The bromodomain and extra terminal domain (BET) family of proteins, including BRD2, BRD3, and BRD4, play a key role in many cellular processes, including inflammatory gene expression, mitosis, and viral/host interaction by controlling the assembly of histone acetylation-
dependent chromatin complexes. (±)-
JQ1 displaces BET proteins from chromatin by competitively binding to the acetyl-
lysine recognition pocket of BET bromodomains.
1,2 The (−)-
JQ1 stereoisomer has no appreciable affinity to BET bromodomains, whereas enantiomerically pure (+)-
JQ1 binds to BRD4 bromodomains 1 and 2 with K
d values of ~50 and 90 nM, respectively.
1