Rational Design of an Auxin Antagonist of the SCFTIR1 Auxin Receptor Complex

Hayashi, Ken-ichiro; Neve, Joshua; Hirose, Masakazu; Kuboki, Atsuhito; Shimada, Yukihisa; Kepinski, Stefan; Nozaki, Hiroshi

The plant hormone auxin is a master regulator of plant growth and development. By regulating rates of cell division and elongation and triggering specific patterning events, indole 3-acetic acid (IAA) regulates almost every aspect of plant development. The perception of auxin involves the formation of a ternary complex consisting of an F-box protein of the TIR1/AFB family of auxin receptors, the auxin mol., and a member the Aux/IAA family of co-repressor proteins. In this study, we identified a potent auxin antagonist, α-(phenylethyl-2-oxo)-IAA, as a lead compound for TIR1/AFB receptors by in silico virtual screening. This mol. was used as the basis for the development of a more potent TIR1 antagonist, auxinole (α-[2,4-dimethylphenylethyl-2-oxo]-IAA), using a structure-based drug design approach. Auxinole binds TIR1 to block the formation of the TIR1-IAA-Aux/IAA complex and so inhibits auxin-responsive gene expression. Mol. docking anal. indicates that the Ph ring in auxinole would strongly interact with Phe82 of TIR1, a residue that is crucial for Aux/IAA recognition. Consistent with this predicted mode of action, auxinole competitively inhibits various auxin responses in planta. Addnl., auxinole blocks auxin responses of the moss Physcomitrella patens, suggesting activity over a broad range of species. Our works not only substantiates the utility of chem. tools for plant biol. but also demonstrates a new class of small mol. inhibitor of protein-protein interactions common to mechanisms of perception of other plant hormones, such as jasmonate, gibberellin, and abscisic acid.

ACS Chemical Biology

American Chemical Society

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