Design of Class I/IV Bromodomain-Targeting Degraders for Chromatin Remodeling Complexes

Abstract

Targeted protein degradation is an emerging technology that can be used for modulating the activity of epigenetic protein targets. Among bromodomain-containing proteins, a number of degraders for the BET family have been developed while non-BET bromodomains remain underexplored. Several of these proteins are subunits in chromatin remodeling complexes often associated with oncogenic roles. Here we describe the design of class I (BPTF and CECR2) and IV (BRD9) bromo-domain-targeting degraders based on two scaffolds derived from pyridazinone and pyrimidine-based heterocycles. We evalu-ate various exit vectors and linkers to identify analogues that demonstrate selectivity within these families. We further use an in-cell NanoBRET assay to demonstrate that these heterobifunctional molecules are cell-permeable, form ternary complexes, and can degrade nanoluciferase-bromodomain fusions. Finally, as a first example of a CECR2 degrader, we observe that our pyrimidine-based analogues degrade endogenous CECR2, while showing a smaller effect on BPTF levels. The pyridazinone-based compounds did not degrade BPTF when observed through western blotting, supporting a more challenging target for degradation and a goal for future optimization