Identification of a peptide inhibitor for the histone methyltransferase WHSC1

<div><p>WHSC1 is a histone methyltransferase that is responsible for mono- and dimethylation of lysine 36 on histone H3 and has been implicated as a driver in a variety of hematological and solid tumors. Currently, there is a complete lack of validated chemical matter for this important drug discovery target. Herein we report on the first fully validated WHSC1 inhibitor, PTD2, a norleucine-containing peptide derived from the histone H4 sequence. This peptide exhibits micromolar affinity towards WHSC1 in biochemical and biophysical assays. Furthermore, a crystal structure was solved with the peptide in complex with SAM and the SET domain of WHSC1L1. This inhibitor is an important first step in creating potent, selective WHSC1 tool compounds for the purposes of understanding the complex biology in relation to human disease.</p></div

Norleucine-containing peptides can inhibit WHSC1 and WHSC1L1 activity in vitro.

<p>Representative peptide inhibitor biochemical dose-response curves for (A) WHSC1 941–1240 and (B) WHSC1L1 1054–1285. Error bars represent the standard deviation of three independent replicates. Resulting IC₅₀ values are reported in <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0197082#pone.0197082.t002" target="_blank">Table 2</a>.</p

Biochemical and biophysical peptide inhibitor potency values for WHSC1 941–1240 and WHSC1L1 1054–1285^a.

<p>Biochemical and biophysical peptide inhibitor potency values for WHSC1 941–1240 and WHSC1L1 1054–1285<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0197082#t002fn001" target="_blank">^a</a>.</p

Representative SPR sensorgrams for PTD2 binding to Avi-tagged WHSC1 941–1240 in the absence or presence of SAM analogs.

<p>WHSC1 was immobilized on a streptavidin-coated chip and peptide inhibitor was either injected in the absence of cofactor (left panel), co-injected with SAH (middle panel), or co-injected with SFG (right panel) utilizing a 2-fold, 10-point dilution series ending at a 100 μM top concentration.</p

Representative sensorgram for PTD2 binding to Avi-tagged WHSC1 941–1240 from single-cycle kinetic SPR measurements.

<p>WHSC1 was immobilized on a streptavidin-coated chip and peptide inhibitor was co-injected with SAM utilizing a 3-fold, 5-point dilution series ending at a 20 μM top concentration. Data reported in <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0197082#pone.0197082.t002" target="_blank">Table 2</a> is presented as the standard deviation of three independent experiments.</p

Isothermal titration calorimetry of PTD2 binding to WHSC1 941–1240.

<p>Upper panel, calorimetric trace for ligand titration; lower panel, binding isotherm from calorimetric trace. WHSC1 concentration in the cell was 10 μM supplemented with 100 μM SAM. PTD2 concentration in the syringe was 100 μM.</p

WHSC1L1 1054–1285 has a similar overall structure in relation to other NSD family proteins and can form a ternary complex with SAM and PTD2.

<p>(A) Superposition of NSD family proteins (green/yellow = WHSC1L1-PTD2 (PDB code = 6CEN); cyan = WHSC1L1 (PDB code = 5UPD); magenta = WHSC1 (PDB code = 5LSU); purple = NSD1 (PDB code = 3OOI). All protein chains are shown as ribbons; SAM and PTD2 are depicted in stick representation. (B) Structure of WHSC1L1-PTD2-SAM ternary complex. Hydrogen bonds are indicated with dashed lines. (C) Superposition of WHSC1L1-PTD2 and SETD2-H3.3 K36M (grey; PDB code = 5JJY).</p

Crystallographic data collection and refinement statistics for WHSC1L1 1054–1285 with PTD2 and SAM.

<p>Crystallographic data collection and refinement statistics for WHSC1L1 1054–1285 with PTD2 and SAM.</p

Synergistic Anti-Tumor Activity of EZH2 Inhibitors and Glucocorticoid Receptor Agonists in Models of Germinal Center Non-Hodgkin Lymphomas

<div><p>Patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) are treated today with a cocktail of drugs referred to as CHOP (Cyclophosphamide, Hydroxyldaunorubicin, Oncovin, and Prednisone). Subsets of patients with NHL of germinal center origin bear oncogenic mutations in the EZH2 histone methyltransferase. Clinical testing of the EZH2 inhibitor EPZ-6438 has recently begun in patients. We report here that combining EPZ-6438 with CHOP in preclinical cell culture and mouse models results in dramatic synergy for cell killing in <i>EZH2</i> mutant germinal center NHL cells. Surprisingly, we observe that much of this synergy is due to Prednisolone – a glucocorticoid receptor agonist (GRag) component of CHOP. Dramatic synergy was observed when EPZ-6438 is combined with Prednisolone alone, and a similar effect was observed with Dexamethasone, another GRag. Remarkably, the anti-proliferative effect of the EPZ-6438+GRag combination extends beyond EZH2 mutant-bearing cells to more generally impact germinal center NHL. These preclinical data reveal an unanticipated biological intersection between GR-mediated gene regulation and EZH2-mediated chromatin remodeling. The data also suggest the possibility of a significant and practical benefit of combining EZH2 inhibitors and GRag that warrants further investigation in a clinical setting.</p></div

The Importance of Being Me: Magic Methyls, Methyltransferase Inhibitors, and the Discovery of Tazemetostat

Posttranslational methylation of histones plays a critical role in gene regulation. Misregulation of histone methylation can lead to oncogenic transformation. Enhancer of Zeste homologue 2 (EZH2) methylates histone 3 at lysine 27 (H3K27) and abnormal methylation of this site is found in many cancers. Tazemetostat, an EHZ2 inhibitor in clinical development, has shown activity in both preclinical models of cancer as well as in patients with lymphoma or INI1-deficient solid tumors. Herein we report the structure–activity relationships from identification of an initial hit in a high-throughput screen through selection of tazemetostat for clinical development. The importance of several methyl groups to the potency of the inhibitors is highlighted as well as the importance of balancing pharmacokinetic properties with potency