Discovery, Characterization, and Structure-Based Optimization of Small-Molecule In Vitro and In Vivo Probes for Human DNA Polymerase Theta.

Human DNA polymerase theta (Polθ), which is essential for microhomology-mediated DNA double strand break repair, has been proposed as an attractive target for the treatment of BRCA deficient and other DNA repair pathway defective cancers. As previously reported, we recently identified the first selective small molecule Polθ in vitro probe, 22 (ART558), which recapitulates the phenotype of Polθ loss, and in vivo probe, 43 (ART812), which is efficacious in a model of PARP inhibitor resistant TNBC in vivo. Here we describe the discovery, biochemical and biophysical characterization of these probes including small molecule ligand co-crystal structures with Polθ. The crystallographic data provides a basis for understanding the unique mechanism of inhibition of these compounds which is dependent on stabilization of a "closed" enzyme conformation. Additionally, the structural biology platform provided a basis for rational optimization based primarily on reduced ligand conformational flexibility.

A Novel Pyrazolopyrimidine Ligand of Human PGK1 and Stress Sensor DJ1 Modulates the Shelterin Complex and Telomere Length Regulation.

Telomere signaling and metabolic dysfunction are hallmarks of cell aging. New agents targeting these processes might provide therapeutic opportunities, including chemoprevention strategies against cancer predisposition. We report identification and characterization of a pyrazolopyrimidine compound series identified from screens focused on cell immortality and whose targets are glycolytic kinase PGK1 and oxidative stress sensor DJ1. We performed structure-activity studies on the series to develop a photoaffinity probe to deconvolute the cellular targets. In vitro binding and structural analyses confirmed these targets, suggesting that PGK1/DJ1 interact, which we confirmed by immunoprecipitation. Glucose homeostasis and oxidative stress are linked to telomere signaling and exemplar compound CRT0063465 blocked hypoglycemic telomere shortening. Intriguingly, PGK1 and DJ1 bind to TRF2 and telomeric DNA. Compound treatment modulates these interactions and also affects Shelterin complex composition, while conferring cellular protection from cytotoxicity due to bleomycin and desferroxamine. These results demonstrate therapeutic potential of the compound series.

Targeting cancer using fragment based drug discovery.

Over the past decade, fragment-based drug discovery has developed significantly and has gained increasing popularity in the pharmaceutical industry as a powerful alternative and complement to traditional high-throughput screening approaches for hit identification. Fragment-based methods are capable of rapidly identifying starting points for structure-based drug design from relatively small libraries of low molecular weight compounds. The main constraints are the need for sensitive methods that can reliably detect the typically weak interactions between fragments and the target protein, and strategies for transforming fragments into higher molecular weight drug candidates. This approach has recently been validated as series of compounds from various programs have entered clinical trials.

Scoring of senescence signalling in multiple human tumour gene expression datasets, identification of a correlation between senescence score and drug toxicity in the NCI60 panel and a pro-inflammatory signature correlating with survival advantage in peritoneal mesothelioma.

BACKGROUND: Cellular senescence is a major barrier to tumour progression, though its role in pathogenesis of cancer and other diseases is poorly understood in vivo. Improved understanding of the degree to which latent senescence signalling persists in tumours might identify intervention strategies to provoke "accelerated senescence" responses as a therapeutic outcome. Senescence involves convergence of multiple pathways and requires ongoing dynamic signalling throughout its establishment and maintenance. Recent discovery of several new markers allows for an expression profiling approach to study specific senescence phenotypes in relevant tissue samples. We adopted a "senescence scoring" methodology based on expression profiles of multiple senescence markers to examine the degree to which signals of damage-associated or secretory senescence persist in various human tumours. RESULTS: We first show that scoring captures differential induction of damage or inflammatory pathways in a series of public datasets involving radiotherapy of colon adenocarcinoma, chemotherapy of breast cancer cells, replicative senescence of mesenchymal stem cells, and progression of melanoma. We extended these results to investigate correlations between senescence score and growth inhibition in response to ~1500 compounds in the NCI60 panel. Scoring of our own mesenchymal tumour dataset highlighted differential expression of secretory signalling pathways between distinct subgroups of MPNST, liposarcomas and peritoneal mesothelioma. Furthermore, a pro-inflammatory signature yielded by hierarchical clustering of secretory markers showed prognostic significance in mesothelioma. CONCLUSIONS: We find that "senescence scoring" accurately reports senescence signalling in a variety of situations where senescence would be expected to occur and highlights differential expression of damage associated and secretory senescence pathways in a context-dependent manner.

Optimizing natural products by biosynthetic engineering: discovery of nonquinone Hsp90 inhibitors.

A biosynthetic medicinal chemistry approach was applied to the optimization of the natural product Hsp90 inhibitor macbecin. By genetic engineering, mutants have been created to produce novel macbecin analogues including a nonquinone compound (5) that has significantly improved binding affinity to Hsp90 (Kd 3 nM vs 240 nM for macbecin) and reduced toxicity (MTD > or = 250 mg/kg). Structural flexibility may contribute to the preorganization of 5 to exist in solution in the Hsp90-bound conformation.

Molecular characterization of macbecin as an Hsp90 inhibitor.

Macbecin compares favorably to geldanamycin as an Hsp90 inhibitor, being more soluble, stable, more potently inhibiting ATPase activity (IC50 = 2 microM) and binding with higher affinity (Kd = 0.24 microM). Structural studies reveal significant differences in their Hsp90 binding characteristics, and macbecin-induced tumor cell growth inhibition is accompanied by characteristic degradation of Hsp90 client proteins. Macbecin significantly reduced tumor growth rates (minimum T/C: 32%) in a DU145 murine xenograft. Macbecin thus represents an attractive lead for further optimization.