Pharmacologic interrogation of USP28 cellular function in p53 signaling

Deubiquitinating enzymes (DUBs) are crucial regulators of ubiquitin signaling and protein degradation that remain incompletely understood in part due to the lack of high-quality chemical probes. To address this challenge, we developed CAS-010, a low nanomolar, ubiquitin-competitive inhibitor of USP28 that demonstrates preferential activity against USP28 over other DUBs, while also exhibiting some activity against the closely related USP25. We rationalized our SAR trends and observed selectivity using a crystal structure of USP28 in complex with an inhibitor. We validated on-target effects of CAS-010 on the negative regulation of p53 transactivation in the wild-type setting. We demonstrated that CAS-010 disrupts the 53BP1-USP28 interaction, and more broadly showed that USP28 catalytic activity contributes to this key interaction. Taken together, CAS-010 and the accompanying negative control compound WPT-086 and inhibitor-resistant mutant provide well-validated tools for further characterizing the role of USP28 in p53-mediated effect on cell cycle control and cell fate.