Cited by 615Protein Degradation and InhibitorsChemical Synthesis and AnalysisUbiquitin and proteasome pathways

Plasticity in binding confers selectivity in ligand-induced protein degradation

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Nowak, Radosław P., DeAngelo, Stephen L., Buckley, Dennis, He, Zhixiang, Donovan, Katherine A., An, Jian, Safaee, Nozhat, Jedrychowski, Mark P. +7 more·2018·Nature Chemical Biology

Abstract

Heterobifunctional small-molecule degraders that induce protein degradation through ligase-mediated ubiquitination have shown considerable promise as a new pharmacological modality. However, we currently lack a detailed understanding of the molecular basis for target recruitment and selectivity, which is critically required to enable rational design of degraders. Here we utilize a comprehensive characterization of the ligand-dependent CRBN-BRD4 interaction to demonstrate that binding between proteins that have not evolved to interact is plastic. Multiple X-ray crystal structures show that plasticity results in several distinct low-energy binding conformations that are selectively bound by ligands. We demonstrate that computational protein-protein docking can reveal the underlying interprotein contacts and inform the design of a BRD4 selective degrader that can discriminate between highly homologous BET bromodomains. Our findings that plastic interprotein contacts confer selectivity for ligand-induced protein dimerization provide a conceptual framework for the development of heterobifunctional ligands.

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Crossref · 10.1038/s41589-018-0055-y

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  • Linker length plays an important role in PROTAC potency.

    “The length of linker plays an important role in the potency of PROTAC molecules[29,30].”
  • It is widely believed that degraders uncouple efficacy from target occupancy.

    “It is widely believed that degraders uncouple efficacy from target occupancy (Gadd et al., 2017; Nowak et al., 2018; Olson et al., 2018; Roy et al., 2019).”
  • Changes to linker length can significantly alter the selectivity profile of degraders, such as transforming a pan-BET degrader to a BRD4 selective degrader.

    “Changes to linker length have proven to significantly alter the selectivity profile of degraders, such as the transformation of a pan-BET degrader to a BRD4 selective degrader (Nowak et al., 2018).”
  • In 2018, Nowak et al. applied in silico protein-protein docking frameworks to identify low-energy binding modes that guided design of BRD4 selective PROTACs.

    “In 2018, Nowak et al. applied in silico protein-protein docking frameworks to identify low-energy binding modes that guided the design of BRD4 selective PROTACs.42”

    From Chasing molecular glue degraders: screening approaches (2022) · cites this paper as [42]

  • DD-04-118 differs from DD-03-171 by a single atom change of the thalidomide aryl amine nitrogen to an oxygen, predicted to compromise its ability to recruit IKZF1/3 to CRBN.

    “We also generated DD-04-118 (Figure 1A), an analog which differs from DD-03-171 by only a single atom change of the thalidomide aryl amine nitrogen to an oxygen, resulting in an aryl ether, a change that was predicted to compromise its ability to recruit IKZF1/3 to CRBN.22”

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Research works printed but not linked: 3

  1. [28]Huang HT A Chemoproteomic Approach to Query the Degradable Kinome Using a Multi-kinase Degrader Cell Chemical Biology 10.1016/j.chembiol.2017.10.005 2017 PMC6427047 29129717 · DOI · Paper page
  2. [49]BUSTER version 2.10.2 v 2.10.2 Global Phasing Ltd Cambridge, United Kingdom 2011
  3. [52]Krissinel E Henrick K Inference of Macromolecular Assemblies from Crystalline State Journal of Molecular Biology 372 774 797 2007 17681537

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Authors
Nowak, R. P., DeAngelo, S. L., Buckley, D., He, Z., Donovan, K. A., An, J., Safaee, N., Jedrychowski, M. P., Ponthier, C. M., Ishoey, M., Zhang, T., Mancias, J. D., Gray, N. S., Bradner, J. E., & Fischer, E. S.
Affiliations
  • Harvard University (US)
  • Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (US)
Corresponding author
Fischer, Eric S.
Venue
Nature Chemical Biology
Published
2018-06-11
Volume
14
Issue
7
Pages
706-714
ISSN
  • 1552-4450 (ISSN-L)
  • 1552-4469
OpenAlex
W2806672448
Cited by
615
References
51
Citations by year
2026: 66 · 2025: 95 · 2024: 94 · 2023: 62 · 2022: 99 · 2021: 72 · 2020: 61 · 2019: 55 · 2018: 10
FWCI
18.23
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Nature Chemical Biology (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders
  • Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research
  • National Institutes of Health
  • National Cancer Institute (R01CA214608)
  • National Institute of General Medical Sciences (P41GM103403)
  • National Center for Research Resources (S10RR029205)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Protein Degradation and Inhibitors
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Chemical Synthesis and Analysis
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Ubiquitin and proteasome pathways
Keywords
heterobifunctional degraders, binding conformation, protein dimerization, protein-protein docking, ligand selectivity, ubiquitination, cereblon, BRD4
MeSH terms
Acetamides, Bromodomain Containing Proteins, Binding Sites, Dose-Response Relationship, Drug, Humans, Ligands, Models, Molecular, Molecular Conformation, Nuclear Proteins, Peptide Hydrolases, Thalidomide, Thiophenes, Transcription Factors, Crystallography, X-Ray, Cell Cycle Proteins, Ubiquitin-Protein Ligases, Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing

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