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A New Drug Discovery Platform: Application to DNA Polymerase Eta and Apurinic/Apyrimidinic Endonuclease 1

Journal Article · · International Journal of Molecular Sciences (Online)
 [1];  [2];  [2];  [2];  [3];  [4];  [5];  [2];  [6];  [7];  [7];  [1];  [8]
  1. XPose Therapeutics, Inc., San Carlos, CA (United States); Accelero Biostructures, Inc., San Carlos, CA (United States)
  2. XPose Therapeutics, Inc., San Carlos, CA (United States)
  3. University of South Alabama, Mobile, AL (United States)
  4. University of South Alabama, Mobile, AL (United States); Brown University, Providence, RI (United States)
  5. XPose Therapeutics, Inc., San Carlos, CA (United States); Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN (United States)
  6. XPose Therapeutics, Inc., San Carlos, CA (United States); Mid-Atlantic BioTherapeutics, Inc., Doylestown, PA (United States)
  7. Rice University, Houston, TX (United States)
  8. XPose Therapeutics, Inc., San Carlos, CA (United States); Hasselt University, Diepenbeek (Belgium); Belgium & Boost Scientific, Heusden-Zolder (Belgium)

The ability to quickly discover reliable hits from screening and rapidly convert them into lead compounds, which can be verified in functional assays, is central to drug discovery. The expedited validation of novel targets and the identification of modulators to advance to preclinical studies can significantly increase drug development success. Our SaXPyTM (“SAR by X-ray Poses Quickly”) platform, which is applicable to any X-ray crystallography-enabled drug target, couples the established methods of protein X-ray crystallography and fragment-based drug discovery (FBDD) with advanced computational and medicinal chemistry to deliver small molecule modulators or targeted protein degradation ligands in a short timeframe. Our approach, especially for elusive or “undruggable” targets, allows for (i) hit generation; (ii) the mapping of protein–ligand interactions; (iii) the assessment of target ligandability; (iv) the discovery of novel and potential allosteric binding sites; and (v) hit-to-lead execution. These advances inform chemical tractability and downstream biology and generate novel intellectual property. We describe here the application of SaXPy in the discovery and development of DNA damage response inhibitors against DNA polymerase eta (Pol η or POLH) and apurinic/apyrimidinic endonuclease 1 (APE1 or APEX1). Notably, our SaXPy platform allowed us to solve the first crystal structures of these proteins bound to small molecules and to discover novel binding sites for each target.

Research Organization:
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC), Menlo Park, CA (United States). Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource (SSRL)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-76SF00515
OSTI ID:
2471709
Journal Information:
International Journal of Molecular Sciences (Online), Journal Name: International Journal of Molecular Sciences (Online) Journal Issue: 23 Vol. 24; ISSN 1422-0067
Publisher:
MDPICopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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