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
{"title":"发现用于治疗头颈癌的LZK蛋白激酶的强效和选择性PROTACs。","authors":"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","doi":"10.1016/j.jbc.2025.108452","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>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.</p>","PeriodicalId":15140,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Biological Chemistry","volume":" ","pages":"108452"},"PeriodicalIF":4.0000,"publicationDate":"2025-03-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":"{\"title\":\"Discovery of potent and selective PROTACs for the protein kinase LZK for the treatment of head and neck cancer.\",\"authors\":\"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\",\"doi\":\"10.1016/j.jbc.2025.108452\",\"DOIUrl\":null,\"url\":null,\"abstract\":\"<p><p>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.</p>\",\"PeriodicalId\":15140,\"journal\":{\"name\":\"Journal of Biological Chemistry\",\"volume\":\" \",\"pages\":\"108452\"},\"PeriodicalIF\":4.0000,\"publicationDate\":\"2025-03-27\",\"publicationTypes\":\"Journal Article\",\"fieldsOfStudy\":null,\"isOpenAccess\":false,\"openAccessPdf\":\"\",\"citationCount\":\"0\",\"resultStr\":null,\"platform\":\"Semanticscholar\",\"paperid\":null,\"PeriodicalName\":\"Journal of Biological Chemistry\",\"FirstCategoryId\":\"99\",\"ListUrlMain\":\"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbc.2025.108452\",\"RegionNum\":2,\"RegionCategory\":\"生物学\",\"ArticlePicture\":[],\"TitleCN\":null,\"AbstractTextCN\":null,\"PMCID\":null,\"EPubDate\":\"\",\"PubModel\":\"\",\"JCR\":\"Q2\",\"JCRName\":\"BIOCHEMISTRY & MOLECULAR BIOLOGY\",\"Score\":null,\"Total\":0}","platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Biological Chemistry","FirstCategoryId":"99","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbc.2025.108452","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"BIOCHEMISTRY & MOLECULAR BIOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
Discovery of potent and selective PROTACs for the protein kinase LZK for the treatment of head and neck cancer.
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.
期刊介绍:
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