JQ1 is a

thienotriazolodiazepine A thienotriazolodiazepine is a heterocyclic compound containing a diazepine ring fused to thiophene and triazole rings. Thienotriazolodiazepine forms the central core of several pharmaceutical drugs including: * Brotizolam * Ciclotizolam * De ...

and a potent inhibitor of the BET family of

bromodomain A bromodomain is an approximately 110 amino acid protein domain that recognizes acetylated lysine residues, such as those on the ''N''-terminal tails of histones. Bromodomains, as the "readers" of lysine acetylation, are responsible in transducin ...

proteins which include BRD2,

BRD3 Bromodomain-containing protein 3 (BRD3) also known as RING3-like protein (RING3L) is a protein that in humans is encoded by the BRD3 gene. This gene was identified based on its homology to the gene encoding the RING3 (BRD2) protein, a serine/threo ...

BRD4 Bromodomain-containing protein 4 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ''BRD4'' gene. BRD4 is a member of the BET (bromodomain and extra terminal domain) family, which also includes BRD2, BRD3, and BRDT. BRD4, similar to other BET famil ...

, and the testis-specific protein

BRDT Bromodomain testis-specific protein is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ''BRDT'' gene. It is a member of the Bromodomain and Extra-terminal motif (BET) protein family. BRDT is similar to the RING3 protein family. It possesses 2 bromod ...

in mammals. BET inhibitors structurally similar to JQ1 are being tested in clinical trials for a variety of cancers including

NUT midline carcinoma NUT carcinoma (NC; formerly NUT midline carcinoma (NMC)) is a rare genetically defined, very aggressive squamous cell epithelial cancer that usually arises in the midline of the body and is characterized by a chromosomal rearrangement in the nucle ...

. It was developed by the James Bradner laboratory at Brigham and Women's Hospital and named after chemist Jun Qi. The chemical structure was inspired by patent of similar BET inhibitors by Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma O/2009/084693 Structurally it is related to

benzodiazepine Benzodiazepines (BZD, BDZ, BZs), sometimes called "benzos", are a class of depressant drugs whose core chemical structure is the fusion of a benzene ring and a diazepine ring. They are prescribed to treat conditions such as anxiety disorders, ...

s. While widely used in laboratory applications, JQ1 is not itself being used in human clinical trials because it has a short half life.

Efficacy in mouse models of cancer

Interest in JQ1 as a cancer therapeutic stemmed from its ability to inhibit BRD4 and BRD3, both of which form fusion oncogenes that drive

. Subsequent work demonstrated that a number of cancers including some forms of acute myelogenous leukemia (AML), multiple myeloma (MM) and acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) were also highly sensitive to BET inhibitors.

In other applications

JQ1 has also been investigated for other applications in the treatment of HIV infection, as a male contraceptive, and in slowing the progression of heart disease.

References

{{Reflist, 32em Contraception for males Experimental cancer drugs Thienotriazolodiazepines Tert-butyl compounds

Efficacy in mouse models of cancer

In other applications

See also

References