an optimized protocol to identify specific genes required for cancer cell fitness through a CRISPR-mediated cellular competition assay. Identifying these genetic dependencies is of utmost importance, as they provide potential targets for anti-cancer drug development. This protocol provides researchers with a robust and scalable approach to investigate gene dependencies in a variety of cell lines and cancer types and to validate the results of high-throughput or whole-genome screens.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vishruth Girish
- Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, NY 11724, USA
| | - Jason M Sheltzer
- Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, NY 11724, USA
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Wu T, Yoon H, Xiong Y, Dixon-Clarke SE, Nowak RP, Fischer ES. Targeted protein degradation as a powerful research tool in basic biology and drug target discovery. Nat Struct Mol Biol 2020; 27:605-614. [PMID: 32541897 PMCID: PMC7923177 DOI: 10.1038/s41594-020-0438-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 100] [Impact Index Per Article: 25.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/05/2019] [Accepted: 04/23/2020] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
Controlled perturbation of protein activity is essential to study protein function in cells and living organisms. Small molecules that hijack the cellular protein ubiquitination machinery to selectively degrade proteins of interest, so-called degraders, have recently emerged as alternatives to selective chemical inhibitors, both as therapeutic modalities and as powerful research tools. These systems offer unprecedented temporal and spatial control over protein function. Here, we review recent developments in this field, with a particular focus on the use of degraders as research tools to interrogate complex biological problems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tao Wu
- Department of Cancer Biology, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Hojong Yoon
- Department of Cancer Biology, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Yuan Xiong
- Department of Cancer Biology, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Sarah E Dixon-Clarke
- Department of Cancer Biology, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Radosław P Nowak
- Department of Cancer Biology, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Eric S Fischer
- Department of Cancer Biology, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA.
- Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
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Constructing Auxin-Inducible Degron Mutants Using an All-in-One Vector. Pharmaceuticals (Basel) 2020; 13:ph13050103. [PMID: 32456235 PMCID: PMC7281097 DOI: 10.3390/ph13050103] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/17/2020] [Revised: 05/22/2020] [Accepted: 05/22/2020] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Conditional degron-based methods are powerful for studying protein function because a degron-fused protein can be rapidly and efficiently depleted by adding a defined ligand. Auxin-inducible degron (AID) is a popular technology by which a degron-fused protein can be degraded by adding an auxin. However, compared with other technologies such as dTAG and HaloPROTAC, AID is complicated because of its two protein components: OsTIR1 and mAID (degron). To simplify the use of AID in mammalian cells, we constructed bicistronic all-in-one plasmids that express OsTIR1 and a mAID-fused protein using a P2A self-cleavage sequence. To generate a HeLa mutant line for the essential replication factor MCM10, we transfected a CRISPR-knockout plasmid together with a bicistronic plasmid containing mAID-fused MCM10 cDNA. After drug selection and colony isolation, we successfully isolated HeLa mutant lines, in which mAID–MCM10 was depleted by the addition of indole-3-acetic acid, a natural auxin. The bicistronic all-in-one plasmids described in this report are useful for controlling degradation of a transgene-derived protein fused with mAID. These plasmids can be used for the construction of conditional mutants by combining them with a CRISPR-based gene knockout.
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McDonald IM, Graves LM. Enigmatic MELK: The controversy surrounding its complex role in cancer. J Biol Chem 2020; 295:8195-8203. [PMID: 32350113 DOI: 10.1074/jbc.rev120.013433] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
The Ser/Thr protein kinase MELK (maternal embryonic leucine zipper kinase) has been considered an attractive therapeutic target for managing cancer since 2005. Studies using expression analysis have indicated that MELK expression is higher in numerous cancer cells and tissues than in their normal, nonneoplastic counterparts. Further, RNAi-mediated MELK depletion impairs proliferation of multiple cancers, including triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), and these growth defects can be rescued with exogenous WT MELK, but not kinase-dead MELK complementation. Pharmacological MELK inhibition with OTS167 (alternatively called OTSSP167) and NVS-MELK8a, among other small molecules, also impairs cancer cell growth. These collective results led to MELK being classified as essential for cancer proliferation. More recently, in 2017, the proliferation of TNBC and other cancer cell lines was reported to be unaffected by genetic CRISPR/Cas9-mediated MELK deletion, calling into question the essentiality of this kinase in cancer. To date, the requirement of MELK in cancer remains controversial, and mechanisms underlying the disparate growth effects observed with RNAi, pharmacological inhibition, and CRISPR remain unclear. Our objective with this review is to highlight the evidence on both sides of this controversy, to provide commentary on the purported requirement of MELK in cancer, and to emphasize the need for continued elucidation of the functions of MELK.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ian M McDonald
- Department of Pharmacology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA.,Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
| | - Lee M Graves
- Department of Pharmacology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA .,Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA.,UNC Michael Hooker Proteomics Core Facility, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
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Burslem GM, Crews CM. Proteolysis-Targeting Chimeras as Therapeutics and Tools for Biological Discovery. Cell 2020; 181:102-114. [PMID: 31955850 PMCID: PMC7319047 DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2019.11.031] [Citation(s) in RCA: 544] [Impact Index Per Article: 136.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/24/2019] [Revised: 11/07/2019] [Accepted: 11/21/2019] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
New biological tools provide new techniques to probe fundamental biological processes. Here we describe the burgeoning field of proteolysis-targeting chimeras (PROTACs), which are capable of modulating protein concentrations at a post-translational level by co-opting the ubiquitin-proteasome system. We describe the PROTAC technology and its application to drug discovery and provide examples where PROTACs have enabled novel biological insights. Furthermore, we provide a workflow for PROTAC development and use and discuss the benefits and issues associated with PROTACs. Finally, we compare PROTAC-mediated protein-level modulation with other technologies, such as RNAi and genome editing.
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Affiliation(s)
- George M Burslem
- Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Craig M Crews
- Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA; Departments of Chemistry and Pharmacology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA.
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Chen L, Wei Q, Bi S, Xie S. Maternal Embryonic Leucine Zipper Kinase Promotes Tumor Growth and Metastasis via Stimulating FOXM1 Signaling in Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma. Front Oncol 2020; 10:10. [PMID: 32047721 PMCID: PMC6997270 DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2020.00010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/18/2019] [Accepted: 01/06/2020] [Indexed: 01/14/2023] Open
Abstract
Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is a common gastrointestinal malignancy and is one of the most important cause of cancer related mortalities in the world. However, there is no clinically effective targeted therapeutic drugs for ESCC due to lack of valuable molecular therapeutic targets. In the present study, we investigated the biological function and molecular mechanisms of maternal embryonic leucine zipper kinase (MELK) in ESCC. The expression of MELK mRNA and protein was determined in cell lines and clinical samples of ESCC. MTT, focus formation and soft agar assays were carried out to measure cell proliferation and colony formation. Wound healing and transwell assays were used to assess the capacity of tumor cell migration and invasion. Nude mice models of subcutaneous tumor growth and lung metastasis were performed to examine the function of MELK in tumorigenecity and metastasis of ESCC cells. High expression of MELK was observed in ESCC cell line and human samples, especially in the metastatic tumor tissues. Moreover, overexpression of MELK promoted cell proliferation, colony formation, migration and invasion, and increased the expression and enzyme activity of MMP-2 and MMP-9 in ESCC cells. More importantly, enhanced expression of MELK greatly accelerated tumor growth and lung metastasis of ESCC cells in vivo. In contrast, knockdown of MELK by lentiviral shRNA resulted in an opposite effect both in vitro and in animal models. Mechanistically, MELK facilitated the phosphorylation of FOXM1, leading to activation of its downstream targets (PLK1, Cyclin B1, and Aurora B), and thereby promoted tumorigenesis and metastasis of ESCC cells. In conclusion, MELK enhances tumorigenesis, migration, invasion and metastasis of ESCC cells via activation of FOXM1 signaling pathway, suggesting MELK is a potential therapeutic target for ESCC patients, even those in an advanced stage.
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Affiliation(s)
- Liang Chen
- School of Pharmacy, Henan University, Kaifeng, China
| | - Qiuren Wei
- School of Pharmacy, Henan University, Kaifeng, China
| | - Shuning Bi
- School of Pharmacy, Henan University, Kaifeng, China
| | - Songqiang Xie
- School of Pharmacy, Henan University, Kaifeng, China
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Mutant P53 induces MELK expression by release of wild-type P53-dependent suppression of FOXM1. NPJ Breast Cancer 2020; 6:2. [PMID: 31909186 PMCID: PMC6941974 DOI: 10.1038/s41523-019-0143-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/28/2019] [Accepted: 12/03/2019] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is the most aggressive form of breast cancer, and is associated with a poor prognosis due to frequent distant metastasis and lack of effective targeted therapies. Previously, we identified maternal embryonic leucine zipper kinase (MELK) to be highly expressed in TNBCs as compared with ER-positive breast cancers. Here we determined the molecular mechanism by which MELK is overexpressed in TNBCs. Analysis of publicly available data sets revealed that MELK mRNA is elevated in p53-mutant breast cancers. Consistent with this observation, MELK protein levels are higher in p53-mutant vs. p53 wild-type breast cancer cells. Furthermore, inactivation of wild-type p53, by loss or mutation of the p53 gene, increases MELK expression, whereas overexpression of wild-type p53 in p53-null cells reduces MELK promoter activity and MELK expression. We further analyzed MELK expression in breast cancer data sets and compared that with known wild-type p53 target genes. This analysis revealed that MELK expression strongly correlates with genes known to be suppressed by wild-type p53. Promoter deletion studies identified a p53-responsive region within the MELK promoter that did not map to the p53 consensus response elements, but to a region containing a FOXM1-binding site. Consistent with this result, knockdown of FOXM1 reduced MELK expression in p53-mutant TNBC cells and expression of wild-type p53 reduced FOXM1 expression. ChIP assays demonstrated that expression of wild-type p53 reduces binding of E2F1 (a critical transcription factor controlling FOXM1 expression) to the FOXM1 promoter, thereby, reducing FOXM1 expression. These results show that wild-type p53 suppresses FOXM1 expression, and thus MELK expression, through indirect mechanisms. Overall, these studies demonstrate that wild-type p53 represses MELK expression by inhibiting E2F1A-dependent transcription of FOXM1 and that mutation-driven loss of wild-type p53, which frequently occurs in TNBCs, induces MELK expression by suppressing FOXM1 expression and activity in p53-mutant breast cancers.
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