Journal
NATURE
Volume 468, Issue 7327, Pages 1067-1073Publisher
NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP
DOI: 10.1038/nature09504
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Funding
- Canadian Institutes for Health Research [1097737]
- Canadian Foundation for Innovation
- Genome Canada through the Ontario Genomics Institute
- GlaxoSmithKline
- Karolinska Institutet
- Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation
- Ontario Innovation Trust
- Ontario Ministry for Research and Innovation
- Merck Co., Inc.
- Novartis Research Foundation
- Swedish Agency for Innovation Systems
- Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research
- Wellcome Trust
- University of Notre Dame
- NIGMS [T32-075762]
- DF/HCC
- National Institutes of Health
- Burroughs Wellcome Fund
- Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
- Medical Research Council [G0500905, G9400953] Funding Source: researchfish
- MRC [G9400953, G0500905] Funding Source: UKRI
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Epigenetic proteins are intently pursued targets in ligand discovery. So far, successful efforts have been limited to chromatin modifying enzymes, or so-called epigenetic 'writers' and 'erasers'. Potent inhibitors of histone binding modules have not yet been described. Here we report a cell-permeable small molecule (JQ1) that binds competitively to acetyl-lysine recognition motifs, or bromodomains. High potency and specificity towards a subset of human bromodomains is explained by co-crystal structures with bromodomain and extra-terminal (BET) family member BRD4, revealing excellent shape complementarity with the acetyl-lysine binding cavity. Recurrent translocation of BRD4 is observed in a genetically-defined, incurable subtype of human squamous carcinoma. Competitive binding by JQ1 displaces the BRD4 fusion oncoprotein from chromatin, prompting squamous differentiation and specific antiproliferative effects in BRD4-dependent cell lines and patient-derived xenograft models. These data establish proof-of-concept for targeting protein-protein interactions of epigenetic 'readers', and provide a versatile chemical scaffold for the development of chemical probes more broadly throughout the bromodomain family.
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