Meghri Katerji, Knickole L Bergman, Eric Lindberg, Maxine R Rubin, Amy L Funk, Carolyn C Woodroofe, Katherine Nyswaner, Kamila Karpińska, Remigiusz Serwa, Anna Marusiak, Rolf E Swenson, John F Brognard
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引用次数: 0
Abstract
Leucine zipper-bearing kinase (LZK) is overexpressed in 20% of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) cases and has emerged as a promising therapeutic target in this cancer subtype. LZK promotes HNSCC survival and proliferation by stabilizing c-MYC and GOF-p53 in kinase-dependent and -independent manners, respectively. Herein, we developed a new series of LZK degraders utilizing proteolysis-targeting chimera (PROTAC) technology by modulating the linker region or LZK warhead of LZK-targeting PROTAC-21A, previously developed by our lab. Among the 27 PROTACs synthesized and tested, PROTAC 17 was found to be the most potent, degrading LZK at 250 nM and suppressing HNSCC viability at 500 nM. In summary our lead PROTAC effectively targeted LZK for proteasomal degradation and inhibited oncogenic activity in HNSCC cell lines with amplified LZK.
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The Journal of Biological Chemistry welcomes high-quality science that seeks to elucidate the molecular and cellular basis of biological processes. Papers published in JBC can therefore fall under the umbrellas of not only biological chemistry, chemical biology, or biochemistry, but also allied disciplines such as biophysics, systems biology, RNA biology, immunology, microbiology, neurobiology, epigenetics, computational biology, ’omics, and many more. The outcome of our focus on papers that contribute novel and important mechanistic insights, rather than on a particular topic area, is that JBC is truly a melting pot for scientists across disciplines. In addition, JBC welcomes papers that describe methods that will help scientists push their biochemical inquiries forward and resources that will be of use to the research community.
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