PLoS ONE (Jan 2013)

Structural basis and selectivity of tankyrase inhibition by a Wnt signaling inhibitor WIKI4.

  • Teemu Haikarainen,
  • Harikanth Venkannagari,
  • Mohit Narwal,
  • Ezeogo Obaji,
  • Hao-Wei Lee,
  • Yves Nkizinkiko,
  • Lari Lehtiö

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0065404
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 8, no. 6
p. e65404

Abstract

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Recently a novel inhibitor of Wnt signaling was discovered. The compound, WIKI4, was found to act through tankyrase inhibition and regulate β-catenin levels in many cancer cell lines and human embryonic stem cells. Here we confirm that WIKI4 is a high potency tankyrase inhibitor and that it selectively inhibits tankyrases over other ARTD enzymes tested. The binding mode of the compound to tankyrase 2 was determined by protein X-ray crystallography to 2.4 Å resolution. The structure revealed a novel binding mode to the adenosine subsite of the donor NAD(+) binding groove of the catalytic domain. Our results form a structural basis for further development of potent and selective tankyrase inhibitors based on the WIKI4 scaffold.