Although stapled α-helical peptides can address challenging targets, their advancement is impeded by poor understandings for making them cell permeable while avoiding off-target toxicities. By synthesizing >350 molecules, we present workflows for identifying stapled peptides against Mdm2(X) with in vivo activity and no off-target effects. Key insights include a clear correlation between lipophilicity and permeability, removal of positive charge to avoid off-target toxicities, judicious anionic residue placement to enhance solubility/behavior, optimization of C-terminal length/helicity to enhance potency, and optimization of staple type/number to avoid polypharmacology. Workflow application gives peptides with >292x improved cell proliferation potencies and no off-target cell proliferation effects ( > 3800x on-target index). Application of these ‘design rules’ to a distinct Mdm2(X) peptide series improves ( > 150x) cellular potencies and removes off-target toxicities. The outlined workflow should facilitate therapeutic impacts, especially for those targets such as Mdm2(X) that have hydrophobic interfaces and are targetable with a helical motif.

Huntington’s disease (HD) is caused by a CAG trinucleotide repeat expansion in the first exon of the huntingtin (HTT) gene coding for the huntingtin (HTT) protein. The misfolding and consequential aggregation of CAG-expanded mutant HTT (mHTT) underpin HD pathology. Our interest in the life cycle of HTT led us to consider the development of high-affinity small-molecule binders of HTT oligomerized/amyloid-containing species that could serve as either cellular and in vivo imaging tools or potential therapeutic agents. We recently reported the development of PET tracers CHDI-180 and CHDI-626 as suitable for imaging mHTT aggregates, and here we present an in-depth pharmacological investigation of their binding characteristics. We have implemented an array of in vitro and ex vivo radiometric binding assays using recombinant HTT, brain homogenate-derived HTT aggregates, and brain sections from mouse HD models and humans post-mortem to investigate binding affinities and selectivity against other pathological proteins from indications such as Alzheimer’s disease and spinocerebellar ataxia 1. Radioligand binding assays and autoradiography studies using brain homogenates and tissue sections from HD mouse models showed that CHDI-180 and CHDI-626 specifically bind mHTT aggregates that accumulate with age and disease progression. Finally, we characterized CHDI-180 and CHDI-626 regarding their off-target selectivity and binding affinity to beta amyloid plaques in brain sections and homogenates from Alzheimer’s disease patients.

An X-ray crystal structure of the eIF4E peptide complex is described in which two such complexes are located in the asymmetric unit. One of these complexes has m7GTP bound in a conformation which has been observed in several eIF4E crystal structures, whilst the other complex is free of m7GTP and contains a unique glycerol. The two complexes show significant structural differences between each other in the cap-binding site. The glycerol bound structure shows a reorientation of the W102 side chain out of the cap-binding site, disordering of the W56 containing loop and rotation of the carboxyl side-chain of E103. This is accompanied by movement of the M101 side chain into a position where W56 in the m7GTP bound complex would otherwise occupy. Rotation of the W102 sidechain also displaces a structured water molecule to a new site. This novel conformation of eIF4E with glycerol bound is hypothesized to be an intermediate state between the apo and m7GTP bound forms of eIF4E. These insights should prove useful in the design of inhibitors of eIF4E for cancer therapy.

The p53 protein and its negative regulator the ubiquitin E3 ligase Mdm2 have been shown to be conserved from the T. adhaerens to man. In common with D. melanogaster and C. elegans, there is a single copy of the p53 gene in T. adhaerens, while in the vertebrates three p53-like genes can be found: p53, p63 and p73. The Mdm2 gene is not present within the fully sequenced and highly annotated genomes of C. elegans and D. melanogaster. However, it is present in Placazoanand the presence of multiple distinct p53 genes in the Sea anemone N. vectensis led us to examine the genomes of other phyla for p53 and Mdm2-like genes. We report here the discovery of an Mdm2-like gene and two distinct p53-like genes in the Arachnid Ioxodes scapularis (Northern Deer Tick). The two predicted Deer Tick p53 proteins are much more highly related to the human p53 protein in sequence than are the fruit fly and nematode proteins. One of the Deer Tick genes encodes a p53 protein that is initiated within the DNA binding domain of p53 and shows remarkable homology to the newly described N-terminally truncated delta isoforms of human and zebrafish p53.

Both mouse double-minute 2 (MDM2), an E3 ubiquitin ligase, and its closely related paralog, MDM4, which lacks E3 activity, play central roles in cellular homeostasis. MDM-linked dysfunction is associated with an increased risk of oncogenesis, primarily through targeting the tumor suppressor protein p53 for ubiquitination and degradation. Recent studies have revealed multifaceted roles of MDM proteins that are p53 independent with implications for their oncogenic properties. This review aims to provide an overview of MDM2 and MDM4, by assessing gene and protein structure and implications for protein–protein interactions and functions in cell and animal physiology. We also explore MDM2 and MDM4 role(s) in angiogenesis, a critical feature of solid tumor growth and progression. Finally, we discuss the current landscape in the development of MDM2 and MDM4 inhibitors for cancer therapy.