Screening for Non-Pore-Binding Modulators of EAG K+ Channels

J Biomol Screen. 2016 Aug;21(7):758-65. doi: 10.1177/1087057116636592. Epub 2016 Mar 14.

Abstract

Members of the ether-à-go-go (EAG) family of voltage-gated K(+) channels are involved in several pathophysiological diseases, and there has been a great interest in screening for drugs that modulate the activity of these channels. Many drugs have been shown to bind in the pore of these channels, blocking ion flux and causing disease pathology. In this report, we present two independent screening campaigns in which we wanted to identify small molecules that bind to either the intracellular cytoplasmic amino terminal Per-Arnt-Sim (PAS) domain from the human EAG-related gene (ERG) channel or the amino or carboxy terminal globular domains from the mouse EAG1 channel, affecting their interaction. We report that in both cases, compounds were identified that showed weak, nonspecific binding. We suggest alternative routes should be pursued in future efforts to identify specific, high-affinity binders to these cytoplasmic domains.

Keywords: CNBh; EAG1; PAS; drug screening; hERG; ion channel.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Binding Sites
  • Drug Evaluation, Preclinical / methods*
  • Ether-A-Go-Go Potassium Channels / antagonists & inhibitors*
  • Ether-A-Go-Go Potassium Channels / chemistry
  • High-Throughput Screening Assays / methods*
  • Humans
  • Mice
  • Protein Domains / drug effects
  • Protein Structure, Tertiary

Substances

  • Ether-A-Go-Go Potassium Channels
  • KCNH1 protein, human