Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37186857›Full record

ArticleProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America2023

Design of rigid protein-protein interaction inhibitors enables targeting of undruggable Mcl-1.

David Hargreaves, Rodrigo J Carbajo, Michael S Bodnarchuk, Kevin Embrey, Philip B Rawlins, Martin Packer, Sébastien L Degorce, Alexander W Hird, Jeffrey W Johannes, Elisabetta Chiarparin and 1 more

Open access · greenAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing papers in PubMed
1.7field-weighted citation impact, top 16% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

6 citing papers in PubMed, 11 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Review
  2. Article
  3. MCL1 may not mediate chemoresistance.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025
    Article
  4. Article
  5. Review
  6. Property-based optimisation of PROTACs.RSC medicinal chemistry · 2025
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

11 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.

David HargreavesDiscovery Sciences, AstraZeneca, Cambridge CB4 0WG, United Kingdom.
Rodrigo J CarbajoChemistry, Oncology R&D, AstraZeneca, Cambridge CB4 0WG, United Kingdom.ORCID 0000-0002-0312-6499
Michael S BodnarchukChemistry, Oncology R&D, AstraZeneca, Cambridge CB4 0WG, United Kingdom.
Kevin EmbreyDiscovery Sciences, AstraZeneca, Cambridge CB4 0WG, United Kingdom.
Philip B RawlinsDiscovery Sciences, AstraZeneca, Cambridge CB4 0WG, United Kingdom.
Martin PackerChemistry, Oncology R&D, AstraZeneca, Cambridge CB4 0WG, United Kingdom.
Sébastien L DegorceDiscovery Sciences, AstraZeneca, Waltham, MA 02451.ORCID 0000-0002-9478-5106
Alexander W HirdDiscovery Sciences, AstraZeneca, Waltham, MA 02451.ORCID 0000-0002-2699-7449
Jeffrey W JohannesDiscovery Sciences, AstraZeneca, Waltham, MA 02451.
Elisabetta ChiarparinChemistry, Oncology R&D, AstraZeneca, Cambridge CB4 0WG, United Kingdom.
Markus SchadeChemistry, Oncology R&D, AstraZeneca, Cambridge CB4 0WG, United Kingdom.
AstraZeneca (United Kingdom) · GBAstraZeneca (United States) · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The structure-based design of small-molecule inhibitors targeting protein-protein interactions (PPIs) remains a huge challenge as the drug must bind typically wide and shallow protein sites. A PPI target of high interest for hematological cancer therapy is myeloid cell leukemia 1 (Mcl-1), a prosurvival guardian protein from the Bcl-2 family. Despite being previously considered undruggable, seven small-molecule Mcl-1 inhibitors have recently entered clinical trials. Here, we report the crystal structure of the clinical-stage inhibitor AMG-176 bound to Mcl-1 and analyze its interaction along with clinical inhibitors AZD5991 and S64315. Our X-ray data reveal high plasticity of Mcl-1 and a remarkable ligand-induced pocket deepening. Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR)-based free ligand conformer analysis demonstrates that such unprecedented induced fit is uniquely achieved by designing highly rigid inhibitors, preorganized in their bioactive conformation. By elucidating key chemistry design principles, this work provides a roadmap for targeting the largely untapped PPI class more successfully.

Indexed as

ApoptosisNaphthalenesLigandsModels, MolecularMyeloid Cell Leukemia Sequence 1 ProteinSpiro CompoundsLigandsMyeloid Cell Leukemia Sequence 1 ProteinNaphthalenesSpiro CompoundstapotoclaxAMG176AMG-397AZD5991PPI inhibitorS64315

Identifiers

PMID37186857
PMCPMC10214187
OpenAlexW4376643288

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.