Obesity: will DIDO yield or become lost in translation?
A PNAS paper from Thierry Fisher’s team from CNB-CSIC in Madrid (PMID: 38194457) shows a new role for the DIDO protein (Q9BTC0 · DIDO1_HUMAN) on diet induced obesity and suggests that drugging it may be a way to treat obesity or metabolic syndromes.
This is a good illustration of the challenges facing the pharma industry with non enzymatic targets.
Below is an alpha fold model of of DIDO1 (the N-terminal region highlighted by the study is blue). While this is not a realistic model, it nevertheless, highlights the fact that this protein is mostly disorganized albeit a few limited structural elements.
The compounds from the screening libraries are adapted to engage active sites (deep pockets) of enzymes and to a lesser extend protein binding sites. These compounds engage their targets through short distance interactions distributed in a 3d space. This is not possible with disorganised protein such as DIDO which is mostly a linear structure.
There is no easy way forward. If one does not want to intervene at the RNA level (complete gene extinction most probably leading to toxicity issues), the possibilities are very limited at the protein level. One may mimic the short linear motive of DIDO interacting with a key partner and drug the interaction by targeting the globular partner, not DIDO with a peptidomietic. A company such as PrismBiolabs in Japan (PRISM BioLab Co., Ltd.,) is specialised (and successful) in this approach.
However, to allow this or a similar approach, the targeted interaction must be identified, confirmed to be biologically significant and then precisely described (partner and precise sequence from DIDO both identified). In addition, post translational modifications are often essential adding an extra layer of experimental complexity.
In summary, like DIDO or transcription factors, most new targets candidates are not directly druggable with current chemical matter and require significant efforts prior to screening in order to try to engage them.
#obesitytreatment #drugdiscovery #pharmaceuticalindustry #proteinproteininteractions #structuralbiology #medicinalchemistry
Attending Ohio State University
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