Structures of low molecular weight inhibitors bound to MDMX and MDM2 reveal new approaches for p53-MDMX/MDM2 antagonist drug discovery
Popowicz, G.M., Czarna, A., Wolf, S., Wang, K., Wang, W., Domling, A., Holak, T.A.(2010) Cell Cycle 9: 1104-1111
- PubMed: 20237429 
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.4161/cc.9.6.10956
- Primary Citation of Related Structures:  
3LBJ, 3LBK, 3LBL - PubMed Abstract: 
Intensive anticancer drug discovery efforts have been made to develop small molecule inhibitors of the p53-MDM2 and p53-MDMX interactions. We present here the structures of the most potent inhibitors bound to MDM2 and MDMX that are based on the new imidazo-indole scaffold. In addition, the structure of the recently reported spiro-oxindole inhibitor bound to MDM2 is described. The structures indicate how the substituents of a small molecule that bind to the three subpockets of the MDM2/X-p53 interaction should be optimized for effective binding to MDM2 and/or MDMX. While the spiro-oxindole inhibitor triggers significant ligand-induced changes in MDM2, the imidazo-indoles share similar binding modes for MDMX and MDM2, but cause only minimal induced-fit changes in the structures of both proteins. Our study includes the first structure of the complex between MDMX and a small molecule and should aid in developing efficient scaffolds for binding to MDMX and/or MDM2.
Organizational Affiliation: 
Max-Planck-Institute of Biochemistry, Martinsried, Germany.