Design of a potent, selective, and brain-penetrant inhibitor of Wnt-deactivating enzyme Notum by optimization of a crystallographic fragment hit
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Nicky J Willis William Mahy James Sipthorp Yuguang Zhao Hannah L Woodward Benjamin N Atkinson Elliott D Bayle Fredrik Svensson Sarah Frew Fiona Jeganathan Amy Monaghan Stefano Benvegnù Sarah Jolly Luca Vecchia Reinis R Ruza Svend Kjaer Steven Howell Bram Snijders Magda Bictash Patricia C Salinas Jean-Paul Vincent E Yvonne Jones Paul Whiting Paul V FishAbstract
Notum is a carboxylesterase that suppresses Wnt signaling through deacylation of an essential palmitoleate group on Wnt proteins. There is a growing understanding of the role Notum plays in human diseases such as colorectal cancer and Alzheimer's disease, supporting the need to discover improved inhibitors, especially for use in models of neurodegeneration. Here, we have described the discovery and profile of 8l (ARUK3001185) as a potent, selective, and brain-penetrant inhibitor of Notum activity suitable for oral dosing in rodent models of disease. Crystallographic fragment screening of the Diamond-SGC Poised Library for binding to Notum, supported by a biochemical enzyme assay to rank inhibition activity, identified 6a and 6b as a pair of outstanding hits. Fragment development of 6 delivered 8l that restored Wnt signaling in the presence of Notum in a cell-based reporter assay. Assessment in pharmacology screens showed 8l to be selective against serine hydrolases, kinases, and drug targets.
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Journal Journal of Medicinal Chemistry
Volume 65
Issue number 10
Pages 7212-7230
Available online
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Publisher website (DOI) 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.2c00162
Europe PubMed Central 35536179
Pubmed 35536179
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