Discovery of a novel NEDD8 Activating Enzyme Inhibitor with Piperidin-4-amine Scaffold by Structure-Based Virtual Screening

NEDD8 activating enzyme (NAE) plays an important role in regulating intracellular proteins with key parts in a broad array of cellular functions. Here, we report a structure-based virtual screening of a compound library containing 50 000 small molecular entities against the active site of NAE. Computational docking and scoring followed by biochemical screening and target validation lead to the identification of 1-benzyl-N-(2,4-dichlorophenethyl) piperidin-4-amine (M22) as a selective NAE inhibitor. M22 is reversible for NAE, inhibits multiple cancer cell lines with GI50 values in the low micromolar range, and induces apoptosis in A549 cells. Furthermore, it produces tumor inhibition in AGS xenografts in nude mice and low acute toxicity in a zebrafish model. M22, a novel NAE inhibitor, represents a promising lead structure for the development of new antitumor agents.