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Updated: Jan 20, 2026

Repressing Gene Transcription by Redirecting Cellular Machinery with Chemical Epigenetic Modifiers
Published on: September 20, 2018
Discovery and Characterization of a Cellular Potent Positive Allosteric Modulator of the Polycomb Repressive Complex
Kelsey N Lamb1, Daniel Bsteh2, Sarah N Dishman1
1Center for Integrative Chemical Biology and Drug Discovery, Division of Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry, UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA.
Abstract:
Polycomb-directed repression of gene expression is frequently misregulated in human diseases. A quantitative and target-specific cellular assay was utilized to discover the first potent positive allosteric modulator (PAM) peptidomimetic, UNC4976, of nucleic acid binding by CBX7, a chromodomain methyl-lysine reader of Polycomb repressive complex 1. The PAM activity of UNC4976 resulted in enhanced efficacy across three orthogonal cellular assays by simultaneously antagonizing H3K27me3-specific recruitment of CBX7 to target genes while increasing non-specific binding to DNA and RNA. PAM activity thereby reequilibrates PRC1 away from H3K27me3 target regions. Together, our discovery and characterization of UNC4976 not only revealed the most cellularly potent PRC1-specific chemical probe to date, but also uncovers a potential mechanism of Polycomb regulation with implications for non-histone lysine methylated interaction partners.
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