In Vivo Efficacy of a Macrocyclic Peptoid-Peptide Hybrid That Selectively Modulates the Beta-Catenin/TCF Interaction...

Prostate cancer is the most common form of male cancer and can initially be treated as a localized disease. Although the 5-year survival rate at diagnosis approaches 100 percent, a subset of patients will subsequently develop resistance to treatment. This may ultimately lead to metastatic castration resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC), for which the prognosis is much less favorable. The importance of the Wnt/β-catenin pathway in treatment-resistant prostate cancer has inspired efforts to exploit the interaction of β-catenin with its transcription binding partners as a therapeutic strategy for prostate cancer.

Peptoid-peptide macrocycles are attractive design scaffolds for disrupting protein-protein interactions. In this study, we evaluate a library of these macrocycles and demonstrate their selectivity for the β-catenin/TCF (T Cell Factor) interaction.

Importantly, we show that the macrocycles do not significantly alter the binding of β-catenin to cell surface protein, E-cadherin. Our lead sequence, Macrocycle 13, (MC13) was also tolerant of modifications aimed to improve aqueous solubility while retaining activity. Herein, we demonstrate in vivo proof of principle for using peptidomimetic macrocycles to target the β-catenin/TCF interaction. Treated prostate cancer mouse xenografts show markedly diminished tumor growth and decreased levels of myc protein. MC13 also inhibits growth in an organoid model with genetic alterations frequently found in prostate cancer. Transcriptome analysis of prostate cancer cells treated with MC13 reveals downregulation of key pathways, including Wnt/β-catenin and c-myc. Furthermore, chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) analysis shows reduced β-catenin at its target genes, axin2 and c-myc.

Our findings underscore the therapeutic potential of peptoid-peptide macrocycle inhibition of β-catenin in prostate cancer.