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  2. Induced protein degradation of histone deacetylases 3 (HDAC3) by proteolysis targeting chimera (PROTAC)

Induced protein degradation of histone deacetylases 3 (HDAC3) by proteolysis targeting chimera (PROTAC)

  • Eur J Med Chem. 2020 Dec 15;208:112800. doi: 10.1016/j.ejmech.2020.112800.
Fangyuan Cao 1 Sander de Weerd 1 Deng Chen 1 Martijn R H Zwinderman 1 Petra E van der Wouden 1 Frank J Dekker 2
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Chemical and Pharmaceutical Biology, Groningen Research Institute of Pharmacy, University of Groningen, the Netherlands.
  • 2 Chemical and Pharmaceutical Biology, Groningen Research Institute of Pharmacy, University of Groningen, the Netherlands. Electronic address: f.j.dekker@rug.nl.
Abstract

Histone deacetylases (HDACs) play important roles in inflammatory diseases like asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Unravelling of and interfering with the functions of specific isoenzymes contributing to inflammation provides opportunities for drug development. Here we synthesize proteolysis targeting chimeras (PROTACs) for degradation of class I HDACs in which o-aminoanilide-based class I HDAC inhibitors are tethered to the Cereblon ligand pomalidomide. One of these PROTACs, denoted HD-TAC7, showed promising degradation effects for HDAC3 with a DC50 value of 0.32 μM. In contrast to biochemical evidence using siRNA, HD-TAC7 showed a minimal effect on gene expression in LPS/IFNγ-stimulated RAW 264.7 macrophages. The lack of effect can be attributed to downregulation of the NF-κB subunit p65, which is a known side effect of pomalidomide treatment. Altogether, we describe a novel PROTAC that enables selective downregulation of HDAC3 levels, however we note that concomitant downregulation of the NF-κB subunit p65 can confound the biological outcome.

Keywords

Cereblon (CRBN) ligand; Class I histone Deacetylases (HDACs); NF-κB subunit p65; Pomalidomide; Proteolysis targeting chimera (PROTAC).

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