6nm4

Publication Abstract from PubMed

PRDM9 is a PR domain containing protein which trimethylates histone 3 on lysine 4 and 36. Its normal expression is restricted to germ cells and attenuation of its activity results in altered meiotic gene transcription, impairment of double-stranded breaks and pairing between homologous chromosomes. There is growing evidence for a role of aberrant expression of PRDM9 in oncogenesis and genome instability. Here we report the discovery of MRK-740, a potent (IC50: 80 +/- 16 nM), selective and cell-active PRDM9 inhibitor (Chemical Probe). MRK-740 binds in the substrate-binding pocket, with unusually extensive interactions with the cofactor S-adenosylmethionine (SAM), conferring SAM-dependent substrate-competitive inhibition. In cells, MRK-740 specifically and directly inhibits H3K4 methylation at endogenous PRDM9 target loci, whereas the closely related inactive control compound, MRK-740-NC, does not. The discovery of MRK-740 as a chemical probe for the PRDM subfamily of methyltransferases highlights the potential for exploiting SAM in targeting SAM-dependent methyltransferases.

Discovery of a chemical probe for PRDM9.,Allali-Hassani A, Szewczyk MM, Ivanochko D, Organ SL, Bok J, Ho JSY, Gay FPH, Li F, Blazer L, Eram MS, Halabelian L, Dilworth D, Luciani GM, Lima-Fernandes E, Wu Q, Loppnau P, Palmer N, Talib SZA, Brown PJ, Schapira M, Kaldis P, O'Hagan RC, Guccione E, Barsyte-Lovejoy D, Arrowsmith CH, Sanders JM, Kattar SD, Bennett DJ, Nicholson B, Vedadi M Nat Commun. 2019 Dec 17;10(1):5759. doi: 10.1038/s41467-019-13652-x. PMID:31848333^[1]

From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.