Clozapine as an E3 Ligand for PROTAC Technology

New ubiquitin ligase (E3) ligands are crucial for developing proteolysis-targeting chimeras (PROTACs) to induce the degradation of a target protein. In this study, we developed a PROTAC using the antipsychotic drug clozapine as a new E3 ligand. First, a clozapine PROTAC targeting a model target HaloTag protein (Halo-PEG-Clozapine) was synthesized, and the PROTAC induced degradation of the HaloTag-fused protein in a cell culture system. Another clozapine PROTAC targeting the cancer therapeutic target estrogen receptor α (ERα) (Tamoxifen-PEG-Clozapine) was synthesized and induced degradation of the ERα protein in MCF-7 breast cancer cells. Experiments with inhibitors and siRNAs showed that Tamoxifen-PEG-Clozapine degraded ERα via a ubiquitin-proteasome system that uses the ubiquitin protein ligase E3 component N-recognin 5. These results indicate that clozapine is a promising E3 ligand that may expand the molecular design of PROTACs, contributing to the advancement of drug discovery by facilitating the degradation of disease-related proteins.