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Finally, the tetrazole isostere was envisioned as a candidate for
cellular studies due to the distribution of the negative charge
through the nitrogenous ring and a favorable cLogD (pH8.0) of
2.14. This compound was evaluated for efficacy in an established
model of cellular reꢀinfectivity using the iSLK.219 and SLK cells
(Figure 4). The iSLK.219 cells are stably infected doxycycline
(DOX) inducible KSHV+ cells (See Supplemental Methods).
Treatment with compound 14 resulted in a dose dependent
decrease in reꢀinfectivity as measured by flow cytometry (Figure
4A, cellular EC50 23.6 µM, 95% confidence interval 22.6 to 24.6
µM). The inhibition was compound specific, with a related,
biochemically inactive analog (27, See Supplemental) eliciting no
decrease in the reꢀinfection readout. The potential offꢀtarget
cellular effects of compound 14 were evaluated using two
methods. First, cell viability was assessed using a MTS assay
(Figure 4B). There were no significant changes in metabolism or
proliferation due to the presence of the analog as compared to the
DMSO controls (p > 0.05, oneꢀway ANOVA, Bonferroni postꢀ
hoc analysis). Finally, the membrane permeability of the cells was
assessed using the SYTOX red assay. There was no significant
increase in permeability over the DMSO controls (Figure 4C, p >
0.05 oneꢀway ANOVA, Bonferroni postꢀhoc analysis).
ACS Publications website.
AUTHOR INFORMATION
Corresponding Author
Charles S. Craik, Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry,
University of California, San Francisco, California 94158, United
States University of California San Francisco. Email:
Charles.Craik@ucsf.edu, Phone: 415ꢀ476ꢀ8146
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Author Contributions
All authors contributed to the writing and editing of the
manuscript and presentation of results.
Notes
The authors declare no competing financial interests.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
We would like to acknowledge Christopher A. Waddling for
helpful discussions, as well as Andrew Van Benschoten for
assistance with room temperature data collection. We would also
like to acknowledge the National Institutes of Health for funding:
(R01ꢀAI090592 to CSC, 1F32GM111012 to TMA). JEG was
supported by NIH Structural Biology Training Grant GM008284
and the National Science Foundation Graduate Research
Fellowship Program (1144247).
Exploiting cryptic binding pockets in proteins that form proteinꢀ
protein interactions presents an attractive therapeutic strategy for
these challenging targets. This work advances our understanding
of one such example and clearly establishes a link between cryptic
pocket binding and longꢀrange atomic communication. The
opportunity to maintain the bound state via slow off rates at
cryptic sites near protein interfaces otherwise requiring high
surface area of binding holds the potential to allow smallꢀ
molecule drugꢀlike compounds to make further progress in
modulating these challenging targets.
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ASSOCIATED CONTENT
Supporting Information
8. Fraser, J. S.; van den Bedem, H.; Samelson, A. J.; Lang, P. T.;
Holton, J. M.; Echols, N.; Alber, T. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 2011,
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The supporting information file (PDF) contains materials
referenced in the above text and materials and methods for each of
the experiments described above.
9. Morrison, J. F.; Walsh, C. T. Advances in Enzymology and
Related Areas of Molecular Biology 1988, 61, 201ꢀ301.
The Supporting Information is available free of charge on the
ACS Paragon Plus Environment