Discovery of selective ligands for telomeric RNA G-quadruplexes (TERRA) through 19F-NMR based fragment screening

ACS Chem Biol. 2014 Jul 18;9(7):1559-66. doi: 10.1021/cb500100z. Epub 2014 May 28.

Abstract

Telomeric repeat-containing RNA (TERRA) is a novel and very attractive antitumoral target. Here, we report the first successful application of (19)F-NMR fragment-based screening to identify chemically diverse compounds that bind to an RNA molecule such as TERRA. We have built a library of 355 fluorinated fragments, and checked their interaction with a long telomeric RNA as a target molecule. The screening resulted in the identification of 20 hits (hit rate of 5.6%). For a number of binders, their interaction with TERRA was confirmed by (19)F- and (1)H NMR as well as by CD melting experiments. We have also explored the selectivity of the ligands for RNA G-quadruplexes and found that some of the hits do not interact with other nucleic acids such as tRNA and duplex DNA and, most importantly, favor the propeller-like parallel conformation in telomeric DNA G-quadruplexes. This suggests a selective recognition of this particular quadruplex topology and that different ligands may recognize specific sites in propeller-like parallel G-quadruplexes. Such features make some of the resulting binders promising lead compounds for fragment based drug discovery.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Antineoplastic Agents / chemistry*
  • Antineoplastic Agents / pharmacology
  • Base Sequence
  • Drug Discovery
  • G-Quadruplexes / drug effects*
  • Halogenation
  • Humans
  • Ligands
  • Models, Molecular
  • Neoplasms / drug therapy
  • Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, Biomolecular
  • RNA / chemistry
  • RNA / metabolism*
  • Repetitive Sequences, Nucleic Acid / drug effects
  • Small Molecule Libraries / chemistry*
  • Small Molecule Libraries / pharmacology
  • Telomere / chemistry
  • Telomere / metabolism

Substances

  • Antineoplastic Agents
  • Ligands
  • Small Molecule Libraries
  • RNA