Allali-Hassani, A., Szewczyk, M.M., Ivanochko, D. et al. Discovery of a chemical probe for PRDM9. Nat Commun 10, 5759 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-13652-x
Abstract:
PRDM9 is a PR domain containing protein which trimethylates histone 3 on lysine 4 and 36. Its normal expression is restricted to germ cells and attenuation of its activity results in altered meiotic gene transcription, impairment of double-stranded breaks and pairing between homologous chromosomes. There is growing evidence for a role of aberrant expression of PRDM9 in oncogenesis and genome instability. Here we report the discovery of MRK-740, a potent (IC50: 80 ± 16 nM), selective and cell-active PRDM9 inhibitor (Chemical Probe). MRK-740 binds in the substrate-binding pocket, with unusually extensive interactions with the cofactor S-adenosylmethionine (SAM), conferring SAM-dependent substrate-competitive inhibition. In cells, MRK-740 specifically and directly inhibits H3K4 methylation at endogenous PRDM9 target loci, whereas the closely related inactive control compound, MRK-740-NC, does not. The discovery of MRK-740 as a chemical probe for the PRDM subfamily of methyltransferases highlights the potential for exploiting SAM in targeting SAM-dependent methyltransferases.
License type:
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Funding Info:
The SGC is a registered charity (number 1097737) that receives funds from AbbVie, Bayer Pharma AG, Boehringer Ingelheim, Canada Foundation for Innovation, Eshelman Institute for Innovation, Genome Canada through Ontario Genomics Institute [OGI-055], Innovative Medicines Initiative (EU/EFPIA) [ULTRA-DD grant no. 115766], Janssen, Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, MSD, Novartis Pharma AG, Ontario Ministry of Research, Innovation and Science (MRIS), Pfizer, São Paulo Research Foundation-FAPESP, Takeda, and Wellcome [106169/ZZ14/Z]. This work was supported by funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (PGSD3) to DI. This research used resources of the Advanced Photon Source, a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science User Facility operated for the DOE Office of Science by Argonne National Laboratory under Contract No. DE-AC02-06CH11357. E.G. is supported by NMRC/OFIRG/0032/2017 and NRF-CRP17-2017-06 grants. The authors would like to thank Drs. B.L. Roth and J. Driscoll, the National Institute of Mental Health’s (NIMH) Psychoactive Drug Screening Program, for providing GPCR functional profiles. Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (RGPIN-2015-05939) to C.H.A.