Protein prenylation is a critically important post-translational modification process. It is required for the proper membrane association and activity of many signal transduction proteins, including the Ras oncogene products. There has been intense interest in the development of protein farnesyltransferase (FTase) inhibitors as anti-cancer agents, and promising results have been observed with these compounds in clinical trials. However, it is now clear that Ras is not the sole, or even the most important target of FTase inhibitors. The long-term goal of this research project is the development of chemical tools for the selective modulation of protein prenylation. These probes will allow for the determination of the relative roles of various prenylated proteins in cancer cell growth. This proposal will address the following specific hypothesis: The unique structure and mechanism of FTase allows for the discovery of selective inhibitors that will block the prenylation of certain proteins but not interfere with the prenylation of others. We will use currently existing and newly synthesized chemical tools, in combination with new biochemical and biological collaborative studies, to address the following specific aims:
Aim 1) To characterize the interplay of peptide and isoprenoid selectivity in FTase and GGTase I. These studies will use existing and newly synthesized isoprenoid analogs, concise targeted synthetic peptide libraries, and various bioanalytical methods. Rational design will be employed along with screening methods to establish effective selectivity patterns.
Aim 2) To elucidate the events covering selective prenylation by FTase at a molecular level, using existing kinetic techniques. Detailed steady state and pre-steady state kinetic experiments, in combination with various binding constant determinations, will be employed. These studies will provide novel insight into the mechanism employed by FTase, and insight into the design of new selective FPP analogs.
Aim 3) To establish the ability of isoprenoid analogs to alter FTase substrate selectivity in cells, through the direct quantitation of prenyl isoforms of Ras and other prenylated proteins. The effects of farnesol analogs on flux through the mevalonate pathway and intracellularprenyl diphosphate pools also will be determined. The accomplishment of these aims will provide the tools and lay the groundwork for future studies to investigate the long-term hypothesis of this project: the selective introduction of modified prenyl groups into proteins will alter their subcellular localization and biological activity.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Cancer Institute (NCI)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01CA078819-06
Application #
6888549
Study Section
Bio-Organic and Natural Products Chemistry Study Section (BNP)
Program Officer
Lees, Robert G
Project Start
1998-09-01
Project End
2008-04-30
Budget Start
2005-05-01
Budget End
2006-04-30
Support Year
6
Fiscal Year
2005
Total Cost
$208,581
Indirect Cost
Name
Purdue University
Department
Pharmacology
Type
Schools of Pharmacy
DUNS #
072051394
City
West Lafayette
State
IN
Country
United States
Zip Code
47907
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Temple, Kayla J; Wright, Elia N; Fierke, Carol A et al. (2016) Exploration of GGTase-I substrate requirements. Part 2: Synthesis and biochemical analysis of novel saturated geranylgeranyl diphosphate analogs. Bioorg Med Chem Lett 26:3503-7
Jennings, Benjamin C; Danowitz, Amy M; Wang, Yen-Chih et al. (2016) Analogs of farnesyl diphosphate alter CaaX substrate specificity and reactions rates of protein farnesyltransferase. Bioorg Med Chem Lett 26:1333-6
Temple, Kayla J; Wright, Elia N; Fierke, Carol A et al. (2016) Exploration of GGTase-I substrate requirements. Part 1: Synthesis and biochemical evaluation of novel aryl-modified geranylgeranyl diphosphate analogs. Bioorg Med Chem Lett 26:3499-502
Placzek, Andrew T; Hougland, James L; Gibbs, Richard A (2012) Synthesis of frame-shifted farnesyl diphosphate analogs. Org Lett 14:4038-41
Placzek, Andrew T; Gibbs, Richard A (2011) New synthetic methodology for the construction of 7-substituted farnesyl diphosphate analogs. Org Lett 13:3576-9
Krzysiak, Amanda J; Aditya, Animesh V; Hougland, James L et al. (2010) Synthesis and screening of a CaaL peptide library versus FTase reveals a surprising number of substrates. Bioorg Med Chem Lett 20:767-70
Sane, Komal M; Mynderse, Michelle; Lalonde, Daniel T et al. (2010) A novel geranylgeranyl transferase inhibitor in combination with lovastatin inhibits proliferation and induces autophagy in STS-26T MPNST cells. J Pharmacol Exp Ther 333:23-33
Hougland, James L; Lamphear, Corissa L; Scott, Sarah A et al. (2009) Context-dependent substrate recognition by protein farnesyltransferase. Biochemistry 48:1691-701
Henneman, Linda; van Cruchten, Arno G; Denis, Simone W et al. (2008) Detection of nonsterol isoprenoids by HPLC-MS/MS. Anal Biochem 383:18-24

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