Farnesylation of RAS

The protein Ras, an important intracellular signal transducer, is crucially involved in the development of tumor growth. The farnesylation of Ras, catalyzed by the enzyme Ras-farnesyl-transferase, is essential to its proper functioning in the normal and in the transformed state. Therefore, the inhibition of Ras lipidation has become a promising target for the development of new classes of anti-tumor agents. This review focuses on the different classes of Ras-farnesyl-transferase inhibitors and compares their biological properties and modes of action in vitro as well as in vivo. 

Although FTase inhibitors influence the farnesylation of Ras they are likely to interfere with the posttranslational modifications of other CAAX-containing proteins as well. Apart from the approximately 20 farnesylated proteins that are known today, farnesylation is also required for normal Ras function which in turn is critical for normal cell viability. For these reasons farnesyltransferase... 

Building a Bridge Between Chemistry and Biology - Molecular Forceps that Inhibit the Farnesylation of RAS... 

Post-translational modification of Ras includes farnesylation, removal of the first 3 carboxyl-terminal amino acids, methyl esterification of the new carboxyl terminal amino acid, and addition of palmitate, as shown in Fig. 9. Especially, farnesylation is considered to be essential for translocation of Ras to the cell membrane and Ras functions. Farnesylation of Ras is catalyzed by farnesyl transferase with farnesyl pyrophosphate, which is derived from mevalonate. Mevalonate is synthesized by HMG-CoA reductase, a rate-limiting enzyme of the mevalonate pathway. Therefore, inhibition of this enzyme will reduce farnesylation of Ras. 

Caliendo G et al. (1999) Synthesis and biological activity of pseudopeptide inhibitors of Ras farnesyl transferase containing unconventional amino acids. Farmaco 54(11-12) 785-790... 

The H- and N-isoforms of Ras support the first (isoprenoid) hydrophobic modification by additional thioester formation with palmitoylic acids [18]. At physiological temperature (37°C) the dissociation of doubly modified lipo-peptides with an isoprenyl thioether and a palmitoyl thioester is very slow and characterized by half-times in the order of 50 h. Here, the relative effect of the carboxymethylation is significantly reduced. Palmitoyl groups with their C16 alkane chain length contribute more efficiently to membrane anchoring than the farnesyl modification. 

The finding that lipid-modification of Ras, in particular farnesylation, is crucial to its biological activity led to the idea that inhibiting the enzymes re-... 

Scheme 1. Posttranslational modification of Ras protein with lipid groups (FPP Farnesyl-pyrophosphate, PalCoA Palmitoyl CoA)...

The less polar methyl ester 2 as prodrug showed better results in vivo and inhibits both farnesylation of the Ras protein and growth of Ras-transformed cells, whilst proliferation of Raf- or Mos-transformed cells was not influenced. Growth of human pancreatic adenocarcinoma cells with mutated K-Ras, c-Myc and p53 genes was inhibited by application of 2. If the compound is administered over a period of 5 days to mice with implanted Ras-dependent tumors, tumor growth can be reduced by up to 66% compared to untreated mice, whereas application of the antitumor antibiotic doxorubicin only resulted in 33% reduction under the same conditions. It is particularly noteworthy that treatment with the /1-turn mimetic - in contrast to treatment with doxorubicin - was without any visible side effects, such as weight loss. 

The central unit of these peptidomimetics imitates a /1-turn and brings the NH2-terminus of the cysteine analogue and the CO OH terminus of the methionine in spatial proximity these can then complex the Zn2+ ion which is essential for activity of the FTase [26]. The free acid 7 inhibits the enzyme with an IC50 value of 1 nmol/1, whilst in intact cells the methyl ester 8, despite its weaker in vitro activity, is significantly more potent because it can penetrate the plasma membrane better due to its lower polarity. This property can be used to convert the morphology of H-Ras-transformed cells back to the normal form and to inhibit growth of these cells, whereas the substance shows no effect on Src-transformed and untransformed rat fibroblasts. The inhibitor therefore acts selectively on transformed cells and does not influence growth of normal cells. This result is noteworthy because farnesylation of the wild type H-Ras protein... 

There are several possible explanations to account for this apparent lack of toxicity. Some geranylgeranylated Ras-related proteins might compensate for the loss of Ras function (see, e.g., [46]). Alternatively inhibition of farnesyl transferase may reduce Ras activity below the level required for transformation, yet allow sufficient Ras activity for maintaining normal cell viability [47]. Alternatively, a different signaling pathway may be activated when Ras is not anchored to the plasma membrane. 

Scheme 8. AcOZ strategy for the synthesis of palmitoylated and farnesylated N-Ras heptapeptide...

By means of this method, a variety of Ras proteins with different lipidation patterns could be synthesized in multimilligram amounts. For instance, proteins were generated with the natural lipid combination, i.e. a farnesyl thioether and a palmitoyl thioester. Furthermore, analogous proteins were synthesized embodying only one lipid residue in which either the farnesyl- or the palmitoyl group was replaced by a stable hexadecyl thioether. In addition, proteins were built up containing a serine instead of a cysteine residue at the critical sites which normally are lipidated. In a further series of experiments, lipidated Ras proteins which carry a fluorescent Mant group incorporated into the farnesyl-type modification were synthesized.1251... 

Thus, lipoproteins could be injected over the surface of a lipid covered SPR sensor in a detergent free buffer solution and showed spontaneous insertion into the artificial membrane.171 Again two hydro-phobic modifications are necessary for stable insertion into the lipid layer, whereas lipoproteins with a farnesyl group only dissociate significantly faster out of the membrane. Therefore the isoprenylation of a protein is sufficient to allow interaction with membraneous structures, while trapping of the molecule at a particular location requires a second hydrophobic anchor. Interaction between the Ras protein and its effector Raf-kinase depends on complex formation of Ras with GTP (instead of the Ras GDP complex, present in the resting cell). If a synthetically modified Ras protein with a palmi-... 

Eukaryotic cells utilize an efficient transport system that delivers macromolecules fast and secure to their destination. In the case of the small GTP binding proteins of the Ras family the modified C-terminus seems to be sufficient for addressing the polypeptide to its target membrane (in the case of Ras itself the plasma membrane). Lipopeptides with the C-terminal structure of N-Ras (either a pen-tamer with a C-terminal carboxymethylation and farnesylation or a heptapeptide with a palmitoyl thioester in addition) and a N-terminal 7-nitrobenz-2-oxa-l,3-diazolyl (NBD) fluorophore were microin-jected into NIH3T3 fibroblast cells and the distribution of the fluorophore was monitored by confocal laser fluorescence microscopy. Enrichment of the protein in the plasma membrane was efficient only for peptides with two hydrophobic modification sites, while the farnesylated but not palmitoylated peptide was distributed in the cytosol.1121... 

Scheme 3 Cycle of N-Ras trafficking. Farnesylated N-Ras is palmitoylated in the Golgi (1), via vesicular transport it targets the PM (2), and after deacylation (3) it trafficks back to the Golgi (4).

Alternatively to using prelipidated building blocks palmitoylation on resin is possible with the hydrazine linker. In Scheme 27 the synthesis route for the palmitoylated and farnesylated N-Ras peptide 78 is shown. Here the initial loading of trityl-protected cysteine to the hydrazine linker was mediated by A,A-diisopropylcarbodiimide (DIG) and HOBt. After Fmoc removal the proline was coupled using HBTU and HOBt. The trityl-protected dipeptide 75 was subsequently S-deprotected using TFA with triethylsilane (TES) as a scavenger. Farnesylation of the free thiol was achieved with an excess of farnesyl bromide. 

Scheme 27 Synthesis of a palmitoylated and farnesylated N-Ras peptide with the hydrazine linker using the resin llpidatlon approach.

Scheme 36 Expressed protein ligation of the farnesylated K-Ras 4B C-terminus.

Cysteine farnesylation of the ras oncogene product Ras is required for its transforming... 

To function, Ras must be attached to the plasma membrane. Translocation from the cytoplasm to membrane requires a series of posttranslational modifications that begin with farnesylation of the cysteine residue, the fourth amino acid residue from the C terminus of the protein, by famesyl protein transferase (FPTase) (64). Attachment of the hydrophobic 15-carbon lipid farnesyl group allows Ras molecule insertion into the plasma membrane and is crucial for Ras signaling activity and transformation properties. As farnesylation is required for oncogenic Ras function, FPTase inhibitors (FTIs) are obvious candidate antineoplastic agents. Several drugs that inhibit Ras farnesylation are at various stages of clinical development (65). 

FIGURE 27-30 Farnesylation of a Cys residue. The thioether linkage is shown in red. The Ras protein is the product of the ras oncogene. 

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