Efforts toward discovering inhibitors of the SYK SH2–FCER1γ interaction as potential Alzheimer’s disease chemical probes and therapeutics

Abstract Background Spleen associated tyrosine kinase (SYK) plays a potential role in several neurodegenerative conditions. To date, a few pharmacological inhibitors have been developed, targeting the ATP‐binding kinase domain, and some of these inhibitors have been reported to show beneficial effects on the pathophysiology of Alzheimer’s (PMC: 9179326).In 2015, the Accelerating Medicines Partnership: Alzheimer’s Disease (AMP‐AD) Knowledge Portal analyzed and identified SYK and the FC gamma receptor (FCεR1γ) as targets for Alzheimer’s Disease (AD), through multidimensional human “omic” (genomic, epigenomic, RNAseq, and proteomic) data (PMID: 26853544). Thus, the interaction between FCER1G p‐ITAM and SYK tandem SH2 domain was selected for further target validation and small molecule hit discovery efforts through the portfolio of novel targets to treat the Alzheimer’s disease via the Target Enablement to Accelerate Therapy Development for Alzheimer’s Disease (TREAT‐AD) program were initiated. As part of the TREAT‐AD effort, we aim to provide experimental validation of a SYK–FCεR1γ interaction inhibitor for AD and begin drug discovery campaigns to identify novel inhibitors of this interaction, with the goal of developing an in vivo chemical probe. Method Using purified SYK tandem‐SH2 (tSH2) domain protein, a time‐resolved fluorescence energy transfer (TR‐FRET) based assay platform was developed with a fluoroprobe‐labeled phospho‐ITAM peptide of FCεR1γ. This assay was miniaturized for ultra‐high‐throughput screening (uHTS) of 100K compounds in parallel with a DNA encoded library (DEL) screening approach (Ref: X‐Chem). The hits from these screening methods were evaluated in secondary assays in an attempt to validate the initial hits. Result We have previous crystallography data of the SYK tSH2 domains bound to phospho‐ITAM peptides and have established a TR‐FRET based assay to discover and characterize inhibitors of the interaction between the FCεR1γ peptide and SYK tSH2 domains. Several thio‐uric acids hit compounds have been identified from uHTS. Most of them demonstrate potency in the TR‐FRET based assay of <10 µM. Although, orthogonal experimental validation is still under process. Conclusion Through the TREAT‐AD program, we have explored the SYK–FCεR1γ interaction and demonstrated novel screening strategies, which can be further exploited to generate novel inhibitors of this interaction.

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