High Throughput Screens to Identify Autophagy Inducers that Function by Disrupting Beclin 1/Bcl-2 Binding.
ACS chemical biology(2018)
摘要
Autophagy, a lysosomal degradation pathway, plays a crucial role in cellular homeostasis, development, immunity, tumor suppression, metabolism, prevention of neurodegeneration and lifespan extension. Thus, pharmacological stimulation of autophagy may be an effective approach for preventing or treating certain human diseases and/or aging. We sought to establish a method for developing new chemical compounds that specifically induce autophagy. To do this, we developed two assays to identify compounds that target a key regulatory node of autophagy induction - specifically, the binding of Bcl-2 (a negative regulator of autophagy) to Beclin 1 (an allosteric modulator of the Beclin 1/VPS34 lipid kinase complex that functions in autophagy initiation). We developed a split luciferase assay to measure Beclin 1/Bcl-2 binding in cells and an AlphaLISA assay to directly measure direct Beclin 1/Bcl-2 binding in vitro. We screened two different chemical compound libraries, comprising ~300K compounds, to identify small molecules that disrupt Beclin 1/Bcl-2 binding and that induce autophagy. We identified three novel compounds that directly inhibit Beclin 1/Bcl-2 interaction with an IC50 in the micromolar range and induce autophagy. These compounds do not demonstrate significant cytotoxicity and exert selectivity for disruption of Bcl-2 binding to the BH3 domain of Beclin 1 compared to the BH3 domain of the pro-apoptotic Bcl-2 family member, Bax. Thus, we have identified candidate molecules that serve as lead templates for developing potent and selective Beclin 1/Bcl-2 inhibitors that may be clinically useful as autophagy-inducing agents.
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关键词
autophagy inducers,beclin,high-throughput
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