Development of Photolenalidomide for Cellular Target Identification

J Am Chem Soc. 2022 Jan 12;144(1):606-614. doi: 10.1021/jacs.1c11920. Epub 2022 Jan 3.

Abstract

The thalidomide analogue lenalidomide (Len) is a clinical therapeutic that alters the substrate engagement of cereblon (CRBN), a substrate receptor for the CRL4 E3 ubiquitin ligase. Here, we report the development of photolenalidomide (pLen), a Len probe with a photoaffinity label and enrichment handle, designed for target identification by chemical proteomics. pLen preserves the substrate degradation profile, phenotypic antiproliferative and immunomodulatory properties of Len, and enhances interactions with the thalidomide-binding domain of CRBN, as revealed by binding site mapping and molecular modeling. Using pLen, we captured the known targets IKZF1 and CRBN from multiple myeloma MM.1S cells and further identified a new target, eukaryotic translation initiation factor 3 subunit i (eIF3i), from HEK293T cells. eIF3i is directly labeled by pLen and forms a ternary complex with CRBN in the presence of Len across several epithelial cell lines but is itself not ubiquitylated or degraded. These data point to the existence of a broader array of targets induced by ligands to CRBN that may or may not be degraded, which can be identified by the highly translatable application of pLen to additional biological systems.

Publication types

  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing / antagonists & inhibitors
  • Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing / metabolism
  • Cell Line, Tumor
  • Cell Proliferation / drug effects
  • Eukaryotic Initiation Factor-3 / chemistry
  • Eukaryotic Initiation Factor-3 / metabolism
  • HEK293 Cells
  • Humans
  • Ikaros Transcription Factor / metabolism
  • Lenalidomide / chemistry
  • Lenalidomide / pharmacology
  • Models, Molecular
  • Photoaffinity Labels / chemistry
  • Thalidomide / analogs & derivatives
  • Thalidomide / chemistry
  • Thalidomide / pharmacology
  • Ubiquitin-Protein Ligases* / metabolism

Substances

  • Ubiquitin-Protein Ligases
  • Lenalidomide
  • CRBN protein, human
  • Eukaryotic Initiation Factor-3
  • Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing
  • Photoaffinity Labels
  • Thalidomide
  • Ikaros Transcription Factor
  • IKZF1 protein, human