A Small-Molecule Pan-Id Antagonist Inhibits Pathologic Ocular Neovascularization

Publication date: 1 October 2019Source: Cell Reports, Volume 29, Issue 1Author(s): Paulina M. Wojnarowicz, Raquel Lima e Silva, Masayuki Ohnaka, Sang Bae Lee, Yvette Chin, Anita Kulukian, Sung-Hee Chang, Bina Desai, Marta Garcia Escolano, Riddhi Shah, Marta Garcia-Cao, Sijia Xu, Rashmi Kadam, Yehuda Goldgur, Meredith A. Miller, Ouathek Ouerfelli, Guangli Yang, Tsutomu Arakawa, Steven K. Albanese, William A. GarlandSummaryId helix-loop-helix (HLH) proteins (Id1–4) bind E protein bHLH transcription factors, preventing them from forming active transcription complexes that drive changes in cell states. Id proteins are primarily expressed during development to inhibit differentiation, but they become re-expressed in adult tissues in diseases of the vasculature and cancer. We show that the genetic loss of Id1/Id3 reduces ocular neovascularization in mouse models of wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and retinopathy of prematurity (ROP). An in silico screen identifies AGX51, a small-molecule Id antagonist. AGX51 inhibits the Id1-E47 interaction, leading to ubiquitin-mediated degradation of Ids, cell growth arrest, and reduced viability. AGX51 is well-tolerated in mice and phenocopies the genetic loss of Id expression in AMD and ROP models by inhibiting retinal neovascularization. Thus, AGX51 is a first-in-class compound that antagonizes an interaction formerly considered undruggable and that may have utility in the management of multiple diseases.Graphical Abstract
Source: Cell Reports - Category: Cytology Source Type: research