Cited by 218Protein Degradation and InhibitorsUbiquitin and proteasome pathwaysEnzyme Structure and Function

Structural complementarity facilitates E7820-mediated degradation of RBM39 by DCAF15

Open access
Faust, Tyler B., Yoon, Hojong, Nowak, Radosław P., Donovan, Katherine A., Li, Zhengnian, Cai, Quan, Eleuteri, Nicholas A., Zhang, Tinghu +2 more·2020·Nature Chemical Biology

Published version of a preprint

Abstract

The investigational drugs E7820, indisulam and tasisulam (aryl-sulfonamides) promote the degradation of the splicing factor RBM39 in a proteasome-dependent mechanism. While the activity critically depends on the cullin RING ligase substrate receptor DCAF15, the molecular details remain elusive. Here we present the cryo-EM structure of the DDB1-DCAF15-DDA1 core ligase complex bound to RBM39 and E7820 at a resolution of 4.4 Å, together with crystal structures of engineered subcomplexes. We show that DCAF15 adopts a new fold stabilized by DDA1, and that extensive protein-protein contacts between the ligase and substrate mitigate low affinity interactions between aryl-sulfonamides and DCAF15. Our data demonstrate how aryl-sulfonamides neo-functionalize a shallow, non-conserved pocket on DCAF15 to selectively bind and degrade RBM39 and the closely related splicing factor RBM23 without the requirement for a high-affinity ligand, which has broad implications for the de novo discovery of molecular glue degraders.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1038/s41589-019-0378-3

Cites

44 of 44 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • Aryl sulphonamides degrade RBM39 by engaging DCAF15, the substrate receptor of the CRL4DCAF15 E3 ligase.

    “Similarly, aryl sulphonamides degrade the essential RNA-binding protein RBM39 by engaging DCAF15, the substrate receptor of the CRL4DCAF15 E3 ubiquitin ligase13–15.”
  • The same MG mechanism has been revealed for antitumor aryl-sulfonamides, which reprogram DCAF15 to bind and degrade certain RNA-binding proteins.

    “The same MG mechanism has subsequently been revealed for antitumor aryl-sulfonamides, which reprograms another CRL4 substrate receptor, DCAF15, to bind and degrade certain RNA-binding proteins21–26.”
  • Additional MGDs have been reported that induce degradation of proteins devoid of obvious ligand-binding pockets, such as RBM39 or cyclin K.

    “Additional MGDs have been reported, which induce the degradation of proteins devoid of obvious ligand-binding pockets, such as RBM3954−57 or cyclin K (CycK).58−60”
  • Comparative chemical screening of hyponeddylated and well-neddylated cell lines revealed three destabilizers of cyclin K.

    “Secondly, comparative chemical screening of hyponeddylated and well-neddylated cell lines revealed three destabilizers of cyclin K183.”
  • Two additional, entirely distinct classes of small-molecule molecular glue degraders have been discovered.

    “Two additional, entirely distinct classes of small-molecule molecular glue degraders have been discovered.”

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Research works printed but not linked: 1

  1. [35]BUSTER version 2.10.2 v. 2.10.2 (Global Phasing Ltd., Cambridge, United Kingdom, 2011).

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Faust, T. B., Yoon, H., Nowak, R. P., Donovan, K. A., Li, Z., Cai, Q., Eleuteri, N. A., Zhang, T., Gray, N. S., & Fischer, E. S.
Affiliations
Harvard University (US)
Corresponding author
Fischer, Eric S.
Venue
Nature Chemical Biology
Published
2019-11-04
Volume
16
Issue
1
Pages
7-14
ISSN
  • 1552-4450 (ISSN-L)
  • 1552-4469
OpenAlex
W2985294481
Cited by
218
References
44
Citations by year
2026: 19 · 2025: 30 · 2024: 39 · 2023: 28 · 2022: 33 · 2021: 31 · 2020: 37 · 2019: 1
FWCI
8.52
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Nature Chemical Biology (publishedVersion)
  • bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) (acceptedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
  • OSTI OAI (U.S. Department of Energy Office of Scientific and Technical Information) (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • U.S. Department of Health & Human Services | NIH | National Cancer Institute (1F32CA232772-01, R01CA214608)
  • Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation (DRR-50-18)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Protein Degradation and Inhibitors
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Ubiquitin and proteasome pathways
  • Physical Sciences › Materials Science › Materials Chemistry › Enzyme Structure and Function
Keywords
RBM39, DCAF15, cullin-RING ligases, arylsulfonamides, molecular glues, proteasomal degradation, protein-protein interaction, binding pocket, cryo-EM structure
MeSH terms
RNA Recognition Motif Proteins, Protein Domains, Animals, Benzamides, Humans, Indoles, Kinetics, Protein Binding, Sulfonamides, Xenopus, RNA-Binding Proteins, Protein Structure, Secondary, Spodoptera, Cryoelectron Microscopy, Amino Acid Motifs, Protein Interaction Mapping, Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer, Ubiquitin-Protein Ligases, Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins, Receptors, Interleukin-17, Proteolysis

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review