The hydrophobically-tagged MDM2–p53 interaction inhibitor Nutlin-3a-HT is more potent against tumor cells than Nutlin-3a†
Abstract
We present the first application of hydrophobic tagging to a non-covalent inhibitor of protein–protein interactions. Nutlin-3a-HT, created by fusing the hydrophobic tag HyT13 to the MDM2–p53 interaction inhibitor Nutlin-3a, prevented cellular accumulation of MDM2 upon p53 reactivation, and had a stronger effect on cell viability and the induction of apoptosis than Nutlin-3a.