Discovery of a selective catalytic p300/CBP inhibitor that targets lineage-specific tumours

Loren M Lasko, Clarissa G Jakob, Rohinton P Edalji, Wei Qiu, Debra Montgomery, Enrico L Digiammarino, T Matt Hansen, Roberto M Risi, Robin Frey, Vlasios Manaves, Bailin Shaw, Mikkel Algire, Paul Hessler, Lloyd T Lam, Tamar Uziel, Emily Faivre, Debra Ferguson, Fritz G Buchanan, Ruth L Martin, Maricel TorrentGary G Chiang, Kannan Karukurichi, J William Langston, Brian T Weinert, Chunaram Choudhary, Peter de Vries, John H Van Drie, David McElligott, Ed Kesicki, Ronen Marmorstein, Chaohong Sun, Philip A Cole, Saul H Rosenberg, Michael R Michaelides, Albert Lai, Kenneth D Bromberg

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493 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The dynamic and reversible acetylation of proteins, catalysed by histone acetyltransferases (HATs) and histone deacetylases (HDACs), is a major epigenetic regulatory mechanism of gene transcription and is associated with multiple diseases. Histone deacetylase inhibitors are currently approved to treat certain cancers, but progress on the development of drug-like histone actyltransferase inhibitors has lagged behind. The histone acetyltransferase paralogues p300 and CREB-binding protein (CBP) are key transcriptional co-activators that are essential for a multitude of cellular processes, and have also been implicated in human pathological conditions (including cancer). Current inhibitors of the p300 and CBP histone acetyltransferase domains, including natural products, bi-substrate analogues and the widely used small molecule C646, lack potency or selectivity. Here, we describe A-485, a potent, selective and drug-like catalytic inhibitor of p300 and CBP. We present a high resolution (1.95 Å) co-crystal structure of a small molecule bound to the catalytic active site of p300 and demonstrate that A-485 competes with acetyl coenzyme A (acetyl-CoA). A-485 selectively inhibited proliferation in lineage-specific tumour types, including several haematological malignancies and androgen receptor-positive prostate cancer. A-485 inhibited the androgen receptor transcriptional program in both androgen-sensitive and castration-resistant prostate cancer and inhibited tumour growth in a castration-resistant xenograft model. These results demonstrate the feasibility of using small molecule inhibitors to selectively target the catalytic activity of histone acetyltransferases, which may provide effective treatments for transcriptional activator-driven malignancies and diseases.

Original languageEnglish
JournalNature
Volume550
Issue number7674
Pages (from-to)128-132
Number of pages5
ISSN0028-0836
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 5 Oct 2017

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