Discovery of a novel competitive inhibitor of PTP1B by high-throughput screening

Aim: The aim of the present study was to discover novel protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B (PTP1B) inhibitors. We expressed and purified the human PTP1B catalytic domain and set up a molecular level high-throughput screening (HTS) assay to screen a set of 48 000 pure compounds. Results: HTS was finished with an averaged Z' factor of 0.63, and LGH00081, a competitive inhibitor of PTP1B with novel structure and relatively good selectivity for receptor-type protein tyrosine phosphatases, was identified. Conclusion: We established a molecular level assay which is useful for the screening of PTP1B inhibitors with therapeutic potential. The novel competitive PTP1B inhibitor LGH00081 offers a good start for structure modification and cellular functional activity study.