A Remote Arene-Binding Site on Prostate Specific Membrane Antigen Revealed by Antibody-Recruiting Small Molecules.
Zhang, A.X., Murelli, R.P., Barinka, C., Michel, J., Cocleaza, A., Jorgensen, W.L., Lubkowski, J., Spiegel, D.A.(2010) J Am Chem Soc 132: 12711
- PubMed: 20726553 
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/ja104591m
- Primary Citation of Related Structures:  
2XEF, 2XEG, 2XEI, 2XEJ - PubMed Abstract: 
Prostate specific membrane antigen (PSMA) is a membrane-bound glutamate carboxypeptidase overexpressed in many forms of prostate cancer. Our laboratory has recently disclosed a class of small molecules, called ARM-Ps (antibody-recruiting molecule targeting prostate cancer) that are capable of enhancing antibody-mediated immune recognition of prostate cancer cells. Interestingly, during the course of these studies, we found ARM-Ps to exhibit extraordinarily high potencies toward PSMA, compared to previously reported inhibitors. Here, we report in-depth biochemical, crystallographic, and computational investigations which elucidate the origin of the observed affinity enhancement. These studies reveal a previously unreported arene-binding site on PSMA, which we believe participates in an aromatic stacking interaction with ARMs. Although this site is composed of only a few amino acid residues, it drastically enhances small molecule binding affinity. These results provide critical insights into the design of PSMA-targeted small molecules for prostate cancer diagnosis and treatment; more broadly, the presence of similar arene-binding sites throughout the proteome could prove widely enabling in the optimization of small molecule-protein interactions.
Organizational Affiliation: 
Department of Chemistry, Yale University, 225 Prospect Street, P.O. Box 208107, New Haven, Connecticut 06510-8107, USA.