| 1. |
- Bonagas, Nadilly, et al.
(författare)
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Pharmacological targeting of MTHFD2 suppresses acute myeloid leukemia by inducing thymidine depletion and replication stress
- 2022
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Ingår i: NATURE CANCER. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2662-1347. ; 3:2, s. 156-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The folate metabolism enzyme MTHFD2 (methylenetetrahydrofolate dehydrogenase/cyclohydrolase) is consistently overexpressed in cancer but its roles are not fully characterized, and current candidate inhibitors have limited potency for clinical development. In the present study, we demonstrate a role for MTHFD2 in DNA replication and genomic stability in cancer cells, and perform a drug screen to identify potent and selective nanomolar MTHFD2 inhibitors; protein cocrystal structures demonstrated binding to the active site of MTHFD2 and target engagement. MTHFD2 inhibitors reduced replication fork speed and induced replication stress followed by S-phase arrest and apoptosis of acute myeloid leukemia cells in vitro and in vivo, with a therapeutic window spanning four orders of magnitude compared with nontumorigenic cells. Mechanistically, MTHFD2 inhibitors prevented thymidine production leading to misincorporation of uracil into DNA and replication stress. Overall, these results demonstrate a functional link between MTHFD2-dependent cancer metabolism and replication stress that can be exploited therapeutically with this new class of inhibitors. Helleday and colleagues describe a nanomolar MTHFD2 inhibitor that causes replication stress and DNA damage accumulation in cancer cells via thymidine depletion, demonstrating a potential therapeutic strategy in AML tumors in vivo.
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| 2. |
- Odell, Luke R., et al.
(författare)
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Synthesis of Substituted Indazole Acetic Acids by N-N Bond Forming Reactions
- 2023
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Ingår i: European Journal of Organic Chemistry. - : Wiley-Blackwell. - 1434-193X .- 1099-0690. ; 26:29
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Herein, we report on the discovery and development of novel cascade N-N bond forming reactions for the synthesis of rare indazole acetic acid scaffolds. This approach allows for convenient synthesis of three distinct indazole acetic acid derivatives (unsubstituted, hydroxy, and alkoxy) by heating 3-amino-3-(2-nitroaryl)propanoic acids with an appropriate nucleophile/solvent under basic conditions. The reaction tolerates a range of functional groups and electronic effects and, in total, 23 novel indazole acetic acids were synthesized and characterized. This work offers a valuable strategy for the synthesis of useful scaffolds for drug discovery programs.
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| 3. |
- Rehling, Daniel, et al.
(författare)
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Crystal structures of NUDT15 variants enabled by a potent inhibitor reveal the structural basis for thiopurine sensitivity
- 2021
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Ingår i: Journal of Biological Chemistry. - : Elsevier BV. - 0021-9258 .- 1083-351X. ; 296
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The enzyme NUDT15 efficiently hydrolyzes the active metabolites of thiopurine drugs, which are routinely used for treating cancer and inflammatory diseases. Loss-of-function variants in NUDT15 are strongly associated with thiopurine intolerance, such as leukopenia, and preemptive NUDT15 genotyping has been clinically implemented to personalize thiopurine dosing. However, understanding the molecular consequences of these variants has been difficult, as no structural information was available for NUDT15 proteins encoded by clinically actionable pharmacogenetic variants because of their inherent instability. Recently, the small molecule NUDT15 inhibitor TH1760 has been shown to sensitize cells to thiopurines, through enhanced accumulation of 6-thio-guanine in DNA. Building upon this, we herein report the development of the potent and specific NUDT15 inhibitor, TH7755. TH7755 demonstrates a greatly improved cellular target engagement and 6-thioguanine potentiation compared with TH1760, while showing no cytotoxicity on its own. This potent inhibitor also stabilized NUDT15, enabling analysis by X-ray crystallography. We have determined high-resolution structures of the clinically relevant NUDT15 variants Arg139Cys, Arg139His, Val18Ile, and V18_V19insGlyVal. These structures provide clear insights into the structural basis for the thiopurine intolerance phenotype observed in patients carrying these pharmacogenetic variants. These findings will aid in predicting the effects of new NUDT15 sequence variations yet to be discovered in the clinic.
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| 4. |
- Zhang, Si Min, et al.
(författare)
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Development of a chemical probe against NUDT15
- 2020
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Ingår i: Nature Chemical Biology. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1552-4450 .- 1552-4469. ; 16:10, s. 1120-1128
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The NUDIX hydrolase NUDT15 was originally implicated in sanitizing oxidized nucleotides, but was later shown to hydrolyze the active thiopurine metabolites, 6-thio-(d)GTP, thereby dictating the clinical response of this standard-of-care treatment for leukemia and inflammatory diseases. Nonetheless, its physiological roles remain elusive. Here, we sought to develop small-molecule NUDT15 inhibitors to elucidate its biological functions and potentially to improve NUDT15-dependent chemotherapeutics. Lead compound TH1760 demonstrated low-nanomolar biochemical potency through direct and specific binding into the NUDT15 catalytic pocket and engaged cellular NUDT15 in the low-micromolar range. We also employed thiopurine potentiation as a proxy functional readout and demonstrated that TH1760 sensitized cells to 6-thioguanine through enhanced accumulation of 6-thio-(d)GTP in nucleic acids. A biochemically validated, inactive structural analog, TH7285, confirmed that increased thiopurine toxicity takes place via direct NUDT15 inhibition. In conclusion, TH1760 represents the first chemical probe for interrogating NUDT15 biology and potential therapeutic avenues.
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| 5. |
- Zhang, Si Min, et al.
(författare)
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NUDT15-mediated hydrolysis limits the efficacy of anti-HCMV drug ganciclovir
- 2021
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Ingår i: Cell Chemical Biology. - : Elsevier BV. - 2451-9456 .- 2451-9448. ; 28:12, s. 1693-1702
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Ganciclovir (GCV) is the first-line therapy against human cytomegalovirus (HCMV), a widespread infection that is particularly dangerous for immunodeficient individuals. Closely resembling deoxyguanosine triphosphate, the tri-phosphorylated metabolite of GCV (GCV-TP) is preferentially incorporated by the viral DNA polymerase, thereby terminating chain extension and, eventually, viral replication. However, the treatment outcome of GCV varies greatly among individuals, therefore warranting better understanding of its metabolism. Here we show that NUDT15, a Nudix hydrolase known to metabolize thiopurine triphosphates, can similarly hydrolyze GCV-TP through biochemical studies and co-crystallization of the NUDT15/GCV-TP complex. More critically, GCV efficacy was potentiated in HCMV-infected cells following NUDT15 depletion by RNAi or inhibition by an in-house-developed, nanomolar NUDT15 inhibitor, TH8321, suggesting that pharmacological targeting of NUDT15 is a possible avenue to improve existing anti-HCMV regimens. Collectively, the data further implicate NUDT15 as a broad-spectrum metabolic regulator of nucleoside analog therapeutics, such as thiopurines and GCV.
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