Discovery of Inhibitors for the Ether Lipid-Generating Enzyme AGPS as Anti-Cancer Agents

ACS Chem Biol. 2015 Nov 20;10(11):2589-97. doi: 10.1021/acschembio.5b00466. Epub 2015 Sep 4.

Abstract

Dysregulated ether lipid metabolism is an important hallmark of cancer cells. Previous studies have reported that lowering ether lipid levels by genetic ablation of the ether lipid-generating enzyme alkyl-glycerone phosphate synthase (AGPS) lowers key structural and oncogenic ether lipid levels and alters fatty acid, glycerophospholipid, and eicosanoid metabolism to impair cancer pathogenicity, indicating that AGPS may be a potential therapeutic target for cancer. In this study, we have performed a small-molecule screen to identify candidate AGPS inhibitors. We have identified several lead AGPS inhibitors and have structurally characterized their interactions with the enzyme and show that these inhibitors bind to distinct portions of the active site. We further show that the lead AGPS inhibitor 1a selectively lowers ether lipid levels in several types of human cancer cells and impairs their cellular survival and migration. We provide here the first report of in situ-active pharmacological tools for inhibiting AGPS, which may provide chemical scaffolds for future AGPS inhibitor development for cancer therapy.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Alkyl and Aryl Transferases / antagonists & inhibitors*
  • Animals
  • Antineoplastic Agents / chemistry
  • Antineoplastic Agents / pharmacology
  • Crystallography, X-Ray
  • Drug Discovery*
  • Drug Stability
  • Enzyme Inhibitors / chemistry
  • Enzyme Inhibitors / pharmacology
  • Humans
  • Models, Molecular
  • Molecular Structure
  • Small Molecule Libraries / chemistry*
  • Small Molecule Libraries / pharmacology*
  • Swine
  • Temperature

Substances

  • Antineoplastic Agents
  • Enzyme Inhibitors
  • Small Molecule Libraries
  • Alkyl and Aryl Transferases
  • alkylglycerone-phosphate synthase

Associated data

  • PDB/5ADZ
  • PDB/5AE1
  • PDB/5AE2
  • PDB/5AE3