title: Development of selective, potent RabGGTase inhibitors.
abstract: Members of the Ras superfamily of small GTPases are frequently mutated in cancer. Therefore, inhibitors have been developed to address the acitivity of these GTPases by inhibiting their prenylating enzymes FTase, GGTase I, and RabGGTase. In contrast to FTase and GGTase I, only a handful of RabGGTase inhibitors have been developed. The most active RabGGTase inhibitor known until recently was an FTase inhibitor which hit RabGGTase as an off-target. We recently reported our efforts to tune the selectivity of these inhibitors toward RabGGTase. Here we describe an extended set of selective inhibitors. The requirements for selective RabGGTase inhibitors are described in detail, guided by multiple crystal structures. In order to relate in vitro and cellular activity, a high-throughput assay system to detect the attachment of [(3)H]geranylgeranyl groups to Rab was used. Selective RabGGTase inhibition allows the establishment of novel drug discovery programs aimed at the development of anticancer therapeutics.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Biology, Max Planck Institute of Molecular Physiology, Otto-Hahn-Strasse 11, 44227 Dortmund, Germany.
authors.forename: E Anouk
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Stigter
authors.forename: Zhong
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.forename: Robin S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Bon
authors.forename: Yao-Wen
authors.initials: YW
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Axel
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Choidas
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Wolf
authors.forename: Sascha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Menninger
authors.forename: Herbert
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Waldmann
authors.forename: Wulf
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Blankenfeldt
authors.forename: Roger S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Goody
mesh_terms: D019883:Alkyl and Aryl Transferases / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors* / Q000737:chemistry; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000494:pharmacology; D001381:Azepines / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000494:pharmacology; D020134:Catalytic Domain; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000187:drug effects; D018360:Crystallography, X-Ray; D004354:Drug Screening Assays, Antitumor; D006801:Humans; D008958:Models, Molecular; D011487:Protein Conformation; D017368:Protein Prenylation; D054852:Small Molecule Libraries; D013329:Structure-Activity Relationship
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D001381:Azepines; D054852:Small Molecule Libraries; D019883:Alkyl and Aryl Transferases; C075607:Rab geranylgeranyltransferase; C083291:geranylgeranyltransferase type-I; C064911:p21(ras) farnesyl-protein transferase