As genomics advances reveal the cancer gene landscape, a daunting task is to understand how these genes contribute to dysregulated oncogenic pathways. Integration of cancer genes into networks offers opportunities to reveal protein–protein interactions (PPIs) with functional and therapeutic significance. Here, we report the generation of a cancer-focused PPI network, termed OncoPPi, and identification of >260 cancer-associated PPIs not in other large-scale interactomes. PPI hubs reveal new regulatory mechanisms for cancer genes like MYC, STK11, RASSF1 and CDK4. As example, the NSD3 (WHSC1L1)–MYC interaction suggests a new mechanism for NSD3/BRD4 chromatin complex regulation of MYC-driven tumours. Association of undruggable tumour suppressors with drug targets informs therapeutic options. Based on OncoPPi-derived STK11-CDK4 connectivity, we observe enhanced sensitivity of STK11-silenced lung cancer cells to the FDA-approved CDK4 inhibitor palbociclib. OncoPPi is a focused PPI resource that links cancer genes into a signalling network for discovery of PPI targets and network-implicated tumour vulnerabilities for therapeutic interrogation.

Therapeutic block of estrogen action is typically achieved with conventional antagonists (CAs), compounds that displace estradiol from the estrogen receptor (ER) and induce formation of an ER conformation that cannot bind to coactivator proteins, such as the steroid receptor coactivators (SRCs). As an alternative mode for blocking estrogen action, the authors seek small molecules that act as coactivator binding inhibitors (CBIs)-that is, they compete directly with SRC3 for interaction with estradiol-bound ER. CBIs would be interesting mechanistic probes of estrogen action and might also provide an alternative, more durable endocrine therapy for hormone-responsive breast cancer, where cellular adaptations lead to resistance to CAs. The authors have designed and optimized a set of time-resolved fluorescence resonance energy transfer (TR-FRET) assays to monitor the interaction of ER with SRC3 and ligands, and they have used them in high-throughput screens to discover small-molecule CBIs that are able to disrupt this interaction. These assays also distinguish CBIs from CAs. These robust and sensitive "mix-and-measure" assays use low concentrations of ER labeled with a europium chelate as FRET donor and a Cy5-labeled SRC as acceptor. This multiplexed protocol produces excellent signal-to-noise ratios (>100) and Z′ val-

andrey.ivanov@emory.edu or hfu@emory.edu.

Nature Communications 8: Article number: 14356 (2017); Published: 16 February 2017; Updated: 18 April 2017 The original version of this Article contained an error in the spelling of the author Carlos S. Moreno, which was incorrectly given as Carlos Moreno. This has now been corrected in both the PDFand HTML versions of the Article.

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