MultiBacMam Bimolecular Fluorescence Complementation (BiFC) tool-kit identifies new small-molecule inhibitors of the CDK5-p25 protein-protein interaction (PPI)

Sci Rep. 2018 Mar 23;8(1):5083. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-23516-x.

Abstract

Protein-protein interactions (PPIs) are at the core of virtually all biological processes in cells. Consequently, targeting PPIs is emerging at the forefront of drug discovery. Cellular assays which closely recapitulate native conditions in vivo are instrumental to understand how small molecule drugs can modulate such interactions. We have integrated MultiBacMam, a baculovirus-based mammalian gene delivery tool we developed, with bimolecular fluorescence complementation (BiFC), giving rise to a highly efficient system for assay development, identification and characterization of PPI modulators. We used our system to analyze compounds impacting on CDK5-p25 PPI, which is implicated in numerous diseases including Alzheimer's. We evaluated our tool-kit with the known inhibitor p5T, and we established a mini-screen to identify compounds that modulate this PPI in dose-response experiments. Finally, we discovered several compounds disrupting CDK5-p25 PPI, which had not been identified by other screening or structure-based methods before.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • COS Cells
  • Cell Line
  • Chlorocebus aethiops
  • Cyclin-Dependent Kinase 5 / antagonists & inhibitors
  • Cyclin-Dependent Kinase 5 / metabolism*
  • Drug Discovery / methods
  • Drug Evaluation, Preclinical / methods*
  • Fluorescence
  • Humans
  • Molecular Docking Simulation
  • Nerve Tissue Proteins / antagonists & inhibitors
  • Nerve Tissue Proteins / metabolism*
  • Protein Interaction Maps / drug effects*
  • Small Molecule Libraries / chemistry
  • Small Molecule Libraries / pharmacology*

Substances

  • Nerve Tissue Proteins
  • Small Molecule Libraries
  • TPPP protein, human
  • Cyclin-Dependent Kinase 5