title: A versatile synthetic dimerizer for the regulation of protein-protein interactions.
abstract: The use of low molecular weight organic compounds to induce dimerization or oligomerization of engineered proteins has wide-ranging utility in biological research as well as in gene and cell therapies. Chemically induced dimerization can be used to activate intracellular signal transduction pathways or to control the activity of a bipartite transcription factor. Dimerizer systems based on the natural products cyclosporin, FK506, rapamycin, and coumermycin have been described. However, owing to the complexity of these compounds, adjusting their binding or pharmacological properties by chemical modification is difficult. We have investigated several families of readily prepared, totally synthetic, cell-permeable dimerizers composed of ligands for human FKBP12. These molecules have significantly reduced complexity and greater adaptability than natural product dimers. We report here the efficacies of several of these new synthetic compounds in regulating two types of protein dimerization events inside engineered cells--induction of apoptosis through dimerization of engineered Fas proteins and regulation of transcription through dimerization of transcription factor fusion proteins. One dimerizer in particular, AP1510, proved to be exceptionally potent and versatile in all experimental contexts tested.
authors.affiliation: ARIAD Gene Therapeutics, Inc., 26 Landsdowne Street, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
authors.forename: J F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Amara
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Clackson
authors.forename: V M
authors.initials: VM
authors.lastname: Rivera
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Keenan
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Natesan
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pollock
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: N L
authors.initials: NL
authors.lastname: Courage
authors.forename: D A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Holt
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gilman
mesh_terms: D017209:Apoptosis; D002352:Carrier Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D002460:Cell Line; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D019281:Dimerization; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D006360:Heat-Shock Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D007700:Kinetics; D011506:Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D022021:Tacrolimus Binding Proteins; D015533:Transcriptional Activation; D019014:fas Receptor / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D002352:Carrier Proteins; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D006360:Heat-Shock Proteins; D011506:Proteins; D019014:fas Receptor; D022021:Tacrolimus Binding Proteins