Insights into the mechanism of streptonigrin-induced protein arginine deiminase inactivation.

Protein citrullination is just one of more than 200 known PTMs. This modification, catalyzed by the protein arginine deiminases (PADs 1-4 and PAD6 in humans), converts the positively charged guanidinium group of an arginine residue into a neutral ureido-group. Given the strong links between dysregulated PAD activity and human disease, we initiated a program to develop PAD inhibitors as potential therapeutics for these and other diseases in which the PADs are thought to play a role. Streptonigrin which possesses both anti-tumor and anti-bacterial activity was later identified as a highly potent PAD4 inhibitor. In an effort to understand why streptonigrin is such a potent and selective PAD4 inhibitor, we explored its structure-activity relationships by examining the inhibitory effects of several analogues that mimic the A, B, C, and/or D rings of streptonigrin. We report the identification of the 7-amino-quinoline-5,8-dione core of streptonigrin as a highly potent pharmacophore that acts as a pan-PAD inhibitor.