Novartis Institute for Tropical Diseases, 05-01 Chromos, Singapore.
J Biol Chem. 2011 Feb 25;286(8):6233-40. doi: 10.1074/jbc.M110.179184. Epub 2010 Dec 8.
Crystal structure analysis of Flavivirus methyltransferases uncovered a flavivirus-conserved cavity located next to the binding site for its cofactor, S-adenosyl-methionine (SAM). Chemical derivatization of S-adenosyl-homocysteine (SAH), the product inhibitor of the methylation reaction, with substituents that extend into the identified cavity, generated inhibitors that showed improved and selective activity against dengue virus methyltransferase (MTase), but not related human enzymes. Crystal structure of dengue virus MTase with a bound SAH derivative revealed that its N6-substituent bound in this cavity and induced conformation changes in residues lining the pocket. These findings demonstrate that one of the major hurdles for the development of methyltransferase-based therapeutics, namely selectivity for disease-related methyltransferases, can be overcome.
黄病毒甲基转移酶的晶体结构分析揭示了一个位于其辅助因子 S-腺苷甲硫氨酸(SAM)结合位点附近的黄病毒保守腔。对甲基化反应产物抑制剂 S-腺苷同型半胱氨酸(SAH)进行取代基化学衍生,这些取代基延伸到鉴定出的腔中,生成了对登革热病毒甲基转移酶(MTase)具有改善和选择性活性的抑制剂,但对相关的人类酶没有活性。与结合的 SAH 衍生物的登革热病毒 MTase 的晶体结构表明,其 N6-取代基结合在该腔中,并诱导口袋中残基的构象变化。这些发现表明,基于甲基转移酶的治疗方法的主要障碍之一,即对疾病相关甲基转移酶的选择性,可以被克服。