Discovery of a Novel Inhibitor of the Hedgehog Signaling Pathway through Cell-based Compound Discovery and Target Prediction

Cell-based assays enable monitoring of small-molecule bioactivity in a target-agnostic manner and help uncover new biological mechanisms. Subsequent identification and validation of the small-molecule targets, typically employing proteomics techniques, is very challenging and limited, in particular if the targets are membrane proteins. Herein, we demonstrate that the combination of cell-based bioactive-compound discovery with cheminformatic target prediction may provide an efficient approach to accelerate the process and render target identification and validation more efficient. Using a cell-based assay, we identified the pyrazolo-imidazole smoothib as a new inhibitor of hedgehog (Hh) signaling and an antagonist of the protein smoothened (SMO) with a novel chemotype. Smoothib targets the heptahelical bundle of SMO, prevents its ciliary localization, reduces the expression of Hh target genes, and suppresses the growth of Ptch(+/-) medulloblastoma cells.