Discovery of a Highly Potent PROTAC Degrader of p300/CBP Proteins for the Treatment of Enzalutamide-Resistant Prostate Cancer

Abstract

Prostate cancer therapies against androgen receptor (AR) eventually develop lethal resistance; thus, exploring new therapeutic approaches is urgent for prostate cancer treatment. Acetyltransferase p300/CBP are key coactivators for AR-mediated transcription and represent promising therapeutic targets to inhibit AR activity in prostate cancer. We describe the design synthesis and evaluation of a new class of p300/CBP PROTAC degraders. We identified an excellent p300/CBP degrader <b>MJP6412</b>, which effectively induced degradation of p300/CBP proteins, downregulated AR target genes, and inhibited cell growth of human prostate cancer cell lines and enzalutamide-resistant cells with IC₅₀ even at nanomolar concentrations. Furthermore, <b>MJP6412</b> demonstrated significant inhibition of tumor growth in a VCaP xenograft model. Collectively, <b>MJP6412</b> is a promising lead compound for the treatment of prostate cancer, especially enzalutamide-resistant prostate cancer.