Development of a cyanovirin-N-HIV-1 gp120 binding assay for high throughput screening of natural product extracts by time-resolved fluorescence

Matching the power of high throughput screening to the chemical diversity of natural products

Covering up to 2013. Application of high throughput screening technologies to natural product samples demands alterations in assay design as well as sample preparation in order to yield meaningful hit structures at the end of the campaign.

Optimization of a homogeneous assay for kinase inhibitors in plant extracts

To identify natural and original kinase inhibitors from plant extracts, we have developed and compared a heterogeneous enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and a homogeneous time-resolved fluorescence (HTRF, Cisbio International, Bagnols/Cèze, France) assay. Kinase affinity for the ATP substrate was determined in both assays, and the same [ATP]/ATP Km ratio was used in each case to enable the identification of ATP competitive and noncompetitive inhibitors. Assays were then used to screen the same collection of chemical compounds and plant extracts. The intra-assay correlation analysis of each technology showed a very good screening precision in HTRF and an acceptable one in ELISA. When the two methods were compared, a poor correlation was obtained with a higher hit rate in the ELISA. We then performed a detailed study of the ELISA hits and showed that they also presented a strong antioxidant activity, associated with high adsorption into microplate wells, which interfered with the horseradish peroxidase-based detection system. These hits were then flagged as false-positives. We also showed that many plant extracts presented this kind of activity and that this interference could explain the lack of correlation between the assays. These findings suggest that assay design should be carefully adapted to the substances to be screened and that interferences should be extensively considered before any assay development process and comparison studies. In spite of a few interferences, our results showed that a homogeneous-phase assay like the HTRF assay could be more efficiently used for plant extract screening than a heterogeneous-phase assay like ELISA.

A review of high throughput technology for the screening of natural products

High throughput screening is commonly defined as automatic testing of potential drug candidates at a rate in excess of 10,000 compounds per week. The aim of high throughput drug discovery is to test large compound collections for potentially active compounds ('hits') in order to allow further development of compounds for pre-clinical testing ('leads'). High throughput technology has emerged over the last few years as an important tool for drug discovery and lead optimisation. In this approach, the molecular diversity and range of biological properties displayed by secondary metabolites constitutes a challenge to combinatorial strategies for natural products synthesis and derivatization. This article reviews the approach of High throughput technique for the screening of natural products for drug discovery.

Development and automation of a 384-well cell fusion assay to identify inhibitors of CCR5/CD4-mediated HIV virus entry

This article describes the automation of an in vitro cell-based fusion assay for the identification of novel inhibitors of receptor mediated HIV-1 entry. The assay utilises two stable cell lines: one expressing CD4, CCR5 and an LTR-promoter/beta-galactosidase reporter construct, and the other expressing gp160 and tat. Accumulation of beta-galactosidase can only occur following fusion of these two cell lines via the gp160 and receptor mediators, as this event facilitates the transfer of the tat transcription factor between the two cell types. Although similar cell fusion systems have been described previously, they have not met the requirements for HTS due to complexity, throughput and reagent cost. The assay described in this article provides significant advantage, as (a) no transfection/infection events are required prior to the assay, reducing the potential for variability, (b) cells are mixed in solution, enhancing fusion efficiency compared to adherent cells, (c) miniaturization to low volume enables screening in 384-well plates; and (d) online cell dispensing facilitates automated screening. This assay has been employed to screen approximately 650,000 compounds in a singleton format. The data demonstrate that the assay is robust, with a Z' consistently above 0.6, which compares favourably with less complex biochemical assays.

Development of a fluorescent microplate assay for determining cyanovirin-N levels in plasma

A sensitive immunosorbent competition assay was developed for quantitation of the anti-HIV protein cyanovirin-N (CV-N) in plasma using a 96-well plate format and a fluorescent endpoint. The assay is based on the binding of CV-N in plasma to plate-bound anti-CV-N antibodies, followed by removal of the plasma and addition of europium-labeled CV-N (Eu3+ -CV-N) to compete for the remaining antibody sites. Detection by addition of a dissociative fluorescence enhancement solution and time-resolved fluorescence measurements allowed correlation to the concentration of the native CV-N in plasma. A linear detection range of 1-100 nM (r2>0.99) was obtained for CV-N in mouse plasma. This assay was then utilized for analysis of plasma levels of CV-N samples following subcutaneous injection of CV-N into mice. The results of these studies confirmed the reliability and sensitivity of this assay and the feasibility of its use for pharmacokinetic studies in a variety of species.

Identification and characterization of peptides that bind to cyanovirin-N, a potent human immunodeficiency virus-inactivating protein

Cyanovirin-N (CV-N) exerts a potent human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-inactivating activity against diverse strains of HIV by binding to the viral surface envelope glycoprotein gp120 and blocking its essential interactions with cellular receptors. Based on previous thermodynamic analyses, it has been speculated that discrete protein-protein interactions might play an important ancillary role in the CV-N/gp120 binding event, in addition to the interactions of CV-N with specific oligosaccharides present on gp120. Here, we report the identification and characterization of CV-N-binding peptides, which were isolated by screening of M13 phage-displayed peptide libraries. After performing three rounds of biopanning of the libraries against biotinylated CV-N, a CV-N-binding motif, X3CX6(W/F)(Y/F)CX2(Y/F), was evident. A vector was designed to express CV-N-binding peptides as a fusion with thioredoxin (Trx) containing a penta-His affinity tag. The CV-N-binding peptides fused with His-tagged Trx inhibited binding of the corresponding peptide-bearing phages to CV-N, confirming that the peptides possessed CV-N-binding activity. Optical biosensor binding studies showed that the one of the CV-N-binding peptide, TN10-1, bound to CV-N with a KD value of 1.9 microM. The results of alanine scanning mutagenesis of the peptide showed that aromatic residues at positions 11, 12, and 16, as well as the conformational structure of the peptide secured by a disulfide bond, were important for the binding interactions. A series of competitive binding assays confirmed that gp120 inhibited CV-N binding of the corresponding peptide-bearing phages, and suggested that TN10-1 peptides were mimicking the protein component of gp120 rather than mimicking specific oligosaccharides present on gp120.

High throughput screening for cyanovirin-N mimetics binding to HIV-1 gp41

The human immunodeficiency virus type-1 (HIV-1) envelope glycoprotein gp41 is an important mediator of viral entry into host cells. Previous studies showed that the virucidal protein cyanovirin-N (CV-N) bound to both gp120 and gp41, and that this binding was associated with its antiviral activity. We constructed an HTS assay based on the interaction of europium-labeled CV-N with recombinant glycosylated gp41 ectodomain to support identification of small-molecule mimetics of CV-N that might be developed as antiviral drug leads. Primary screening of over 107,000 natural product extracts in the assay yielded 347 confirmed hits. Secondary assays eliminated extracts that bound directly to labeled CV-N or for which the simple sugars mannose and N-acetylglucosamine blocked the interaction with gp41 (lectin activity). Extracts were further prioritized based on anti-HIV activity and other biological, biochemical, and chemical criteria. The distribution of source organism taxonomy of active extracts was analyzed, as was the cross-correlation of activity between the CV-N-gp41 binding competition assay and the previously reported CV-N-gp120 binding competition assay. A limited set of extracts was selected for bioassay-guided fractionation.

Anti-HIV prenylated flavonoids from Monotes africanus

Six flavonoids, among them a new dihydroflavonol, 6,8-diprenylaromadendrin (1), and the flavonol 6,8-diprenylkaempferol (3), have been isolated from the organic extract of Monotes africanus. The isolated compounds containing a 5,7-dihydroxy-6,8-diprenyl system in the A ring of the flavonoid (1, 3, and 6) exhibited HIV-inhibitory activity in the XTT-based, whole-cell screen. In addition, several (13)C NMR assignments of lonchocarpol A (6) were corrected.