Structural highlights
Disease
CRBN_HUMAN Autosomal recessive nonsyndromic intellectual deficit;Distal monosomy 3p. The disease is caused by mutations affecting the gene represented in this entry.
Function
CRBN_HUMAN Component of some DCX (DDB1-CUL4-X-box) E3 protein ligase complex, a complex that mediates the ubiquitination and subsequent proteasomal degradation of target proteins and is required for limb outgrowth and expression of the fibroblast growth factor FGF8. In the complex, may act as a substrate receptor. Regulates the assembly and neuronal surface expression of large-conductance calcium-activated potassium channels in brain regions involved in memory and learning via its interaction with KCNT1.[1] [2]
Publication Abstract from PubMed
Targeted protein degradation with compounds like proteolysis targeting chimeras (PROTACs) directs disease-associated proteins to the E3 ligase ubiquitin-proteasome system for removal. However, commonly employed E3 ligases such as cereblon (CRBN) are broadly expressed. To metabolically gate PROTAC activity, we developed an enzymatic activation strategy by integrating an O-GlcNAc modification to the cyclimids, ligands derived from the natural motifs recognized by CRBN. These sugar-coated PROTACs (SCPs) were designed using structural analyses of representative cyclimid degraders complexed with CRBN and target protein BRD4. We found that glycosylation of the cyclimid reduced CRBN binding and complex formation with BRD4 until enzymatic removal of the O-GlcNAc moiety by O-GlcNAcase (OGA). The requirement for enzymatic activation is demonstrated by in vitro biochemical binding, cellular degradation, and cell viability assays in engineered and native cell lines. O-GlcNAc is thus an effective mechanism to gate targeted protein degradation modalities that motivates the development of similar strategies to enhance selectivity with other protein modifications.
Enzyme-Activated Sugar-Coated Bifunctional Degraders.,Zhu Q, Fischer G, Cheng SS, Payne NC, Peter D, Mody AC, Arce-Solano S, Shen D, Lin Z, Mazitschek R, Kessler D, Woo CM J Am Chem Soc. 2025 Sep 24;147(38):34672-34680. doi: 10.1021/jacs.5c09843. Epub , 2025 Sep 12. PMID:40937862[3]
From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.
References
- ↑ Higgins JJ, Hao J, Kosofsky BE, Rajadhyaksha AM. Dysregulation of large-conductance Ca2+-activated K+ channel expression in nonsyndromal mental retardation due to a cereblon p.R419X mutation. Neurogenetics. 2008 Jul;9(3):219-23. doi: 10.1007/s10048-008-0128-2. Epub 2008, Apr 15. PMID:18414909 doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10048-008-0128-2
- ↑ Ito T, Ando H, Suzuki T, Ogura T, Hotta K, Imamura Y, Yamaguchi Y, Handa H. Identification of a primary target of thalidomide teratogenicity. Science. 2010 Mar 12;327(5971):1345-50. doi: 10.1126/science.1177319. PMID:20223979 doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1177319
- ↑ Zhu Q, Fischer G, Cheng SS, Payne NC, Peter D, Mody AC, Arce-Solano S, Shen D, Lin Z, Mazitschek R, Kessler D, Woo CM. Enzyme-Activated Sugar-Coated Bifunctional Degraders. J Am Chem Soc. 2025 Sep 24;147(38):34672-34680. PMID:40937862 doi:10.1021/jacs.5c09843
