Rational Chemical Design of Molecular Glue Degraders

Abstract

Targeted protein degradation with molecular glue degraders has arisen as a powerful therapeutic modality for eliminating classically undruggable disease-causing proteins through proteasome-mediated degradation. However, we currently lack rational chemical design principles for converting protein-targeting ligands into molecular glue degraders. To overcome this challenge, we sought to identify a transposable chemical handle that would convert protein-targeting ligands into molecular degraders of their corresponding targets. Using the CDK4/6 inhibitor Ribociclib as a prototype, we identified a covalent handle that, when appended to the exit vector of Ribociclib, induced the proteasome-mediated degradation of CDK4 in cancer cells. Covalent chemoproteomic profiling of this CDK4 degrader revealed covalent interactions with cysteine 32 of the RING family E3 ubiquitin ligase RNF126. Structural modification of our initial covalent scaffold led to an improved CDK4 degrader with the development of a but-2-ene, 1,4-dione ("fumarate") handle that showed improved interactions with RNF126. Thereafter, we worked to identify the minimum covalent motif required for interaction with RNF126, which we then transplanted onto chemically related and un-related protein-targeting ligands. This strategy successfully produced molecules which induced the degradation of several proteins across diverse protein classes, including BRD4, BCR-ABL and c-ABL, PDE5, AR and AR-V7, BTK, LRRK2, and SMARCA2. Our study undercovers a design strategy for converting protein-targeting ligands into covalent molecular glue degraders.