Molecular glues of the regulatory ChREBP/14-3-3 complex protect beta cells from glucolipotoxicity.
Katz, L.S., Visser, E.J., Plitzko, K.F., Pennings, M., Cossar, P.J., Tse, I.L., Kaiser, M., Brunsveld, L., Scott, D.K., Ottmann, C.(2024) bioRxiv 
- PubMed: 38405965 
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.02.16.580675
- Primary Citation of Related Structures:  
8BTQ, 8BWE, 8BWH, 8C1Y - PubMed Abstract: 
The Carbohydrate Response Element Binding Protein (ChREBP) is a glucose-responsive transcription factor (TF) that is characterized by two major splice isoforms (α and β). In acute hyperglycemia, both ChREBP isoforms regulate adaptive β-expansion; however, during chronic hyperglycemia and glucolipotoxicity, ChREBPβ expression surges, leading to β-cell dedifferentiation and death. 14-3-3 binding to ChREBPα results in its cytoplasmic retention and concomitant suppression of transcriptional activity, suggesting that small molecule-mediated stabilization of this protein-protein interaction (PPI) via molecular glues may represent an attractive entry for the treatment of metabolic disease. Here, we show that structure-based optimizations of a molecular glue tool compound led not only to more potent ChREBPα/14-3-3 PPI stabilizers but also for the first time cellular active compounds. In primary human β-cells, the most active compound stabilized the ChREBPα/14-3-3 interaction and thus induced cytoplasmic retention of ChREBPα, resulting in highly efficient β-cell protection from glucolipotoxicity while maintaining β-cell identity. This study may thus not only provide the basis for the development of a unique class of compounds for the treatment of Type 2 Diabetes but also showcases an alternative 'molecular glue' approach for achieving small molecule control of notoriously difficult targetable TFs.
Organizational Affiliation: 
Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism Institute and Mindich Child Health and Development Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, One Gustave L. Levy Place, Box 1152, New York, 10029, USA.