Ligation to Scavenging Strategy Enables On-Demand Termination of Targeted Protein Degradation

J Am Chem Soc. 2023 Apr 5;145(13):7218-7229. doi: 10.1021/jacs.2c12809. Epub 2023 Mar 27.

Abstract

Event-driven bifunctional molecules, typified by proteolysis targeting chimera (PROTAC) technology, have been successfully applied in degrading many proteins of interest (POI). Due to the unique catalytic mechanism, PROTACs will induce multiple cycles of degradation until the elimination of the target protein. Here, we propose a versatile "Ligation to scavenging" approach to terminate event-driven degradation for the first time. Ligation to the scavenging system consists of a TCO-modified dendrimer (PAMAM-G5-TCO) and tetrazine-modified PROTACs (Tz-PROTACs). PAMAM-G5-TCO can rapidly scavenge intracellular free PROTACs via an inverse electron demand Diels-Alder reaction and terminate the degradation of certain proteins in living cells. Thus, this work proposes a flexible chemical knockdown approach to adjust the levels of POI on-demand in living cells, which paves the way for controlled target protein degradation.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Ligation
  • Proteins* / metabolism
  • Proteolysis
  • Ubiquitin-Protein Ligases* / metabolism

Substances

  • Proteins
  • Ubiquitin-Protein Ligases