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A Cryptic Interfacial Pocket Uncovered in Full CRL4CRBN-IKZF3 Ubiquitylation Complex Enhances IMiD Efficacy

Deng, Z.; Ai, H.; Shi, Q.; Liang, J.; He, Z.; Zheng, J.; Li, H.; Zhang, L.; He, W.; Tao, S.; Zheng, Q.; He, W.; Pan, M.; Liu, L.

2025-06-09 biochemistry
10.1101/2025.06.08.658527 bioRxiv
Show abstract

Immunomodulatory imide drugs (IMiDs) redirect the CUL4-RBX1-DDB1-CRBN (CRL4CRBN) ligase to ubiquitylate and degrade disease-linked proteins, but the full picture of how IMiDs glue the neosubstrate within the whole CRL4CRBN complex remains unknown. We determined cryo-electron microscopy structures of eight approved or clinical IMiDs in full CRL4CRBN ubiquitylation complexes at resolutions up to 3.4 [A], and revealed how these structurally distinct IMiDs exploit the structural plasticity of CRL4CRBN to organize conformationally conserved and compact active ubiquitylation assemblies with the neosubstrate IKZF3. Four "next-generation" IMiDs were found to additionally engage a cryptic gluing-driven interfacial (GDI) pocket at the non-degron zinc finger 3 (ZF3) of IKZF3, which contributes to their enhanced efficacy and neosubstrate specificity. The identification of cryptic gluing-driven pockets formed only in full ubiquitylation complexes provides new structure-directed design opportunities for IMiDs to improve therapeutic efficacy.

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