2. Academic Validation
  3. A Small-Molecule Anti-secretagogue of PCSK9 Targets the 80S Ribosome to Inhibit PCSK9 Protein Translation

A Small-Molecule Anti-secretagogue of PCSK9 Targets the 80S Ribosome to Inhibit PCSK9 Protein Translation

  • Cell Chem Biol. 2016 Nov 17;23(11):1362-1371. doi: 10.1016/j.chembiol.2016.08.016.
Donna N Petersen 1,  Julie Hawkins 2,  Wanida Ruangsiriluk 2,  Kimberly A Stevens 2,  Bruce A Maguire 1,  Thomas N O'Connell 1,  Benjamin N Rocke 1,  Markus Boehm 3,  Roger B Ruggeri 1,  Tim Rolph 2,  David Hepworth 3,  Paula M Loria 4,  Philip A Carpino 5
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Medicine Design, Worldwide Research & Development, Pfizer, Inc., Eastern Point Road, Groton, CT 06340, USA.
  • 2 Cardiovascular and Metabolic Diseases Research Unit, Worldwide Research & Development, Pfizer, Inc., 610 Main Street, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
  • 3 Medicine Design, Worldwide Research & Development, Pfizer, Inc., 610 Main Street, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
  • 4 Medicine Design, Worldwide Research & Development, Pfizer, Inc., Eastern Point Road, Groton, CT 06340, USA. Electronic address: paula.m.loria@pfizer.com.
  • 5 Medicine Design, Worldwide Research & Development, Pfizer, Inc., 610 Main Street, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA. Electronic address: philip.a.carpino@pfizer.com.
PMID: 27746128 DOI: 10.1016/j.chembiol.2016.08.016
Abstract

Proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) is a secreted protein that downregulates low-density lipoprotein (LDL) receptor (LDL-R) levels on the surface of hepatocytes, resulting in decreased clearance of LDL-cholesterol (LDL-C). Phenotypic screening of a small-molecule compound collection was used to identify an inhibitor of PCSK9 secretion, (R)-N-(isoquinolin-1-yl)-3-(4-methoxyphenyl)-N-(piperidin-3-yl)propanamide (R-IMPP), which was shown to stimulate uptake of LDL-C in hepatoma cells by increasing LDL-R levels, without altering levels of secreted transferrin. Systematic investigation of the mode of action revealed that R-IMPP did not decrease PCSK9 transcription or increase PCSK9 degradation, but instead caused transcript-dependent inhibition of PCSK9 translation. In support of this surprising mechanism of action, we found that R-IMPP was able to selectively bind to human, but not E. coli, ribosomes. This study opens a new avenue for the development of drugs that modulate the activity of target proteins by mechanisms involving inhibition of eukaryotic translation.

Keywords

LDL; LDL receptor; PCSK9; R-IMPP; anti-secretagogue; high throughput screen (HTS); phenotypic screening; ribosome; secretion; translation.

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