Discovery of A-893, A New Cell-Active Benzoxazinone Inhibitor of Lysine Methyltransferase SMYD2

ACS Med Chem Lett. 2015 Apr 29;6(6):695-700. doi: 10.1021/acsmedchemlett.5b00124. eCollection 2015 Jun 11.

Abstract

A lack of useful small molecule tools has precluded thorough interrogation of the biological function of SMYD2, a lysine methyltransferase with known tumor-suppressor substrates. Systematic exploration of the structure-activity relationships of a previously known benzoxazinone compound led to the synthesis of A-893, a potent and selective SMYD2 inhibitor (IC50: 2.8 nM). A cocrystal structure reveals the origin of enhanced potency, and effective suppression of p53K370 methylation is observed in a lung carcinoma (A549) cell line.

Keywords: Epigenetics; H3K36; SMYD2; lysine; methyltransferase; p53.