Selective and Rapid Cell-Permeable Inhibitor of Human Caspase-3.
Solania, A., Gonzalez-Paez, G.E., Wolan, D.W.(2019) ACS Chem Biol 14: 2463-2470
- PubMed: 31334631 
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/acschembio.9b00564
- Primary Citation of Related Structures:  
6CKZ, 6CL0, 6CL1, 6CL2 - PubMed Abstract: 
Individual roles and overlapping functionalities of 12 human caspases during apoptosis and other cellular processes remain poorly resolved primarily due to a lack of chemical tools. Here we present a new selective caspase-3 inhibitor, termed Ac-ATS010-KE, with rapid and irreversible binding kinetics. Relative to previously designed caspase-3-selective molecules that have tremendously abated inhibitory rates and thus limited use in biological settings, the improved kinetics of Ac-ATS010-KE permits its use in a cell-based capacity. We demonstrate that Ac-ATS010-KE prevents apoptosis with comparable efficacy to the general caspase inhibitor Ac-DEVD-KE and surprisingly does so without side-chain methylation. This observation is in contrast to the well-established peptide modification strategy typically employed for improving cellular permeability. Ac-ATS010-KE protects against extrinsic apoptosis, which demonstrates the utility of a thiophene carboxylate leaving group in biological settings, challenges the requisite neutralization of free carboxylic acids to improve cell permeability, and provides a tool-like compound to interrogate the role of caspase-3 in a variety of cellular processes.
Organizational Affiliation: 
Departments of Molecular Medicine and Integrative Structural and Computational Biology , The Scripps Research Institute , 10550 North Torrey Pines Road , La Jolla , California 92037 , United States.