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The reversible phosphorylation of proteins controls most cellular functions. Protein kinases have been popular drug targets, unlike phosphatases, which remain a drug discovery challenge. Guanabenz and Sephin1 are selective inhibitors of the phosphatase regulatory subunit PPP1R15A (R15A) that prolong the benefit of eIF2α phosphorylation, thereby protecting cells from proteostatic defects. In mice, Sephin1 prevents two neurodegenerative diseases, Charcot-Marie-Tooth 1B (CMT-1B) and SOD1-mediated amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). However, the molecular basis for R15A inhibition is unknown. Here we reconstituted human recombinant eIF2α holophosphatases, R15A-PP1 and R15B-PP1, whose activity depends on both the catalytic subunit PP1 (protein phosphatase 1) and either R15A or R15B. This system enabled the functional characterization of these holophosphatases and revealed that Guanabenz and Sephin1 induced a selective conformational change in R15A, detected by resistance to limited proteolysis. This altered the recruitment of eIF2α, preventing its dephosphorylation. This work demonstrates that regulatory subunits of phosphatases are valid drug targets and provides the molecular rationale to expand this concept to other phosphatases.

Dephosphorylation of translation initiation factor 2 (eIF2α) terminates signalling in the mammalian integrated stress response (ISR) and has emerged as a promising target for modifying the course of protein misfolding diseases. The [( o -chlorobenzylidene)amino]guanidines (Guanabenz and Sephin1) have been proposed to exert protective effects against misfolding by interfering with eIF2α-P dephosphorylation through selective disruption of a PP1-PPP1R15A holophosphatase complex. Surprisingly, they proved inert in vitro affecting neither stability of the PP1-PPP1R15A complex nor substrate-specific dephosphorylation. Furthermore, eIF2α-P dephosphorylation, assessed by a kinase shut-off experiment, progressed normally in Sephin1-treated cells. Consistent with its role in defending proteostasis, Sephin1 attenuated the IRE1 branch of the endoplasmic reticulum unfolded protein response. However, repression was noted in both wildtype and Ppp1r15a deleted cells and in cells rendered ISR-deficient by CRISPR editing of the Eif2s1 locus to encode a non-phosphorylatable eIF2α (eIF2α S51A ). These findings challenge the view that [( o -chlorobenzylidene)amino]guanidines restore proteostasis by interfering with eIF2α-P dephosphorylation.

Protein phosphorylation regulates virtually all biological processes. Although protein kinases are popular drug targets, targeting protein phosphatases remains a challenge. Here, we describe Sephin1 (selective inhibitor of a holophosphatase), a small molecule that safely and selectively inhibited a regulatory subunit of protein phosphatase 1 in vivo. Sephin1 selectively bound and inhibited the stress-induced PPP1R15A, but not the related and constitutive PPP1R15B, to prolong the benefit of an adaptive phospho-signaling pathway, protecting cells from otherwise lethal protein misfolding stress. In vivo, Sephin1 safely prevented the motor, morphological, and molecular defects of two otherwise unrelated protein-misfolding diseases in mice, Charcot-Marie-Tooth 1B, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Thus, regulatory subunits of phosphatases are drug targets, a property exploited here to safely prevent two protein misfolding diseases., (Copyright © 2015, American Association for the Advancement of Science.)