Huang Qi-Xuan, Fan Da-Meng, Zheng Zao-Zao, Ran Ting, Bai Ao, Xiao Rong-Quan, Hu Guo-Sheng, Liu Wen
State Key Laboratory of Cellular Stress Biology, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Life Sciences, Xiamen University, Xiang'an South Road, Xiamen, Fujian 361102, China.
Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Innovative Drug Target Research, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Life Sciences, Xiamen University, Xiang'an South Road, Xiamen, Fujian 361102, China.
J Med Chem. 2024 Apr 25;67(8):6658-6672. doi: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.4c00141. Epub 2024 Apr 3.
BRD4 is associated with a variety of human diseases, including breast cancer. The crucial roles of amino-terminal bromodomains (BDs) of BRD4 in binding with acetylated histones to regulate oncogene expression make them promising drug targets. However, adverse events impede the development of the BD inhibitors. BRD4 adopts an extraterminal (ET) domain, which recruits proteins to drive oncogene expression. We discovered a peptide inhibitor PiET targeting the ET domain to disrupt BRD4/JMJD6 interaction, a protein complex critical in oncogene expression and breast cancer. The cell-permeable form of PiET, TAT-PiET, and PROTAC-modified TAT-PiET, TAT-PiET-PROTAC, potently inhibits the expression of BRD4/JMJD6 target genes and breast cancer cell growth. Combination therapy with TAT-PiET/TAT-PiET-PROTAC and JQ1, iJMJD6, or Fulvestrant exhibits synergistic effects. TAT-PiET or TAT-PiET-PROTAC treatment overcomes endocrine therapy resistance in ERα-positive breast cancer cells. Taken together, we demonstrated that targeting the ET domain is effective in suppressing breast cancer, providing a therapeutic avenue in the clinic.
BRD4与多种人类疾病相关,包括乳腺癌。BRD4的氨基末端溴结构域(BDs)在与乙酰化组蛋白结合以调节癌基因表达方面的关键作用使其成为有前景的药物靶点。然而,不良事件阻碍了BD抑制剂的开发。BRD4采用一个额外末端(ET)结构域,该结构域招募蛋白质来驱动癌基因表达。我们发现了一种靶向ET结构域的肽抑制剂PiET,以破坏BRD4/JMJD6相互作用,这是一种在癌基因表达和乳腺癌中至关重要的蛋白质复合物。PiET的细胞可渗透形式TAT-PiET以及PROTAC修饰的TAT-PiET即TAT-PiET-PROTAC,可有效抑制BRD4/JMJD6靶基因的表达和乳腺癌细胞的生长。TAT-PiET/TAT-PiET-PROTAC与JQ1、iJMJD6或氟维司群联合治疗具有协同作用。TAT-PiET或TAT-PiET-PROTAC治疗克服了ERα阳性乳腺癌细胞中的内分泌治疗耐药性。综上所述,我们证明靶向ET结构域在抑制乳腺癌方面是有效的,为临床提供了一条治疗途径。