A small-molecule VHL molecular glue degrader for cysteine dioxygenase 1

The von Hippel-Lindau tumor suppressor gene product (pVHL) is an E3 ligase substrate receptor that binds proline-hydroxylated hypoxia-inducible factor HIF1α, leading to its ubiquitin-dependent degradation. By using protein arrays, we identified a small molecule that binds the HIF1α-binding pocket on pVHL and functions as a molecular glue degrader of the neosubstrate cysteine dioxygenase (CDO1) by recruiting it into the VHL-Cullin-RING E3 ligase complex and leading to its selective degradation. The CDO1-binding region involved in VHL recruitment was characterized through a combination of mutagenesis and protein-protein docking coupled with molecular-dynamics-based solvation analysis. The X-ray structure of the ternary complexes of VHL, CDO1 and degrader molecules confirms the binding region prediction and provides atomic insights into key molecular glue interactions.