A small molecule blocking oncogenic protein EWS-FLI1 interaction with RNA helicase A inhibits growth of Ewing's sarcoma
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Open Access
- 5 July 2009
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Springer Science and Business Media LLC in Nature Medicine
- Vol. 15 (7), 750-756
- https://doi.org/10.1038/nm.1983
Abstract
Ewing's sarcoma family tumors are dependent on an oncogenic fusion protein, most commonly EWS-FLI1, which interacts with RNA helicase A (RHA) in transcriptional complexes. Erkizan et al. have identified a small molecule that inhibits the interaction of RHA with EWS-FLI1 and impairs the growth of Ewing's sarcoma xenografts in mice. The findings provide evidence that targeting tumor-specific transcription factors may be a feasible approach to treating cancer. Many sarcomas and leukemias carry nonrandom chromosomal translocations encoding tumor-specific mutant fusion transcription factors that are essential to their molecular pathogenesis. Ewing's sarcoma family tumors (ESFTs) contain a characteristic t(11;22) translocation leading to expression of the oncogenic fusion protein EWS-FLI1. EWS-FLI1 is a disordered protein that precludes standard structure-based small-molecule inhibitor design. EWS-FLI1 binding to RNA helicase A (RHA) is important for its oncogenic function. We therefore used surface plasmon resonance screening to identify compounds that bind EWS-FLI1 and might block its interaction with RHA. YK-4-279, a derivative of the lead compound from the screen, blocks RHA binding to EWS-FLI1, induces apoptosis in ESFT cells and reduces the growth of ESFT orthotopic xenografts. These findings provide proof of principle that inhibiting the interaction of mutant cancer-specific transcription factors with the normal cellular binding partners required for their oncogenic activity provides a promising strategy for the development of uniquely effective, tumor-specific anticancer agents.Keywords
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