4c52

Publication Abstract from PubMed

The pro-survival BCL-2 proteins are attractive yet challenging targets for medicinal chemists. Their involvement in the initiation and progression of many, if not all, tumors makes them prime targets for developing new anti-cancer therapies. We present our approach based on de novo structure-based drug design. Using known structural information from complexes engaging opposing members of the BCL-2 family of proteins, we designed peptidomimetic compounds using a benzoylurea scaffold to reproduce key interactions between these proteins. A library stemming from the initial de novo designed scaffold led to the discovery of ligands with low micromolar potency (KD = 4 muM) and selectivity for BCL-XL. These compounds bind in the canonical BH3 binding groove in a binding mode distinct from previously known BCL-2 inhibitors. The results of our study provide insight into the design of a new class of antagonists targeting a challenging class of protein-protein interactions.

De-Novo Designed Library of Benzoylureas as Inhibitors of BCL-XL: Synthesis, Structural and Biochemical Characterization.,Brady RM, Vom A, Roy MJ, Toovey N, Smith BJ, Moss RM, Hazis E, Huang DC, Parisot JP, Yang H, Street IP, Colman PM, Czabotar PE, Baell JB, Lessene G J Med Chem. 2014 Jan 23. PMID:24456288^[1]

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