IOX2 A selective Inhibitor of the Hypoxia Inducible Factor (HIF) Prolyl-Hydroxylases

This probe is available from Cayman Chemical, Sigma and Tocris

overview
Probe

IOX2

Biology of the hypoxia inducible factor (HIF) prolyl-hydroxylases

Levels of the Hypoxia Inducible Factor (HIF), a master regulator of the cellular-response to hypoxia, are regulated by the post-translational modification of prolyl-residues in oxygen-dependent degradation domains in the HIFα subunit. HIFα prolyl-hydroxylation signals for its degradation by the proteasome. The requirement of the HIF prolyl-hydroxylases (PHD or EGLN enzymes) for dioxygen as a co-substrate enables them to act as the hypoxia-sensing component of the HIF system. PHDs are members of the 2-oxoglutarate (2OG-dependent) oxygenase superfamily. Inhibition of the PHDs reduces HIFα prolyl-hydroxylation thereby elevating HIF levels and artificially inducing the hypoxic response. Because HIF-target genes include those encoding for biomedically important proteins such as erythropoietin (EPO) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF),  PHD inhibition is of considerable medical interest. 

IOX2: A chemical probe for HIF prolyl-hydroxylases

IOX2, a chemical probe for HIF prolyl-hydroxylases is the result of collaborations with the University of Sevilla, Genome Institute of Singapore, University of Sheffield, University of Oxford, BioNanotechnology Research Center KRIBB and the SGC [1]. 

Potency Against Target Family

IOX2 displayed an AlphaScreen IC50 of 22nM for inhibition of PHD2

Selectivity Beyond Target Family

IOX2 was found to be inactive against a panel of 55 receptors and ion channels (CEREP panel) at 10µM.

Co-crystal structure

The co-crystal structure of IOX2 with PHD2 has NOT been solved, however, there is a crystal structure with a close analogue (pdb id: 4BQW). This analogue has a methyl rather than benzyl group on the isoquinoline nitrogen. Please click on the 'Co-Crystal structures' tab above for more details. 

Cellular Activity

IOX2 showed selective inhibition (by Western blot) of PHD catalysed HIF-1α prolyl-hydroxylation in a variety of human cell lines including renal carcinoma (RCC4) cell line lacking VHL, embryonic kidney (293T), bone osteosarcoma (U2OS) and RCC4 reexpressing VHL (RCC4/VHL) cells.​

properties

(1-benzyl-4-hydroxy-2-oxo-1, 2-dihydroquinoline-3-carbonyl)glycine

For SDF click here

 

Physical and chemical properties
Molecular weight352.35
Molecular formulaC19H16N2O5
IUPAC name(1-benzyl-4-hydroxy-2-oxo-1,2-dihydroquinoline-3-carbonyl)glycine
logP-3.99
PSA 
No. of chiral centres0
No. of rotatable bonds5
No. of hydrogen bond acceptors7
No. of hydrogen bond donors3
StorageStore at -20°C
DissolutionSoluble to 100 uM in DMSO

An inactive, negative control for IOX2 has not yet been identified

selectivity profile

Potency against Target

IOX2 displayed an AlphaScreen IC50 of 22nM for inhibition of PHD2; values for each data point are averages ± standard deviation (n≥3).

Selectivity against Histone Demethylases

IOX2 was profiled against a panel of human histone Nε-methyl lysine demethylase 2OG-oxygenases in an AlphaScreen assay to determine selectivity.

Selectivity Beyond Target Family

IOX2 was found to be inactive against a panel of 55 receptors and ion channels (CEREP panel) at 10µM.


Click to enlarge

in vitro potency
cell based assay data

Engagement of IOX2 in an in vitro cell assay

Efficacy of IOX2 in a human renal carcinoma (RCC4) cell line lacking VHL (required for the degradation of hydroxylated HIF-α) was established, using antibodies selective for hydroxylated form(s) of a peptide corresponding to the HIF-1α C-terminal oxygen-dependent degradation domain to probe for PHD catalysed inhibition of HIF prolyl-hydroxylation in comparison to FIH catalysed  asparaginyl-hydroxylation.  IOX2 was further tested in VHL-competent cell lines, including human embryonic kidney (293T), human bone osteosarcoma (U2OS) and RCC4 reexpressing VHL (RCC4/VHL) cells, where increased HIF-1α levels were used as an indicator for PHD inhibition. IOX2 effectively increased HIF-1α levels in all tested VHL-competent cell lines showing that the inhibitory effects are independent of cell type. These results establish that IOX2 is a potent and selective cellular PHD inhibitor.

Selective inhibition of IOX2 in human cell lines. Selectivity of the tested inhibitors for HIF-1α prolyl- over asparaginyl- hydroxylation in RCC4 after 6h of treatment. Upregulation of HIF-1α by inhibitors in various cell types (after 6h of treatment): HEK293T, U2OS and RCC4 stably-transfected with C-HA-tagged wildtype VHL. 

references
  1. Selective Small Molecule Probes for the Hypoxia Inducible Factor (HIF) Prolyl Hydroxylases,
    Rasheduzzaman Chowdhury, José Ignacio Candela-Lena, Mun Chiang Chan, David Jeremy Greenald, Kar Kheng Yeoh, Ya-Min Tian, Michael A. McDonough, Anthony Tumber, Nathan R. Rose, Ana Conejo-Garcia, Marina Demetriades, Mathavan Sinnakaruppan, Akane Kawamura, Myung Kyu Lee,  Freek van Eeden, Christopher W. Pugh, Peter J. Ratcliffe, Christopher J. Schofield. ACS Chemical Biology 2013; 8: 1488-1496.
     
  2. Plant Growth Regulator Daminozide Is a Selective Inhibitor of Human KDM2/7 Histone Demethylases,
    Rose, N. R., Woon, E. C., Tumber, A., Walport, L. J., Chowdhury, R., Li, X. S., King, O. N., Lejeune, C., Ng, S. S., Krojer, T., Chan, M. C., Rydzik, A. M., Hopkinson, R. J., Che, K. H., Daniel, M., Strain-Damerell, C., Gileadi, C., Kochan, G., Leung, I. K., Dunford, J., Yeoh, K. K., Ratcliffe, P. J., Burgess-Brown, N., von Delft, F., Muller, S., Marsden, B., Brennan, P. E., McDonough, M. A., Oppermann, U., Klose, R. J., Schofield, C. J., and Kawamura, A.,  J. Med. Chem. 2012, 55, 6639−6643
     
  3. Monoclonal antibody-based screening assay for factor inhibiting hypoxia-inducible factor inhibitors
    SH Lee, M Jeong Hee, Ah C. Eun, SE Ryu, and L Myung Kyu. Journal of Biomolecular Screening 2008; 13:494−503
     
  4. Development of homogeneous luminescence assays for histone demethylase catalysis and binding
    Kawamura, A.; Tumber, A.; Rose, N. R.; King, O. N.; Daniel, M.; Oppermann, U.; Heightman, T. D.; Schofield, C. J. Anal Biochem, 2010, 404, 86-93

 

pk properties
co-crystal structures

A co-crystal structure of PHD2’s catalytic domain with a methyl group on the isoquinoline nitrogen, compound 1, (rather than benzyl group in IOX2) group has been solved (pdb id 4BQW).



Compound 1

The bicyclic heteroaromatic ring of IOX2 is sandwiched between the hydrophobic side chains of Tyr310, Met299 and Trp389. IOX2 coordinates Mn(II) (substituting for Fe(II)) in a bidentate fashion with the side chain amide-carbonyl and phenolic oxygen. The side chain carboxylate of IOX2 is positioned to hydrogen bond with Arg383 and Tyr329. The Tyr303 phenol is positioned to hydrogen bond to the isoquinoline-2-OH. The aromatic rings of IOX2 project through the active site opening and likely make a steric clash with the hydroxylated HIF-1α. 

 

synthetic schemes
materials and methods

IOX1 A Cell-Penetrating Broad-Spectrum 2-Oxoglutarate Oxygenase Inhibitor

This tool compound is available from Cayman Chemical, Sigma and Tocris.

overview
Probe

IOX1

Biology of the 2-oxoglutarate and ferrous iron dependent oxygenases

Histone lysine demethylases antagonize the action of histone methyltransferases in a site- and methylation state-specific manner. Nε-Methyl lysine demethylases that use 2-oxoglutarate as co-factor are associated with diverse human diseases, including cancer, inflammation and X-linked mental retardation; they are proposed as targets for the therapeutic modulation of transcription.

2-oxoglutarate (2OG) oxygenases are a ubiquitous and biologically important family of enzymes [1]. In human their roles include catalysing steps in collagen and carnitine biosynthesis, lipid metabolism, nucleic acid repair and modification, hypoxic sensing as well as histone demethylation. Impaired 2OG oxygenase activity is linked to the cellular hypoxic response and various diseases including cancer. Non-selective generic inhibitors of 2OG oxygenases include iron-chelators, Co(II) ions and 2OG analogues. The most widely used 2OG analogues are pyridine-2, 4-dicarboxylate and N-oxalylglycine. However, these compounds suffer from the lack of breadth of selectivity and their poor cell permeability often necessitates the use of pro-drug diester derivatives

IOX1: A tool compound for 2-oxoglutarate oxygenases

IOX1 a broad-spectrum, cell permeable inhibitor of most 2OG oxygenases which does not require application in a pro-drug form [2]. It was discovered following a high throughput screening campaign against the JMJD2 (KDM4) family of 2-oxoglutarate-dependent histone demethylases [3]. A cell permeable n-octyl ester analogue of IOX1 with an improved cellular potency has recently been reported [4].

Potency Against Target Family

IC50 determinations were performed using AlphaScreen, MALDI-TOF Mass Spectroscopy, or formaldehyde dehydrogenase based assays against 14 2OG Oxygenases including 10 JmjC-domain containing histone lysine demethylases. IOX1 showed good affinity against the majority.
Co-crystal structure

The co-crystal structures of IOX1 with JMJD2A (pdb id: 3NJY), JMJD3, (pdb id: 2XXZ) and FIH, (pdb id: 3OD4) have been solved. OX1 inhibits by binding to the active site Fe(II). Click on the 'Co-Crystal structures' tab above for more details.

Selectivity Beyond Target Family

IOX1 was found to be inactive against a panel of 55 receptors and ion channels (CEREP panel) at 10µM.

Cellular Activity

IOX1 exhibited cellular potency in a HeLa cell immunofluorescence assay, with EC50 values of 86 uM (KDM4A), 37 uM (KDM6B) and 24 uM (KDM2A).

 

properties

IOX1

8-hydroxyquinoline-5-carboxylic acid

For SDF click here

Physical and chemical properties
Molecular weight189.17
Molecular formulaC10H7N1O3
IUPAC name8-hydroxyquinoline-5-carboxylic acid
logDpH7.4-1.55
PSA69.9
No. of chiral centres0
No. of rotatable bonds1
No. of hydrogen bond acceptors4
No. of hydrogen bond donors2
StorageStore at 4°C
SolubilitySoluble to 100 mM in DMSO and to 100 mM in 1eq. NaOH

An inactive, negative control compound for IOX-1 has not yet been identified

SMILES: 
OC1=CC=C(C(O)=O)C2=CC=CN=C21

InChI: 
InChI=1S/C10H7NO3/c12-8-4-3-7(10(13)14)6-2-1-5-11-9(6)8/h1-5,12H,(H,13,14)

InChIKey: 
JGRPKOGHYBAVMW-UHFFFAOYSA-N

selectivity profile

Potency against Target (JmjC-domain containing histone lysine demethylases)

IOX1 was screened against 10 JmjC-domain containing histone lysine demethylases by AlphaScreen or by MALDI-TOF Mass Spectroscopy. IOX1 showed nanomolar affinity for all except KDM2A and PHF8

Mixed ModeI of Binding

Binding of the IOX1 may also indirectly affect substrate binding, supported by the observation of mixed mode inhibition kinetics when IOX1 was tested with varying concentrations of 2OG in a formaldehyde dehydrogenase assay.

Selectivity 

IOX1 was screened against 4 other active 2OG Oxygenases where it showed moderate to weak activity

Selectivity Beyond Target Family

IOX1 was found to be inactive against a panel of 55 receptors and ion channels (CEREP panel) at 10µM.


Click to enlarge

 

in vitro potency
cell based assay data

Engagement of IOX1 in a cell assay

PHD2 and FIH are both inhibited in cells as demonstrated by lowered HIF1α hydroxylation levels (hydroxylated-Pro564 (PHD2) and hydroxylated-Asn803 (FIH)).



Click to enlarge

Using an indirect immunofluorescence assay to directly measure demethylase activity in vivo by prevention of depletion of H3K9me3 in JMJD2A overexpressing HeLa cells. Indirect immunofluorescence with anti-Flag (green), anti-H3K9me3 (red), and DAPI staining (blue) in HeLa cells overexpressing Flag-tagged JMJD2A. DMSO solvent treatment has no effect on JMJD2A demethylase activity (white arrows) while increasing concentrations of IOX1 treatment (100 µM to 300µM range) resulted in gradual increases in H3K9Me3 levels. The JMJD2A H188A enzymatic mutant does not affect H3K9Me3 levels when overexpressed.


Click to enlarge

Treatment with increasing IOX1 concentrations showed a dose-dependent increase in H3K9me3 fluorescence intensity, demonstrating that H3K9me3 demethylation by JMJD2A is inhibited by IOX1 in cells. The cellular IC50 value for IOX1 was determined to be 86.5 µM. Notably, this compound does not require modification to a “pro-drug” ester form in order to be active in cells, unlike previously reported N-oxalylglycine derivatives [5].

A similar effect was noted in JMJD3A overexpressing cells this time measuring the effect on H3K27me3


Click to enlarge

references
  1. Protein Hydroxylation Catalysed by 2-Oxoglutarate-Dependent Oxygenases
    S Markolovic, SE Wilkins, CJ Schofield. Journal of Biological Chemistry 2015; pii: jbc.R115.662627
     
  2. 5-Carboxy-8-hydroxyquinoline is a broad spectrum 2-oxoglutarate oxygenase inhibitor which causes iron translocation
    Richard J. Hopkinson, Anthony Tumber, Clarence Yapp, Rasheduzzaman Chowdhury, WeiShen Aik, Ka Hing Che, Xuan Shirley Li, Jan B. L. Kristensen, Oliver N. F. King, Mun Chiang Chan, Kar Kheng Yeoh, Hwanho Choi, Louise J. Walport, Cyrille C. Thinnes, Jacob T. Bush, Clarisse Lejeune, Anna M. Rydzik, Nathan R. Rose, Eleanor A. Bagg, Michael A. McDonough, Tobias J. Krojer, WyattW. Yue, Stanley S. Ng, Lars Olsen, Paul E. Brennan, Udo Oppermann, Susanne Müller, Robert J. Klose, Peter J. Ratcliffe, Christopher J. Schofield and Akane Kawamura. Chemical Science 2013; 4:3110.
     
  3. Quantitative High-Throughput Screening Identifies 8-Hydroxyquinolines as Cell-Active Histone Demethylase Inhibitors
    King, O.N.F, Li X.S., Sakurai M., Kawamura A., Rose N.R., Ng S.S, Quinn A.M.,Rai G.,Mott B.T., Beswick P.,Klose R.J., Oppermann U., Jadhay A.,Heightman T.D., Maloney D.J., Schofield C.J.,Simeonov A. PLoS One DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0015535
     
  4. A Cell-Permeable Ester Derivative of the JmjC Histone Demethylase Inhibitor IOX1
    Schiller, R., Scozzafava, G., Tumber, A., Wickens, J.R., Bush, J.T., Rai, G., Lejeune, C., Choi, H., Yeh, T., Chan, M.C., Mott, B.T., McCullagh, J.S.O., Maloney, D.J., Schofield, C.J., Kawamura, A., ChemMedChem, 9, (3), 566-571, 2014.
     
  5. Synthesis and activity of N-oxalylglycine and its derivatives as Jumonji C-domain-containing histone lysine demethylase inhibitors 
    Hamada S, Kim TD, Suzuki T, Itoh Y, Tsumoto H, et al. (2009). Bioorg Med Chem Lett 19: 2852–2855.
pk properties
co-crystal structures

X-ray crystal structures of IOX1 in complex with various 2OG oxygenases; JMJD2A (pdb id: 3NJY), JMJD3, (pdb id: 2XXZ) and FIH, (pdb id: 3OD4) and AlkB (pdb id: 4JHT) have been solved.


King et al. 2010 PLoSOne 5(11)e15535

Crystallisation of IOX1 in complex with JMJD2A revealed that IOX1 is positioned in a similar location to the 2OG analogue N-oxalylglycine in complex with JMJD2A and Ni(II) (which substitutes for Fe(II)); the 5-carboxy group of IOX1 and the C-5 carboxylates are positioned to interact with side chains Lys 206, Tyr 132. IOX1 is also positioned to coordinate with the active site Ni(II), in a bidentate fashion via its quinoline-nitrogen and 8-hydroxy group. Comparison of this structure with that of JMJD2A in complex with the H3K9me3 substrate peptide and N-oxalylglycine (PDB ID: 2OQ6) shows that the binding of the IOX1 is likely to compete with binding of 2OG and not directly with the peptide substrate.

synthetic schemes
materials and methods

Alpha Screen Assay

All reagents were diluted in 50 mM HEPES, 0.1 % BSA, pH 7.5 supplemented with 0.01 % Tween20 and allowed to equilibrate to room temperature prior to addition to plates. Catalytic turnover assays were run in 10µL volumes in 384-well plates at RT with enzyme (0.5-25nM), biotinylated substrate peptide (30-1000nM), Fe(II) (1-10µM), Ascorbate (100µM), 2OG (5-40µM). EDTA was used to quench the reaction (5µL) and AlphaScreen donor (Streptavidin-conjugated) and acceptor (ProteinA-conjugated) beads preincubated with peptide product antibodies were added (5µL). Plates were protected from light, incubated at room temperature for 60 minutes and read on a PHERAstar FS plate reader (BMG Labtech) using an AlphaScreen 680nm excitation/570nm emission filter set. IC50 values were calculated after normalization against corresponding DMSO controls.

Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionisation-Time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF) Mass Spectrometry

KDM assays were carried out as reported [3] using an assay reaction consisting of JMJD2 (1 µM), Ferrous ammonium sulphate (10 µM), Ascorbate (100 µM), 2OG (10 µM), Histone H3 peptides (10 µM) in 50 mM HEPES (pH 7.5) with varying concentrations of inhibitors. The reaction was incubated at RT and 1:1 quenching with methanol followed by addition of four volumes of 20 mM triammonium citrate.

Cell-Based Assays

Flag-tagged JMJD2A was transiently overexpressed in HeLa cells either in the presence of a vehicle control (DMSO), 1 mM dimethyl-2,4-PDCA (a cell-permeable derivative of 2,4-PDCA), 2.5 mM dimethyloxalylglycine (DMOG, a cell-permeable derivative of N-oxalylglycine), or varying concentrations of IOX1. After 24 hours of incubation time cells were fixed and then analyzed by indirect immunofluorescence with Flag tag antibody to identify the cells overexpressing the demethylase and an antibody recognizing endogenous H3K9me3 to quantify the level of this histone modification. A series of images were collected for each treatment on a standard epifluorescence microscope and CellProfiler was used to analyze the images for DAPI signal thereby identifying the location of individual cells and create a boundary that delineates the volume of the nuclear compartment. As not all cells in a given field are transfected, the Flag-JMJD2A-expressing cells were identified by quantifying the immunofluorescence signal resulting from the Flag tag antibody staining and using the mock transfected cells as a baseline for the signal intensity of non-transfected cells. Once the transfected cells were identified, the nuclear H3K9me3 immunofluorescence signal for each cell was quantified by CellProfiler. The levels of H3K9me3 staining intensity were analyzed in the DMSO vehicle treated or inhibitor treated samples. As a control and a means of determining maximal possible inhibition of demethylase activity, cells expressing the JMJD2A H188A catalytically deficient mutant were also quantified in each experiment. The level of demethylase activity inhibition by IOX1 treatment was determined by quantifying the immunofluorescence signal from the DMSO treated sample (100% demethylase activity) compared to the maximal theoretical inhibition signal intensity as determined by the H3K9me3 signal in cells expressing the catalytically deficient JMJD2A H188A mutant (0% demethylase activity). For each treatment a minimum of 400 transfected cells was analyzed and the final values of inhibition were derived from inhibition experiments carried out on three separate days.

PFI-1 Selective chemical probe for BET Bromodomains

This probe is available from Cayman Chemical, Sigma and Tocris

overview
Probe

PFI-1

Details of this chemical probe have been published in the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry - Identification of a chemical probe for BET bromodomain inhibition through optimization of a fragment-derived hit

Biology of the BET bromodomains

Bromodomains are protein interaction modules that selectively recognize ε-N-acetylated lysine residues (Kac). This recognition process is the molecular basis of the "reading process" of epigenetic acetylation marks. In the human proteome there are 41 diverse proteins containing 57 bromodomains which share a conserved ford of left-handed helical bundles. This arrangement creates a deep largely hydrophobic acetyl lysine binding cavity which constitutes an attractive pocket for the development of selective protein interaction inhibitors. The human BET family (BRD2, BRD3, BRD4 and BRDT) which all contain two conserved bromodomains per target, plays a key role regulating transcription of growth stimulating genes. PFI-1 has been developed in collaboration with Pfizer.

Tocris is offering PFI-1 through their catalogue: (Cat. no. 4445)

Potency
In vitro
BET family memberIC50 µM
BRD2 2nd Bromodomain (Alphascreen)0.098
BRD4 1st Bromodomain (Alphascreen)0.22
BRD2 1st Bromodomain (Octet Red)0.123
BRD4 1st Bromodomain (ITC)0.136
BRD4 2nd Bromodomain (ITC)0.303
In cells
BRD4 (FRAP assay)Accelerated FRAP recovery at 1 uM
properties
2-Methoxy-N-(3-methyl-2-oxo-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-quinazolin-6-yl)-bezenesulfonamide
Click here to download SDF file
Physical and chemical properties
Molecular weight347.1
Molecular formulaC16H17N3O4S
IUPAC name2-methoxy-N-(3-methyl-2-oxo-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroquinazolin-6-yl)benzenesulfonamide
logP1.3
PSA96
Storage-20 as powder. NB making aliquots rather than freeze-thawing is recommended
DissolutionSoluble in DMSO at least up to 10mM

 

  • SMILES
  • CN1CC2=CC(NS(C3=C(OC)C=CC=C3)(=O)=O)=CC=C2NC1=O
  • InChI:
  • InChI=1S/C16H17N3O4S/c1-19-10-11-9-12(7-8-13(11)17-16(19)20)18-24(21,22)15-6-4-3-5-14(15)23-2/h3-9,18H,10H2,1-2H3,(H,17,20)

    InChIKey

    TXZPMHLMPKIUGK-UHFFFAOYSA-N

     

  •  
selectivity profile

Selectivity screening data of PFI-1 using temperature shift assays. Screened targets are highlighted in bold. Temperature shifts are indicated by red filled circles with increasing radii for higher Tm values as indicated in the figure

Selectivity
Bromodomains
TargetTm shift °C @ 10 µM
BRD2A 1st Bromodomain4.6
BRD2 2nd Bromodomain5.3
BRD3 1st  Bromodomain5.2
BRD3 2nd Bromodomain5.5
BRD4 1st Bromodomain6.5
BRD4 2nd Bromodomain3.8
BRDT 1st Bromodomain2.1
CREBBP2.7
BAZ2B0.3
LOC933490.1
PB1~50.8
PCAF0.8
Other proteins
Invitrogen 50 kinase panel<20% inhibition @ 1 µM

BRD2 KD=0.123µM 
 

Off Target CREBBP KD=49.5µM
> 350 fold selective against BRDs outside BET

Materials and Methods

Differential Scanning Fluorimetry (DSF)

Thermal melting experiments were carried out using an Mx3005p Real Time PCR machine (Stratagene). Proteins were buffered in 10 mM HEPES pH 7.5, 500 mM NaCl and assayed in a 96-well plate at a final concentration of 2 µM in 20 µl volume. PFI-1 was added at a final concentration of 10 µM. SYPRO Orange (Molecular Probes) was added as a fluorescence probe at a dilution of 1:1000. Excitation and emission filters for the SYPRO-Orange dye were set to 465 nm and 590 nm, respectively. The temperature was raised with a step of 3 °C per minute from 25 °C to 96 °C and fluorescence readings were taken at each interval. The temperature dependence of the fluorescence during the protein denaturation process was approximated by the equation where ?u G (T) is the difference in unfolding free energy between the folded and unfolded state, R is the gas constant and y F and y U are the fluorescence intensity of the probe in the presence of completely folded and unfolded protein respectively. The baselines of the denatured and native states were approximated by a linear fit. The observed temperature shifts, ? T m obs, were recorded as the difference between the transition midpoints of sample and reference wells containing protein without ligand in the same plate and determined by non-linear least squares fit.

Isothermal Titration Calorimetry

Experiments were carried out on a VP-ITC titration microcalorimeter from MicroCal TM, LLC (Northampton, MA) at 15 °C while stirring at 295 rpm, in ITC buffer (50 mM HEPES pH 7.4 at 25 °C, 150 mM NaCl). The injection syringe (250 µl) was loaded with a solution of the protein sample (300 µM protein, in ITC buffer). All titrations were conducted using an initial injection of 2 µl followed by 34 identical injections of 8 µl with a duration of 16 sec (per injection) and a spacing of 250 sec between injections. Heats of dilution were determined by independent titrations (protein into buffer) and were subtracted from the experimental data. Data analysis was carried out using the MicroCal TM Origin software supplied with the instrument to yield enthalpies of binding (?H) and binding constants (K B). Thermodynamic parameters were calculated (? G = ? H - T? S = -R TlnK B, where ? G, ? H and ? S are the changes in free energy, enthalpy and entropy of binding respectively). In all cases a single binding site model was employed.

CEREP assay

PFi-1 (10 µm) was screened against a panel of 15 ligand receptors, ion channels and transports using an established and widely utilized commercial assay platform (ExpresSProfile; CEREP, Paris, FRANCE); <50% inhibition was observed.

Alpha screen Assay

All reagents were diluted in 50 mM HEPES, 100 mM NaCl, 0.1 % BSA, pH 7.4 supplemented with 0.05 % CHAPS and allowed to equilibrate to room temperature prior to addition to plates. A 24-point 1:2 serial dilution of the ligands was prepared over the range of 1500 µM and 4 µl transferred to low-volume 384-well plates (ProxiPlateTM-384 Plus, PerkinElmer, USA), followed by 4 µl of HIS-tagged protein (BRD4(1), 50 nM, BRD4(2), 50 nM). Plates were sealed and incubated at room temperature for 30 minutes, before the addition of 4 µl of biotinylated peptide at equimolar concentration to the protein [peptide for BETs H4K5acK8acK12acK16ac, H-SGRGK(Ac)GGK(Ac)GLGK(Ac)GGAK(Ac)RHRK(Biotin)-OH. Plates were sealed and incubated for a further 30 minutes, before the addition of 4 µl of streptavidin-coated donor beads (25 µg/ml) and 4 µl nickel chelate acceptor beads (25 µg/ml) under low light conditions. Plates were foil-sealed to protect from light, incubated at room temperature for 60 minutes and read on a PHERAstar FS plate reader (BMG Labtech, Germany) using an AlphaScreen 680 excitation/570 emission filter set. IC50 values were calculated in Prism 5 after normalization against corresponding DMSO controls and are given as the final concentration of compound in the 20 µl reaction volume.

Bio-Layer Interferometry

Kinetic measurements were done using OctetRed384 instrument (ForteBio Inc, CA, USA). Biotinylated protein was immobilized on Super Streptavidin Biosensors at 2µg/ml concentration. Association and dissociation measurements were done in 50 mM HEPES, 100 mM NaCl, pH 7.4 buffer supplemented with 0.01 % Tween. Experiments were performed at 25°C with association and dissociation times of 240 sec. Compounds were prepared as one in two dilutions starting from 128µM. Binding to the reference sensors (no protein attached) was subtracted before calculations. Binding constants were calculated using ForteBio Analysis software.

b

in vitro potency
cell based assay data
Potency
In cells
BRD4 (FRAP assay)Accelerated FRAP recovery at 1 µM
LPS challenge assay in PBMCsEC50 1.89 µM (n=6) for inhibition of IL6 production

Fluorescence Recovery After Photobleaching (FRAP)

FRAP studies were performed on U2OS cells transfected (Fugene HD; Roche) with mammalian overexpression constructs encoding GFP fused to the N-terminus of full length BRD4. Compounds were added as indicated 16 h post transfection.  The FRAP and imaging system consisted of a Zeiss LSM 710 scanhead (Zeiss GmbH, Jena, Germany) coupled to an inverted Zeiss Axio Observer.Z1 microscope equipped with a high-numerical-aperture (N. A. 1.3) 40x oil immersion objective (Zeiss GmbH, Jena, Germany). Samples were placed in an incubator chamber capable of maintaining temperature (37 °C) and humidity. FRAP and GFP fluorescence imaging were carried out with an argon-ion laser (488nm) and with a piezomultiplier tube (PMT) detector set to detect fluorescence between 500-550nm. Once an initial scan had been taken, a region of interest corresponding to approximately 50% of the entire GFP positive nucleus was empirically selected for bleaching. A time lapse series was then taken to record GFP recovery using 1% of the power used for bleaching. The image datasets and fluorescence recovery data were exported from ZEN 2009, the microscope control software, into Microsoft Excel to determine the average half-time for full recovery for 10-20 cells per treatment point. The average intensity at each imaging time was normalized to an independent region of interest before bleaching.

PFI-1 shows considerably accelerated FRAP recovery at 1 µM

Fluorescent Recovery After Photo-bleaching (FRAP) experiments using full-length GFP-BRD4. Nuclei of U2OS cells transfected with GFP-BRD4 were treated with the DMSO control (upper panel),  1 mM or 5 mM  PFI-1 (middle and lower panel). Photographs were taken at 0, 10, 20 and 30 s after photo-bleaching of half the nucleus

Half recovery time measured when  treating cells with PFI-1 (1 μM, 5 μM) show faster recovery than the DMSO control. (a) Half times of fluorescence recovery of DMSO and PFI-1 (1, 5 μM) treated cells. (b) Time dependence of fluorescent recovery in the bleached area for DMSO  (black  box and line) and PFI-1 1 μM and 5 μM (red box and line, blue box and line, respectively)  treated cells.

Antiproliferative effects of PFI-1 on MLL tumour cells


Differentiation of mll-AF9 leukemic blasts induced by PFI-1. Shown are murine mll-AF9 transformed blast cells in the presence of DMSO (left) and 5 mM PFI-1 after 48h exposure.


Dose-response of the anti-proliferative effects of PFI-1 on leukaemic cell lines

references

Identification of a chemical probe for BET bromodomain inhibition through optimization of a fragment-derived hit
Paul Fish, Panagis Filippakopoulos, Gerwyn Bish, Paul Brennan, Mark Edward Bunnage, Andrew Cook, Oleg Fedorov, Brian S Gerstenberger, Hannah Jones, Stefan Knapp, Brian Marsden, Karl Nocka, Dafydd R Owen, Martin Philpott, Sarah Picaud, Michael Primiano, Michael Ralph, Nunzio Sciammetta, and John Trzupek
J. Med. Chem., 2012, 55 (22), 9831–9837

PFI-1 - A highly Selective Protein Interaction Inhibitor Targeting BET bromodomains
Sarah Picaud, David Da Costa, Angeliki Thanasopoulou, Panagis Filippakopoulos, Paul V. Fish, Martin Philpott, Oleg Fedorov, Paul Brennan, Mark E. Bunnage, Dafydd R. Owen, James E. Bradner, Philippe Taniere, Brendan O’Sullivan, Susanne Müller-Knapp, Juerg Schwaller, Tatjana Stankovic, Stefan Knapp
Cancer Res, 2013, 73, 3336-3346

pk properties
co-crystal structures

(a)

(b)

(a) PFI-1 bound to BRD4 ε-N-acetylated lysine (Kac) binding pocket; (b) PFI-1 forms polar contacts with the conserved asparagine and interacts with many hydrophobic and aromatic residues in the BET Kac binding pocket. PDB ID: 4E96 

synthetic schemes
materials and methods
28.09.2011

International Structural Genomics Consortium Announces $48.9 Million in Additional Funding to Continue the Search for New Medicines

by: SGC

London, September 28, 2011 - The international Structural Genomics Consortium (SGC) today announced $48.9 million in new funding has been attained. This renewed investment will allow the SGC to further develop its open access research program to support drug discovery and the development of new medicines.  The announcement comes as the SGC on June 30 successfully completed its second phase of funding (2007-2011).

28.09.2011

The Drug Discovery Unit at the University of Dundee identifies new N-myristoyltransferase inhibitors as leads to treat sleeping sickness

by: SGC

"Sleeping sickness", also known as human African trypanosomiasis, is responsible for approximately 30,000 deaths each year and 70 million people are at risk of infection, as estimated by the World Health Organization. The parasite that causes this disease is predominantly found in the developing world, and - like many other ‘neglected diseases’ - there is a shortage of inexpensive, efficacious drugs available to combat this illness.

28.09.2011

Small molecule compound used to probe into the role of Mps1

by: SGC

The successful segregation of chromosomes in mitosis requires the timely coordination of cell cycle events to ensure the bipo¬lar attachment of sister chromatids via their kinetochores to the mitotic spindle before the initiation of anaphase. Deregulation of this process or uncoupling of its component parts can lead to aneuploidy and chromosomal instability (CIN), which are recog¬nized hallmarks of cancer.

28.09.2011

Opening the gates for a new therapeutic opportunity in the fight against apicomplexan parasites

by: SGC

Apicomplexan parasites are a diverse group of protozoan parasites, several of which cause important human and animal diseases, such as malaria, cryptosporidiosis and toxoplasmosis. Many of these diseases are endemic in developing countries, which are impacted by the lack of cost-efficient treatments. Cryptosporidiosis and toxoplasmosis can also be life-threatening to immunocompromised individuals, e.g. those undergoing organ transplantation or chemotherapy and HIV/AIDS patients, who cannot fight back the infection and are thus dependent on drugs to kill the parasites.

28.09.2011

New drug leads to treat toxoplasmosis unveiled by collaboration between Washington University, UCSF and the SGC

by: SGC

Toxoplasmosis is a parasitic disease caused by the apicomplexan protozoa Toxoplasma gondii and can pose a significant threat to immunocompromised individuals, e.g. those undergoing organ transplantation or chemotherapy and HIV/AIDS patients, who cannot fight back the infection and are thus dependent on drugs to control the infection.

28.09.2011

SGC joins European Union Framework Programme 7 grant on Affinomics.

by: SGC

The SGC has been awarded more than 0.5 M Euro as part of a joint EU FP7 -Health grant: 'Protein Binders for Characterisation of Human Proteome Function: Generation, Validation, Application "Affinomics", which encompasses 15 participant labs in eight different European countries for 5 years.

28.09.2011

PLoS Biology and MCP adopt iSee to enhance articles with interactive 3D molecular graphics

by: SGC

Two influential journals are now accepting and publishing articles that are enhanced using a unique platform known as iSee (interactive Structurally enhanced experience), developed in a collaboration between the SGC's Dr. Brian Marsden and Dr. Wen Hwa Lee, with Prof. Ruben Abagyan and his team from MolSoft L.L.C.