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Publication Abstract from PubMed

Modulation of protein-protein interactions (PPIs) by small molecules has emerged as a valuable approach in drug discovery. Compared to direct inhibition, PPI stabilization is vastly underexplored but has strong advantages, including the ability to gain selectivity by targeting an interface formed only upon association of proteins. Here, we present the application of a site-directed screening technique based on disulfide trapping (tethering) to select for fragments that enhance the affinity between protein partners. We target the phosphorylation-dependent interaction between the hub protein 14-3-3sigma and a peptide derived from Estrogen Receptor alpha (ERalpha), an important breast cancer target that is negatively regulated by 14-3-3sigma. We identify orthosteric stabilizers that increase 14-3-3/ERalpha affinity up to 40-fold and propose the mechanism of stabilization based on X-ray crystal structures. These fragments already display partial selectivity toward ERalpha-like motifs over other representative 14-3-3 clients. This first of its kind study illustrates the potential of the tethering approach to overcome the hurdles in systematic PPI stabilizer discovery.

Site-Directed Fragment-Based Screening for the Discovery of Protein-Protein Interaction Stabilizers.,Sijbesma E, Hallenbeck KK, Leysen S, de Vink PJ, Skora L, Jahnke W, Brunsveld L, Arkin MR, Ottmann C J Am Chem Soc. 2019 Feb 19. doi: 10.1021/jacs.8b11658. PMID:30707565^[1]

From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.