The B-Raf(V600E) inhibitor dabrafenib selectively inhibits RIP3 and alleviates acetaminophen-induced liver injury.

Receptor-interacting protein (RIP)3 is a critical regulator of necroptosis and has been demonstrated to be associated with various diseases, suggesting that its inhibitors are promising in the clinic. However, there have been few RIP3 inhibitors reported as yet. B-Raf(V600E) inhibitors are an important anticancer drug class for metastatic melanoma therapy. In this study, we found that 6 B-Raf inhibitors could inhibit RIP3 enzymatic activity in vitro. Among them, dabrafenib showed the most potent inhibition on RIP3, which was achieved by its ATP-competitive binding to the enzyme. Dabrafenib displayed highly selective inhibition on RIP3 over RIP1, RIP2 and RIP5. Moreover, only dabrafenib rescued cells from RIP3-mediated necroptosis induced by the necroptosis-induced combinations, that is, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)α, TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand or Fas ligand plus Smac mimetic and the caspase inhibitor z-VAD. Dabrafenib decreased the RIP3-mediated Ser358 phosphorylation of mixed lineage kinase domain-like protein (MLKL) and disrupted the interaction between RIP3 and MLKL. Notably, RIP3 inhibition of dabrafenib appeared to be independent of its B-Raf inhibition. Dabrafenib was further revealed to prevent acetaminophen-induced necrosis in normal human hepatocytes, which is considered to be mediated by RIP3. In acetaminophen-overdosed mouse models, dabrafenib was found to apparently ease the acetaminophen-caused liver damage. The results indicate that the anticancer B-Raf(V600E) inhibitor dabrafenib is a RIP3 inhibitor, which could serve as a sharp tool for probing the RIP3 biology and as a potential preventive or therapeutic agent for RIP3-involved necroptosis-related diseases such as acetaminophen-induced liver damage.