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Small molecule inhibition of multiple RNA binding proteins underlies Musashi-2 independent phenotypes

Walters, K.; Sajek, M. P.; Issaian, A.; Baldwin, A.; Harrison, E.; Murphy, E.; Daniels, M.; Haines, J.; Hansen, K.; D'Alessandro, A.; Mukherjee, N.

2022-09-20 molecular biology
10.1101/2022.09.20.508735 bioRxiv
Show abstract

RNA binding proteins (RBPs) are key regulators of gene expression. Small molecules targeting these RBP-RNA interactions are a rapidly emerging class of therapeutics for treating a variety of diseases. Ro-08-2750 (Ro) is a small molecule inhibitor identified as a competitive inhibitor of Musashi(MSI)-RNA interactions. Here we show Ro potently inhibits adrenocortical steroidogenesis and viability independent of MSI2 in multiple cell lines. We identified Ro-interacting proteins using an unbiased proteome-wide approach and discovered it is broadly targeting RBPs. To confirm this finding, we leveraged the large-scale ENCODE data and found a subset of RBPs whose depletion phenocopies Ro inhibition. We conclude that Ro is a promiscuous inhibitor of multiple RBPs, many containing RRM1 domains. Moreover, we provide a general framework for validating the specificity and identifying targets of RBP inhibitors in a cellular context.

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