SBIR-STTR Award

Acetyl CoA carboxylase catalyzes the first step in fatty acid biosynthesis and is a key regulator of fat metabolism. Because of ACC's role in regulating fat storage and fat burning, pharmaceutical inhibitors of ACC have promise as treatments for obesity and type 2 diabetes - two urgent US health problems. Because ACC also plays a role in primary metabolism, ACC inhibitors additionally could prove useful as antimicrobial compounds. Currently there are no ACC inhibitors suitable as leads for drug development. The most potent ACC inhibitor known is the structurally complex, natural product soraphen. We propose to identify new small molecule inhibitors of ACC that target the soraphen binding site and that are suitable as leads for drug development. In phase I we will develop the necessary research tools: 1) isolated soraphen binding domains, derived from ACC, to be used as screening agents and in structural studies, 2) a microtiter plate-based assay to screen for new chemical inhibitors that target the soraphen binding site, and 3) structural information on the molecular interactions by which soraphen inhibits ACC. In phase II we will take an integrated approach incorporating the validated assay, in combination with computational chemistry methods based on the acquired structural information, in order to identify novel and synthetically tractable chemical leads that inhibit ACC. The long-term goal is to use these leads to develop and commercialize therapeutics for the treatment of obesity, type 2 diabetes, and microbial infections.

Thesaurus Terms:
acetyl coA carboxylase, chemical binding, drug design /synthesis /production, drug discovery /isolation, enzyme inhibitor, small molecule binding site, biotin, communicable disease, fluorescence polarization, gene expression, intermolecular interaction, noninsulin dependent diabetes mellitus, obesity X ray crystallography, fluorescein, molecular cloning, protein purification

Acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC) catalyzes the first step in fatty acid biosynthesis and its product, malonyl-CoA, inhibits fatty acid oxidation. These functions make ACC a prime target for the development of therapeutics to treat obesity and type 2 diabetes. Knockout studies in mice, and animal studies with ACC inhibitors, have validated this approach. The most potent inhibitor of eukaryotic ACCs identified to date is the natural product soraphen. Soraphen has been demonstrated to have pharmacological properties consistent with the potential to treat obesity and diabetes; however, soraphen is not suitable as a therapeutic due to toxic side effects. Furthermore, soraphen is not a good starting point for drug development due to its complex structure. We propose to identify novel small molecules that target the soraphen binding site and inhibit mammalian ACCs with high potency. In Phase I research we cloned and expressed biotin carboxylase (BC) domains from the human ACC1 and ACC2 isozymes that retain high affinity soraphen binding, developed a high throughput screening assay, and solved the x-ray crystal structure for yeast BC alone and in complex with soraphen. In Phase II research we will use these tools to identify novel inhibitors by completing the following specific aims: 1) molecular docking of ~2,000,000 commercially available compounds to the soraphen binding site; 2) high throughput screening of the top ranked docking hits, and of an in- house small molecule library; 3) in vitro and in vivo characterization of leads; 4) lead optimization through iterative synthesis and testing of analogs; 5) determination of the structures of additional BC domains and of novel leads in complex with the BC domain; and 6) efficacy studies in animals with 1 to 3 leads to demonstrate potential for treating obesity and type 2 diabetes. This project will discover new drug candidates for combating obesity and diabetes. Combined, these diseases affect approximately 35% of Americans and cost approximately $200 billion annually.

Thesaurus Terms:
Acetyl Coa Carboxylase, Chemical Binding, Drug Design /Synthesis /Production, Drug Discovery /Isolation, Enzyme Inhibitor, Small Molecule Binding Site, Biotin, Communicable Disease, Fluorescence Polarization, Gene Expression, Intermolecular Interaction, Noninsulin Dependent Diabetes Mellitus, Obesity X Ray Crystallography, Fluorescein, Molecular Cloning, Protein Purification