To understand the structural basis for bisphosphonate therapy of bone diseases, we solved the crystal structures of human farnesyl pyrophosphate synthase (FPPS) in its unliganded state, in complex with the nitrogen-containing bisphosphonate (N-BP) drugs zoledronate, pamidronate, alendronate, and ibandronate, and in the ternary complex with zoledronate and the substrate isopentenyl pyrophosphate (IPP). By revealing three structural snapshots of the enzyme catalytic cycle, each associated with a distinct conformational state, and details about the interactions with N-BPs, these structures provide a novel understanding of the mechanism of FPPS catalysis and inhibition. In particular, the accumulating substrate, IPP, was found to bind to and stabilize the FPPS-N-BP complexes rather than to compete with and displace the N-BP inhibitor. Stabilization of the FPPS-N-BP complex through IPP binding is supported by differential scanning calorimetry analyses of a set of representative N-BPs. Among other factors such as high binding affinity for bone mineral, this particular mode of FPPS inhibition contributes to the exceptional in vivo efficacy of N-BP drugs. Moreover, our data form the basis for structure-guided design of optimized N-BPs with improved pharmacological properties.

Farnesyl pyrophosphate synthase (FPPS) is an established target for the treatment of bone diseases, but also shows promise as an anticancer and anti-infective drug target. Currently available anti-FPPS drugs are active-site-directed bisphosphonate inhibitors, the peculiar pharmacological profile of which is inadequate for therapeutic indications beyond bone diseases. The recent discovery of an allosteric binding site has paved the way toward the development of novel non-bisphosphonate FPPS inhibitors with broader therapeutic potential, notably as immunomodulators in oncology. Herein we report the discovery, by an integrated lead finding approach, of two new chemical classes of allosteric FPPS inhibitors that belong to the salicylic acid and quinoline chemotypes. We present their synthesis, biochemical and cellular activities, structure-activity relationships, and provide X-ray structures of several representative FPPS complexes. These novel allosteric FPPS inhibitors are devoid of any affinity for bone mineral and could serve as leads to evaluate their potential in none-bone diseases.

Targeting drugs to their desired site of action can increase their safety and efficacy. Bisphosphonates are prototypical examples of drugs targeted to bone. However, bisphosphonate bone affinity is often considered too strong and cannot be significantly modulated without losing activity on the enzymatic target, farnesyl pyrophosphate synthase (FPPS). Furthermore, bisphosphonate bone affinity comes at the expense of very low and variable oral bioavailability. FPPS inhibitors were developed with a monophosphonate as a bone-affinity tag that confers moderate affinity to bone, which can furthermore be tuned to the desired level, and the relationship between structure and bone affinity was evaluated by using an NMR-based bone-binding assay. The concept of targeting drugs to bone with moderate affinity, while retaining oral bioavailability, has broad application to a variety of other bone-targeted drugs.

Bioactive small molecules are an invaluable source of therapeutics and chemical probes for exploring biological pathways. Yet, significant hurdles in drug discovery often come from lacking a comprehensive view of the target(s) for both early tool molecules and even late-stage drugs. To address this challenge, a method is provided that allows for assessing the interactions of small molecules with thousands of targets without any need to modify the small molecule of interest or attach any component to a surface. We describe size-exclusion chromatography for target identification (SEC-TID), a method for accurately and reproducibly detecting ligand-macromolecular interactions for small molecules targeting nucleic acid and several protein classes. We report the use of SEC-TID, with a library consisting of approximately 1000 purified proteins derived from the protein databank (PDB), to identify the efficacy targets tankyrase 1 and 2 for the Wnt inhibitor XAV939. In addition, we report novel interactions for the tumor-vascular disrupting agent vadimezan/ASA404 (interacting with farnesyl pyrophosphate synthase) and the diuretic mefruside (interacting with carbonic anhydrase XIII). We believe this method can dramatically enhance our understanding of the mechanism of action and potential liabilities for small molecules in drug discovery pipelines through comprehensive profiling of candidate druggable targets.

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