Abstract
Members of the polo-like kinase (Plk) family of serine/threonine protein kinases play crucial roles in cell cycle regulation and proliferation. Of the five Plks (Plk1-5), Plk1 is recognized as an anticancer drug target. Plk1 contains multiple structural components that are important for its proper biological function. These include an N-terminal catalytic domain and a C-terminal non-catalytic polo-box domain (PBD). The PBD binds to phosphothreonine (pT) and phosphoserine-containing sequences. Blocking PBD-dependent interactions offers a potential means of down-regulating Plk1 function that is distinct from targeting its ATP-binding site. Previously, we demonstrated by tethering alkylphenyl chains from the N(π)-position of the His residue in the 5-mer PLHSpT, that we were able to access a hydrophobic "cryptic" binding pocket on the surface of the PBD, and in so doing enhance binding affinities by approximately 1000-fold. More recently, we optimized these PBD-ligand interactions using an oxime ligation-based strategy. Herein, using azide-alkyne cycloaddition reactions, we explore new triazole-containing PBD-binding antagonists. Some of these ligands retain the high PBD-binding affinity of the parent peptide, while showing desirable enhanced selectivity for the PBD of Plk1 relative to the PBDs of Plk2 and Plk3.