%0 Journal Article
%T Alkenyl oxindole is a novel PROTAC moiety that recruits the CRL4DCAF11 E3 ubiquitin ligase complex for targeted protein degradation.
%A Wang Y
%A Wei T
%A Zhao M
%A Huang A
%A Sun F
%A Chen L
%A Lin R
%A Xie Y
%A Zhang M
%A Xu S
%A Sun Z
%A Hong L
%A Wang R
%A Tian R
%A Li G
%J PLoS Biol
%V 22
%N 5
%D 2024 May
%M 38768083
%F 9.593
%R 10.1371/journal.pbio.3002550
%X Alkenyl oxindoles have been characterized as autophagosome-tethering compounds (ATTECs), which can target mutant huntingtin protein (mHTT) for lysosomal degradation. In order to expand the application of alkenyl oxindoles for targeted protein degradation, we designed and synthesized a series of heterobifunctional compounds by conjugating different alkenyl oxindoles with bromodomain-containing protein 4 (BRD4) inhibitor JQ1. Through structure-activity relationship study, we successfully developed JQ1-alkenyl oxindole conjugates that potently degrade BRD4. Unexpectedly, we found that these molecules degrade BRD4 through the ubiquitin-proteasome system, rather than the autophagy-lysosomal pathway. Using pooled CRISPR interference (CRISPRi) screening, we revealed that JQ1-alkenyl oxindole conjugates recruit the E3 ubiquitin ligase complex CRL4DCAF11 for substrate degradation. Furthermore, we validated the most potent heterobifunctional molecule HL435 as a promising drug-like lead compound to exert antitumor activity both in vitro and in a mouse xenograft tumor model. Our research provides new employable proteolysis targeting chimera (PROTAC) moieties for targeted protein degradation, providing new possibilities for drug discovery.