Probing RAS Function with Monobodies

RAS is frequently mutated in human cancers with nearly 20% of all cancers harboring mutations in one of three RAS isoforms (KRAS, HRAS, or NRAS). Furthermore, RAS proteins are critical oncogenic drivers of tumorigenesis. As such, RAS has been a prime focus for development of targeted cancer therapeutics. Although RAS is viewed by many as undruggable, the recent development of allele-specific covalent inhibitors to KRAS(G12C) has provided significant hope for the eventual pharmacological inhibition of RAS (Ostrem et al., Nature 503(7477):548-551, 2013; Patricelli et al., Cancer Discov 6(3):316-329, 2016; Janes et al., Cell 172(3):578-589.e17, 2018; Canon et al., Nature 575(7781):217-223, 2019; Hallin et al., Cancer Discov 10(1):54-71, 2020). Indeed, these (G12C)-specific inhibitors have elicited promising responses in early phase clinical trials (Canon et al., Nature 575(7781):217-223, 2019; Hallin et al., Cancer Discov 10(1):54-71, 2020). Despite this success in pharmacologically targeting KRAS(G12C), the remaining RAS mutants lack readily tractable chemistries for development of covalent inhibitors. Thus, alternative approaches are needed to develop broadly efficacious RAS inhibitors. We have utilized Monobody (Mb) technology to identify vulnerabilities in RAS that can potentially be exploited for development of novel RAS inhibitors. Here, we describe the methods used to isolate RAS-specific Mbs and to define their inhibitory activity.