CDC25 phosphatases play a key role in cell cycle transitions and are important targets for cancer therapy. Here, we set out to discover novel CDC25 inhibitors. Using a combination of computational methods, we defined a minimal common pharmacophore in established CDC25 inhibitors and performed virtual screening of a proprietary library. Based on the availability of crystal structures for CDC25A and CDC25B, we implemented a molecular docking strategy and carried out hit expansion/optimization. Enzymatic assays revealed that naphthoquinone scaffolds were the most promising CDC25 inhibitors among selected hits. At the molecular level, the compounds acted through a mixed-type mechanism of inhibition of phosphatase activity, involving reversible oxidation of cysteine residues. In 2D cell cultures, the compounds caused arrest of the cell cycle at the G1/S or at the G2/M transition. Mitotic markers analysis and time-lapse microscopy confirmed that CDK1 activity was impaired and that mitotic arrest was followed by death. Finally, the compounds induced differentiation, accompanied by decreased stemness properties, in intestinal crypt stem cell-derived Apc/K-Ras-mutant mouse organoids, and led to tumor regression and reduction of metastatic potential in zebrafish embryo xenografts used as in vivo model.
Pubmed ID: 30718768 RIS Download
Publication data is provided by the National Library of Medicine ® and PubMed ®. Data is retrieved from PubMed ® on a weekly schedule. For terms and conditions see the National Library of Medicine Terms and Conditions.
Public database with millions of high-resolution images showing the spatial distribution of proteins in different normal human tissues and cancer types, as well as different human cell lines. The data is released together with application-specific validation performed for each antibody, including immunohistochemisty, Western blot analysis and, for a large fraction, a protein array assay and immunofluorescent based confocal microscopy. The database has been developed in a gene-centric manner with the inclusion of all human genes predicted from genome efforts. Search functionalities allow for complex queries regarding protein expression profiles, protein classes and chromosome location. Antibodies included have been analyzed using a standardized protocol in a single attempt without further efforts to optimize the procedure and therefore it cannot be excluded that certain observed binding properties are due to technical rather than biological reasons and that further optimization could result in a different outcome. Submission of antibodies: The Swedish Human Proteome Atlas (HPA) program, invites submission of antibodies from both academic and commercial sources to be included in the human protein atlas. All antibodies will be validated by the HPA-program by a standard procedure and antibodies that are accepted will be use in the tissue- profiling program to generate high-resolution immunohistochemistry images representing a wide spectrum of normal tissues and cancer types.
View all literature mentionsCell line HCT 116 is a Cancer cell line with a species of origin Homo sapiens (Human)
View all literature mentions