2. Academic Validation
  3. Aberrant human ClpP activation disturbs mitochondrial proteome homeostasis to suppress pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma

Aberrant human ClpP activation disturbs mitochondrial proteome homeostasis to suppress pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma

  • Cell Chem Biol. 2022 Sep 15;29(9):1396-1408.e8. doi: 10.1016/j.chembiol.2022.07.002.
Pengyu Wang 1,  Tao Zhang 2,  Xinjing Wang 3,  Hongying Xiao 4,  Huiti Li 5,  Lin-Lin Zhou 1,  Teng Yang 6,  Bingyan Wei 7,  Zeyun Zhu 5,  Lu Zhou 5,  Song Yang 8,  Xiongxiong Lu 3,  Yonghui Zhang 4,  Yue Huang 9,  Jianhua Gan 10,  Cai-Guang Yang 11
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Centre for Chemical Biology, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201203, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
  • 2 State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Centre for Chemical Biology, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201203, China.
  • 3 Research Institute of Pancreatic Disease, Shanghai Institute of Digestive Surgery, Ruijin Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200025, China.
  • 4 School of Pharmaceutical Science, Tsinghua-Peking Center for Life Sciences, MOE Key Laboratory of Bioorganic Phosphorus Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China; Joint Graduate Program of Peking-Tsinghua-NIBS, School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China.
  • 5 Department of Medicinal Chemistry, School of Pharmacy, Fudan University, Shanghai 201203, China.
  • 6 State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Centre for Chemical Biology, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201203, China; State Key Laboratory Breeding Base of Green Pesticide and Agricultural Bioengineering, Key Laboratory of Green Pesticide and Agricultural Bioengineering, Ministry of Education, Center for R&D of Fine Chemicals, Guizhou University, Guiyang 550025, China.
  • 7 State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Centre for Chemical Biology, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201203, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China; School of Pharmaceutical Science and Technology, Hangzhou Institute for Advanced Study, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hangzhou 310024, China.
  • 8 State Key Laboratory Breeding Base of Green Pesticide and Agricultural Bioengineering, Key Laboratory of Green Pesticide and Agricultural Bioengineering, Ministry of Education, Center for R&D of Fine Chemicals, Guizhou University, Guiyang 550025, China.
  • 9 State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Centre for Chemical Biology, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201203, China; School of Pharmaceutical Science and Technology, Hangzhou Institute for Advanced Study, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hangzhou 310024, China.
  • 10 School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China.
  • 11 State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Centre for Chemical Biology, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201203, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China; School of Pharmaceutical Science and Technology, Hangzhou Institute for Advanced Study, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hangzhou 310024, China. Electronic address: [email protected].
PMID: 35905743 DOI: 10.1016/j.chembiol.2022.07.002
Abstract

The mitochondrial caseinolytic protease P (ClpP) is a target candidate for treating leukemia; however, the effects of ClpP modulation on solid tumors have not been adequately explored. Here, we report a potent activator of ClpP with the therapeutic potential for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). We first validated that aberrant ClpP activation leads to growth arrest of PDAC cells and tumors. We then performed high-throughput screening and synthetic optimization, from which we identified ZG111, a potent activator of ClpP. ZG111 binds to ClpP and promotes the ClpP-mediated degradation of respiratory chain complexes. This degradation activates the JNK/c-Jun pathway, induces the endoplasmic reticulum stress response, and consequently causes the growth arrest of PDAC cells. ZG111 also produces inhibitory effects on tumor growth in cell line-derived and patient-derived xenograft mouse models. Altogether, our data demonstrate a promising therapeutic strategy for PDAC suppression through the chemical activation of ClpP.

Keywords

ClpP activator; cancer therapy; mitochondrial proteome homeostasis; oxidative phosphorylation; pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma; respiratory chain complexes; target validation.

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