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  3. A Small Molecule Targeting Mutagenic Translesion Synthesis Improves Chemotherapy

A Small Molecule Targeting Mutagenic Translesion Synthesis Improves Chemotherapy

  • Cell. 2019 Jun 27;178(1):152-159.e11. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2019.05.028.
Jessica L Wojtaszek 1,  Nimrat Chatterjee 2,  Javaria Najeeb 1,  Azucena Ramos 3,  Minhee Lee 4,  Ke Bian 5,  Jenny Y Xue 6,  Benjamin A Fenton 1,  Hyeri Park 4,  Deyu Li 5,  Michael T Hemann 7,  Jiyong Hong 8,  Graham C Walker 9,  Pei Zhou 10
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Department of Biochemistry, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710, USA.
  • 2 Department of Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
  • 3 The Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
  • 4 Department of Chemistry, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA.
  • 5 Department of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI 02881, USA.
  • 6 Trinity College of Arts & Sciences, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA.
  • 7 The Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA. Electronic address: [email protected].
  • 8 Department of Chemistry, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA; Department of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710, USA. Electronic address: [email protected].
  • 9 Department of Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA. Electronic address: [email protected].
  • 10 Department of Biochemistry, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710, USA. Electronic address: [email protected].
PMID: 31178121 DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2019.05.028
Abstract

Intrinsic and acquired drug resistance and induction of secondary malignancies limit successful chemotherapy. Because mutagenic translesion synthesis (TLS) contributes to chemoresistance as well as treatment-induced mutations, targeting TLS is an attractive avenue for improving chemotherapeutics. However, development of small molecules with high specificity and in vivo efficacy for mutagenic TLS has been challenging. Here, we report the discovery of a small-molecule inhibitor, JH-RE-06, that disrupts mutagenic TLS by preventing recruitment of mutagenic POL ζ. Remarkably, JH-RE-06 targets a nearly featureless surface of REV1 that interacts with the REV7 subunit of POL ζ. Binding of JH-RE-06 induces REV1 dimerization, which blocks the REV1-REV7 interaction and POL ζ recruitment. JH-RE-06 inhibits mutagenic TLS and enhances cisplatin-induced toxicity in cultured human and mouse cell lines. Co-administration of JH-RE-06 with cisplatin suppresses the growth of xenograft human melanomas in mice, establishing a framework for developing TLS inhibitors as a novel class of chemotherapy adjuvants.

Keywords

POL ζ; REV1; REV7; chemoresistance; chemotherapy; cisplatin; translesion synthesis.

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