1. Academic Validation
  2. Discovery of High-Affinity Small-Molecule Binders of the Epigenetic Reader YEATS4

Discovery of High-Affinity Small-Molecule Binders of the Epigenetic Reader YEATS4

  • J Med Chem. 2023 Jan 12;66(1):460-472. doi: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.2c01421.
Allyn T Londregan 1 Karlygash Aitmakhanova 2 James Bennett 2 Laura J Byrnes 3 Daniel P Canterbury 3 Xiayun Cheng 4 Thomas Christott 2 Jennifer Clemens 3 Steven B Coffey 3 João M Dias 3 Matthew S Dowling 3 Gillian Farnie 2 Oleg Fedorov 2 Kimberly F Fennell 3 Vicki Gamble 2 Carina Gileadi 2 Charline Giroud 2 Michael R Harris 3 Brett D Hollingshead 4 Kilian Huber 2 Magdalena Korczynska 4 Kimberly Lapham 3 Paula M Loria 3 Arjun Narayanan 4 Dafydd R Owen 4 Brigitt Raux 2 Parag V Sahasrabudhe 3 Roger B Ruggeri 3 Laura Díaz Sáez 2 Ingrid A Stock 3 Benjamin A Thuma 3 Andy Tsai 3 Alison E Varghese 3
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Pfizer Medicine Design, Pfizer Worldwide Research and Development, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, United States.
  • 2 Centre for Medicines Discovery, NDM, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 7DQ, U.K.
  • 3 Pfizer Worldwide Research and Development, Groton, Connecticut 06340, United States.
  • 4 Pfizer Worldwide Research and Development, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, United States.
Abstract

A series of small-molecule YEATS4 binders have been discovered as part of an ongoing research effort to generate high-quality probe molecules for emerging and/or challenging epigenetic targets. Analogues such as 4d and 4e demonstrate excellent potency and selectivity for YEATS4 binding versus YEATS1,2,3 and exhibit good physical properties and in vitro safety profiles. A new X-ray crystal structure confirms direct binding of this chemical series to YEATS4 at the lysine acetylation recognition site of the YEATS domain. Multiple analogues engage YEATS4 with nanomolar potency in a whole-cell nanoluciferase bioluminescent resonance energy transfer assay. Rodent pharmacokinetic studies demonstrate the competency of several analogues as in vivo-capable binders.

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