摘要
UBE2C(Ubiquitin conjugating enzyme E2 C), a key regulator of cell cycle progression, is a promising target for discovery of antitumor agents. However, it is challenging to develop inhibitors of UBE2C owing to its lack of “druggable” pockets. Bio PROTACs(biological proteolysis targeting chimeras) are a kind of protein-based degraders by fusing an adaptor to a subunit of E3 ligase for ubiquitination and subsequent proteasome-dependent degradation of target protein. We report herein the design and biological evaluation of a UBE2C-targeting bio PROTAC based on the NEL(novel E3 ligase) domain of bacterial E3 ligase Ipa H9.8 and the UBE2C-binding WHB(winged-helix B) domain of APC_(2)(anaphase promoting complex subunit 2). The in vitro ubiquitination test and Mass Spectrometry analysis showed that the bio PROTAC could transfer ubiquitin to surface exposed lysines on UBE2C and catalyzed the formation of polyubiquitin chains. In addition, the transient co-expression experiment showed that the bio PROTAC could promote proteasomal degradation of heterologous UBE2C and rescue its downstream substrates in mammalian cells.
基金
supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 21907006 to Yuxin Ye)
the Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province (No. 2020A1515011544to Yuxin Ye)
the Shenzhen Science and Technology Innovation Committee (No. JCYJ20180302150357309 to Yuxin Ye, and No.JCYJ20200109140401752 to Hao Huang)。
