Phosphorylation-dependent BRD4 dimerization and implications for therapeutic inhibition of BET family proteins

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This preprint investigates the structural mechanisms governing Bromodomain-containing protein 4 (BRD4), an epigenetic reader targeted by BET family inhibitors in oncology. The authors employed integrative structural biology to demonstrate that phosphorylation by casein kinase II induces BRD4 dimerization through specific coiled-coil and basic-residue enriched domains. Furthermore, the study shows that bivalent inhibitors can trigger conformational changes within these BRD4 dimers in vitro and in cancer cells. The paper does not explicitly discuss endometriosis or adenomyosis; it was included in the corpus via a keyword match in the upstream search index.

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Abstract

Abstract Bromodomain-containing protein 4 (BRD4) is an epigenetic reader and oncology drug target that regulates gene transcription through binding to acetylated chromatin via bromodomains (BD). Phosphorylation by casein kinase II (CK2) regulates BRD4 function, is necessary for active transcription and is involved in resistance to BRD4 drug inhibition in triple-negative breast cancer. Here, we provide the first biophysical analysis of BRD4 phospho-regulation. Using integrative structural biology, we show that phosphorylation by CK2 modulates the dimerization of human BRD4. We identify two conserved regions, a coiled-coil motif and the Basic-residue enriched Interaction Domain (BID), essential for the BRD4 structural rearrangement, which we term the phosphorylation-dependent dimerization domain (PDD). Finally, we demonstrate that bivalent inhibitors induce a conformational change within BRD4 dimers in vitro and in cancer cells. Our results enable the proposal of a new model for BRD4 activation critical for the characterization of its protein-protein interaction network and for the development of new specific therapeutics.
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Phosphorylation-dependent BRD4 dimerization and implications for therapeutic inhibition of BET family proteins | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Phosphorylation-dependent BRD4 dimerization and implications for therapeutic inhibition of BET family proteins Mark Mcalister, Francesca Malvezzi, Christopher Stubbs, Thomas Jowitt, and 6 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-519038/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Bromodomain-containing protein 4 (BRD4) is an epigenetic reader and oncology drug target that regulates gene transcription through binding to acetylated chromatin via bromodomains (BD). Phosphorylation by casein kinase II (CK2) regulates BRD4 function, is necessary for active transcription and is involved in resistance to BRD4 drug inhibition in triple-negative breast cancer. Here, we provide the first biophysical analysis of BRD4 phospho-regulation. Using integrative structural biology, we show that phosphorylation by CK2 modulates the dimerization of human BRD4. We identify two conserved regions, a coiled-coil motif and the Basic-residue enriched Interaction Domain (BID), essential for the BRD4 structural rearrangement, which we term the phosphorylation-dependent dimerization domain (PDD). Finally, we demonstrate that bivalent inhibitors induce a conformational change within BRD4 dimers in vitro and in cancer cells. Our results enable the proposal of a new model for BRD4 activation critical for the characterization of its protein-protein interaction network and for the development of new specific therapeutics. Structural Biology Biophysics Bromodomain-containing protein 4 (BRD4) epigenetics therapeutics Full Text Due to technical limitations, full-text HTML conversion of this manuscript could not be completed. However, the manuscript can be downloaded and accessed as a PDF. Additional Declarations Yes there is potential Competing Interest. F.M., C.J.S., I.L.D., X.G., J.P.D. and M.M. are or have been employees of AstraZeneca and may have stock/stock options in AstraZeneca. T.A.J., G.D, J.M.S. and A.J.B. have no conflicts of interest to declare. Supplementary Files Malvezzi2021Supplementaryfigurescombined4685.pdf Malvezzi_2021_Supplementary figures SourcefileXLMS3.xls Source file_XL-MS rs.pdf Reporting Summary Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. 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