RESEARCH ARTICLE Cell-based HTS identifies a chemical chaperone for preventing ER protein aggregation and proteotoxicity Keisuke Kitakaze1,2,3, Shusuke Taniuchi1,2,4, Eri Kawano1, Yoshimasa Hamada1,2, Masato Miyake1,2,4, Miho Oyadomari1, Hirotatsu Kojima5, Hidetaka Kosako2, Tomoko Kuribara6, Suguru Yoshida6, Takamitsu Hosoya6, Seiichi Oyadomari1,2,4* 1Division of Molecular Biology, Institute for Genome Research, Institute of Advanced Medical Sciences, Tokushima University, Tokushima, Japan; 2Fujii Memorial Institute of Medical Sciences, Institute of Advanced Medical Sciences, Tokushima University, Tokushima, Japan; 3Department of Pharmacology, Kawasaki Medical School, Kurashiki, Japan; 4Department of Molecular Research, Diabetes Therapeutics and Research Center, Institute of Advanced Medical Sciences, Tokushima University, Tokushima, Japan; 5Drug Discovery Initiative (DDI), The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan; 6Laboratory of Chemical Bioscience, Institute of Biomaterials and Bioengineering, Tokyo Medical and Dental University (TMDU), Tokyo, Japan Abstract The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is responsible for folding secretory and membrane proteins, but disturbed ER proteostasis may lead to protein aggregation and subsequent cellular and clinical pathologies. Chemical chaperones have recently emerged as a potential therapeutic approach for ER stress-related diseases. Here, we identified 2-phenylimidazo[2,1-b]benzothiazole derivatives (IBTs) as chemical chaperones in a cell-based high-throughput screen. Biochemical and chemical biology approaches revealed that IBT21 directly binds to unfolded or misfolded proteins *For correspondence: and inhibits protein aggregation. Finally, IBT21 prevented cell death caused by chemically induced
[email protected] ER stress and by a proteotoxin, an aggression-prone prion protein. Taken together, our data show Competing interests: The the promise of IBTs as potent chemical chaperones that can ameliorate diseases resulting from authors declare that no protein aggregation under ER stress.