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Nie X, Zhao Y, Tang H, Zhang Z, Liao J, Almodovar-Rivera CM, Sundaresan R, Xie H, Guo L, Wang B, Guan H, Xing Y, Tang W. Development of Phenyl-substituted Isoindolinone- and Benzimidazole-type Cereblon Ligands for Targeted Protein Degradation. Chembiochem 2024; 25:e202300685. [PMID: 38116854 PMCID: PMC10922875 DOI: 10.1002/cbic.202300685] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/05/2023] [Revised: 12/08/2023] [Accepted: 12/19/2023] [Indexed: 12/21/2023]
Abstract
Thalidomide, pomalidomide and lenalidomide, collectively referred to as immunomodulatory imide drugs (IMiDs), are frequently employed in proteolysis-targeting chimeras (PROTACs) as cereblon (CRBN) E3 ligase-recruiting ligands. However, their molecular glue properties that co-opt the CRL4CRBN to degrade its non-natural substrates may lead to undesired off-target effects for the IMiD-based PROTAC degraders. Herein, we reported a small library of potent and cell-permeable CRBN ligands, which exert high selectivity over the well-known CRBN neo-substrates of IMiDs by structure-based design. They were further utilized to construct bromodomain-containing protein 4 (BRD4) degraders, which successfully depleted BRD4 in the tested cells. Overall, we reported a series of functionalized CRBN recruiters that circumvent the promiscuity from traditional IMiDs, and this study is informative to the development of selective CRBN-recruiting PROTACs for many other therapeutic targets.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xueqing Nie
- Lachman Institute for Pharmaceutical Development, School of Pharmacy, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, 53705, USA
| | - Yu Zhao
- Lachman Institute for Pharmaceutical Development, School of Pharmacy, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, 53705, USA
| | - Hua Tang
- Lachman Institute for Pharmaceutical Development, School of Pharmacy, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, 53705, USA
| | - Zhongrui Zhang
- Department of Chemistry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, 53705, USA
| | - Junzhuo Liao
- Lachman Institute for Pharmaceutical Development, School of Pharmacy, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, 53705, USA
| | - Chelsi M Almodovar-Rivera
- Lachman Institute for Pharmaceutical Development, School of Pharmacy, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, 53705, USA
| | - Ramya Sundaresan
- Department of Oncology, UW Carbone Cancer Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, 53705, USA
| | - Haibo Xie
- Lachman Institute for Pharmaceutical Development, School of Pharmacy, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, 53705, USA
| | - Le Guo
- Lachman Institute for Pharmaceutical Development, School of Pharmacy, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, 53705, USA
| | - Bo Wang
- Lachman Institute for Pharmaceutical Development, School of Pharmacy, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, 53705, USA
| | - Hongqing Guan
- Department of Chemistry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, 53705, USA
| | - Yongna Xing
- Department of Oncology, UW Carbone Cancer Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, 53705, USA
| | - Weiping Tang
- Lachman Institute for Pharmaceutical Development, School of Pharmacy, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, 53705, USA
- Department of Chemistry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, 53705, USA
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Yang K, Zhao Y, Nie X, Wu H, Wang B, Almodovar-Rivera CM, Xie H, Tang W. A Cell-Based Target Engagement Assay for the Identification of Cereblon E3 Ubiquitin Ligase Ligands and Their Application in HDAC6 Degraders. Cell Chem Biol 2020; 27:866-876.e8. [PMID: 32413286 DOI: 10.1016/j.chembiol.2020.04.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/18/2020] [Revised: 04/04/2020] [Accepted: 04/22/2020] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Abstract
Proteolysis-targeting chimeras (PROTACs) is a paradigm shift for small-molecule drug discovery. However, limited E3 ubiquitin ligase ligands with cellular activity are available. In vitro binding assays involve the expression and purification of a large amount of proteins and they often yield ligands that are inactive in cell-based assays due to poor cell permeability, stability, and other reasons. Herein, we report the development of a practical and efficient cell-based target engagement assay to evaluate the binding affinity of a small library of cereblon ligands to its E3 ligase in cells. Selected cell-permeable E3 ligase ligands derived from this assay are then used to construct HDAC6 degraders with cellular protein degradation activity. Because the assay does not involve any genetic engineering, it is relatively easy to transfer from one cell type to a different one.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ka Yang
- School of Pharmacy, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53705, USA
| | - Yu Zhao
- School of Pharmacy, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53705, USA
| | - Xueqing Nie
- School of Pharmacy, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53705, USA
| | - Hao Wu
- School of Pharmacy, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53705, USA
| | - Bo Wang
- School of Pharmacy, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53705, USA
| | | | - Haibo Xie
- School of Pharmacy, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53705, USA.
| | - Weiping Tang
- School of Pharmacy, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53705, USA; Department of Chemistry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53705, USA.
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