Q1 · BIOLOGY
Article
Author: Samuels, Eric R ; Divlianska, Daniela B ; Fakih, Marwan ; Chung, Thomas D Y ; Ouyang, S Xiaohu ; Colayco, Sharon A ; Du, Li ; Li, Yi-Jia ; Sergienko, Eduard ; Miao, Yunan ; Lee, Terry D ; Aldana-Masangkay, Grace ; Bobkova, Ekaterina V ; Vega, Ramir ; Li, Baozong ; Chen, Yuan ; Wang, Jianghai
Ubiquitin-like (Ubl) post-translational modifications are potential targets for therapeutics. However, the only known mechanism for inhibiting a Ubl-activating enzyme is through targeting its ATP-binding site. Here we identify an allosteric inhibitory site in the small ubiquitin-like modifier (SUMO)-activating enzyme (E1). This site was unexpected because both it and analogous sites are deeply buried in all previously solved structures of E1s of ubiquitin-like modifiers (Ubl). The inhibitor not only suppresses SUMO E1 activity, but also enhances its degradation in vivo, presumably due to a conformational change induced by the compound. In addition, the lead compound increased the expression of miR-34b and reduced c-Myc levels in lymphoma and colorectal cancer cell lines and a colorectal cancer xenograft mouse model. Identification of this first-in-class inhibitor of SUMO E1 is a major advance in modulating Ubl modifications for therapeutic aims.