Persistent Degradation of HER2 Protein by Hybrid nanoPROTAC for Programmed Cell Death

J Med Chem. 2023 May 11;66(9):6263-6273. doi: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.3c00013. Epub 2023 Apr 24.

Abstract

Proteolysis-targeting chimera (PROTAC) has emerged as a promising strategy for degrading proteins of interest. Peptide-based PROTACs offer several advantages over small-molecule-based PROTACs, such as high specificity, low toxicity, and large protein-protein interaction surfaces. However, peptide-based PROTACs have several intrinsic shortcomings that strongly limit their application including poor cell permeability and low stability and potency. Herein, we designed a nanosized hybrid PROTAC (GNCTACs) to target and degrade human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) in tumor cells. Gold nanoclusters (GNCs) were utilized to connect HER2-targeting peptides and cereblon (CRBN)-targeting ligands. GNCTACs could overcome the intrinsic barriers of peptide-based PROTACs, efficiently delivering HER2-targeting peptides in the cytoplasm and protecting them from degradation. Furthermore, a fasting-mimicking diet was applied to enhance the cellular uptake and proteasome activity. Consequently, more than 95% of HER2 in SKBR3 cells was degraded by GNCTACs, and the degradation lasted for at least 72 h, showing a catalytic-like reaction.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Apoptosis*
  • Humans
  • Proteins* / metabolism
  • Proteolysis
  • Proteolysis Targeting Chimera
  • Ubiquitin-Protein Ligases / metabolism

Substances

  • Proteins
  • Ubiquitin-Protein Ligases
  • Proteolysis Targeting Chimera
  • ERBB2 protein, human