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Xie S, Zhou Y, Zhu H, Xu X, Zhang H, Yuan C, Huang M, Xu P, Li J, Liu Y. Interface-driven structural evolution on diltiazem as novel uPAR inhibitors: from in silico design to in vitro evaluation. Mol Divers 2024:10.1007/s11030-024-10908-7. [PMID: 38935305 DOI: 10.1007/s11030-024-10908-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/21/2024] [Accepted: 06/01/2024] [Indexed: 06/28/2024]
Abstract
The urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor (uPAR) emerges as a key target for anti-metastasis owing to its pivotal role in facilitating the invasive and migratory processes of cancer cells. Recently, we identified the uPAR-targeting anti-metastatic ability of diltiazem (22), a commonly used antihypertensive agent. Fine-tuning the chemical structures of known hits represents a vital branch of drug development. To develop novel anti-metastatic drugs, we performed an interface-driven structural evolution strategy on 22. The uPAR-targeting and anti-cancer abilities of this antihypertensive drug wereidentified by us recently. Based on in silico strategy, including extensive molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, hierarchical binding free energy predictions, and ADMET profilings, we designed, synthesized, and identified three new diltiazem derivatives (221-8, 221-57, and 221-68) as uPAR inhibitors. Indeed, all of these three derivatives exhibited uPAR-depending inhibitory activity against PC-3 cell line invasion at micromolar level. Particularly, derivatives 221-68 and 221-8 showed enhanced uPAR-dependent inhibitory activity against the tumor cell invasion compared to the original compound. Microsecond timesclae MD simulations demonstrated the optimized moiety of 221-68 and 221-8 forming more comprehensive interactions with the uPAR, highlighting the reasonability of our strategy. This work introduces three novel uPAR inhibitors, which not only pave the way for the development of effective anti-metastatic therapeutics, but also emphasize the efficacy and robustness of an in silico-based lead compound optimization strategy in drug design.
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Affiliation(s)
- Song Xie
- School of Pharmacy, Nantong University, Nantong, 226001, Jiangsu, China
- College of Chemistry, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou, 350116, China
| | - Yang Zhou
- College of Chemistry, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou, 350116, China
| | - Hao Zhu
- School of Pharmacy, Nantong University, Nantong, 226001, Jiangsu, China
| | - Xinyi Xu
- College of Chemistry, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou, 350116, China
| | - Han Zhang
- College of Chemistry, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou, 350116, China
| | - Cai Yuan
- College of Biological Science and Engineering, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou, 350116, China
| | - Mingdong Huang
- College of Chemistry, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou, 350116, China
| | - Peng Xu
- College of Biological Science and Engineering, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou, 350116, China
| | - Jinyu Li
- College of Chemistry, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou, 350116, China.
- Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Theoretical and Computational Chemistry, Xiamen, 361005, China.
| | - Yichang Liu
- School of Pharmacy, Nantong University, Nantong, 226001, Jiangsu, China.
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Alyami NM, Alnakhli ZA, Alshiban NM, Maodaa S, Almuhaini GA, Almeer R, Alshora D, Ibrahim M. Oral administration of proniosomal glibenclamide formulation protects testicular tissue from hyperglycemia fluctuations and ROS via Nrf2/HO-1 pathway. Heliyon 2024; 10:e31283. [PMID: 38813164 PMCID: PMC11133806 DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e31283] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/20/2024] [Revised: 05/06/2024] [Accepted: 05/14/2024] [Indexed: 05/31/2024] Open
Abstract
Type 2 diabetes causes high blood sugar due to insulin malfunction and is linked to male infertility. Using proniosomes can enhance the effectiveness of Glibenclamide, a medication that stimulates insulin secretion. In our study, male rats with diabetes were treated with GLB with or without proniosomal for 14 days. Proniosomal formulations maintained glucose levels prevented weight loss and showed normal testicular tissue. GLB-proniosomal reduces ROS caused by T2DM through Nrf2, HO-1 pathway and increases CAT, SOD, and GSH production in response to insulin and glucose uptake. The reference and proniosomal treatments showed CAT and SOD significant enzymatic elevation compared to the positive and negative control. CAT significantly correlated with Gpx4 expression with P = 0.0169 and r = 0.98; similarly, the enzymatic activity of SOD also showed a positive correlation between the average glucose levels (r = 0.99 and P = 0.0037). Intestinally, GSH analysis revealed that only proniosomal-GLB samples are significantly elevated from the positive control, with a P value of 0.0210. The data showed proniosomal-GLB was more effective than pure GLB, confirmed by higher Nrf2 (2.050 folds), HO-1 (2.148 folds), and GPx4 (1.9 folds) transcript levels relative to the control with less sample diversity compared to the reference samples, indicating proniosomal stabilized GLB in the blood. Administering GLB and proniosomes formulation has effectively restored testicular function and sperm production in diabetic rats by regulating ROS levels and upregulating anti-ROS in response to glucose uptake. These findings may lead to better treatments for diabetic patients who have infertility issues.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nouf M. Alyami
- Department of Zoology, College of Science, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2455, Riyadh, 11451, Saudi Arabia
| | - Zainab A. Alnakhli
- Department of Zoology, College of Science, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2455, Riyadh, 11451, Saudi Arabia
| | - Noura M. Alshiban
- Advanced Diagnostics and Therapeutics Institute, Health Sector, King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST), Riyadh, 11442, Saudi Arabia
| | - Saleh Maodaa
- Department of Zoology, College of Science, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2455, Riyadh, 11451, Saudi Arabia
| | - Ghufran A. Almuhaini
- Department of Zoology, College of Science, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2455, Riyadh, 11451, Saudi Arabia
| | - Rafa Almeer
- Department of Zoology, College of Science, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2455, Riyadh, 11451, Saudi Arabia
| | - Doaa Alshora
- Department of Pharmaceutics, College of Pharmacy, King Saud University, Riyadh, 11451, Saudi Arabia
| | - Mohamed Ibrahim
- Department of Pharmaceutics, College of Pharmacy, King Saud University, Riyadh, 11451, Saudi Arabia
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Xie S, Yang G, Wu J, Jiang L, Yuan C, Xu P, Huang M, Liu Y, Li J. In silico screening of natural products as uPAR inhibitors via multiple structure-based docking and molecular dynamics simulations. J Biomol Struct Dyn 2023:1-12. [PMID: 38111151 DOI: 10.1080/07391102.2023.2295386] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/25/2023] [Accepted: 12/07/2023] [Indexed: 12/20/2023]
Abstract
Cancer remains one of the most pressing challenges to global healthcare, exerting a significant impact on patient life expectancy. Cancer metastasis is a critical determinant of the lethality and treatment resistance of cancer. The urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor (uPAR) shows great potential as a target for anticancer and antimetastatic therapies. In this work, we aimed to identify potential uPAR inhibitors by structural dynamics-based virtual screenings against a natural product library on four representative apo-uPAR structural models recently derived from long-timescale molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. Fifteen potential inhibitors (NP1-NP15) were initially identified through molecular docking, consensus scoring, and visual inspection. Subsequently, we employed MD-based molecular mechanics-generalized Born surface area (MM-GBSA) calculations to evaluate their binding affinities to uPAR. Structural dynamics analyses further indicated that all of the top 6 compounds exhibited stable binding to uPAR and interacted with the critical residues in the binding interface between uPAR and its endogenous ligand uPA, suggesting their potential as uPAR inhibitors by interrupting the uPAR-uPA interaction. We finally predicted the ADMET properties of these compounds. The natural products NP5, NP12, and NP14 with better binding affinities to uPAR than the uPAR inhibitors previously discovered by us were proven to be potentially orally active in humans. This work offers potential uPAR inhibitors that may contribute to the development of novel effective anticancer and antimetastatic therapeutics.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.
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Affiliation(s)
- Song Xie
- College of Chemistry, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou, China
| | - Guiqian Yang
- College of Chemistry, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou, China
| | - Juhong Wu
- College of Chemistry, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou, China
| | | | - Cai Yuan
- College of Chemistry, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou, China
| | - Peng Xu
- College of Chemistry, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou, China
| | | | - Yichang Liu
- School of Pharmacy, Nantong University, Nantong, China
| | - Jinyu Li
- College of Chemistry, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou, China
- Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Theoretical and Computational Chemistry, Xiamen, China
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Leth JM, Newcombe EA, Grønnemose AL, Jørgensen JT, Qvist K, Clausen AS, Knudsen LBS, Kjaer A, Kragelund BB, Jørgensen TJD, Ploug M. Targeted imaging of uPAR expression in vivo with cyclic AE105 variants. Sci Rep 2023; 13:17248. [PMID: 37821532 PMCID: PMC10567728 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-43934-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/17/2023] [Accepted: 09/30/2023] [Indexed: 10/13/2023] Open
Abstract
A comprehensive literature reports on the correlation between elevated levels of urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor (uPAR) and the severity of diseases with chronic inflammation including solid cancers. Molecular imaging is widely used as a non-invasive method to locate disease dissemination via full body scans and to stratify patients for targeted treatment. To date, the only imaging probe targeting uPAR that has reached clinical phase-II testing relies on a high-affinity 9-mer peptide (AE105), and several studies by positron emission tomography (PET) scanning or near-infra red (NIR) fluorescence imaging have validated its utility and specificity in vivo. While our previous studies focused on applying various reporter groups, the current study aims to improve uPAR-targeting properties of AE105. We successfully stabilized the small uPAR-targeting core of AE105 by constraining its conformational landscape by disulfide-mediated cyclization. Importantly, this modification mitigated the penalty on uPAR-affinity typically observed after conjugation to macrocyclic chelators. Cyclization did not impair tumor targeting efficiency of AE105 in vivo as assessed by PET imaging and a trend towards increased tracer uptake was observed. In future studies, we predict that this knowledge will aid development of new fluorescent AE105 derivatives with a view to optical imaging of uPAR to assist precision guided cancer surgery.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julie Maja Leth
- Finsen Laboratory, Copenhagen University Hospital - Rigshospitalet, 2200, Copenhagen N, Denmark
- Biotech Research and Innovation Centre (BRIC), University of Copenhagen, 2200, Copenhagen N, Denmark
| | - Estella Anne Newcombe
- Structural Biology and NMR Laboratory, Copenhagen N, Denmark
- REPIN, Copenhagen N, Denmark
- The Linderstrøm Lang Centre for Protein Science, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Ole Maaloes Vej 5, 2200, Copenhagen N, Denmark
| | - Anne Louise Grønnemose
- Finsen Laboratory, Copenhagen University Hospital - Rigshospitalet, 2200, Copenhagen N, Denmark
- Biotech Research and Innovation Centre (BRIC), University of Copenhagen, 2200, Copenhagen N, Denmark
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Southern Denmark, 5230, Odense M, Denmark
| | - Jesper Tranekjær Jørgensen
- Department of Clinical Physiology and Nuclear Medicine and Cluster for Molecular Imaging, Copenhagen University Hospital - Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen N, Denmark
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen N, Denmark
| | - Katrine Qvist
- Department of Clinical Physiology and Nuclear Medicine and Cluster for Molecular Imaging, Copenhagen University Hospital - Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen N, Denmark
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen N, Denmark
| | - Anne Skovsbo Clausen
- Department of Clinical Physiology and Nuclear Medicine and Cluster for Molecular Imaging, Copenhagen University Hospital - Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen N, Denmark
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen N, Denmark
| | - Line Bruhn Schneider Knudsen
- Department of Clinical Physiology and Nuclear Medicine and Cluster for Molecular Imaging, Copenhagen University Hospital - Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen N, Denmark
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen N, Denmark
| | - Andreas Kjaer
- Department of Clinical Physiology and Nuclear Medicine and Cluster for Molecular Imaging, Copenhagen University Hospital - Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen N, Denmark
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen N, Denmark
| | - Birthe Brandt Kragelund
- Structural Biology and NMR Laboratory, Copenhagen N, Denmark
- REPIN, Copenhagen N, Denmark
- The Linderstrøm Lang Centre for Protein Science, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Ole Maaloes Vej 5, 2200, Copenhagen N, Denmark
| | | | - Michael Ploug
- Finsen Laboratory, Copenhagen University Hospital - Rigshospitalet, 2200, Copenhagen N, Denmark.
- Biotech Research and Innovation Centre (BRIC), University of Copenhagen, 2200, Copenhagen N, Denmark.
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