Screening of a Custom-Designed Acid Fragment Library Identifies 1-Phenylpyrroles and 1-Phenylpyrrolidines as Inhibitors of Notum Carboxylesterase Activity

J Med Chem. 2020 Sep 10;63(17):9464-9483. doi: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.0c00660. Epub 2020 Aug 18.

Abstract

The Wnt family of proteins are secreted signaling proteins that play key roles in regulating cellular functions. Recently, carboxylesterase Notum was shown to act as a negative regulator of Wnt signaling by mediating the removal of an essential palmitoleate. Here we disclose two new chemical scaffolds that inhibit Notum enzymatic activity. Our approach was to create a fragment library of 250 acids for screening against Notum in a biochemical assay followed by structure determination by X-ray crystallography. Twenty fragments were identified as hits for Notum inhibition, and 14 of these fragments were shown to bind in the palmitoleate pocket of Notum. Optimization of 1-phenylpyrrole 20, guided by structure-based drug design, identified 20z as the most potent compound from this series. Similarly, the optimization of 1-phenylpyrrolidine 8 gave acid 26. This work demonstrates that inhibition of Notum activity can be achieved by small, drug-like molecules possessing favorable in vitro ADME profiles.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Carboxylic Ester Hydrolases / antagonists & inhibitors*
  • Carboxylic Ester Hydrolases / chemistry
  • Drug Evaluation, Preclinical
  • Enzyme Inhibitors / chemistry*
  • Enzyme Inhibitors / pharmacology*
  • Models, Molecular
  • Protein Conformation
  • Pyrroles / chemistry*
  • Pyrroles / pharmacology*
  • Pyrrolidines / chemistry*
  • Pyrrolidines / pharmacology*

Substances

  • Enzyme Inhibitors
  • Pyrroles
  • Pyrrolidines
  • Carboxylic Ester Hydrolases