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    SEC-TID: A Label-Free Method for Small-Molecule Target Identification
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    Abstract:
    Bioactive small molecules are an invaluable source of therapeutics and chemical probes for exploring biological pathways. Yet, significant hurdles in drug discovery often come from lacking a comprehensive view of the target(s) for both early tool molecules and even late-stage drugs. To address this challenge, a method is provided that allows for assessing the interactions of small molecules with thousands of targets without any need to modify the small molecule of interest or attach any component to a surface. We describe size-exclusion chromatography for target identification (SEC-TID), a method for accurately and reproducibly detecting ligand-macromolecular interactions for small molecules targeting nucleic acid and several protein classes. We report the use of SEC-TID, with a library consisting of approximately 1000 purified proteins derived from the protein databank (PDB), to identify the efficacy targets tankyrase 1 and 2 for the Wnt inhibitor XAV939. In addition, we report novel interactions for the tumor-vascular disrupting agent vadimezan/ASA404 (interacting with farnesyl pyrophosphate synthase) and the diuretic mefruside (interacting with carbonic anhydrase XIII). We believe this method can dramatically enhance our understanding of the mechanism of action and potential liabilities for small molecules in drug discovery pipelines through comprehensive profiling of candidate druggable targets.
    Keywords:
    Druggability
    Farnesyl pyrophosphate
    RNA molecules have a variety of cellular functions that can drive disease pathologies. They are without a doubt one of the most intriguing yet controversial small-molecule drug targets. The ability to widely target RNA with small molecules could be revolutionary, once the right tools, assays, and targets are selected, thereby defining which biomolecules are targetable and what constitutes drug-like small molecules. Indeed, approaches developed over the past 5-10 years have changed the face of small molecule-RNA targeting by addressing historic concerns regarding affinity, selectivity, and structural dynamics. Presently, selective RNA-protein complex stabilizing drugs such as branaplam and risdiplam are in clinical trials for the modulation of SMN2 splicing, compounds identified from phenotypic screens with serendipitous outcomes. Fully developing RNA as a druggable target will require a target engagement-driven approach, and evolving chemical collections will be important for the industrial development of this class of target. In this review we discuss target-directed approaches that can be used to identify RNA-binding compounds and the chemical knowledge we have today of small-molecule RNA binders.
    Druggability
    Chemical Biology
    Biomolecule
    Drug Development
    Riboswitch
    Citations (31)
    Bioactive small molecules are an invaluable source of therapeutics and chemical probes for exploring biological pathways. Yet, significant hurdles in drug discovery often come from lacking a comprehensive view of the target(s) for both early tool molecules and even late-stage drugs. To address this challenge, a method is provided that allows for assessing the interactions of small molecules with thousands of targets without any need to modify the small molecule of interest or attach any component to a surface. We describe size-exclusion chromatography for target identification (SEC-TID), a method for accurately and reproducibly detecting ligand-macromolecular interactions for small molecules targeting nucleic acid and several protein classes. We report the use of SEC-TID, with a library consisting of approximately 1000 purified proteins derived from the protein databank (PDB), to identify the efficacy targets tankyrase 1 and 2 for the Wnt inhibitor XAV939. In addition, we report novel interactions for the tumor-vascular disrupting agent vadimezan/ASA404 (interacting with farnesyl pyrophosphate synthase) and the diuretic mefruside (interacting with carbonic anhydrase XIII). We believe this method can dramatically enhance our understanding of the mechanism of action and potential liabilities for small molecules in drug discovery pipelines through comprehensive profiling of candidate druggable targets.
    Druggability
    Farnesyl pyrophosphate
    Citations (21)
    ProBiS (Protein Binding Sites), a local structure-based comparison algorithm, is used in the new ProBiS-Fold web server to annotate human structures from the AlphaFold database without a corresponding structure in the Protein Data Bank (PDB) to discover new druggable binding sites. The ProBiS algorithm is used to compare each query protein structure predicted by the AlphaFold approach with the protein structures from the PDB to identify similarities between known binding sites found in the PDB and yet unknown binding sites in the AlphaFold database. Ligands bound in these identified similar PDB sites are then transferred to each query protein from the AlphaFold database, and binding sites are identified as ligand clusters on an AlphaFold protein. Small molecule binding sites are assigned druggability scores based on the similarity of their ligands to known drugs, allowing them to be ranked according to their perceived and actual potential for drug development. ProBiS-Fold provides interactive and downloadable binding sites for the entire human structural proteome, including more than 3000 new druggable binding sites that have no corresponding structure in the PDB, taking into account AlphaFold's model quality, to enable protein structure–function relationship studies and pharmaceutical drug discovery research. The web server is freely accessible to academic users at http://probis-fold.insilab.org.
    Druggability
    Citations (11)
    Drugs that function as enzyme inhibitors constitute a significant portion of the orally bioavailable therapeutic agents that are in clinical use today. Likewise, much of drug discovery and development efforts at present are focused on identifying and optimizing drug candidates that act through inhibition of specific enzyme targets. The attractiveness of enzymes as targets for drug discovery stems from the high levels of disease association (target validation) and druggability (target tractability) that typically characterize this class of proteins. In this expert opinion the authors describe the existing practices and future directions in drug discovery enzymology, with emphasis on how a detailed understanding of the catalytic mechanism of specific targets can be used to identify and optimize small-molecule compounds that interact with conformationally distinct forms of the enzyme, thus resulting in high potency, high selectivity inhibitors.
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    Expert opinion
    Citations (113)