Proton pump inhibitors selectively suppress MLL rearranged leukemia cells via disrupting MLL1-WDR5 protein-protein interaction
- Eur J Med Chem. 2020 Feb 15:188:112027. doi: 10.1016/j.ejmech.2019.112027.
- 1. State Key Laboratory of Natural Medicines and Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Drug Design and Optimization, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing, 210009, China; Department of Medicinal Chemistry, School of Pharmacy, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 211166, China.
- 2. State Key Laboratory of Natural Medicines and Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Drug Design and Optimization, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing, 210009, China.
- 3. State Key Laboratory of Natural Medicines and Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Drug Design and Optimization, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing, 210009, China; Department of Medicinal Chemistry, School of Pharmacy, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing, 210009, China. Electronic address: [email protected].
- 4. State Key Laboratory of Natural Medicines and Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Drug Design and Optimization, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing, 210009, China; Department of Medicinal Chemistry, School of Pharmacy, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing, 210009, China. Electronic address: [email protected].
- 5. State Key Laboratory of Natural Medicines and Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Drug Design and Optimization, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing, 210009, China; Department of Medicinal Chemistry, School of Pharmacy, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing, 210009, China. Electronic address: [email protected].
Genetic rearrangements of the mixed lineage leukemia (MLL) leading to oncogenic MLL-fusion proteins (MLL-FPs). MLL-FPs occur in about 10% of acute leukemias and are associated with dismal prognosis and treatment outcomes which emphasized the need for new therapeutic strategies. In present study, by a cell-based screening in-house compound collection, we disclosed that Rabeprazole specially inhibited the proliferation of leukemia cells harboring MLL-FPs with little toxicity to non-MLL cells. Mechanism study showed Rabeprazole down-regulated the transcription of MLL-FPs related Hox and Meis1 genes and effectively inhibited MLL1 H3K4 methyltransferase (HMT) activity in MV4-11 cells bearing MLL-AF4 fusion protein. Displacement of MLL1 probe from WDR5 protein suggested that Rabeprazole may inhibit MLL1 HMT activity through disturbing MLL1-WDR5 protein-protein interaction. Moreover, other Proton Pump inhibitors (PPIs) also indicated the inhibition activity of MLL1-WDR5. Preliminary SARs showed the structural characteristics of PPIs were also essential for the activities of MLL1-WDR5 inhibition. Our results indicated the drug reposition of PPIs for MLL-rearranged leukemias and provided new insight for further optimization of targeting MLL1 methyltransferase activity, the MLL1-WDR5 interaction or WDR5.