PMID: 21612924

Authors:

Kung PP, Sinnema PJ, Richardson P, Hickey MJ, Gajiwala KS, Wang F, Huang B, McClellan G, Wang J, Maegley K, Bergqvist S, Mehta PP, Kania R

Title:

Design strategies to target crystallographic waters applied to the Hsp90 molecular chaperone.

Journal:

Bioorg Med Chem Lett. 2011 Jun 15;21(12):3557-62. Epub 2011 May 5.

Abstract:

A series of novel and potent small molecule Hsp90 inhibitors was optimized using X-ray crystal structures. These compounds bind in a deep pocket of the Hsp90 enzyme that is partially comprised by residues Asn51 and Ser52. Displacement of several water molecules observed crystallographically in this pocket using rule-based strategies led to significant improvements in inhibitor potency. An optimized inhibitor (compound 17) exhibited potent Hsp90 inhibition in ITC, biochemical, and cell-based assays (K(d)=1.3nM, K(i)=15nM, and cellular IC(50)=0.5muM).