The DOI matches its Crossref record; 62 of the 62 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Trivalent PROTACs enhance protein degradation via combined avidity and cooperativity
Open accessPublished version of a preprint
Abstract
Bivalent proteolysis-targeting chimeras (PROTACs) drive protein degradation by simultaneously binding a target protein and an E3 ligase and forming a productive ternary complex. We hypothesized that increasing binding valency within a PROTAC could enhance degradation. Here, we designed trivalent PROTACs consisting of a bivalent bromo and extra terminal (BET) inhibitor and an E3 ligand tethered via a branched linker. We identified von Hippel-Lindau (VHL)-based SIM1 as a low picomolar BET degrader with preference for bromodomain containing 2 (BRD2). Compared to bivalent PROTACs, SIM1 showed more sustained and higher degradation efficacy, which led to more potent anticancer activity. Mechanistically, SIM1 simultaneously engages with high avidity both BET bromodomains in a cis intramolecular fashion and forms a 1:1:1 ternary complex with VHL, exhibiting positive cooperativity and high cellular stability with prolonged residence time. Collectively, our data along with favorable in vivo pharmacokinetics demonstrate that augmenting the binding valency of proximity-induced modalities can be an enabling strategy for advancing functional outcomes.
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“Researchers discovered that the degradation efficacy of PROTACs is influenced by valence number. The trivalent PROTAC named SIM1, developed by Satomi Imaide’s team, exhibited significantly enhanced degradation compared to its divalent counterpart.521”
From Recent advances in targeting the “undruggable” proteins: from drug discovery to clinical trials (2023) · cites this paper as [521]
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Cites
Selective inhibition of BET bromodomains
Filippakopoulos, P., Qi, J., Picaud, S., Shen, Y., Smith, W. B., Fedorov, O., Morse, E. M., Keates, T., Hickman, T. T., Felletar, I., et al. (2010) · Nature · doi:10.1038/nature09504 · Cited by 4,262
Phthalimide conjugation as a strategy for in vivo target protein degradation
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Catalytic in vivo protein knockdown by small-molecule PROTACs
Bondeson, D. P., Mares, A., Smith, I. E. D., Ko, E., Campos, S., Miah, A. H., Mulholland, K. E., Routly, N., Buckley, D. L., Gustafson, J. L., et al. (2015) · Nature Chemical Biology · doi:10.1038/nchembio.1858 · Cited by 1,356
Structural basis of PROTAC cooperative recognition for selective protein degradation
Gadd, M. S., Testa, A., Lucas, X., Chan, K.-H., Chen, W., Lamont, D. J., Zengerle, M., & Ciulli, A. (2017) · Nature Chemical Biology · doi:10.1038/nchembio.2329 · Cited by 1,242
Self-citationLysosome-targeting chimaeras for degradation of extracellular proteins
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Selective Small Molecule Induced Degradation of the BET Bromodomain Protein BRD4
Zengerle, M., Chan, K.-H., & Ciulli, A. (2015) · ACS Chemical Biology · doi:10.1021/acschembio.5b00216 · Cited by 1,056
Self-citationLessons in PROTAC Design from Selective Degradation with a Promiscuous Warhead
Bondeson, D. P., Smith, B. E., Burslem, G. M., Buhimschi, A. D., Hines, J., Jaime-Figueroa, S., Wang, J., Hamman, B. D., Ishchenko, A., & Crews, C. M. (2018) · Cell Chemical Biology · doi:10.1016/j.chembiol.2017.09.010 · Cited by 923
Synthetic Multivalent Ligands as Probes of Signal Transduction
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PROTAC-induced BET protein degradation as a therapy for castration-resistant prostate cancer
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PROteolysis TArgeting Chimeras (PROTACs) — Past, present and future
Pettersson, M., & Crews, C. M. (2019) · Drug Discovery Today Technologies · doi:10.1016/j.ddtec.2019.01.002 · Cited by 830
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PROTACs: past, present and future
Li, K., & Crews, C. M. (2022) · Chemical Society Reviews · doi:10.1039/d2cs00193d · Cited by 869
Lactate and lactylation in cancer
Chen, J., Huang, Z., Chen, Y., Tian, H., Chai, P., Shen, Y., Yao, Y., Xu, S., Ge, S., & Jia, R. (2025) · Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy · doi:10.1038/s41392-024-02082-x · Cited by 545
Targeted protein degradation: from mechanisms to clinic
Tsai, J. M., Nowak, R. P., Ebert, B. L., & Fischer, E. S. (2024) · Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology · doi:10.1038/s41580-024-00729-9 · Cited by 438
Recent advances in targeting the “undruggable” proteins: from drug discovery to clinical trials
Xie, X., Yu, T., Li, X., Zhang, N., Foster, L. J., Peng, C., Huang, W., & He, G. (2023) · Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy · doi:10.1038/s41392-023-01589-z · Cited by 396
Target and tissue selectivity of PROTAC degraders
Guenette, R. G., Yang, S. W., Min, J., Pei, B., & Potts, P. R. (2022) · Chemical Society Reviews · doi:10.1039/d2cs00200k · Cited by 324
Metadata
- Authors
- Imaide, S., Riching, K. M., Makukhin, N., Vetma, V., Whitworth, C., Hughes, S. J., Trainor, N., Mahan, S. D., Murphy, N., Cowan, A. D., Chan, K.-H., Craigon, C., Testa, A., Maniaci, C., Urh, M., Daniels, D. L., & Ciulli, A.
- Affiliations
- University of Dundee (GB)
- Promega (United States) (US)
- Corresponding author
- Daniels, Danette L.
- Ciulli, Alessio
- ORCID
- Venue
- Nature Chemical Biology
- Published
- 2021-10-21
- Volume
- 17
- Issue
- 11
- Pages
- 1157-1167
- ISSN
- 1552-4450 (ISSN-L)
- 1552-4469
- PMC
- PMC7611906
- OpenAlex
- W3205001044
- Semantic Scholar
- 8e332350826646e57b57de209660d026df6f461d
- Cited by
- 251
- References
- 62
- Citations by year
- 2026: 38 · 2025: 59 · 2024: 57 · 2023: 45 · 2022: 44 · 2021: 8
- FWCI
- 12.33
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Nature Chemical Biology (publishedVersion)
- Research Square (acceptedVersion, cc-by)
- ChemRxiv (acceptedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Discovery Research Portal (University of Dundee) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Newcastle University ePrints (Newcastle Univesity)
- Funders
- Wellcome Trust (094090/Z/10/Z, strategic awards to Dundee 100476/Z/12/Z and 094090/Z/10/Z, 100476/Z/12/Z)
- Ono Pharmaceutical
- European Research Council (Starting Grant ERC-2012-StG-311460 DrugE3CRLs)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Protein Degradation and Inhibitors
- Physical Sciences › Chemistry › Organic Chemistry › Chemical Synthesis and Analysis
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Ubiquitin and proteasome pathways
- Keywords
- protein degradation, BET inhibitors, SIM1, BRD2, avidity, positive cooperativity, ternary complex, anticancer activity, pharmacokinetics
- MeSH terms
- Humans, Ubiquitin-Protein Ligases, Proteolysis
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