High-Affinity, Small-Molecule Peptidomimetic Inhibitors of MLL1/WDR5 Protein–Protein Interaction

Mixed lineage leukemia 1 (MLL1) is a histone H3 lysine 4 (H3K4) methyltransferase, and targeting the MLL1 enzymatic activity has been proposed as a novel therapeutic strategy for the treatment of acute leukemia harboring MLL1 fusion proteins. The MLL1/WDR5 protein–protein interaction is essential for MLL1 enzymatic activity. In the present study, we designed a large number of peptidomimetics to target the MLL1/WDR5 interaction based upon −CO-ARA-NH–, the minimum binding motif derived from MLL1. Our study led to the design of high-affinity peptidomimetics, which bind to WDR5 with Ki < 1 nM and function as potent antagonists of MLL1 activity in a fully reconstituted in vitro H3K4 methyltransferase assay. Determination of co-crystal structures of two potent peptidomimetics in complex with WDR5 establishes their structural basis for high-affinity binding to WDR5. Evaluation of one such peptidomimetic, MM-102, in bone marrow cells transduced with MLL1-AF9 fusion construct shows that the compound effectively de...