1. Academic Validation
  2. Identification of a selective inhibitor of IDH2/R140Q enzyme that induces cellular differentiation in leukemia cells

Identification of a selective inhibitor of IDH2/R140Q enzyme that induces cellular differentiation in leukemia cells

  • Cell Commun Signal. 2020 Apr 3;18(1):55. doi: 10.1186/s12964-020-00536-7.
Jiao Chen 1 2 Jie Yang 1 2 Qingyun Wei 1 2 Ling Weng 1 2 Fei Wu 3 Yun Shi 4 Xiaolan Cheng 1 2 Xueting Cai 1 2 Chunping Hu 1 2 Peng Cao 5 6 7
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Affiliated Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, 100#, Shizi Street, Hongshan Road, Nanjing, 210028, Jiangsu, China.
  • 2 Laboratory of Cellular and Molecular Biology, Jiangsu Province Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, 210028, China.
  • 3 Engineering Research Center of Modern Preparation Technology of TCM of Ministry of Education, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, 201203, China.
  • 4 Institute for Glycomics, Griffith University, Gold Coast Campus, Queensland, 4222, Australia.
  • 5 Affiliated Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, 100#, Shizi Street, Hongshan Road, Nanjing, 210028, Jiangsu, China. cao_peng@njucm.edu.cn.
  • 6 Laboratory of Cellular and Molecular Biology, Jiangsu Province Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, 210028, China. cao_peng@njucm.edu.cn.
  • 7 Department of Pharmacology, School of Pharmacy, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, 210023, China. cao_peng@njucm.edu.cn.
Abstract

Background: IDH2/R140Q mutation is frequently detected in acute myeloid leukemia (AML). It contributes to leukemia via accumulation of oncometabolite D-2-HG. Therefore, mutant IDH2 is a promising target for AML. Discovery of IDH2 mutant inhibitors is in urgent need for AML therapy.

Methods: Structure-based in silico screening and enzymatic assays were used to identify IDH2/R140Q inhibitors. Molecular docking, mutant structure building and molecular dynamics simulations were applied to investigate the inhibitory mechanism and selectivity of CP-17 on IDH2/R140Q. TF-1 cells overexpressed IDH2/R140Q mutant were used to study the effects of CP-17 on cellular proliferation and differentiation, the wild-type TF-1 cells were used as control. The intracellular D-2-HG production was measured by LC-MS. The histone methylation was evaluated with specific Antibodies by western blot.

Results: CP-17, a heterocyclic urea amide compound, was identified as a potent inhibitor of IDH2/R140Q mutant by in silico screening and enzymatic assay. It exhibits excellent inhibitory activity with IC50 of 40.75 nM against IDH2/R140Q. More importantly, it shows poor activity against the wild-type IDH1/2, resulting in a high selectivity of over 55 folds, a dramatic improvement over previously developed inhibitors such as AGI-6780 and Enasidenib. Molecular simulations suggested that CP-17 binds to IDH2/R140Q at the allosteric site within the dimer interface through extensive polar and hydrophobic interactions, locking the Enzyme active sites in open conformations with abolished activity to produce D-2-HG. Cellular assay results demonstrated that CP-17 inhibits intracellular D-2-HG production and suppresses the proliferation of TF-1 erythroleukemia cells carrying IDH2/R140Q mutant. Further, CP-17 also restores the EPO-induced differentiation that is blocked by the mutation and decreases hypermethylation of histone in the TF-1(IDH2/R140Q) cells.

Conclusions: These results indicate that CP-17 can serve as a lead compound for the development of inhibitory drugs against AML with IDH2/R140Q mutant. Video abstract.

Keywords

Acute myeloid leukemia; Cell differentiation; IDH2/R140Q; Molecular simulation; Selective inhibitor.

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