Ubiquitination controls the stability of most cellular proteins, and its deregulation contributes to human diseases including cancer. Deubiquitinases remove ubiquitin from proteins, and their inhibition can induce the degradation of selected proteins, potentially including otherwise 'undruggable' targets. For example, the inhibition of ubiquitin-specific protease 7 (USP7) results in the degradation of the oncogenic E3 ligase MDM2, and leads to re-activation of the tumour suppressor p53 in various cancers. Here we report that two compounds, FT671 and FT827, inhibit USP7 with high affinity and specificity in vitro and within human cells. Co-crystal structures reveal that both compounds target a dynamic pocket near the catalytic centre of the auto-inhibited apo form of USP7, which differs from other USP deubiquitinases. Consistent with USP7 target engagement in cells, FT671 destabilizes USP7 substrates including MDM2, increases levels of p53, and results in the transcription of p53 target genes, induction of the tumour suppressor p21, and inhibition of tumour growth in mice.

A weak screening hit with suboptimal physicochemical properties was optimized against PFKFB3 kinase using critical structure-guided insights. The resulting compounds demonstrated high selectivity over related PFKFB isoforms and modulation of the target in a cellular context. A selected example demonstrated exposure in animals following oral dosing. Examples from this series may serve as useful probes to understand the emerging biology of this metabolic target.

RNF126 is an E3 ubiquitin ligase that collaborates with the BAG6 sortase complex to ubiquitinate hydrophobic substrates in the cytoplasm that are destined for proteasomal recycling. Composed of a trimeric complex of BAG6, TRC35 and UBL4A the BAG6 sortase is also associated with SGTA, a co-chaperone from which it can obtain hydrophobic substrates. Here we solve the solution structure of the RNF126 zinc finger domain in complex with the BAG6 UBL domain. We also characterise an interaction between RNF126 and UBL4A and analyse the competition between SGTA and RNF126 for the N-terminal BAG6 binding site. This work sheds light on the sorting mechanism of the BAG6 complex and its accessory proteins which, together, decide the fate of stray hydrophobic proteins in the aqueous cytoplasm.

The rate of reaction of liver alcohol dehydrogenase with iodoacetamide is independent of pH between pH 6-10. Orthophenanthroline, ADP-ribose and ADP protect the enzyme against alkylation. For iodoacetate, the rate of alkylation decreases with increasing pH over the range 7-9 and reflects the titration of a group with a p K of 7.9. Imidazole enhances the rate of alkylation by both iodoacetamide and iodoacetate and renders the rate of alkylation by iodoacetate pH independent. The interactions of ADP-ribose and imidazole with the enzyme are shown to be independent of each other. A mechanism is suggested in which the substrate and coenzyme are simultaneously bound to zinc. Mechanisms for the activation of both reaction partners are presented.