Enantioselective OTUD7B fragment discovery through chemoproteomics screening and high-throughput optimisation.

Deubiquitinating enzymes (DUBs) are key regulators of cellular homoeostasis, and their dysregulation is associated with several human diseases. The ovarian tumour protease (OTU) family of DUBs are biochemically well-characterised and of therapeutic interest, yet only a few tool compounds exist to study their cellular function and therapeutic potential. Here we present a chemoproteomics fragment screening platform for identifying novel DUB-specific hit matter, that combines activity-based protein profiling with high-throughput chemistry direct-to-biology optimisation to enable rapid elaboration of initial fragment hits against OTU DUBs.

Targeting the ubiquitin system by fragment-based drug discovery.

The ubiquitin system contains a wealth of potential drug targets for many diseases and conditions, including neurodegenerative, immune, metabolic and developmental diseases, as well as multiple cancers. Despite years of research, relatively few clinical inhibitors or specific chemical probes for proteins within the ubiquitin system exist, with many interesting target proteins yet to be explored. Fragment-based drug discovery (FBDD) offers efficient and broad coverage of chemical space with small libraries, using covalent and non-covalent approaches.

Eight salt forms of sulfadiazine.

Proton transfer to the sulfa drug sulfadiazine [systematic name: 4-amino-N-(pyrimidin-2-yl)benzenesulfonamide] gave eight salt forms. These are the monohydrate and methanol hemisolvate forms of the chloride (2-{[(4-azaniumylphenyl)sulfonyl]azanidyl}pyrimidin-1-ium chloride monohydrate, C(10)H(11)N(4)O(2)S(+) · Cl(-) · H2O, (I), and 2-{[(4-azaniumylphenyl)sulfonyl]azanidyl}pyrimidin-1-ium chloride methanol hemisolvate, C(10)H(11)N(4)O(2)S(+) · Cl(-) · (0.5)CH(3)OH, (II)); a bromide monohydrate (2-{[(4-azaniumylphenyl)sulfonyl]azanidyl}pyrimidin-1-ium bromide monohydrate, C(10)H(11)N(4)O(2)S(+) · Br(-) · H2O, (III)), which has a disordered water channel; a species containing the unusual tetraiodide dianion [bis(2-{[(4-azaniumylphenyl)sulfonyl]azanidyl}pyrimidin-1-ium) tetraiodide, 2C(10)H(11)N(4)O(2)S(+) · I4(2-), (IV)], where the [I4](2-) ion is located at a crystallographic inversion centre; a tetrafluoroborate monohydrate (2-{[(4-azaniumylphenyl)sulfonyl]azanidyl}pyrimidin-1-ium tetrafluoroborate monohydrate, C(10)H(11)N(4)O(2)S(+) · BF(4)(-) · H2O, (V)); a nitrate (2-{[(4-azaniumylphenyl)sulfonyl]azanidyl}pyrimidin-1-ium nitrate, C(10)H(11)N(4)O(2)S(+) · NO(3)(-), (VI)); an ethanesulfonate {4-[(pyrimidin-2-yl)sulfamoyl]anilinium ethanesulfonate, C(10)H(11)N(4)O(2)S(+) · C(2)H(5)SO(3)(-), (VII)}; and a dihydrate of the 4-hydroxybenzenesulfonate {4-[(pyrimidin-2-yl)sulfamoyl]anilinium 4-hydroxybenzenesulfonate dihydrate, C(10)H(11)N(4)O(2)S(+) · HOC(6)H(4)SO(3)(-) · 2H2O, (VIII)}.