Controlling Intramolecular Interactions in the Design of Selective, High-Affinity Ligands for the CREBBP Bromodomain

CREBBP (CBP/KAT3A) and its paralogue EP300 (KAT3B) are lysine acetyltransferases (KATs) that are essential for human development. They each comprise 10 domains through which they interact with >400 proteins, making them important transcriptional co-activators and key nodes in the human protein-protein interactome. The bromodomains of CREBBP and EP300 enable the binding of acetylated lysine residues from histones and a number of other important proteins, including p53, p73, E2F, and GATA1. Here, we report a work to develop a high-affinity, small-molecule ligand for the CREBBP and EP300 bromodomains [(-)-OXFBD05] that shows >100-fold selectivity over a representative member of the BET bromodomains, BRD4(1). Cellular studies using this ligand demonstrate that the inhibition of the CREBBP/EP300 bromodomain in HCT116 colon cancer cells results in lowered levels of c-Myc and a reduction in H3K18 and H3K27 acetylation. In hypoxia (<0.1% O2), the inhibition of the CREBBP/EP300 bromodomain results in the enhanced stabilization of HIF-1α.