molecules of the month

FT385 is a covalent inhibitor of the USP30 deubiquitinating enzyme with a cyanopyrrolidine warhead. Identifying selective active-site inhibitors of de-ubiquitinating enzymes has been challenging, and FT385 now provides a good tool compound to study USP30 biology. Some of my colleagues at Genentech recently published on the mechanism of cyanopyrrolidine inhibition of USP7, which proceeds through an interesting de-sulfhydration reaction.