High-Affinity Small-Molecule Inhibitors of the Menin-Mixed Lineage Leukemia (MLL) Interaction Closely Mimic a Natural Protein-Protein Interaction.
He, S., Senter, T.J., Pollock, J., Han, C., Upadhyay, S.K., Purohit, T., Gogliotti, R.D., Lindsley, C.W., Cierpicki, T., Stauffer, S.R., Grembecka, J.(2014) J Med Chem 57: 1543-1556
- PubMed: 24472025 
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/jm401868d
- Primary Citation of Related Structures:  
4OG3, 4OG4, 4OG5, 4OG6, 4OG7, 4OG8 - PubMed Abstract: 
The protein-protein interaction (PPI) between menin and mixed lineage leukemia (MLL) plays a critical role in acute leukemias, and inhibition of this interaction represents a new potential therapeutic strategy for MLL leukemias. We report development of a novel class of small-molecule inhibitors of the menin-MLL interaction, the hydroxy- and aminomethylpiperidine compounds, which originated from HTS of ∼288000 small molecules. We determined menin-inhibitor co-crystal structures and found that these compounds closely mimic all key interactions of MLL with menin. Extensive crystallography studies combined with structure-based design were applied for optimization of these compounds, resulting in MIV-6R, which inhibits the menin-MLL interaction with IC50 = 56 nM. Treatment with MIV-6 demonstrated strong and selective effects in MLL leukemia cells, validating specific mechanism of action. Our studies provide novel and attractive scaffold as a new potential therapeutic approach for MLL leukemias and demonstrate an example of PPI amenable to inhibition by small molecules.
Organizational Affiliation: 
Department of Pathology, University of Michigan , Ann Arbor, 1150 West Medical Center Drive, MSRBI, Room 4510D, Michigan, 48109, United States.