Discovery of electrophilic degraders that exploit SNAr chemistry

Abstract

Targeted covalent inhibition (TCI) and targeted protein degradation (TPD) have proven effective in pharmacologically addressing formerly undruggable targets. Integration of both methodologies has resulted in the development of electrophilic degraders where recruitment of a suitable E3 ubiquitin ligase is achieved through formation of a covalent bond with a cysteine nucleophile. Expanding the scope of electrophilic degraders requires the development of electrophiles with tempered reactivity that enable selective ligase recruitment and reduce cross-reactivity with other cellular nucleophiles. In this study, we report the use of chemical moieties that enable nucleophilic aromatic substitution (SNAr) reactions in the rational design of electrophilic protein degraders. Appending an SNAr covalent warhead to several preexisting small molecule inhibitors transformed them into degraders, obviating the need for a defined E3 ligase recruiter. The SNAr covalent warhead is versatile; it can recruit various E3 ligases, including DDB1 and CUL4 associated factor 11 (DCAF11), DDB1 and CUL4 associated factor 16 (DCAF16), and possibly others. The incorporation of an SNAr covalent warhead into the BRD4 inhibitor led to the discovery of degraders with low picomolar degradation potency. Furthermore, we demonstrate the broad applicability of this approach through rational functional switching from kinase inhibitors into potent degraders.