Exploring the effect of active site loops dynamics on PTP1B/SHP2 activity through selective benzamide-based inhibitors

PTP1B is a potent target for the treatment of various diseases, such as cancer, diabetes, and autoimmune deficiency diseases. However, most PTP1B inhibitors show biological activity on its high homologous tumor target SHP2 resulting the potential toxic side effects. Therefore, it is urgent to elucidate the action mechanisms at molecular level, and further design novel PTP1B inhibitors with high specificity and activity. Based on our results from molecular dynamics simulations, the closure degree of WPD loop was identified as the key influence factor on PTP1B/SHP2 activity in this study. What's more, the closure degree of WPD loop on PTP1B was mainly came from the conventional hydrogen bond and π-Alkyl interactions between R47 and inhibitor <b>14</b>. Subsequently, a PTP1B inhibitor <b>Q1</b> was designed to enhance the π-Alkyl interaction between inhibitor and PTP1B and increase the closure degree of WPD loop. The experimental results showed that <b>Q1</b> with an IC₅₀ of 2.45 μM against PTP1B exhibited more than 20-fold greater selectivity for PTP1B than for SHP2. Therefore, our efforts provided a new way to predict the selectivity and activity of small molecules for PTP1B and SHP2.