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Wang X, Wang Y, Cao A, Luo Q, Chen D, Zhao W, Xu J, Li Q, Bu X, Quan J. Development of cyclopeptide inhibitors of cGAS targeting protein-DNA interaction and phase separation. Nat Commun 2023; 14:6132. [PMID: 37783727 PMCID: PMC10545747 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-41892-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/12/2022] [Accepted: 09/21/2023] [Indexed: 10/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Cyclic GMP-AMP synthase (cGAS) is an essential sensor of aberrant cytosolic DNA for initiating innate immunity upon invading pathogens and cellular stress, which is considered as a potential drug target for autoimmune and autoinflammatory diseases. Here, we report the discovery of a class of cyclopeptide inhibitors of cGAS identified by an in vitro screening assay from a focused library of cyclic peptides. These cyclopeptides specifically bind to the DNA binding site of cGAS and block the binding of dsDNA with cGAS, subsequently inhibit dsDNA-induced liquid phase condensation and activation of cGAS. The specificity and potency of one optimal lead XQ2B were characterized in cellular assays. Concordantly, XQ2B inhibited herpes simplex virus-1 (HSV-1)-induced antiviral immune responses and enhanced HSV-1 infection in vitro and in vivo. Furthermore, XQ2B significantly suppressed the elevated levels of type I interferon and proinflammatory cytokines in primary macrophages from Trex1-/- mice and systemic inflammation in Trex1-/- mice. XQ2B represents the specific cGAS inhibitor targeting protein-DNA interaction and phase separation and serves as a scaffold for the development of therapies in the treatment of cGAS-dependent inflammatory diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaoquan Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Chemical Oncogenomics, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Chemical Genomics, Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School, Shenzhen, 518055, China
| | - Youqiao Wang
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, SunYat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510006, China
| | - Anqi Cao
- State Key Laboratory of Chemical Oncogenomics, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Chemical Genomics, Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School, Shenzhen, 518055, China
| | - Qinhong Luo
- State Key Laboratory of Chemical Oncogenomics, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Chemical Genomics, Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School, Shenzhen, 518055, China
- Department of Pharmacy, Shenzhen Second People's Hospital (Shenzhen Institute of Translational Medicine), The First Affiliated Hospital of Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, 518000, China
| | - Daoyuan Chen
- School of Bioengineering, ZhuHai Campus of Zunyi Medical University, Zhuhai, 519041, China
| | - Weiqi Zhao
- Genetics and Metabolism Department, The Children's Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, National Clinical Research Center for Child Health, Hangzhou, 310052, China
| | - Jun Xu
- Genetics and Metabolism Department, The Children's Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, National Clinical Research Center for Child Health, Hangzhou, 310052, China
| | - Qinkai Li
- State Key Laboratory of Chemical Oncogenomics, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Chemical Genomics, Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School, Shenzhen, 518055, China
- Shenzhen Bay Laboratory, Shenzhen, 518055, China
| | - Xianzhang Bu
- State Key Laboratory of Chemical Oncogenomics, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Chemical Genomics, Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School, Shenzhen, 518055, China.
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, SunYat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510006, China.
| | - Junmin Quan
- State Key Laboratory of Chemical Oncogenomics, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Chemical Genomics, Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School, Shenzhen, 518055, China.
- Shenzhen Bay Laboratory, Shenzhen, 518055, China.
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Fathi Vavsari V, Balalaie S. An overview on the two recent decades’ study of peptides synthesis and biological activities in Iran. J IRAN CHEM SOC 2022; 19:331-51. [DOI: 10.1007/s13738-021-02312-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
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Sun H, Chen D, Zhan S, Wu W, Xu H, Luo C, Su H, Feng Y, Shao W, Wan A, Zhou B, Wan G, Bu X. Design and Discovery of Natural Cyclopeptide Skeleton Based Programmed Death Ligand 1 Inhibitor as Immune Modulator for Cancer Therapy. J Med Chem 2020; 63:11286-11301. [PMID: 32844651 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.0c01262] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
Blockade of immune checkpoint PD-1/PD-L1 facilitates the rescue of immune escapes of tumor cells. Though various monoclonal antibodies have been approved for clinical therapy, the development of small molecular inhibitors lags behind antibodies partially owing to the challenges of protein-protein interaction (PPI) blocker design. In this work, we adopted the skeleton of natural cyclopeptidic antibiotics gramicidin S as the start point for PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitor exploring and discovered a series of novel cyclopeptides that could interfere with the PPI of PD-1/PD-L1 based on several rounds of structural design and optimization. The representative active cyclopeptide 66 can bind two PD-L1 and efficiently block the PD-1/PD-L1 interaction, recruit the immune cells to the tumor cells, enhance their killing against tumor cells by promoting the release of granzyme B and perforin, and display significant CD8+ T cell-dependent tumor suppression activity in vivo.
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Affiliation(s)
- Haixia Sun
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510006, China
| | - Daoyuan Chen
- Department of Bioengineering, Zhuhai Campus of Zunyi Medical University, Guangzhou 519041, China
| | - Siyue Zhan
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510006, China
| | - Weijian Wu
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510006, China
| | - Huiying Xu
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510006, China
| | - Chunxiang Luo
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510006, China
| | - Hui Su
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510006, China
| | - Yanqiao Feng
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510006, China
| | - Weiyan Shao
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510006, China
| | - Arabella Wan
- Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510080, China
| | - Binhua Zhou
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510006, China.,School of Chinese Pharmacy, Guizhou Minzu University, Guiyang 550025, China
| | - Guohui Wan
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510006, China.,National-Local Joint Engineering Laboratory of Druggability and New Drugs Evaluation, National Engineering Research Center for New Drug and Druggability (Cultivation), Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510006, China
| | - Xianzhang Bu
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510006, China
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Abstract
Amyloid-β (Aβ) oligomers are well-known toxic molecular species associated with Alzheimer's disease. Recent discoveries of the ability of amyloid fibril surfaces to convert soluble proteins into toxic oligomers suggested that these surfaces could serve as therapeutic targets for intervention. We have shown previously that a short helical peptide could be a key structural motif that can specifically recognize the K16-E22 region of the Aβ40 fibril surface with an affinity at the level of several micromolar. Here, we demonstrate that in-tether chiral center-induced helical stabilized peptides could also recognize the fibril surfaces, effectively inhibiting the surface-mediated oligomerization of Aβ40. Moreover, through extensive computational sampling, we observed two distinct ways in which the peptide inhibitors recognize the fibril surface. Apart from a binding mode that, in accord with the original design, involves hydrophobic side chains at the binding interface, we observed much more frequently another binding mode in which the hydrophobic staple interacts directly with the fibril surface. The affinity of the peptides for the fibril surface could be adjusted by tuning the hydrophobicity of the staple. The best candidate investigated here exhibits a submicromolar affinity (∼0.75 μM). Collectively, this work opens an avenue for the rational design of candidate drugs with stapled peptides for amyloid-related disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fadeng Yang
- State Key Laboratory of Chemical Oncogenomics, School of Chemical Biology and Biotechnology , Shenzhen Graduate School of Peking University , Shenzhen 518055 , China
| | - Wan Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Chemical Oncogenomics, School of Chemical Biology and Biotechnology , Shenzhen Graduate School of Peking University , Shenzhen 518055 , China
| | - Yixiang Jiang
- State Key Laboratory of Chemical Oncogenomics, School of Chemical Biology and Biotechnology , Shenzhen Graduate School of Peking University , Shenzhen 518055 , China.,Shenzhen Bay Laboratory , Shenzhen 518055 , China
| | - Feng Yin
- State Key Laboratory of Chemical Oncogenomics, School of Chemical Biology and Biotechnology , Shenzhen Graduate School of Peking University , Shenzhen 518055 , China.,Shenzhen Bay Laboratory , Shenzhen 518055 , China
| | - Wei Han
- State Key Laboratory of Chemical Oncogenomics, School of Chemical Biology and Biotechnology , Shenzhen Graduate School of Peking University , Shenzhen 518055 , China
| | - Zigang Li
- State Key Laboratory of Chemical Oncogenomics, School of Chemical Biology and Biotechnology , Shenzhen Graduate School of Peking University , Shenzhen 518055 , China.,Shenzhen Bay Laboratory , Shenzhen 518055 , China
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Liu Z, Wang Y, Qin W, Chen D, Feng Y, Su H, Shao W, Zhou B, Bu X. Raloxifene alleviates amyloid-β-induced cytotoxicity in HT22 neuronal cells via inhibiting oligomeric and fibrillar species formation. J Biochem Mol Toxicol 2019; 33:e22395. [PMID: 31583774 DOI: 10.1002/jbt.22395] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/11/2019] [Revised: 07/01/2019] [Accepted: 09/12/2019] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
Raloxifene, a selective estrogen receptor modulator, displays benefits for Alzheimer's disease (AD) prevention in postmenopausal women as hormonal changes during menopause have the potential to influence AD pathogenesis, but the underlying mechanism of its neuroprotection is not entirely clear. In this study, the effects of raloxifene on amyloid-β (Aβ) amyloidogenesis were evaluated. The results demonstrated that raloxifene inhibits Aβ42 aggregation and destabilizes preformed Aβ42 fibrils through directly interacting with the N-terminus and middle domains of Aβ42 peptides. Consequently, raloxifene not only reduces direct toxicity of Aβ42 in HT22 neuronal cells, but also suppresses expressions of tumor necrosis factor-α and transforming growth factor-β induced by Aβ42 peptides, and then alleviates microglia-mediated indirect toxicity of Aβ42 to HT22 neuronal cells. Our results suggested an alternative possible explanation for the neuroprotective activity of raloxifene in AD prevention.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ziyi Liu
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Youqiao Wang
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Wenjing Qin
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Daoyuan Chen
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Yanqiao Feng
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Hui Su
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Weiyan Shao
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Binhua Zhou
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Xianzhang Bu
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
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Jiang Y, Jiang X, Shi X, Yang F, Cao Y, Qin X, Hou Z, Xie M, Liu N, Fang Q, Yin F, Han W, Li Z. α-Helical Motif as Inhibitors of Toxic Amyloid-β Oligomer Generation via Highly Specific Recognition of Amyloid Surface. iScience 2019; 17:87-100. [PMID: 31255986 PMCID: PMC6606958 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2019.06.022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/27/2018] [Revised: 05/10/2019] [Accepted: 06/12/2019] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Amyloid fibril surfaces can convert soluble proteins into toxic oligomers and are attractive targets for intervention of protein aggregation diseases. Thus far, molecules identified with inhibitory activity are either large proteins or flat cyclic compounds lacking in specificity. The main design difficulty is flatness of amyloid surfaces and the lack of knowledge on binding interfaces. Here, we demonstrate, for the first time, a rational design of alpha-helical peptide inhibitors targeting the amyloid-beta 40 (Aβ40) fibril surfaces, based on our in silico finding that a helical fragment of Aβ40 interacts in a unique way with side-chain arrays on the fibril surface. We strengthen the fragment's binding capability through mutations and helicity enhancement with our Terminal Aspartic acid strategy. The resulting inhibitor shows micromolar affinity for the fibril surface, effectively impedes the surface-mediated oligomerization of Aβ40, and mitigates its cytotoxicity. This work opens up an avenue to designing aggregation modulators for amyloid diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yixiang Jiang
- State Key Laboratory of Chemical Oncogenomics, School of Chemical Biology and Biotechnology, Shenzhen Graduate School of Peking University, Shenzhen 518055, China; Shenzhen Bay Laboratory, Shenzhen 518055, China
| | - Xuehan Jiang
- State Key Laboratory of Chemical Oncogenomics, School of Chemical Biology and Biotechnology, Shenzhen Graduate School of Peking University, Shenzhen 518055, China
| | - Xiaodong Shi
- State Key Laboratory of Chemical Oncogenomics, School of Chemical Biology and Biotechnology, Shenzhen Graduate School of Peking University, Shenzhen 518055, China
| | - Fadeng Yang
- State Key Laboratory of Chemical Oncogenomics, School of Chemical Biology and Biotechnology, Shenzhen Graduate School of Peking University, Shenzhen 518055, China
| | - Yang Cao
- State Key Laboratory of Chemical Oncogenomics, School of Chemical Biology and Biotechnology, Shenzhen Graduate School of Peking University, Shenzhen 518055, China
| | - Xuan Qin
- State Key Laboratory of Chemical Oncogenomics, School of Chemical Biology and Biotechnology, Shenzhen Graduate School of Peking University, Shenzhen 518055, China
| | - Zhanfeng Hou
- State Key Laboratory of Chemical Oncogenomics, School of Chemical Biology and Biotechnology, Shenzhen Graduate School of Peking University, Shenzhen 518055, China
| | - Mingsheng Xie
- State Key Laboratory of Chemical Oncogenomics, School of Chemical Biology and Biotechnology, Shenzhen Graduate School of Peking University, Shenzhen 518055, China
| | - Na Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Chemical Oncogenomics, School of Chemical Biology and Biotechnology, Shenzhen Graduate School of Peking University, Shenzhen 518055, China
| | - Qi Fang
- State Key Laboratory of Chemical Oncogenomics, School of Chemical Biology and Biotechnology, Shenzhen Graduate School of Peking University, Shenzhen 518055, China
| | - Feng Yin
- State Key Laboratory of Chemical Oncogenomics, School of Chemical Biology and Biotechnology, Shenzhen Graduate School of Peking University, Shenzhen 518055, China; Shenzhen Bay Laboratory, Shenzhen 518055, China.
| | - Wei Han
- State Key Laboratory of Chemical Oncogenomics, School of Chemical Biology and Biotechnology, Shenzhen Graduate School of Peking University, Shenzhen 518055, China.
| | - Zigang Li
- State Key Laboratory of Chemical Oncogenomics, School of Chemical Biology and Biotechnology, Shenzhen Graduate School of Peking University, Shenzhen 518055, China; Shenzhen Bay Laboratory, Shenzhen 518055, China.
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Guan Q, Huang S, Jin Y, Campagne R, Alezra V, Wan Y. Recent Advances in the Exploration of Therapeutic Analogues of Gramicidin S, an Old but Still Potent Antimicrobial Peptide. J Med Chem 2019; 62:7603-7617. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.9b00156] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Qinkun Guan
- National Pharmaceutical Engineering Center for Solid Preparation in Chinese Herbal Medicine, Jiangxi University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Nanchang 330006, P. R. China
| | - Shuhui Huang
- National Pharmaceutical Engineering Center for Solid Preparation in Chinese Herbal Medicine, Jiangxi University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Nanchang 330006, P. R. China
- Jiangxi Maternal and Child Hospital, Nanchang 330006, P. R. China
| | - Yi Jin
- National Pharmaceutical Engineering Center for Solid Preparation in Chinese Herbal Medicine, Jiangxi University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Nanchang 330006, P. R. China
| | - Rémy Campagne
- Faculté des Sciences d’Orsay, Université Paris-Sud, Laboratoire de Méthodologie, Synthèse
et Molécules Thérapeutiques, ICMMO, UMR 8182, CNRS,
Université Paris-Saclay, Bât 410, 91405 Orsay, France
| | - Valérie Alezra
- Faculté des Sciences d’Orsay, Université Paris-Sud, Laboratoire de Méthodologie, Synthèse
et Molécules Thérapeutiques, ICMMO, UMR 8182, CNRS,
Université Paris-Saclay, Bât 410, 91405 Orsay, France
| | - Yang Wan
- National Pharmaceutical Engineering Center for Solid Preparation in Chinese Herbal Medicine, Jiangxi University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Nanchang 330006, P. R. China
- Faculté des Sciences d’Orsay, Université Paris-Sud, Laboratoire de Méthodologie, Synthèse
et Molécules Thérapeutiques, ICMMO, UMR 8182, CNRS,
Université Paris-Saclay, Bât 410, 91405 Orsay, France
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