Lysine specific demethylase 1 (KDM1A)1 is a demethylase involved in the control of gene transcription. This protein has emerged as a candidate pharmacological target2 in oncology; including Acute Myeloid Leukemia3 (AML), Myelodysplasia Syndrome (MDS)4, Myelofibrosis (MF)5,6, Small Cell Lung Cancer (SCLC)7; in Sickle Cell Disease (SCD)8,9, and in central nervous system diseases including Alzheimer's Disease (AD), Multiple Sclerosis (MS); and in aggression10.
Most of the KDM1A inhibiting compounds in clinical development are cyclopropylamine derivatives and inhibit the protein by covalent binding to its flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD) cofactor11. Inhibition of KDM1A induces gene expression changes, but these changes vary enormously across tissues, cell types, or disease cases. Inhibition of KDM1A also changes histone marks12, yet these changes are generally produced locally at a specific site in the genome, and are again, highly tissue and cell specific.
The protocol was developed to directly measure KDM1A target engagement in biological samples and has been optimized for the use with cyclopropylamine derived inhibitors. The assay is based on ELISA technology and analyzes, in parallel, Total and Free (i.e. unbound by inhibitor) KDM1A in a native protein extract from a biological sample in a solid phase assay. As a first step, the biological sample is lysed in the presence of the biotinylated KDM1A selective chemoprobe OG-88113,14, derived from the selective KDM1A inhibitor ORY-1001 (iadademstat), a potent inhibitor of KDM1A in clinical development for the treatment of oncological disease. The chemoprobe has an IC50 for KDM1A of 120 nM and includes a FAD binding moiety linked to a biotinylated polyethylene glycol (PEG)-tail. The chemoprobe exclusively binds to the free KDM1A, but not to the inhibitor-bound KDM1A in the sample. After the chemoprobe binding, the KDM1A containing complexes in the sample are captured on microtiter plates with streptavidin coated surface to determine free KDM1A, or on plates coated with a monoclonal anti-KDM1A capture antibody to determine total KDM1A. After washing, both plates are incubated with an anti-KDM1A detection antibody, washed again, and incubated with a secondary HRP-conjugated donkey anti-rabbit IgG antibody for detection using a luminescent substrate and quantification by measuring relative light units (RLU) in a luminometer (Figure 1).

Figure 1. Schema of ELISA Enzyme linked chemoprobe immunoabsorbent assay for KDM1A target engagement: A) Determination of total KDM1A using sandwich ELISA and B) Determination of free KDM1A using chemoprobe ELISA. Please click here to view a larger version of this figure.
A standard curve is included in both ELISA plates to verify the linearity of each assay. The determination of KDM1A target engagement in each sample is then calculated as a relative value to the pre-dose or vehicle treated sample.