Abstract
The B-cell lymphoma 2 (BCL-2) protein family plays a pivotal role in regulating the apoptosis process. BCL-2, as an antiapoptotic protein in this family, mediates apoptosis resistance and is an ideal target for cell death strategies in cancer therapy. Traditional treatment modalities target BCL-2 by occupying the hydrophobic pocket formed by BCL-2 homology (BH) domains 1–3, while in recent years, the BH4 domain of BCL-2 has also been considered an attractive novel target. Herein, we describe the discovery and identification of DC-B01, a novel BCL-2 inhibitor targeting the BH4 domain, through virtual screening combined with biophysical and biochemical methods. Our results from surface plasmon resonance and cellular thermal shift assay confirmed that the BH4 domain is responsible for the interaction between BCL-2 and DC-B01. As evidenced by further cell-based experiments, DC-B01 induced cell killing in a BCL-2-dependent manner and triggered apoptosis via the mitochondria-mediated pathway. DC-B01 disrupted the BCL-2/c-Myc interaction and consequently suppressed the transcriptional activity of c-Myc. Moreover, DC-B01 inhibited tumor growth in vivo in a BCL‑2‑dependent manner. Collectively, these results indicate that DC-B01 is a promising BCL-2 BH4 domain inhibitor with the potential for further development.
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Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the Lingang Laboratory (LG202102-01-02; LG-QS-202204-01), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (81903639), the Shanghai Municipal Science and Technology Major Project, the Natural Science Foundation of Shanghai (22ZR1474300) and the Shanghai Sailing Program (19YF1457800).
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MYZ and SLZ designed the research. MYZ, SLZ, and HLJ supervised the study. JYZ and RRY developed the methodology. JYZ, RRY, JC, JS, ZSF, YHZ, and CHL acquired and analyzed the data. SLZ, JYZ, RRY, and JC wrote and reviewed the manuscript. All authors discussed the study.
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Zhou, Jy., Yang, Rr., Chang, J. et al. Discovery and identification of a novel small molecule BCL-2 inhibitor that binds to the BH4 domain. Acta Pharmacol Sin 44, 475–485 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41401-022-00936-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41401-022-00936-0
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