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Casasampere M, Ung J, Iñáñez A, Dufau C, Tsuboi K, Casas J, Tan SF, Feith DJ, Andrieu-Abadie N, Segui B, Loughran TP, Abad JL, Fabrias G. A fluorogenic substrate for the detection of lipid amidases in intact cells. J Lipid Res 2024; 65:100520. [PMID: 38369184 PMCID: PMC10956054 DOI: 10.1016/j.jlr.2024.100520] [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: 11/16/2023] [Revised: 01/25/2024] [Accepted: 02/12/2024] [Indexed: 02/20/2024] Open
Abstract
Lipid amidases of therapeutic relevance include acid ceramidase (AC), N-acylethanolamine-hydrolyzing acid amidase, and fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH). Although fluorogenic substrates have been developed for the three enzymes and high-throughput methods for screening have been reported, a platform for the specific detection of these enzyme activities in intact cells is lacking. In this article, we report on the coumarinic 1-deoxydihydroceramide RBM1-151, a 1-deoxy derivative and vinilog of RBM14-C12, as a novel substrate of amidases. This compound is hydrolyzed by AC (appKm = 7.0 μM; appVmax = 99.3 nM/min), N-acylethanolamine-hydrolyzing acid amidase (appKm = 0.73 μM; appVmax = 0.24 nM/min), and FAAH (appKm = 3.6 μM; appVmax = 7.6 nM/min) but not by other ceramidases. We provide proof of concept that the use of RBM1-151 in combination with reported irreversible inhibitors of AC and FAAH allows the determination in parallel of the three amidase activities in single experiments in intact cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mireia Casasampere
- Department of Biological Chemistry, Research Unit on BioActive Molecules, Institute for Advanced Chemistry of Catalonia (IQAC-CSIC), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Johnson Ung
- Division of Hematology and Oncology, Department of Medicine, University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville, VA, USA; Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Cancer Biology, University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville, VA, USA
| | - Alejandro Iñáñez
- Department of Biological Chemistry, Research Unit on BioActive Molecules, Institute for Advanced Chemistry of Catalonia (IQAC-CSIC), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Carine Dufau
- INSERM UMR 1037, Cancer Research Center of Toulouse (CRCT), Toulouse, France; Equipe Labellisée Fondation ARC pour la recherche sur le cancer, Toulouse, France
| | - Kazuhito Tsuboi
- Department of Pharmacology, Kawasaki Medical School, Kurashiki, Okayama, Japan
| | - Josefina Casas
- Department of Biological Chemistry, Research Unit on BioActive Molecules, Institute for Advanced Chemistry of Catalonia (IQAC-CSIC), Barcelona, Spain; CIBEREHD, Madrid, Spain
| | - Su-Fern Tan
- Division of Hematology and Oncology, Department of Medicine, University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville, VA, USA; University of Virginia Cancer Center, University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville, VA, USA
| | - David J Feith
- Division of Hematology and Oncology, Department of Medicine, University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville, VA, USA; University of Virginia Cancer Center, University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville, VA, USA
| | - Nathalie Andrieu-Abadie
- INSERM UMR 1037, Cancer Research Center of Toulouse (CRCT), Toulouse, France; Equipe Labellisée Fondation ARC pour la recherche sur le cancer, Toulouse, France
| | - Bruno Segui
- INSERM UMR 1037, Cancer Research Center of Toulouse (CRCT), Toulouse, France; Equipe Labellisée Fondation ARC pour la recherche sur le cancer, Toulouse, France; Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier, Toulouse, France
| | - Thomas P Loughran
- Division of Hematology and Oncology, Department of Medicine, University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville, VA, USA; University of Virginia Cancer Center, University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville, VA, USA
| | - José Luis Abad
- Department of Biological Chemistry, Research Unit on BioActive Molecules, Institute for Advanced Chemistry of Catalonia (IQAC-CSIC), Barcelona, Spain.
| | - Gemma Fabrias
- Department of Biological Chemistry, Research Unit on BioActive Molecules, Institute for Advanced Chemistry of Catalonia (IQAC-CSIC), Barcelona, Spain; CIBEREHD, Madrid, Spain; Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)'s Cancer Hub, Madrid, Spain.
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2
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Aseeri M, Abad JL, Delgado A, Fabriàs G, Triola G, Casas J. High-throughput discovery of novel small-molecule inhibitors of acid Ceramidase. J Enzyme Inhib Med Chem 2023; 38:343-348. [PMID: 36519337 PMCID: PMC9762759 DOI: 10.1080/14756366.2022.2150183] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Ceramide has a key role in the regulation of cellular senescence and apoptosis. As Ceramide levels are lowered by the action of acid ceramidase (AC), abnormally expressed in various cancers, the identification of AC inhibitors has attracted increasing interest. However, this finding has been mainly hampered by the lack of formats suitable for the screening of large libraries. We have overcome this drawback by adapting a fluorogenic assay to a 384-well plate format. The performance of this optimised platform has been proven by the screening a library of 4100 compounds. Our results show that the miniaturised platform is well suited for screening purposes and it led to the identification of several hits, that belong to different chemical classes and display potency ranges of 2-25 µM. The inhibitors also show selectivity over neutral ceramidase and retain activity in cells and can therefore serve as a basis for further chemical optimisation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mazen Aseeri
- Department of Biological Chemistry, Institute for Advanced Chemistry of Catalonia (IQAC-CSIC), Barcelona, Spain
| | - José Luis Abad
- Department of Biological Chemistry, Institute for Advanced Chemistry of Catalonia (IQAC-CSIC), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Antonio Delgado
- Department of Biological Chemistry, Institute for Advanced Chemistry of Catalonia (IQAC-CSIC), Barcelona, Spain,Department of Pharmacology, Toxicology and Medicinal Chemistry, Unit of Pharmaceutical Chemistry (Associated Unit to CSIC), Faculty of Pharmacy and Food Sciences, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Gemma Fabriàs
- Department of Biological Chemistry, Institute for Advanced Chemistry of Catalonia (IQAC-CSIC), Barcelona, Spain,Liver and Digestive Diseases Networking Biomedical Research Centre (CIBEREHD), ISCIII, Madrid, Spain
| | - Gemma Triola
- Department of Biological Chemistry, Institute for Advanced Chemistry of Catalonia (IQAC-CSIC), Barcelona, Spain,CONTACT Gemma Triola
| | - Josefina Casas
- Department of Biological Chemistry, Institute for Advanced Chemistry of Catalonia (IQAC-CSIC), Barcelona, Spain,Liver and Digestive Diseases Networking Biomedical Research Centre (CIBEREHD), ISCIII, Madrid, Spain,Josefina Casas Department of Biological Chemistry, Institute for Advanced Chemistry of Catalonia (IQAC-CSIC), Jordi Girona 18, Barcelona, 08034, Spain
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3
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Simoes M, Saleh A, Choi YM, Airola MV, Haley JD, Coant N. Measurement of neutral ceramidase activity in vitro and in vivo. Anal Biochem 2022; 643:114577. [PMID: 35134389 DOI: 10.1016/j.ab.2022.114577] [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: 12/01/2021] [Revised: 01/14/2022] [Accepted: 01/24/2022] [Indexed: 11/01/2022]
Abstract
Neutral ceramidase is a hydrolase of ceramide that has been implicated in multiple biologic processes, including inflammation and oncogenesis. Ceramides and other sphingolipids, belong to a family of N-acyl linked lipids that are biologically active in signaling, despite their limited structural functions. Ceramides are generally pro-apoptotic, while sphingosine and sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) exert proliferative and pro-oncogenic effects. Ceramidases are important regulators of ceramide levels that hydrolyze ceramide to sphingosine. Thus, ceramidase inhibition significantly increases the quantities of ceramide and its associated signaling. To better understand the function of ceramide, biochemical and cellular assays for enzymatic activity were developed and validated to identify inhibitors of human neutral ceramidase (nCDase). Here we review the measurement of nCDase activity both in vitro and in vivo.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael Simoes
- Department of Pathology and Stony Brook Cancer Center, Stony Brook University Renaissance School of Medicine, Stony Brook, NY, 11794, USA
| | - Amalia Saleh
- Department of Pathology and Stony Brook Cancer Center, Stony Brook University Renaissance School of Medicine, Stony Brook, NY, 11794, USA
| | - Yong-Mi Choi
- Department of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, 11794, USA
| | - Michael V Airola
- Department of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, 11794, USA
| | - John D Haley
- Department of Pathology and Stony Brook Cancer Center, Stony Brook University Renaissance School of Medicine, Stony Brook, NY, 11794, USA
| | - Nicolas Coant
- Department of Pathology and Stony Brook Cancer Center, Stony Brook University Renaissance School of Medicine, Stony Brook, NY, 11794, USA.
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Bielsa N, Casasampere M, Aseeri M, Casas J, Delgado A, Abad JL, Fabriàs G. Discovery of deoxyceramide analogs as highly selective ACER3 inhibitors in live cells. Eur J Med Chem 2021; 216:113296. [PMID: 33677352 DOI: 10.1016/j.ejmech.2021.113296] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/06/2020] [Revised: 01/27/2021] [Accepted: 02/12/2021] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Acid (AC), neutral (NC) and alkaline ceramidase 3 (ACER3) are the most ubiquitous ceramidases and their therapeutic interest as targets in cancer diseases has been well sustained. This supports the importance of discovering potent and specific inhibitors for further use in combination therapies. Although several ceramidase inhibitors have been reported, most of them target AC and a few focus on NC. In contrast, well characterized ACER3 inhibitors are lacking. Here we report on the synthesis and screening of two series of 1-deoxy(dihydro)ceramide analogs on the three enzymes. Activity was determined using fluorogenic substrates in recombinant human NC (rhNC) and both lysates and intact cells enriched in each enzyme. None of the molecules elicited a remarkable AC inhibitory activity in either experimental setup, while using rhNC, several compounds of both series were active as non-competitive inhibitors with Ki values between 1 and 5 μM. However, a dramatic loss of potency occurred in NC-enriched cell lysates and no activity was elicited in intact cells. Interestingly, several compounds of Series 2 inhibited ACER3 dose-dependently in both cell lysates and intact cells with IC50's around 20 μM. In agreement with their activity in live cells, they provoked a significant increase in the amounts of ceramides. Overall, this study identifies highly selective ACER3 activity blockers in intact cells, opening the door to further medicinal chemistry efforts aimed at developing more potent and specific compounds.
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Affiliation(s)
- Núria Bielsa
- Research Unit on BioActive Molecules, Department of Biological Chemistry, Institute for Advanced Chemistry of Catalonia (IQAC-CSIC), Jordi Girona 18, 08034, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Mireia Casasampere
- Research Unit on BioActive Molecules, Department of Biological Chemistry, Institute for Advanced Chemistry of Catalonia (IQAC-CSIC), Jordi Girona 18, 08034, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Mazen Aseeri
- Research Unit on BioActive Molecules, Department of Biological Chemistry, Institute for Advanced Chemistry of Catalonia (IQAC-CSIC), Jordi Girona 18, 08034, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Josefina Casas
- Research Unit on BioActive Molecules, Department of Biological Chemistry, Institute for Advanced Chemistry of Catalonia (IQAC-CSIC), Jordi Girona 18, 08034, Barcelona, Spain; Liver and Digestive Diseases Networking Biomedical Research Centre (CIBEREHD), ISCIII, 28029, Madrid, Spain
| | - Antonio Delgado
- Research Unit on BioActive Molecules, Department of Biological Chemistry, Institute for Advanced Chemistry of Catalonia (IQAC-CSIC), Jordi Girona 18, 08034, Barcelona, Spain; Department of Pharmacology, Toxicology and Medicinal Chemistry, Unit of Pharmaceutical Chemistry (Associated Unit to CSIC). Faculty of Pharmacy. University of Barcelona (UB). Avda. Joan XXIII 27-31, 08028, Barcelona, Spain
| | - José Luis Abad
- Research Unit on BioActive Molecules, Department of Biological Chemistry, Institute for Advanced Chemistry of Catalonia (IQAC-CSIC), Jordi Girona 18, 08034, Barcelona, Spain.
| | - Gemma Fabriàs
- Research Unit on BioActive Molecules, Department of Biological Chemistry, Institute for Advanced Chemistry of Catalonia (IQAC-CSIC), Jordi Girona 18, 08034, Barcelona, Spain; Liver and Digestive Diseases Networking Biomedical Research Centre (CIBEREHD), ISCIII, 28029, Madrid, Spain.
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5
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Zhu H, Klement JD, Lu C, Redd PS, Yang D, Smith AD, Poschel DB, Zou J, Liu D, Wang PG, Ostrov D, Coant N, Hannun YA, Colby AH, Grinstaff MW, Liu K. Asah2 Represses the p53-Hmox1 Axis to Protect Myeloid-Derived Suppressor Cells from Ferroptosis. THE JOURNAL OF IMMUNOLOGY 2021; 206:1395-1404. [PMID: 33547170 DOI: 10.4049/jimmunol.2000500] [Citation(s) in RCA: 63] [Impact Index Per Article: 21.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/05/2020] [Accepted: 01/12/2021] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) are immune suppressive cells that massively accumulate under pathological conditions to suppress T cell immune response. Dysregulated cell death contributes to MDSC accumulation, but the molecular mechanism underlying this cell death dysregulation is not fully understood. In this study, we report that neutral ceramidase (N-acylsphingosine amidohydrolase [ASAH2]) is highly expressed in tumor-infiltrating MDSCs in colon carcinoma and acts as an MDSC survival factor. To target ASAH2, we performed molecular docking based on human ASAH2 protein structure. Enzymatic inhibition analysis of identified hits determined NC06 as an ASAH2 inhibitor. Chemical and nuclear magnetic resonance analysis determined NC06 as 7-chloro-2-(3-chloroanilino)pyrano[3,4-e][1,3]oxazine-4,5-dione. NC06 inhibits ceramidase activity with an IC50 of 10.16-25.91 μM for human ASAH2 and 18.6-30.2 μM for mouse Asah2 proteins. NC06 induces MDSC death in a dose-dependent manner, and inhibition of ferroptosis decreased NC06-induced MDSC death. NC06 increases glutathione synthesis and decreases lipid reactive oxygen species to suppress ferroptosis in MDSCs. Gene expression profiling identified the p53 pathway as the Asah2 target in MDSCs. Inhibition of Asah2 increased p53 protein stability to upregulate Hmox1 expression to suppress lipid reactive oxygen species production to suppress ferroptosis in MDSCs. NC06 therapy increases MDSC death and reduces MDSC accumulation in tumor-bearing mice, resulting in increased activation of tumor-infiltrating CTLs and suppression of tumor growth in vivo. Our data indicate that ASAH2 protects MDSCs from ferroptosis through destabilizing p53 protein to suppress the p53 pathway in MDSCs in the tumor microenvironment. Targeting ASAH2 with NC06 to induce MDSC ferroptosis is potentially an effective therapy to suppress MDSC accumulation in cancer immunotherapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Huabin Zhu
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, GA 30912.,Georgia Cancer Center, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, GA 30912.,Charlie Norwood VA Medical Center, Augusta, GA 30904
| | - John D Klement
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, GA 30912.,Georgia Cancer Center, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, GA 30912.,Charlie Norwood VA Medical Center, Augusta, GA 30904
| | - Chunwan Lu
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, GA 30912.,Georgia Cancer Center, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, GA 30912.,Charlie Norwood VA Medical Center, Augusta, GA 30904
| | - Priscilla S Redd
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, GA 30912.,Georgia Cancer Center, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, GA 30912.,Charlie Norwood VA Medical Center, Augusta, GA 30904
| | - Dafeng Yang
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, GA 30912.,Georgia Cancer Center, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, GA 30912.,Charlie Norwood VA Medical Center, Augusta, GA 30904
| | - Alyssa D Smith
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, GA 30912.,Georgia Cancer Center, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, GA 30912.,Charlie Norwood VA Medical Center, Augusta, GA 30904
| | - Dakota B Poschel
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, GA 30912.,Georgia Cancer Center, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, GA 30912.,Charlie Norwood VA Medical Center, Augusta, GA 30904
| | - Juan Zou
- Department of Chemistry and Physics, Augusta University, Augusta, GA 30912
| | - Ding Liu
- Department of Chemistry, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA 30303
| | - Peng George Wang
- Department of Chemistry, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA 30303
| | - David Ostrov
- Department of Pathology, Immunology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32610
| | - Nicolas Coant
- Stony Brook Cancer Center, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794
| | - Yusuf A Hannun
- Stony Brook Cancer Center, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794
| | - Aaron H Colby
- Ionic Pharmaceuticals, Brookline, MA 02445; and.,Department of Biomedical Engineering, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215
| | - Mark W Grinstaff
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215
| | - Kebin Liu
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, GA 30912; .,Georgia Cancer Center, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, GA 30912.,Charlie Norwood VA Medical Center, Augusta, GA 30904
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