1
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Tallon C, Bell BJ, Malvankar MM, Deme P, Nogueras-Ortiz C, Eren E, Thomas AG, Hollinger KR, Pal A, Mustapic M, Huang M, Coleman K, Joe TR, Rais R, Haughey NJ, Kapogiannis D, Slusher BS. Inhibiting tau-induced elevated nSMase2 activity and ceramides is therapeutic in an Alzheimer's disease mouse model. Transl Neurodegener 2023; 12:56. [PMID: 38049923 PMCID: PMC10694940 DOI: 10.1186/s40035-023-00383-9] [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: 07/10/2023] [Accepted: 10/23/2023] [Indexed: 12/06/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Cognitive decline in Alzheimer's disease (AD) is associated with hyperphosphorylated tau (pTau) propagation between neurons along synaptically connected networks, in part via extracellular vesicles (EVs). EV biogenesis is triggered by ceramide enrichment at the plasma membrane from neutral sphingomyelinase2 (nSMase2)-mediated cleavage of sphingomyelin. We report, for the first time, that human tau expression elevates brain ceramides and nSMase2 activity. METHODS To determine the therapeutic benefit of inhibiting this elevation, we evaluated PDDC, the first potent, selective, orally bioavailable, and brain-penetrable nSMase2 inhibitor in the transgenic PS19 AD mouse model. Additionally, we directly evaluated the effect of PDDC on tau propagation in a mouse model where an adeno-associated virus (AAV) encoding P301L/S320F double mutant human tau was stereotaxically-injected unilaterally into the hippocampus. The contralateral transfer of the double mutant human tau to the dentate gyrus was monitored. We examined ceramide levels, histopathological changes, and pTau content within EVs isolated from the mouse plasma. RESULTS Similar to human AD, the PS19 mice exhibited increased brain ceramide levels and nSMase2 activity; both were completely normalized by PDDC treatment. The PS19 mice also exhibited elevated tau immunostaining, thinning of hippocampal neuronal cell layers, increased mossy fiber synaptophysin immunostaining, and glial activation, all of which were pathologic features of human AD. PDDC treatment reduced these changes. The plasma of PDDC-treated PS19 mice had reduced levels of neuronal- and microglial-derived EVs, the former carrying lower pTau levels, compared to untreated mice. In the tau propagation model, PDDC normalized the tau-induced increase in brain ceramides and significantly reduced the amount of tau propagation to the contralateral side. CONCLUSIONS PDDC is a first-in-class therapeutic candidate that normalizes elevated brain ceramides and nSMase2 activity, leading to the slowing of tau spread in AD mice.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carolyn Tallon
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA
- Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA
| | - Benjamin J Bell
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA
- Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA
| | - Medhinee M Malvankar
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA
| | - Pragney Deme
- Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA
| | - Carlos Nogueras-Ortiz
- Intramural Research Program, Laboratory of Clinical Investigation, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, 251 Bayview Blvd, Ste 8C228, Baltimore, MD, 21224, USA
| | - Erden Eren
- Intramural Research Program, Laboratory of Clinical Investigation, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, 251 Bayview Blvd, Ste 8C228, Baltimore, MD, 21224, USA
| | - Ajit G Thomas
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA
| | - Kristen R Hollinger
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA
| | - Arindom Pal
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA
- Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA
| | - Maja Mustapic
- Intramural Research Program, Laboratory of Clinical Investigation, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, 251 Bayview Blvd, Ste 8C228, Baltimore, MD, 21224, USA
| | - Meixiang Huang
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA
- Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA
| | - Kaleem Coleman
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA
- Cell Biology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA
| | - Tawnjerae R Joe
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA
- Cell Biology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA
| | - Rana Rais
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA
- Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA
- Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA
| | - Norman J Haughey
- Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA.
- Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 855 N. Wolfe Street, Rangos 278, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA.
- Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 600 N. Wolfe Street, Pathology 517, Baltimore, MD, 21287, USA.
| | - Dimitrios Kapogiannis
- Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA.
- Intramural Research Program, Laboratory of Clinical Investigation, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, 251 Bayview Blvd, Ste 8C228, Baltimore, MD, 21224, USA.
| | - Barbara S Slusher
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA.
- Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA.
- Oncology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA.
- Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA.
- Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA.
- Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 855 N. Wolfe Street, Rangos 278, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA.
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2
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Novotna K, Thomas AG, Stepanek O, Murphy B, Hin N, Skacel J, Mueller L, Tenora L, Pal A, Alt J, Wu Y, Paule J, Rais R, Slusher BS, Tsukamoto T. Neutral sphingomyelinase 2 inhibitors based on the pyrazolo[1,5-a]pyrimidin-3-amine scaffold. Eur J Med Chem 2023; 259:115674. [PMID: 37536209 PMCID: PMC10529203 DOI: 10.1016/j.ejmech.2023.115674] [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: 05/10/2023] [Revised: 07/18/2023] [Accepted: 07/20/2023] [Indexed: 08/05/2023]
Abstract
Neutral sphingomyelinase 2 (nSMase2) has gained increasing attention as a therapeutic target to regulate ceramide production in various disease conditions. Phenyl (R)-(1-(3-(3,4-dimethoxyphenyl)-2,6-dimethylimidazo[1,2-b]pyridazin-8-yl)-pyrrolidin-3-yl)carbamate (PDDC) is a submicromolar nSMase2 inhibitor and has been widely used to study the pharmacological effects of nSMase2 inhibition. Through screening of compounds containing a bicyclic 5-6 fused ring, larotrectinib containing a pyrazolo[1,5-a]pyrimidine ring was identified as a low micromolar inhibitor of nSMase2. This prompted us to investigate the pyrazolo[1,5-a]pyrimidin-3-amine ring as a novel scaffold to replace the imidazo[1,2-b]pyridazine-8-amine ring of PDDC. A series of molecules containing a pyrazolo[1,5-a]pyrimidin-3-amine ring were synthesized and tested for their ability to inhibit human nSMase2. Several compounds exhibited nSMase2 inhibitory potency superior to that of PDDC. Among these, N,N-dimethyl-5-morpholinopyrazolo[1,5-a]pyrimidin-3-amine (11j) was found to be metabolically stable in liver microsomes and orally available with a favorable brain-to-plasma ratio, demonstrating the potential of pyrazolo[1,5-a]pyrimidine ring as an effective scaffold for nSMase2 inhibition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katerina Novotna
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, United States; Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic V.v.i., Prague, 166 00, Czech Republic; Department of Organic Chemistry, Charles University, Prague, 128 00, Czech Republic
| | | | - Ondrej Stepanek
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, United States; Department of Neurology, United States
| | - Brennan Murphy
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, United States; Department of Neurology, United States
| | - Niyada Hin
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, United States
| | - Jan Skacel
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, United States
| | - Louis Mueller
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, United States; Department of Neurology, United States
| | - Lukas Tenora
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, United States; Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic V.v.i., Prague, 166 00, Czech Republic
| | - Arindom Pal
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, United States; Department of Neurology, United States
| | - Jesse Alt
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, United States
| | - Ying Wu
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, United States
| | | | - Rana Rais
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, United States; Department of Neurology, United States; Department of Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 21205, United States
| | - Barbara S Slusher
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, United States; Department of Neurology, United States; Department of Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 21205, United States
| | - Takashi Tsukamoto
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, United States; Department of Neurology, United States; Department of Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 21205, United States.
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3
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Huang M, Tallon C, Zhu X, Huizar KDJ, Picciolini S, Thomas AG, Tenora L, Liyanage W, Rodà F, Gualerzi A, Kannan RM, Bedoni M, Rais R, Slusher BS. Microglial-Targeted nSMase2 Inhibitor Fails to Reduce Tau Propagation in PS19 Mice. Pharmaceutics 2023; 15:2364. [PMID: 37765332 PMCID: PMC10536502 DOI: 10.3390/pharmaceutics15092364] [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] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/11/2023] [Revised: 09/06/2023] [Accepted: 09/16/2023] [Indexed: 09/29/2023] Open
Abstract
The progression of Alzheimer's disease (AD) correlates with the propagation of hyperphosphorylated tau (pTau) from the entorhinal cortex to the hippocampus and neocortex. Neutral sphingomyelinase2 (nSMase2) is critical in the biosynthesis of extracellular vesicles (EVs), which play a role in pTau propagation. We recently conjugated DPTIP, a potent nSMase2 inhibitor, to hydroxyl-PAMAM-dendrimer nanoparticles that can improve brain delivery. We showed that dendrimer-conjugated DPTIP (D-DPTIP) robustly inhibited the spread of pTau in an AAV-pTau propagation model. To further evaluate its efficacy, we tested D-DPTIP in the PS19 transgenic mouse model. Unexpectantly, D-DPTIP showed no beneficial effect. To understand this discrepancy, we assessed D-DPTIP's brain localization. Using immunofluorescence and fluorescence-activated cell-sorting, D-DPTIP was found to be primarily internalized by microglia, where it selectively inhibited microglial nSMase2 activity with no effect on other cell types. Furthermore, D-DPTIP inhibited microglia-derived EV release into plasma without affecting other brain-derived EVs. We hypothesize that microglial targeting allowed D-DPTIP to inhibit tau propagation in the AAV-hTau model, where microglial EVs play a central role in propagation. However, in PS19 mice, where tau propagation is independent of microglial EVs, it had a limited effect. Our findings confirm microglial targeting with hydroxyl-PAMAM dendrimers and highlight the importance of understanding cell-specific mechanisms when designing targeted AD therapies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Meixiang Huang
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA; (M.H.); (C.T.); (X.Z.); (K.D.J.H.); (A.G.T.); (L.T.); (R.R.)
- Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Carolyn Tallon
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA; (M.H.); (C.T.); (X.Z.); (K.D.J.H.); (A.G.T.); (L.T.); (R.R.)
- Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Xiaolei Zhu
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA; (M.H.); (C.T.); (X.Z.); (K.D.J.H.); (A.G.T.); (L.T.); (R.R.)
- Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Kaitlyn D. J. Huizar
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA; (M.H.); (C.T.); (X.Z.); (K.D.J.H.); (A.G.T.); (L.T.); (R.R.)
| | - Silvia Picciolini
- IRCCS Fondazione Don Carlo Gnocchi ONLUS, Laboratory of Nanomedicine and Clinical Biophotonics (LABION), 20148 Milan, Italy; (S.P.); (F.R.); (A.G.); (M.B.)
| | - Ajit G. Thomas
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA; (M.H.); (C.T.); (X.Z.); (K.D.J.H.); (A.G.T.); (L.T.); (R.R.)
- Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Lukas Tenora
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA; (M.H.); (C.T.); (X.Z.); (K.D.J.H.); (A.G.T.); (L.T.); (R.R.)
- Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Wathsala Liyanage
- Center for Nanomedicine, Department of Ophthalmology, Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21231, USA; (W.L.); (R.M.K.)
| | - Francesca Rodà
- IRCCS Fondazione Don Carlo Gnocchi ONLUS, Laboratory of Nanomedicine and Clinical Biophotonics (LABION), 20148 Milan, Italy; (S.P.); (F.R.); (A.G.); (M.B.)
- Clinical and Experimental Medicine PhD Program, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, 42100 Modena, Italy
| | - Alice Gualerzi
- IRCCS Fondazione Don Carlo Gnocchi ONLUS, Laboratory of Nanomedicine and Clinical Biophotonics (LABION), 20148 Milan, Italy; (S.P.); (F.R.); (A.G.); (M.B.)
| | - Rangaramanujam M. Kannan
- Center for Nanomedicine, Department of Ophthalmology, Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21231, USA; (W.L.); (R.M.K.)
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Marzia Bedoni
- IRCCS Fondazione Don Carlo Gnocchi ONLUS, Laboratory of Nanomedicine and Clinical Biophotonics (LABION), 20148 Milan, Italy; (S.P.); (F.R.); (A.G.); (M.B.)
| | - Rana Rais
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA; (M.H.); (C.T.); (X.Z.); (K.D.J.H.); (A.G.T.); (L.T.); (R.R.)
- Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
- Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Barbara S. Slusher
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA; (M.H.); (C.T.); (X.Z.); (K.D.J.H.); (A.G.T.); (L.T.); (R.R.)
- Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
- Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
- Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
- Department of Oncology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
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4
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Peters DE, Norris LD, Tenora L, Šnajdr I, Ponti AK, Zhu X, Sakamoto S, Veeravalli V, Pradhan M, Alt J, Thomas AG, Majer P, Rais R, McDonald C, Slusher BS. A gut-restricted glutamate carboxypeptidase II inhibitor reduces monocytic inflammation and improves preclinical colitis. Sci Transl Med 2023; 15:eabn7491. [PMID: 37556558 PMCID: PMC10661206 DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.abn7491] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/17/2021] [Accepted: 07/21/2023] [Indexed: 08/11/2023]
Abstract
There is an urgent need to develop therapeutics for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) because up to 40% of patients with moderate-to-severe IBD are not adequately controlled with existing drugs. Glutamate carboxypeptidase II (GCPII) has emerged as a promising therapeutic target. This enzyme is minimally expressed in normal ileum and colon, but it is markedly up-regulated in biopsies from patients with IBD and preclinical colitis models. Here, we generated a class of GCPII inhibitors designed to be gut-restricted for oral administration, and we interrogated efficacy and mechanism using in vitro and in vivo models. The lead inhibitor, (S)-IBD3540, was potent (half maximal inhibitory concentration = 4 nanomolar), selective, gut-restricted (AUCcolon/plasma > 50 in mice with colitis), and efficacious in acute and chronic rodent colitis models. In dextran sulfate sodium-induced colitis, oral (S)-IBD3540 inhibited >75% of colon GCPII activity, dose-dependently improved gross and histologic disease, and markedly attenuated monocytic inflammation. In spontaneous colitis in interleukin-10 (IL-10) knockout mice, once-daily oral (S)-IBD3540 initiated after disease onset improved disease, normalized colon histology, and attenuated inflammation as evidenced by reduced fecal lipocalin 2 and colon pro-inflammatory cytokines/chemokines, including tumor necrosis factor-α and IL-17. Using primary human colon epithelial air-liquid interface monolayers to interrogate the mechanism, we further found that (S)-IBD3540 protected against submersion-induced oxidative stress injury by decreasing barrier permeability, normalizing tight junction protein expression, and reducing procaspase-3 activation. Together, this work demonstrated that local inhibition of dysregulated gastrointestinal GCPII using the gut-restricted, orally active, small-molecule (S)-IBD3540 is a promising approach for IBD treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Diane E. Peters
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
- Department of Molecular and Comparative Pathobiology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
- Department of Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Lauren D. Norris
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Lukáš Tenora
- Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, 160 00 Prague, Czechia
| | - Ivan Šnajdr
- Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, 160 00 Prague, Czechia
| | - András K. Ponti
- Department of Inflammation and Immunity, Lerner Research Institute, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH 44195, USA
| | - Xiaolei Zhu
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Shinji Sakamoto
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Vijayabhaskar Veeravalli
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Manisha Pradhan
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
- Department of Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Jesse Alt
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
- Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Ajit G. Thomas
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
- Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Pavel Majer
- Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, 160 00 Prague, Czechia
| | - Rana Rais
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
- Department of Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
- Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Christine McDonald
- Department of Inflammation and Immunity, Lerner Research Institute, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH 44195, USA
| | - Barbara S. Slusher
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
- Department of Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
- Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
- Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
- Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
- Department of Oncology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
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5
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Tallon C, Bell BJ, Malvankar MM, Deme P, Nogueras-Ortiz C, Eren E, Thomas AG, Hollinger KR, Pal A, Mustapic M, Huang M, Coleman K, Joe TR, Rais R, Haughey NJ, Kapogiannis D, Slusher BS. Inhibiting tau-induced elevated nSMase2 activity and ceramides is therapeutic in murine Alzheimer's disease. Res Sq 2023:rs.3.rs-3131295. [PMID: 37502930 PMCID: PMC10371082 DOI: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-3131295/v1] [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] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/29/2023]
Abstract
Background Cognitive decline in Alzheimer's disease (AD) is associated with prion-like tau propagation between neurons along synaptically connected networks, in part via extracellular vesicles (EV). EV biogenesis is triggered by ceramide enrichment at the plasma membrane from neutral sphingomyelinase2(nSMase2)-mediated cleavage of sphingomyelin. We report, for the first time, that tau expression triggers an elevation in brain ceramides and nSMase2 activity. Methods To determine the therapeutic benefit of inhibiting this elevation, we evaluated the efficacy of PDDC, the first potent, selective, orally bioavailable, and brain-penetrable nSMase2 inhibitor, in the PS19 tau transgenic AD murine model. Changes in brain ceramide and sphingomyelin levels, Tau content, histopathology, and nSMase2 target engagement were monitored, as well as changes in the number of brain-derived EVs in plasma and their Tau content. Additionally, we evaluated the ability of PDDC to impede tau propagation in a murine model where an adeno-associated virus(AAV) encoding for P301L/S320F double mutant human tau was stereotaxically-injected unilaterally into the hippocampus and the contralateral transfer to the dentate gyrus was monitored. Results Similar to human AD, PS19 mice exhibited increased brain ceramides and nSMase2 activity; both were completely normalized by PDDC treatment. PS19 mice exhibited elevated tau immunostaining, thinning of hippocampal neuronal cell layers, increased mossy fiber synaptophysin immunostaining, and glial activation, all pathologic features of human AD. PDDC treatment significantly attenuated these aberrant changes. Mouse plasma isolated from PDDC-treated PS19 mice exhibited reduced levels of neuron- and microglia-derived EVs, the former carrying lower phosphorylated Tau(pTau) levels, compared to untreated mice. In the AAV tau propagation model, PDDC normalized the tau-induced increase in brain ceramides and significantly decreased tau spreading to the contralateral side. Conclusions PDDC is a first-in-class therapeutic candidate that normalizes elevated brain ceramides and nSMase2 activity leading to the slowing of tau spread in AD mice.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | | | - Erden Eren
- National Institute on Aging Laboratory of Clinical Investigation
| | | | | | | | - Maja Mustapic
- National Institute on Aging Laboratory of Clinical Investigation
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6
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Zhang F, Zhang Z, Alt J, Kambhampati SP, Sharma A, Singh S, Nance E, Thomas AG, Rojas C, Rais R, Slusher BS, Kannan RM, Kannan S. Dendrimer-enabled targeted delivery attenuates glutamate excitotoxicity and improves motor function in a rabbit model of cerebral palsy. J Control Release 2023; 358:27-42. [PMID: 37054778 PMCID: PMC10330216 DOI: 10.1016/j.jconrel.2023.04.017] [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: 11/11/2022] [Revised: 03/17/2023] [Accepted: 04/10/2023] [Indexed: 04/15/2023]
Abstract
Glutamate carboxypeptidase II (GCPII), localized on the surface of astrocytes and activated microglia, regulates extracellular glutamate concentration in the central nervous system (CNS). We have previously shown that GCPII is upregulated in activated microglia in the presence of inflammation. Inhibition of GCPII activity could reduce glutamate excitotoxicity, which may decrease inflammation and promote a 'normal' microglial phenotype. 2-(3-Mercaptopropyl) pentanedioic acid (2-MPPA) is the first GCPII inhibitor that underwent clinical trials. Unfortunately, immunological toxicities have hindered 2-MPPA clinical translation. Targeted delivery of 2-MPPA specifically to activated microglia and astrocytes that over-express GCPII has the potential to mitigate glutamate excitotoxicity and attenuate neuroinflammation. In this study, we demonstrate that 2-MPPA when conjugated to generation-4, hydroxyl-terminated polyamidoamine (PAMAM) dendrimers (D-2MPPA) localize specifically in activated microglia and astrocytes only in newborn rabbits with cerebral palsy (CP), not in controls. D-2MPPA treatment led to higher 2-MPPA levels in the injured brain regions compared to 2-MPPA treatment, and the extent of D-2MPPA uptake correlated with the injury severity. D-2MPPA was more efficacious than 2-MPPA in decreasing extracellular glutamate level in ex vivo brain slices of CP kits, and in increasing transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGF-β1) level in primary mixed glial cell cultures. A single systemic intravenous dose of D-2MPPA on postnatal day 1 (PND1) decreased microglial activation and resulted in a change in microglial morphology to a more ramified form along with amelioration of motor deficits by PND5. These results indicate that targeted dendrimer-based delivery specifically to activated microglia and astrocytes can improve the efficacy of 2-MPPA by attenuating glutamate excitotoxicity and microglial activation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fan Zhang
- Center for Nanomedicine at the Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21231, USA
| | - Zhi Zhang
- Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA
| | - Jesse Alt
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Siva P Kambhampati
- Center for Nanomedicine at the Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21231, USA
| | - Anjali Sharma
- Center for Nanomedicine at the Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21231, USA
| | - Sarabdeep Singh
- Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA
| | - Elizabeth Nance
- Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA
| | - Ajit G Thomas
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Camilo Rojas
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Rana Rais
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA; Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Barbara S Slusher
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA; Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Rangaramanujam M Kannan
- Center for Nanomedicine at the Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21231, USA.
| | - Sujatha Kannan
- Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA.
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7
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Lee K, Thompson EA, Gharaie S, Patel CH, Kurzhagen JT, Pierorazio PM, Arend LJ, Thomas AG, Noel S, Slusher BS, Rabb H. T cell metabolic reprogramming in acute kidney injury and protection by glutamine blockade. JCI Insight 2023:160345. [PMID: 37166984 PMCID: PMC10371253 DOI: 10.1172/jci.insight.160345] [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] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/12/2023] Open
Abstract
T cells play an important role in acute kidney injury (AKI). Metabolic programming of T cells regulates their function, is a rapidly emerging field, and is unknown in AKI. We induced ischemic AKI in C57B6 mice and collected kidneys and spleens at multiple time points. T cells were isolated and analyzed by an immune-metabolic assay. Unbiased machine learning analyses identified a distinct T cell subset with reduced VDAC1 and mTOR expression in post-AKI kidneys. Ischemic kidneys showed higher expression of trimethylation of histone H3 lysine 27 (H3K27Me3) and glutaminase. Splenic T cells from post-AKI mice had higher expression of GLUT1, hexokinase II, and CPT1a. Human nonischemic and ischemic kidney tissue displayed similar findings to mouse kidneys. Given a convergent role for glutamine in T cell metabolic pathways and the availability of a relatively safe glutamine antagonist JHU083, effects on AKI were evaluated. JHU083 attenuated renal injury and reduced T cell activation and proliferation in ischemic and nephrotoxic AKI, whereas T cell-deficient mice were not protected by glutamine blockade. In vitro hypoxia demonstrated upregulation of glycolysis-related enzymes. T cells undergo metabolic reprogramming during AKI, and reconstitution of metabolism by targeting T cell glutamine pathway could be a promising novel therapeutic approach.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kyungho Lee
- Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, United States of America
| | - Elizabeth A Thompson
- Department of Oncology, Bloomberg~Kimmel Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, United States of America
| | - Sepideh Gharaie
- Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, United States of America
| | - Chirag H Patel
- Department of Oncology, Bloomberg~Kimmel Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, United States of America
| | - Johanna T Kurzhagen
- Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, United States of America
| | - Phillip M Pierorazio
- Department of Urology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, United States of America
| | - Lois J Arend
- Department of Pathology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, United States of America
| | - Ajit G Thomas
- Department of Neurology and Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, United States of America
| | - Sanjeev Noel
- Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, United States of America
| | - Barbara S Slusher
- Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, United States of America
| | - Hamid Rabb
- Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, United States of America
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8
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Tallon C, Bell BJ, Malvankar M, Thomas AG, Yoo SW, Pal A, Wu Y, Coleman K, Joe TR, Sharma A, Eren E, Zhu X, Kannan RM, Kapogiannis D, Haughey NJ, Rais R, Slusher BS. nSMase2 inhibition reduces tau propagation in Alzheimer’s Disease mouse models. Alzheimers Dement 2022. [DOI: 10.1002/alz.063639] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Carolyn Tallon
- Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Baltimore MD USA
| | - Benjamin J Bell
- Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Baltimore MD USA
| | | | - Ajit G Thomas
- Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Baltimore MD USA
| | - Seung Wan Yoo
- Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Baltimore MD USA
| | - Arindom Pal
- Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Baltimore MD USA
| | - Ying Wu
- Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Baltimore MD USA
| | - Kaleem Coleman
- Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Baltimore MD USA
| | - Tawnjerae R Joe
- Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Baltimore MD USA
| | - Anjali Sharma
- Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Baltimore MD USA
| | - Erden Eren
- National Institute on Aging/National Institutes of Health Baltimore MD USA
| | - Xiaolei Zhu
- Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Baltimore MD USA
| | | | | | | | - Rana Rais
- Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Baltimore MD USA
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9
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Rais R, Lemberg KM, Tenora L, Arwood ML, Pal A, Alt J, Wu Y, Lam J, Aguilar JMH, Zhao L, Peters DE, Tallon C, Pandey R, Thomas AG, Dash RP, Seiwert T, Majer P, Leone RD, Powell JD, Slusher BS. Discovery of DRP-104, a tumor-targeted metabolic inhibitor prodrug. Sci Adv 2022; 8:eabq5925. [PMID: 36383674 PMCID: PMC9668306 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abq5925] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 17.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/18/2022] [Accepted: 09/27/2022] [Indexed: 05/23/2023]
Abstract
6-Diazo-5-oxo-l-norleucine (DON) is a glutamine antagonist that suppresses cancer cell metabolism but concurrently enhances the metabolic fitness of tumor CD8+ T cells. DON showed promising efficacy in clinical trials; however, its development was halted by dose-limiting gastrointestinal (GI) toxicities. Given its clinical potential, we designed DON peptide prodrugs and found DRP-104 [isopropyl(S)-2-((S)-2-acetamido-3-(1H-indol-3-yl)-propanamido)-6-diazo-5-oxo-hexanoate] that was preferentially bioactivated to DON in tumor while bioinactivated to an inert metabolite in GI tissues. In drug distribution studies, DRP-104 delivered a prodigious 11-fold greater exposure of DON to tumor versus GI tissues. DRP-104 affected multiple metabolic pathways in tumor, including decreased glutamine flux into the TCA cycle. In efficacy studies, both DRP-104 and DON caused complete tumor regression; however, DRP-104 had a markedly improved tolerability profile. DRP-104's effect was CD8+ T cell dependent and resulted in robust immunologic memory. DRP-104 represents a first-in-class prodrug with differential metabolism in target versus toxicity tissue. DRP-104 is now in clinical trials under the FDA Fast Track designation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rana Rais
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
- Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
- Department of Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Kathryn M. Lemberg
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
- Department of Oncology, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Lukáš Tenora
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
- Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic v.v.i., Prague 16000, Czech Republic
| | - Matthew L. Arwood
- The Bloomberg-Kimmel Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA
| | - Arindom Pal
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
- Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Jesse Alt
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Ying Wu
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Jenny Lam
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | | | - Liang Zhao
- Department of Oncology, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
- The Bloomberg-Kimmel Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA
| | - Diane E. Peters
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
- Department of Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Carolyn Tallon
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
- Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Rajeev Pandey
- Department of Oncology, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Ajit G. Thomas
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Ranjeet P. Dash
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
- Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Tanguy Seiwert
- Department of Oncology, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Pavel Majer
- Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic v.v.i., Prague 16000, Czech Republic
| | - Robert D. Leone
- Department of Oncology, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
- The Bloomberg-Kimmel Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA
| | - Jonathan D. Powell
- Department of Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
- Department of Oncology, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
- The Bloomberg-Kimmel Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA
| | - Barbara S. Slusher
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
- Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
- Department of Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
- Department of Oncology, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
- The Bloomberg-Kimmel Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
- Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
- Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
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10
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Tallon C, Bell BJ, Sharma A, Pal A, Malvankar MM, Thomas AG, Yoo SW, Hollinger KR, Coleman K, Wilkinson EL, Kannan S, Haughey NJ, Kannan RM, Rais R, Slusher BS. Dendrimer-Conjugated nSMase2 Inhibitor Reduces Tau Propagation in Mice. Pharmaceutics 2022; 14:pharmaceutics14102066. [PMID: 36297501 PMCID: PMC9609094 DOI: 10.3390/pharmaceutics14102066] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/23/2022] [Revised: 09/11/2022] [Accepted: 09/11/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is characterized by the progressive accumulation of amyloid-β and hyperphosphorylated tau (pTau), which can spread throughout the brain via extracellular vesicles (EVs). Membrane ceramide enrichment regulated by the enzyme neutral sphingomyelinase 2 (nSMase2) is a critical component of at least one EV biogenesis pathway. Our group recently identified 2,6-Dimethoxy-4-(5-Phenyl-4-Thiophen-2-yl-1H-Imidazol-2-yl)-Phenol (DPTIP), the most potent (30 nM) and selective inhibitor of nSMase2 reported to date. However, DPTIP exhibits poor oral pharmacokinetics (PK), modest brain penetration, and rapid clearance, limiting its clinical translation. To enhance its PK properties, we conjugated DPTIP to a hydroxyl-PAMAM dendrimer delivery system, creating dendrimer-DPTIP (D-DPTIP). In an acute brain injury model, orally administered D-DPTIP significantly reduced the intra-striatal IL-1β-induced increase in plasma EVs up to 72 h post-dose, while oral DPTIP had a limited effect. In a mouse tau propagation model, where a mutant hTau (P301L/S320F) containing adeno-associated virus was unilaterally seeded into the hippocampus, oral D-DPTIP (dosed 3× weekly) significantly inhibited brain nSMase2 activity and blocked the spread of pTau to the contralateral hippocampus. These data demonstrate that dendrimer conjugation of DPTIP improves its PK properties, resulting in significant inhibition of EV propagation of pTau in mice. Dendrimer-based delivery of DPTIP has the potential to be an exciting new therapeutic for AD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carolyn Tallon
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
- Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Benjamin J. Bell
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
- Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Anjali Sharma
- Center for Nanomedicine, Department of Ophthalmology, Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21231, USA
| | - Arindom Pal
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
- Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | | | | | - Seung-Wan Yoo
- Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | | | - Kaleem Coleman
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
- Department of Cell Biology, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Elizabeth L. Wilkinson
- Center for Nanomedicine, Department of Ophthalmology, Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21231, USA
- Moser Center for Leukodystrophies at Kennedy Krieger, Kennedy Krieger Institute, Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Sujatha Kannan
- Center for Nanomedicine, Department of Ophthalmology, Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21231, USA
- Hugo W. Moser Research Institute at Kennedy-Krieger Inc., Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
- Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Norman J. Haughey
- Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
- Center for Nanomedicine at the Wilmer Eye Institute, Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Rangaramanujam M. Kannan
- Center for Nanomedicine, Department of Ophthalmology, Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21231, USA
- Moser Center for Leukodystrophies at Kennedy Krieger, Kennedy Krieger Institute, Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
- Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Rana Rais
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
- Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
- Department of Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
- Correspondence: (R.R.); (B.S.S.); Tel.: +1-410-800-8049 (R.R.); +1-410-960-6162 (B.S.S.)
| | - Barbara S. Slusher
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
- Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
- Center for Nanomedicine at the Wilmer Eye Institute, Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
- Department of Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
- Department of Oncology, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
- Correspondence: (R.R.); (B.S.S.); Tel.: +1-410-800-8049 (R.R.); +1-410-960-6162 (B.S.S.)
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11
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Gori SS, Thomas AG, Pal A, Wiseman R, Ferraris DV, Gao RD, Wu Y, Alt J, Tsukamoto T, Slusher BS, Rais R. D-DOPA Is a Potent, Orally Bioavailable, Allosteric Inhibitor of Glutamate Carboxypeptidase II. Pharmaceutics 2022; 14:pharmaceutics14102018. [PMID: 36297453 PMCID: PMC9608075 DOI: 10.3390/pharmaceutics14102018] [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] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/14/2022] [Revised: 09/14/2022] [Accepted: 09/19/2022] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Glutamate carboxypeptidase-II (GCPII) is a zinc-dependent metalloenzyme implicated in numerous neurological disorders. The pharmacophoric requirements of active-site GCPII inhibitors makes them highly charged, manifesting poor pharmacokinetic (PK) properties. Herein, we describe the discovery and characterization of catechol-based inhibitors including L-DOPA, D-DOPA, and caffeic acid, with sub-micromolar potencies. Of these, D-DOPA emerged as the most promising compound, with good metabolic stability, and excellent PK properties. Orally administered D-DOPA yielded high plasma exposures (AUCplasma = 72.7 nmol·h/mL) and an absolute oral bioavailability of 47.7%. Unfortunately, D-DOPA brain exposures were low with AUCbrain = 2.42 nmol/g and AUCbrain/plasma ratio of 0.03. Given reports of isomeric inversion of D-DOPA to L-DOPA via D-amino acid oxidase (DAAO), we evaluated D-DOPA PK in combination with the DAAO inhibitor sodium benzoate and observed a >200% enhancement in both plasma and brain exposures (AUCplasma = 185 nmol·h/mL; AUCbrain = 5.48 nmol·h/g). Further, we demonstrated GCPII target engagement; orally administered D-DOPA with or without sodium benzoate caused significant inhibition of GCPII activity. Lastly, mode of inhibition studies revealed D-DOPA to be a noncompetitive, allosteric inhibitor of GCPII. To our knowledge, this is the first report of D-DOPA as a distinct scaffold for GCPII inhibition, laying the groundwork for future optimization to obtain clinically viable candidates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sadakatali S. Gori
- Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Ajit G. Thomas
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Arindom Pal
- Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Robyn Wiseman
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
- Department of Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Dana V. Ferraris
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Run-duo Gao
- Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Ying Wu
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Jesse Alt
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Takashi Tsukamoto
- Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
- Department of Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Barbara S. Slusher
- Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
- Department of Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
- Departments of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
- Department of Oncology, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
- Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
- Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
- Correspondence: (B.S.S.); (R.R.)
| | - Rana Rais
- Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
- Department of Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
- Correspondence: (B.S.S.); (R.R.)
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12
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Pal A, Gori S, Yoo SW, Thomas AG, Wu Y, Friedman J, Tenora L, Bhasin H, Alt J, Haughey N, Slusher BS, Rais R. Discovery of Orally Bioavailable and Brain-Penetrable Prodrugs of the Potent nSMase2 Inhibitor DPTIP. J Med Chem 2022; 65:11111-11125. [PMID: 35930706 PMCID: PMC9980655 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.2c00562] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Extracellular vesicles (EVs) can carry pathological cargo and play an active role in disease progression. Neutral sphingomyelinase-2 (nSMase2) is a critical regulator of EV biogenesis, and its inhibition has shown protective effects in multiple disease states. 2,6-Dimethoxy-4-(5-phenyl-4-thiophen-2-yl-1H-imidazol-2-yl)phenol (DPTIP) is one of the most potent (IC50 = 30 nM) inhibitors of nSMase2 discovered to date. However, DPTIP exhibits poor oral pharmacokinetics (PK), limiting its clinical development. To overcome DPTIP's PK limitations, we synthesized a series of prodrugs by masking its phenolic hydroxyl group. When administered orally, the best prodrug (P18) with a 2',6'-diethyl-1,4'-bipiperidinyl promoiety exhibited >fourfold higher plasma (AUC0-t = 1047 pmol·h/mL) and brain exposures (AUC0-t = 247 pmol·h/g) versus DPTIP and a significant enhancement of DPTIP half-life (2 h vs ∼0.5 h). In a mouse model of acute brain injury, DPTIP released from P18 significantly inhibited IL-1β-induced EV release into plasma and attenuated nSMase2 activity. These studies report the discovery of a DPTIP prodrug with potential for clinical translation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Arindom Pal
- Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore MD 21205, USA,Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore MD 21205, USA
| | - Sadakatali Gori
- Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore MD 21205, USA,Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore MD 21205, USA
| | - Seung-wan Yoo
- Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore MD 21205, USA
| | - Ajit G. Thomas
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore MD 21205, USA
| | - Ying Wu
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore MD 21205, USA
| | - Jacob Friedman
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore MD 21205, USA
| | - Lukáš Tenora
- Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore MD 21205, USA,Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore MD 21205, USA
| | - Harshit Bhasin
- Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore MD 21205, USA,Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore MD 21205, USA
| | - Jesse Alt
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore MD 21205, USA
| | - Norman Haughey
- Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore MD 21205, USA,Departments of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore MD 21205, USA
| | - Barbara S. Slusher
- Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore MD 21205, USA,Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore MD 21205, USA,Departments of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore MD 21205, USA,Department of Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore MD 21205, USA,Department of Oncology, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore MD 21205, USA,Departments of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore MD 21205, USA,Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore MD 21205, USA,Corresponding Authors: . Tel: 410-502-0497. Fax: 410-614-0659 (R.R.), . Tel: 410-614-0662. Fax: 410-614-0659 (B.S.S.)
| | - Rana Rais
- Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore MD 21205, USA,Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore MD 21205, USA,Department of Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore MD 21205, USA,Corresponding Authors: . Tel: 410-502-0497. Fax: 410-614-0659 (R.R.), . Tel: 410-614-0662. Fax: 410-614-0659 (B.S.S.)
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13
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Zhu X, Hollinger KR, Huang Y, Borjabad A, Kim BH, Arab T, Thomas AG, Moniruzzaman M, Lovell L, Turchinovich A, Witwer KW, Volsky DJ, Haughey NJ, Slusher BS. Neutral sphingomyelinase 2 inhibition attenuates extracellular vesicle release and improves neurobehavioral deficits in murine HIV. Neurobiol Dis 2022; 169:105734. [PMID: 35462006 PMCID: PMC9202342 DOI: 10.1016/j.nbd.2022.105734] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [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: 12/29/2021] [Revised: 03/22/2022] [Accepted: 04/13/2022] [Indexed: 01/11/2023] Open
Abstract
People living with HIV (PLH) have significantly higher rates of cognitive impairment (CI) and major depressive disorder (MDD) versus the general population. The enzyme neutral sphingomyelinase 2 (nSMase2) is involved in the biogenesis of ceramide and extracellular vesicles (EVs), both of which are dysregulated in PLH, CI, and MDD. Here we evaluated EcoHIV-infected mice for behavioral abnormalities relevant to depression and cognition deficits, and assessed the behavioral and biochemical effects of nSMase2 inhibition. Mice were infected with EcoHIV and daily treatment with either vehicle or the nSMase2 inhibitor (R)-(1-(3-(3,4-dimethoxyphenyl)-2,6-dimethylimidazo[1,2-b]pyridazin-8-yl)pyrrolidin-3-yl)-carbamate (PDDC) began 3 weeks post-infection. After 2 weeks of treatment, mice were subjected to behavior tests. EcoHIV-infected mice exhibited behavioral abnormalities relevant to MDD and CI that were reversed by PDDC treatment. EcoHIV infection significantly increased cortical brain nSMase2 activity, resulting in trend changes in sphingomyelin and ceramide levels that were normalized by PDDC treatment. EcoHIV-infected mice also exhibited increased levels of brain-derived EVs and altered microRNA cargo, including miR-183-5p, miR-200c-3p, miR-200b-3p, and miR-429-3p, known to be associated with MDD and CI; all were normalized by PDDC. In conclusion, inhibition of nSMase2 represents a possible new therapeutic strategy for the treatment of HIV-associated CI and MDD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaolei Zhu
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA,Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Kristen R. Hollinger
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Yiyao Huang
- Department of Molecular and Comparative Pathobiology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Alejandra Borjabad
- Department of Medicine, Infectious Diseases Division, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, NY, New York, USA
| | - Boe-Hyun Kim
- Department of Medicine, Infectious Diseases Division, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, NY, New York, USA
| | - Tanina Arab
- Department of Molecular and Comparative Pathobiology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Ajit G. Thomas
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Mohammed Moniruzzaman
- Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Lyndah Lovell
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Andrey Turchinovich
- Heidelberg Biolabs GmbH, Heidelberg, Germany,Division of Cancer Genome Research, German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Kenneth W. Witwer
- Department of Molecular and Comparative Pathobiology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - David J. Volsky
- Department of Medicine, Infectious Diseases Division, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, NY, New York, USA
| | - Norman J. Haughey
- Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Barbara S. Slusher
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA,Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA,Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA,Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA,Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA,Department of Oncology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA,Department of Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA,Corresponding author at: 855 N. Wolfe Street, Rangos 278, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA. (B.S. Slusher)
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14
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Pradhan M, Peters DE, Norris LD, Thomas AG, Rais R, Slusher BS. A Novel Oral Glutamate Carboxypeptidase II Inhibitor for the Treatment of Inflammatory Bowel Disease. FASEB J 2022. [DOI: 10.1096/fasebj.2022.36.s1.r3089] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Manisha Pradhan
- Johns Hopkins Drug DiscoveryJohns Hopkins University School of MedicineBaltimoreMD
| | - Diane E. Peters
- Johns Hopkins Drug DiscoveryJohns Hopkins University School of MedicineBaltimoreMD
| | - Lauren D. Norris
- Johns Hopkins Drug DiscoveryJohns Hopkins University School of MedicineBaltimoreMD
| | - Ajit G. Thomas
- Johns Hopkins Drug DiscoveryJohns Hopkins University School of MedicineBaltimoreMD
| | - Rana Rais
- Johns Hopkins Drug DiscoveryJohns Hopkins University School of MedicineBaltimoreMD
| | - Barbara S. Slusher
- Johns Hopkins Drug DiscoveryJohns Hopkins University School of MedicineBaltimoreMD
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15
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Berhane I, Hin N, Thomas AG, Huang Q, Zhang C, Veeravalli V, Wu Y, Ng J, Alt J, Rojas C, Hihara H, Aoki M, Yoshizawa K, Nishioka T, Suzuki S, He SQ, Peng Q, Guan Y, Dong X, Raja SN, Slusher BS, Rais R, Tsukamoto T. Thieno[2,3- d]pyrimidine-Based Positive Allosteric Modulators of Human Mas-Related G Protein-Coupled Receptor X1 (MRGPRX1). J Med Chem 2022; 65:3218-3228. [PMID: 35119273 PMCID: PMC9176367 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.1c01709] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [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: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Mas-related G protein-coupled receptor X1 (MRGPRX1) is a human sensory neuron-specific receptor and potential target for the treatment of pain. Positive allosteric modulators (PAMs) of MRGPRX1 have the potential to preferentially activate the receptors at the central terminals of primary sensory neurons and minimize itch side effects caused by peripheral activation. Using a high-throughput screening (HTS) hit, a series of thieno[2,3-d]pyrimidine-based molecules were synthesized and evaluated as human MRGPRX1 PAMs in HEK293 cells stably transfected with human MrgprX1 gene. An iterative process to improve potency and metabolic stability led to the discovery of orally available 6-(tert-butyl)-5-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)-4-(2-(trifluoromethoxy)phenoxy)thieno[2,3-d]pyrimidine (1t), which can be distributed to the spinal cord, the presumed site of action, following oral administration. In a neuropathic pain model induced by sciatic nerve chronic constriction injury (CCI), compound 1t (100 mg/kg, po) reduced behavioral heat hypersensitivity in humanized MRGPRX1 mice, demonstrating the therapeutic potential of MRGPRX1 PAMs in treating neuropathic pain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ilyas Berhane
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins
University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA,Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University,
Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Niyada Hin
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins
University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Ajit G. Thomas
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins
University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Qian Huang
- Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care
Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Chi Zhang
- Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care
Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Vijayabhaskar Veeravalli
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins
University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA,Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University,
Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Ying Wu
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins
University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Justin Ng
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins
University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Jesse Alt
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins
University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Camilo Rojas
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins
University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Hiroe Hihara
- Tsukuba Research Laboratories, Eisai Co., Ltd.,
Tsukuba, Ibaraki 300-2635, Japan
| | - Mika Aoki
- Tsukuba Research Laboratories, Eisai Co., Ltd.,
Tsukuba, Ibaraki 300-2635, Japan
| | - Kyoko Yoshizawa
- Tsukuba Research Laboratories, Eisai Co., Ltd.,
Tsukuba, Ibaraki 300-2635, Japan
| | - Tomoki Nishioka
- Tsukuba Research Laboratories, Eisai Co., Ltd.,
Tsukuba, Ibaraki 300-2635, Japan
| | - Shuichi Suzuki
- Tsukuba Research Laboratories, Eisai Co., Ltd.,
Tsukuba, Ibaraki 300-2635, Japan
| | - Shao-Qiu He
- Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care
Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Qi Peng
- Solomon H. Snyder Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins
University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Yun Guan
- Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care
Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Xinzhong Dong
- Solomon H. Snyder Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins
University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Srinivasa N. Raja
- Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care
Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Barbara S. Slusher
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins
University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA,Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University,
Baltimore, MD 21205, USA,Solomon H. Snyder Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins
University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Rana Rais
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins
University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA,Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University,
Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Takashi Tsukamoto
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins
University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA,Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University,
Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
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16
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Hollinger KR, Sharma A, Tallon C, Lovell L, Thomas AG, Zhu X, Wiseman R, Wu Y, Kambhampati SP, Liaw K, Sharma R, Rojas C, Rais R, Kannan S, Kannan RM, Slusher BS. Dendrimer-2PMPA selectively blocks upregulated microglial GCPII activity and improves cognition in a mouse model of multiple sclerosis. Nanotheranostics 2022; 6:126-142. [PMID: 34976589 PMCID: PMC8671953 DOI: 10.7150/ntno.63158] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [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: 05/25/2021] [Accepted: 08/04/2021] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Cognitive impairment is a common aspect of multiple sclerosis (MS) for which there are no treatments. Reduced brain N-acetylaspartylglutamate (NAAG) levels are linked to impaired cognition in various neurological diseases, including MS. NAAG levels are regulated by glutamate carboxypeptidase II (GCPII), which hydrolyzes the neuropeptide to N-acetyl-aspartate and glutamate. GCPII activity is upregulated multifold in microglia following neuroinflammation. Although several GCPII inhibitors, such as 2-PMPA, elevate brain NAAG levels and restore cognitive function in preclinical studies when given at high systemic doses or via direct brain injection, none are clinically available due to poor bioavailability and limited brain penetration. Hydroxyl-dendrimers have been successfully used to selectively deliver drugs to activated glia. Methods: We attached 2-PMPA to hydroxyl polyamidoamine (PAMAM) dendrimers (D-2PMPA) using a click chemistry approach. Cy5-labelled-D-2PMPA was used to visualize selective glial uptake in vitro and in vivo. D-2PMPA was evaluated for anti-inflammatory effects in LPS-treated glial cultures. In experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE)-immunized mice, D-2PMPA was dosed biweekly starting at disease onset and cognition was assessed using the Barnes maze, and GCPII activity was measured in CD11b+ hippocampal cells. Results: D-2PMPA showed preferential uptake into microglia and robust anti-inflammatory activity, including elevations in NAAG, TGFβ, and mGluR3 in glial cultures. D-2PMPA significantly improved cognition in EAE mice, even though physical severity was unaffected. GCPII activity increased >20-fold in CD11b+ cells from EAE mice, which was significantly mitigated by D-2PMPA treatment. Conclusions: Hydroxyl dendrimers facilitate targeted drug delivery to activated microglia. These data support further development of D-2PMPA to attenuate elevated microglial GCPII activity and treat cognitive impairment in MS.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Anjali Sharma
- Center for Nanomedicine, Department of Ophthalmology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Carolyn Tallon
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA.,Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Lyndah Lovell
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Ajit G Thomas
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Xiaolei Zhu
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA.,Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Robyn Wiseman
- Department of Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Ying Wu
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Siva P Kambhampati
- Center for Nanomedicine, Department of Ophthalmology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Kevin Liaw
- Center for Nanomedicine, Department of Ophthalmology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA.,Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Rishi Sharma
- Center for Nanomedicine, Department of Ophthalmology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Camilo Rojas
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA.,Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Rana Rais
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA.,Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Sujatha Kannan
- Center for Nanomedicine, Department of Ophthalmology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA.,Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA.,Kennedy Krieger Institute, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Rangaramanujam M Kannan
- Center for Nanomedicine, Department of Ophthalmology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA.,Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA.,Kennedy Krieger Institute, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Barbara S Slusher
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA.,Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA.,Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA.,Department of Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA.,Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA.,Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA.,Department of Oncology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
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17
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Tallon C, Sharma A, Zhang Z, Thomas AG, Ng J, Zhu X, Donoghue A, Schulte M, Joe TR, Kambhampati SP, Sharma R, Liaw K, Kannan S, Kannan RM, Slusher BS. Dendrimer-2PMPA Delays Muscle Function Loss and Denervation in a Murine Model of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. Neurotherapeutics 2022; 19:274-288. [PMID: 34984651 PMCID: PMC9130402 DOI: 10.1007/s13311-021-01159-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [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] [Accepted: 11/05/2021] [Indexed: 01/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a devastating neurodegenerative disease where muscle weakness and neuromuscular junction (NMJ) denervation precede motor neuron cell death. Although acetylcholine is the canonical neurotransmitter at the mammalian NMJ synapse, glutamate has recently been identified as a critical neurotransmitter for NMJ development and maintenance. One source of glutamate is through the catabolism of N-acetyl-aspartyl-glutamate (NAAG), which is found in mM concentrations in mammalian motoneurons, where it is released upon stimulation and hydrolyzed to glutamate by the glial enzyme glutamate carboxypeptidase II (GCPII). Using the SOD1G93A model of ALS, we found an almost fourfold elevation of GCPII enzymatic activity in SOD1G93A versus WT muscle and a robust increase in GCPII expression which was specifically associated with activated macrophages infiltrating the muscle. 2-(Phosphonomethyl)pentanedioic acid (2PMPA) is a potent GCPII inhibitor which robustly blocks glutamate release from NAAG but is highly polar with limited tissue penetration. To improve this, we covalently attached 2PMPA to a hydroxyl polyamidoamine (PAMAM-G4-OH) dendrimer delivery system (D-2PMPA) which is known to target activated macrophages in affected tissues. Systemic D-2PMPA therapy (20 mg/kg 2PMPA equivalent; IP 2 × /week) was found to localize in muscle macrophages in SOD1G93A mice and completely normalize the enhanced GCPII activity. Although no changes in body weight or survival were observed, D-2PMPA significantly improved grip strength and inhibited the loss of NMJ innervation in the gastrocnemius muscles. Our finding that inhibiting elevated GCPII activity in SOD1G93A muscle can prolong muscle function and delay NMJ denervation may have early therapeutic implications for ALS patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carolyn Tallon
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, USA
- Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, USA
| | - Anjali Sharma
- Center for Nanomedicine-Ophthalmology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, USA
| | - Zhi Zhang
- Center for Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, USA
- Department of Natural Sciences, University of Michigan-Dearborn, Dearborn, MI, 48128, USA
| | - Ajit G Thomas
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, USA
| | - Justin Ng
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, USA
| | - Xiaolei Zhu
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, USA
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, USA
| | - Amanda Donoghue
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, USA
| | - Michael Schulte
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, USA
| | - Tawnjerae R Joe
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, USA
- Department of Cell Biology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, USA
| | - Siva P Kambhampati
- Center for Nanomedicine-Ophthalmology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, USA
| | - Rishi Sharma
- Center for Nanomedicine-Ophthalmology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, USA
| | - Kevin Liaw
- Center for Nanomedicine-Ophthalmology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, USA
| | - Sujatha Kannan
- Center for Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, USA
- Hugo W. Moser Research Institute at Kennedy-Krieger, Inc, Baltimore, USA
| | - Rangaramanujam M Kannan
- Center for Nanomedicine-Ophthalmology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, USA
- Hugo W. Moser Research Institute at Kennedy-Krieger, Inc, Baltimore, USA
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, USA
| | - Barbara S Slusher
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, USA.
- Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, USA.
- Department of Oncology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, USA.
- Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, USA.
- Department of Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, USA.
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, USA.
- Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 855 N. Wolfe Street, Rangos 278, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA.
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18
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Tallon C, Bell BJ, Malvankar M, Hollinger KR, Thomas AG, Yoo SW, Chaudhuri AD, Wu Y, Rais R, Haughey NJ, Slusher BS. The neutral sphingomyelinase 2 inhibitor PDDC reduces tau burden in Alzheimer’s disease mice. Alzheimers Dement 2021. [DOI: 10.1002/alz.054502] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Carolyn Tallon
- Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Baltimore MD USA
| | - Benjamin J Bell
- Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Baltimore MD USA
| | | | | | - Ajit G Thomas
- Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Baltimore MD USA
| | - Seung Wan Yoo
- Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Baltimore MD USA
| | | | - Ying Wu
- Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Baltimore MD USA
| | - Rana Rais
- Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Baltimore MD USA
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19
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Tallon C, Picciolini S, Yoo SW, Thomas AG, Pal A, Alt J, Carlomagno C, Gualerzi A, Rais R, Haughey NJ, Bedoni M, Slusher BS. Inhibition of neutral sphingomyelinase 2 reduces extracellular vesicle release from neurons, oligodendrocytes, and activated microglial cells following acute brain injury. Biochem Pharmacol 2021; 194:114796. [PMID: 34678224 DOI: 10.1016/j.bcp.2021.114796] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [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: 07/29/2021] [Revised: 09/30/2021] [Accepted: 10/01/2021] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
Extracellular Vesicles (EVs) are implicated in the spread of pathogenic proteinsin a growing number of neurological diseases. Given this, there is rising interest in developing inhibitors of Neutral Sphingomyelinase 2 (nSMase2), an enzyme critical in EV biogenesis. Our group recently discovered phenyl(R)-(1-(3-(3,4-dimethoxyphenyl)-2,6-dimethylimidazo[1,2-b]pyridazin-8-yl)pyrrolidin-3-yl)carbamate (PDDC), the first potent, selective, orally-available, and brain-penetrable nSMase2 inhibitor, capable of dose-dependently reducing EVs release in vitro and in vivo. Herein, using multiplexed Surface Plasmon Resonance imaging (SPRi), we evaluated which brain cell-derived EVs were affected by PDDC following acute brain injury. Mice were fed PDDC-containing chow at doses which gave steady PDDC brain exposures exceeding its nSMase2 IC50. Mice were then administered an intra-striatal IL-1β injection and two hours later plasma and brain were collected. IL-1β injection significantly increased striatal nSMase2 activity which was completely normalized by PDDC. Using SPRi, we found that IL-1β-induced injury selectively increased plasma levels of CD171 + and PLP1 + EVs; this EV increase was normalized by PDDC. In contrast, GLAST1 + EVs were unchanged by IL-1β or PDDC. IL-1β injection selectively increased EVs released from activated versus non-activated microglia, indicated by the CD11b+/IB4 + ratio. The increase in EVs from CD11b + microglia was dramatically attenuated with PDDC. Taken together, our data demonstrate that following acute injury, brain nSMase2 activity is elevated. EVs released from neurons, oligodendrocytes, and activated microglial are increased in plasma and inhibition of nSMase2 with PDDC reduced these IL-1β-induced changes implicating nSMase2 inhibition as a therapeutic target for acute brain injury.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carolyn Tallon
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA; Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Silvia Picciolini
- IRCCS Fondazione Don Carlo Gnocchi ONLUS, Laboratory of Nanomedicine and Clinical Biophotonics (LABION), Milan, Italy
| | - Seung-Wan Yoo
- Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Ajit G Thomas
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Arindom Pal
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA; Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Jesse Alt
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Cristiano Carlomagno
- IRCCS Fondazione Don Carlo Gnocchi ONLUS, Laboratory of Nanomedicine and Clinical Biophotonics (LABION), Milan, Italy
| | - Alice Gualerzi
- IRCCS Fondazione Don Carlo Gnocchi ONLUS, Laboratory of Nanomedicine and Clinical Biophotonics (LABION), Milan, Italy
| | - Rana Rais
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA; Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA; Department of Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Norman J Haughey
- Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Marzia Bedoni
- IRCCS Fondazione Don Carlo Gnocchi ONLUS, Laboratory of Nanomedicine and Clinical Biophotonics (LABION), Milan, Italy.
| | - Barbara S Slusher
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA; Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA; Department of Oncology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA; Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA; Department of Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA; Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA; Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA.
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20
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Nešuta O, Thomas AG, Alt J, Hin N, Neužilová A, Long S, Tsukamoto T, Rojas C, Wei H, Slusher BS. High Throughput Screening Cascade To Identify Human Aspartate N-Acetyltransferase (ANAT) Inhibitors for Canavan Disease. ACS Chem Neurosci 2021; 12:3445-3455. [PMID: 34477360 DOI: 10.1021/acschemneuro.1c00455] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Canavan disease (CD) is a progressive, fatal neurological disorder that begins in infancy resulting from a mutation in aspartoacyclase (ASPA), an enzyme that catalyzes the deacetylation of N-acetyl aspartate (NAA) into acetate and aspartate. Increased NAA levels in the brains of affected children are one of the hallmarks of CD. Interestingly, genetic deletion of N-acetyltransferase-8-like (NAT8L), which encodes aspartate N-aceyltransferase (ANAT), an enzyme responsible for the synthesis of NAA from l-aspartate and acetyl-CoA, leads to normalization of NAA levels and improvement of symptoms in several genetically engineered mouse models of CD. Therefore, pharmacological inhibition of ANAT presents a promising therapeutic strategy for treating CD. Currently, however, there are no clinically viable ANAT inhibitors. Herein we describe the development of fluorescence-based high throughput screening (HTS) and radioactive-based orthogonal assays using recombinant human ANAT expressed in E. coli. In the fluorescence-based assay, ANAT activity was linear with respect to time of incubation up to 30 min and protein concentration up to 97.5 ng/μL with Km values for l-aspartate and acetyl-CoA of 237 μM and 11 μM, respectively. Using this optimized assay, we conducted a pilot screening of a 10 000-compound library. Hits from the fluorescence-based assay were subjected to an orthogonal radioactive-based assay using L-[U-14C] aspartate as a substrate. Two compounds were confirmed to have dose-dependent inhibition in both assays. Inhibitory kinetics studies of the most potent compound revealed an uncompetitive inhibitory mechanism with respect to l-aspartate and a noncompetitive inhibitory mechanism against acetyl-CoA. The screening cascade developed herein will enable large-scale compound library screening to identify novel ANAT inhibitors as leads for further medicinal chemistry optimization.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ondřej Nešuta
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, 855 N. Wolfe Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, United States
| | - Ajit G. Thomas
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, 855 N. Wolfe Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, United States
| | - Jesse Alt
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, 855 N. Wolfe Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, United States
| | - Niyada Hin
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, 855 N. Wolfe Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, United States
| | - Anna Neužilová
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, 855 N. Wolfe Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, United States
| | - Shunyou Long
- ChemBioCORE, High Throughput Screening Facility, Johns Hopkins University, 733 N. Broadway, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, United States
| | - Takashi Tsukamoto
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, 855 N. Wolfe Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, United States
- Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, United States
| | - Camilo Rojas
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, 855 N. Wolfe Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, United States
| | - Huijun Wei
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, 855 N. Wolfe Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, United States
- Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, United States
| | - Barbara S. Slusher
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, 855 N. Wolfe Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, United States
- Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, United States
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21
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Hollinger KR, Zhu X, Khoury ES, Thomas AG, Liaw K, Tallon C, Wu Y, Prchalova E, Kamiya A, Rojas C, Kannan S, Slusher BS. Glutamine Antagonist JHU-083 Normalizes Aberrant Hippocampal Glutaminase Activity and Improves Cognition in APOE4 Mice. J Alzheimers Dis 2021; 77:437-447. [PMID: 32675407 DOI: 10.3233/jad-190588] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Given the emergent aging population, the identification of effective treatments for Alzheimer's disease (AD) is critical. OBJECTIVE We investigated the therapeutic efficacy of JHU-083, a brain-penetrable glutamine antagonist, in treating AD using the humanized APOE4 knock-in mouse model. METHODS Cell culture studies were performed using BV2 cells and primary microglia isolated from hippocampi of adult APOE4 knock-in mice to evaluate the effect of JHU-083 treatment on LPS-induced glutaminase (GLS) activity and inflammatory markers. Six-month-old APOE4 knock-in mice were administered JHU-083 or vehicle via oral gavage 3x/week for 4-5 months and cognitive performance was assessed using the Barnes maze. Target engagement in the brain was confirmed using a radiolabeled GLS enzymatic activity assay, and electrophysiology, gastrointestinal histology, blood chemistry, and CBC analyses were conducted to evaluate the tolerability of JHU-083. RESULTS JHU-083 inhibited the LPS-mediated increases in GLS activity, nitic oxide release, and pro-inflammatory cytokine production in cultured BV2 cells and primary microglia isolated from APOE4 knock-in AD mice. Chronic treatment with JHU-083 in APOE4 mice improved hippocampal-dependent Barnes maze performance. Consistent with the cell culture findings,postmortem analyses of APOE4 mice showed increased GLS activity in hippocampal CD11b+ enriched cells versus age-matched controls, which was completely normalized by JHU-083 treatment. JHU-083 was well-tolerated, showing no weight loss effect or overt behavioral changes. Peripheral nerve function, gastrointestinal histopathology, and CBC/clinical chemistry parameters were all unaffected by chronic JHU-083 treatment. CONCLUSION These results suggest that the attenuation of upregulated hippocampal glutaminase by JHU-083 represents a new therapeutic strategy for AD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kristen R Hollinger
- Departments of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA.,Departments of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA.,Departments of Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Xiaolei Zhu
- Departments of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA.,Departments of Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Elizabeth S Khoury
- Departments of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Ajit G Thomas
- Departments of Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Kevin Liaw
- Departments of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Carolyn Tallon
- Departments of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA.,Departments of Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Ying Wu
- Departments of Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Eva Prchalova
- Departments of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA.,Departments of Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Atsushi Kamiya
- Departments of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Camilo Rojas
- Departments of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA.,Departments of Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Sujatha Kannan
- Departments of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Barbara S Slusher
- Departments of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA.,Departments of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA.,Departments of Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA.,Departments of Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA.,Departments of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA.,Departments of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA.,Departments of Oncology, and Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
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22
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Nedelcovych MT, Kim BH, Zhu X, Lovell LE, Manning AA, Kelschenbach J, Hadas E, Chao W, Prchalová E, Dash RP, Wu Y, Alt J, Thomas AG, Rais R, Kamiya A, Volsky DJ, Slusher BS. Correction to: Glutamine Antagonist JHU083 Normalizes Aberrant Glutamate Production and Cognitive Deficits in the EcoHIV Murine Model of HIV-Associated Neurocognitive Disorders. J Neuroimmune Pharmacol 2021; 16:693. [PMID: 33914277 DOI: 10.1007/s11481-021-09992-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Michael T Nedelcovych
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, 855 North Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA.,Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.,Department of Oncology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Boe-Hyun Kim
- Department of Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Annenberg Building Floor 21, Room 42, 1468 Madison Ave, New York, NY, 10029, USA
| | - Xiaolei Zhu
- Department of Oncology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.,Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Lyndah E Lovell
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, 855 North Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA.,Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.,Department of Oncology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Arena A Manning
- Department of Oncology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.,Graduate Program in Neuroscience, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Jennifer Kelschenbach
- Department of Oncology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.,Department of Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Annenberg Building Floor 21, Room 42, 1468 Madison Ave, New York, NY, 10029, USA
| | - Eran Hadas
- Department of Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Annenberg Building Floor 21, Room 42, 1468 Madison Ave, New York, NY, 10029, USA
| | - Wei Chao
- Department of Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Annenberg Building Floor 21, Room 42, 1468 Madison Ave, New York, NY, 10029, USA
| | - Eva Prchalová
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, 855 North Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA.,Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.,Department of Oncology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Ranjeet P Dash
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, 855 North Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA.,Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.,Department of Oncology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Ying Wu
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, 855 North Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA.,Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.,Department of Oncology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Jesse Alt
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, 855 North Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA.,Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.,Department of Oncology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Ajit G Thomas
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, 855 North Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA.,Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.,Department of Oncology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Rana Rais
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, 855 North Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA.,Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.,Department of Oncology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Atsushi Kamiya
- Department of Oncology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.,Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - David J Volsky
- Department of Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Annenberg Building Floor 21, Room 42, 1468 Madison Ave, New York, NY, 10029, USA.
| | - Barbara S Slusher
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, 855 North Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA. .,Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA. .,Department of Oncology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA. .,Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA. .,Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA. .,Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.
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23
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Hossain MI, Thomas AG, Mahdi F, Adam AT, Akins NS, Woodard MM, Paris JJ, Slusher BS, Le HV. An efficient synthetic route to l-γ-methyleneglutamine and its amide derivatives, and their selective anticancer activity. RSC Adv 2021; 11:7115-7128. [PMID: 33777357 PMCID: PMC7968037 DOI: 10.1039/d0ra08249j] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/26/2020] [Accepted: 02/01/2021] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
In cancer cells, glutaminolysis is the primary source of biosynthetic precursors, fueling the TCA cycle with glutamine-derived α-ketoglutarate. The enhanced production of α-ketoglutarate is critical to cancer cells as it provides carbons for the TCA cycle to produce glutathione, fatty acids, and nucleotides, and contributes nitrogens to produce hexosamines, nucleotides, and many nonessential amino acids. Efforts to inhibit glutamine metabolism in cancer using amino acid analogs have been extensive. l-γ-Methyleneglutamine was shown to be of considerable biochemical importance, playing a major role in nitrogen transport in Arachis and Amorpha plants. Herein we report for the first time an efficient synthetic route to l-γ-methyleneglutamine and its amide derivatives. Many of these l-γ-methyleneglutamic acid amides were shown to be as efficacious as tamoxifen or olaparib at arresting cell growth among MCF-7 (ER+/PR+/HER2−), and SK-BR-3 (ER−/PR−/HER2+) breast cancer cells at 24 or 72 h of treatment. Several of these compounds exerted similar efficacy to olaparib at arresting cell growth among triple-negative MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells by 72 h of treatment. None of the compounds inhibited cell growth in benign MCF-10A breast cells. Overall, N-phenyl amides and N-benzyl amides, such as 3, 5, 9, and 10, arrested the growth of all three (MCF-7, SK-BR-3, and MDA-MB-231) cell lines for 72 h and were devoid of cytotoxicity on MCF-10A control cells; N-benzyl amides with an electron withdrawing group at the para position, such as 5 and 6, inhibited the growth of triple-negative MDA-MB-231 cells commensurate to olaparib. These compounds hold promise as novel therapeutics for the treatment of multiple breast cancer subtypes. l-γ-Methyleneglutamic acid amides selectively inhibit the growth of MCF-7 (ER+/PR+/HER2−), SK-BR-3 (ER−/PR−/HER2+), and triple negative MDA-MB-231 cancer cell lines.![]()
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Affiliation(s)
- Md Imran Hossain
- Department of BioMolecular Sciences, Research Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Pharmacy, University of Mississippi, Mississippi 38677, USA.
| | - Ajit G Thomas
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Fakhri Mahdi
- Department of BioMolecular Sciences, Research Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Pharmacy, University of Mississippi, Mississippi 38677, USA.
| | - Amna T Adam
- Department of BioMolecular Sciences, Research Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Pharmacy, University of Mississippi, Mississippi 38677, USA.
| | - Nicholas S Akins
- Department of BioMolecular Sciences, Research Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Pharmacy, University of Mississippi, Mississippi 38677, USA.
| | - Morgan M Woodard
- Department of BioMolecular Sciences, Research Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Pharmacy, University of Mississippi, Mississippi 38677, USA.
| | - Jason J Paris
- Department of BioMolecular Sciences, Research Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Pharmacy, University of Mississippi, Mississippi 38677, USA.
| | - Barbara S Slusher
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Hoang V Le
- Department of BioMolecular Sciences, Research Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Pharmacy, University of Mississippi, Mississippi 38677, USA.
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24
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Yoo SW, Agarwal A, Smith MD, Khuder SS, Baxi EG, Thomas AG, Rojas C, Moniruzzaman M, Slusher BS, Bergles DE, Calabresi PA, Haughey NJ. Inhibition of neutral sphingomyelinase 2 promotes remyelination. Sci Adv 2020; 6:6/40/eaba5210. [PMID: 33008902 PMCID: PMC7852391 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aba5210] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/14/2019] [Accepted: 08/20/2020] [Indexed: 05/05/2023]
Abstract
Myelination requires a highly organized synthesis of multiple lipid species that regulate myelin curvature and compaction. For reasons that are not understood, central nervous system remyelinated axons often have thin myelin sheaths with a disorganized structure susceptible to secondary demyelination. We found that expression of the sphingomyelin hydrolase neutral sphingomyelinase 2 (nSMase2) during the differentiation of oligodendrocyte progenitor cells (OPCs) to myelinating oligodendrocytes changes their response to inflammatory cytokines. OPCs do not express nSMase2 and exhibit a protective/regenerative response to tumor necrosis factor-α and interleukin-1β. Oligodendrocytes express nSMase2 and exhibit a stress response to cytokine challenge that includes an overproduction of ceramide, a sphingolipid that forms negative curvatures in membranes. Pharmacological inhibition or genetic deletion of nSMase2 in myelinating oligodendrocytes normalized the ceramide content of remyelinated fibers and increased thickness and compaction. These results suggest that inhibition of nSMase2 could improve the quality of myelin and stabilize structure.
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Affiliation(s)
- Seung-Wan Yoo
- Department of Neurology, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA
| | - Amit Agarwal
- The Solomon H. Snyder Department of Neuroscience, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA
| | - Matthew D Smith
- Department of Neurology, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA
| | - Saja S Khuder
- Department of Neurology, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA
| | - Emily G Baxi
- Department of Neurology, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA
| | - Ajit G Thomas
- The Solomon H. Snyder Department of Neuroscience, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA
| | - Camilo Rojas
- Department of Comparative Medicine and Pathobiology, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA
| | - Mohammed Moniruzzaman
- Department of Neurology, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA
| | - Barbara S Slusher
- Department of Neurology, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA
- The Solomon H. Snyder Department of Neuroscience, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA
- Department of Comparative Medicine and Pathobiology, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA
| | - Dwight E Bergles
- The Solomon H. Snyder Department of Neuroscience, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA
- Johns Hopkins University Kavli Neuroscience Discovery Institute, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA
| | - Peter A Calabresi
- Department of Neurology, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA
- The Solomon H. Snyder Department of Neuroscience, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA
| | - Norman J Haughey
- Department of Neurology, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA.
- Department of Psychiatry, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA
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25
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Sharma A, Liaw K, Sharma R, Thomas AG, Slusher BS, Kannan S, Kannan RM. Targeting Mitochondria in Tumor-Associated Macrophages using a Dendrimer-Conjugated TSPO Ligand that Stimulates Antitumor Signaling in Glioblastoma. Biomacromolecules 2020; 21:3909-3922. [PMID: 32786523 PMCID: PMC8022998 DOI: 10.1021/acs.biomac.0c01033] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
Mitochondria mediate critical cellular processes, including proliferation, apoptosis, and immune responses; as such, their dysfunction is pathogenic in many neurodegenerative disorders and cancers. In glioblastoma, targeted delivery of mitochondria-focused anticancer therapies has failed to translate into clinical success due to the nonspecific cellular localization, heterogeneity of receptor expression across patients, poor transport across biological barriers to reach the brain, tumor, and mitochondria, and systemic side effects. Strategies that can overcome brain and solid tumor barriers and selectively target mitochondria within specific cell types may lead to improvements in glioblastoma treatment. Developments in dendrimer-mediated nanomedicines have shown promise targeting tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) in glioblastoma, following systemic administration. Here, we present a novel dendrimer conjugated to the translocator protein (18 kDa) (TSPO) ligand 5,7-dimethylpyrazolo[1,5-α]pyrimidin-3-ylacetamide (DPA). We developed a clickable DPA for conjugation on the dendrimer surface and demonstrated in vitro that the dendrimer-DPA conjugate (D-DPA) significantly increases dendrimer colocalization with mitochondria. Compared to free TSPO ligand PK11195, D-DPA stimulates greater antitumor immune signaling. In vivo, we show that D-DPA targets mitochondria specifically within TAMs following systemic administration. Our results demonstrate that dendrimers can achieve TAM-specific targeting in glioblastoma and can be further modified to target specific intracellular compartments for organelle-specific drug delivery.
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26
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Duvall B, Zimmermann SC, Gao RD, Thomas AG, Kalčic F, Veeravalli V, Elgogary A, Rais R, Rojas C, Le A, Slusher BS, Tsukamoto T. Allosteric kidney-type glutaminase (GLS) inhibitors with a mercaptoethyl linker. Bioorg Med Chem 2020; 28:115698. [PMID: 33069080 DOI: 10.1016/j.bmc.2020.115698] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [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: 04/24/2020] [Revised: 07/16/2020] [Accepted: 07/30/2020] [Indexed: 01/28/2023]
Abstract
A series of allosteric kidney-type glutaminase (GLS) inhibitors possessing a mercaptoethyl (SCH2CH2) linker were synthesized in an effort to further expand the structural diversity of chemotypes derived from bis-2-(5-phenylacetamido-1,3,4-thiadiazol-2-yl)ethyl sulfide (BPTES), a prototype allosteric inhibitor of GLS. BPTES analog 3a with a mercaptoethyl linker between the two thiadiazole rings was found to potently inhibit GLS with an IC50 value of 50 nM. Interestingly, the corresponding derivative with an n-propyl (CH2CH2CH2) linker showed substantially lower inhibitory potency (IC50 = 2.3 μM) while the derivative with a dimethylsulfide (CH2SCH2) linker showed no inhibitory activity at concentrations up to 100 μM, underscoring the critical role played by the mercaptoethyl linker in the high affinity binding to the allosteric site of GLS. Additional mercaptoethyl-linked compounds were synthesized and tested as GLS inhibitors to further explore SAR within this scaffold including derivatives possessing a pyridazine as a replacement for one of the two thiadiazole moiety.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bridget Duvall
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Sarah C Zimmermann
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA; Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Run-Duo Gao
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Ajit G Thomas
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Filip Kalčic
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Vijayabhaskar Veeravalli
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA; Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Amira Elgogary
- Department of Pathology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Rana Rais
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA; Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Camilo Rojas
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA; Department of Molecular and Comparative Pathobiology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Anne Le
- Department of Pathology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Barbara S Slusher
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA; Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Takashi Tsukamoto
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA; Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA.
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27
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Šála M, Hollinger KR, Thomas AG, Dash RP, Tallon C, Veeravalli V, Lovell L, Kögler M, Hřebabecký H, Procházková E, Nešuta O, Donoghue A, Lam J, Rais R, Rojas C, Slusher BS, Nencka R. Novel Human Neutral Sphingomyelinase 2 Inhibitors as Potential Therapeutics for Alzheimer's Disease. J Med Chem 2020; 63:6028-6056. [PMID: 32298582 PMCID: PMC8025741 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.0c00278] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [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
Neutral sphingomyelinase 2 (nSMase2) catalyzes the cleavage of sphingomyelin to phosphorylcholine and ceramide, an essential step in the formation and release of exosomes from cells that is critical for intracellular communication. Chronic increase of brain nSMase2 activity and related exosome release have been implicated in various pathological processes, including the progression of Alzheimer's disease (AD), making nSMase2 a viable therapeutic target. Recently, we identified phenyl (R)-(1-(3-(3,4-dimethoxyphenyl)-2,6-dimethylimidazo[1,2-b]pyridazin-8-yl)pyrrolidin-3-yl)carbamate 1 (PDDC), the first nSMase2 inhibitor that possesses both favorable pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetic (PK) parameters, including substantial oral bioavailability, brain penetration, and significant inhibition of exosome release from the brain in vivo. Herein we demonstrate the efficacy of 1 (PDDC) in a mouse model of AD and detail extensive structure-activity relationship (SAR) studies with 70 analogues, unveiling several that exert similar or higher activity against nSMase2 with favorable pharmacokinetic properties.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michal Šála
- Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, Czech Academy of Sciences, Flemingovo nám. 2, 166 10 Prague 6, Czech Republic
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | - Martin Kögler
- Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, Czech Academy of Sciences, Flemingovo nám. 2, 166 10 Prague 6, Czech Republic
| | - Hubert Hřebabecký
- Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, Czech Academy of Sciences, Flemingovo nám. 2, 166 10 Prague 6, Czech Republic
| | - Eliška Procházková
- Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, Czech Academy of Sciences, Flemingovo nám. 2, 166 10 Prague 6, Czech Republic
| | - Ondřej Nešuta
- Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, Czech Academy of Sciences, Flemingovo nám. 2, 166 10 Prague 6, Czech Republic
| | | | | | | | | | | | - Radim Nencka
- Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, Czech Academy of Sciences, Flemingovo nám. 2, 166 10 Prague 6, Czech Republic
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28
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Khoury ES, Sharma A, Ramireddy RR, Thomas AG, Alt J, Fowler A, Rais R, Tsukamoto T, Blue ME, Slusher B, Kannan S, Kannan RM. Dendrimer-conjugated glutaminase inhibitor selectively targets microglial glutaminase in a mouse model of Rett syndrome. Am J Cancer Res 2020; 10:5736-5748. [PMID: 32483415 PMCID: PMC7254984 DOI: 10.7150/thno.41714] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/01/2019] [Accepted: 04/14/2020] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Background: Elevated glutamate production and release from glial cells is a common feature of many CNS disorders. Inhibitors of glutaminase (GLS), the enzyme responsible for converting glutamine to glutamate have been developed to target glutamate overproduction. However, many GLS inhibitors have poor aqueous solubility, are unable to cross the blood brain barrier, or demonstrate significant toxicity when given systemically, precluding translation. Enhanced aqueous solubility and systemic therapy targeted to activated glia may address this challenge. Here we examine the impact of microglial-targeted GLS inhibition in a mouse model of Rett syndrome (RTT), a developmental disorder with no viable therapies, manifesting profound central nervous system effects, in which elevated glutamatergic tone, upregulation of microglial GLS, oxidative stress and neuroimmune dysregulation are key features. Methods: To enable this, we conjugated a potent glutaminase inhibitor, N-(5-{2-[2-(5-amino-[1,3,4]thiadiazol-2-yl)-ethylsulfanyl]-ethyl}-[1,3,4]thiadiazol-2-yl)-2-phenyl-acetamide (JHU29) to a generation 4 hydroxyl PAMAM dendrimer (D-JHU29). We then examined the effect of D-JHU29 in organotypic slice culture on glutamate release. We also examined GLS activity in microglial and non-microglial cells, and neurobehavioral phenotype after systemic administration of D-JHU29 in a mouse model of RTT. Results: We report successful conjugation of JHU29 to dendrimer resulting in enhanced water solubility compared to free JHU29. D-JHU29 reduced the excessive glutamate release observed in tissue culture slices in a clinically relevant Mecp2-knockout (KO) RTT mouse. Microglia isolated from Mecp2-KO mice demonstrated upregulation of GLS activity that normalized to wild-type levels following systemic treatment with D-JHU29. Neurobehavioral assessments in D-JHU29 treated Mecp2-KO mice revealed selective improvements in mobility. Conclusion: These findings demonstrate that glutaminase inhibitors conjugated to dendrimers are a viable mechanism to selectively inhibit microglial GLS to reduce glutamate production and improve mobility in a mouse model of RTT, with broader implications for selectively targeting this pathway in other neurodegenerative disorders.
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29
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Udupa S, Nguyen S, Hoang G, Nguyen T, Quinones A, Pham K, Asaka R, Nguyen K, Zhang C, Elgogary A, Jung JG, Xu Q, Fu J, Thomas AG, Tsukamoto T, Hanes J, Slusher BS, Cooper AJL, Le A. Front Cover: Upregulation of the Glutaminase II Pathway Contributes to Glutamate Production upon Glutaminase 1 Inhibition in Pancreatic Cancer. Proteomics 2019. [DOI: 10.1002/pmic.201970191] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
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30
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Soomro I, Sun Y, Li Z, Diggs L, Hatzivassiliou G, Thomas AG, Rais R, Parker SJ, Slusher BS, Kimmelman AC, Somlo S, Skolnik EY. Glutamine metabolism via glutaminase 1 in autosomal-dominant polycystic kidney disease. Nephrol Dial Transplant 2019; 33:1343-1353. [PMID: 29420817 DOI: 10.1093/ndt/gfx349] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/10/2017] [Accepted: 11/29/2017] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Metabolism of glutamine by glutaminase 1 (GLS1) plays a key role in tumor cell proliferation via the generation of ATP and intermediates required for macromolecular synthesis. We hypothesized that glutamine metabolism also plays a role in proliferation of autosomal-dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) cells and that inhibiting GLS1 could slow cyst growth in animal models of ADPKD. Methods Primary normal human kidney and ADPKD human cyst-lining epithelial cells were cultured in the presence or absence of two pharmacologic inhibitors of GLS1, bis-2-(5-phenylacetamido-1,2,4-thiadiazol-2-yl)ethyl sulfide 3 (BPTES) and CB-839, and the effect on proliferation, cyst growth in collagen and activation of downstream signaling pathways were assessed. We then determined if inhibiting GLS1 in vivo with CB-839 in the Aqp2-Cre; Pkd1fl/fl and Pkhd1-Cre; Pkd1fl/fl mouse models of ADPKD slowed cyst growth. Results We found that an isoform of GLS1 (GLS1-GAC) is upregulated in cyst-lining epithelia in human ADPKD kidneys and in mouse models of ADPKD. Both BPTES and CB-839 blocked forskolin-induced cyst formation in vitro. Inhibiting GLS1 in vivo with CB-839 led to variable outcomes in two mouse models of ADPKD. CB-839 slowed cyst growth in Aqp2-Cre; Pkd1fl/fl mice, but not in Pkhd1-Cre; Pkd1fl/fl mice. While CB-839 inhibited mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) and MEK activation in Aqp2-Cre; Pkd1fl/fl, it did not in Pkhd1-Cre; Pkd1fl/fl mice. Conclusion These findings provide support that alteration in glutamine metabolism may play a role in cyst growth. However, testing in other models of PKD and identification of the compensatory metabolic changes that bypass GLS1 inhibition will be critical to validate GLS1 as a drug target either alone or when combined with inhibitors of other metabolic pathways.
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Affiliation(s)
- Irfana Soomro
- Division of Nephrology, New York University Langone Medical Center, New York, NY, USA.,The Helen L. and Martin S. Kimmel Center for Biology and Medicine, New York University Langone Medical Center, New York, NY, USA.,Skirball Institute for Biomolecular Medicine, New York University Langone Medical Center, New York, NY, USA
| | - Ying Sun
- Division of Nephrology, New York University Langone Medical Center, New York, NY, USA.,The Helen L. and Martin S. Kimmel Center for Biology and Medicine, New York University Langone Medical Center, New York, NY, USA
| | - Zhai Li
- Division of Nephrology, New York University Langone Medical Center, New York, NY, USA.,The Helen L. and Martin S. Kimmel Center for Biology and Medicine, New York University Langone Medical Center, New York, NY, USA.,Skirball Institute for Biomolecular Medicine, New York University Langone Medical Center, New York, NY, USA
| | - Lonnette Diggs
- Department of Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA
| | | | - Ajit G Thomas
- Department of Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Rana Rais
- Department of Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.,Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | | | - Barbara S Slusher
- Department of Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.,Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | | | - Stefan Somlo
- Department of Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Edward Y Skolnik
- Division of Nephrology, New York University Langone Medical Center, New York, NY, USA.,The Helen L. and Martin S. Kimmel Center for Biology and Medicine, New York University Langone Medical Center, New York, NY, USA.,Department of Biochemistry, New York University Langone Medical Center, New York, NY, USA.,Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Molecular Pathogenesis, New York University Langone Medical Center, New York, NY, USA
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31
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Prchalová E, Hin N, Thomas AG, Veeravalli V, Ng J, Alt J, Rais R, Rojas C, Li Z, Hihara H, Aoki M, Yoshizawa K, Nishioka T, Suzuki S, Kopajtic T, Chatrath S, Liu Q, Dong X, Slusher BS, Tsukamoto T. Discovery of Benzamidine- and 1-Aminoisoquinoline-Based Human MAS-Related G-Protein-Coupled Receptor X1 (MRGPRX1) Agonists. J Med Chem 2019; 62:8631-8641. [PMID: 31498617 PMCID: PMC10079166 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.9b01003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
Mas-related G-protein-coupled receptor X1 (MRGPRX1) is a human sensory neuron-specific receptor and has been actively investigated as a therapeutic target for the treatment of pain. By use of two HTS screening hit compounds, 4-(4-(benzyloxy)-3-methoxybenzylamino)benzimidamide (5a) and 4-(2-(butylsulfonamido)-4-methylphenoxy)benzimidamide (11a), as molecular templates, a series of human MRGPRX1 agonists were synthesized and evaluated for their agonist activity using HEK293 cells stably transfected with human MrgprX1. Conversion of the benzamidine moiety into a 1-aminoisoquinoline moiety carried out in the later stage of structural optimization led to the discovery of a highly potent MRGPRX1 agonist, N-(2-(1-aminoisoquinolin-6-yloxy)-4-methylphenyl)-2-methoxybenzenesulfonamide (16), not only devoid of positively charged amidinium group but also with superior selectivity over opioid receptors. In mice, compound 16 displayed favorable distribution to the spinal cord, the presumed site of action for the MRGPRX1-mediated analgesic effects.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | - Hiroe Hihara
- Tsukuba Research Laboratories , Eisai Co., Ltd. , Tsukuba , Ibaraki 300-2635 , Japan
| | - Mika Aoki
- Tsukuba Research Laboratories , Eisai Co., Ltd. , Tsukuba , Ibaraki 300-2635 , Japan
| | - Kyoko Yoshizawa
- Tsukuba Research Laboratories , Eisai Co., Ltd. , Tsukuba , Ibaraki 300-2635 , Japan
| | - Tomoki Nishioka
- Tsukuba Research Laboratories , Eisai Co., Ltd. , Tsukuba , Ibaraki 300-2635 , Japan
| | - Shuichi Suzuki
- Tsukuba Research Laboratories , Eisai Co., Ltd. , Tsukuba , Ibaraki 300-2635 , Japan
| | - Theresa Kopajtic
- Biobehavioral Imaging and Molecular Neuropsychopharmacology Unit , National Institute on Drug Abuse-Intramural Research Program, National Institutes of Health , Baltimore , Maryland 21224 , United States
| | - Sheena Chatrath
- Department of Anesthesiology and Center for the Study of Itch , Washington University School of Medicine , St. Louis , Missouri 63110 , United States
| | - Qin Liu
- Department of Anesthesiology and Center for the Study of Itch , Washington University School of Medicine , St. Louis , Missouri 63110 , United States
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32
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Rojas C, Sala M, Thomas AG, Datta Chaudhuri A, Yoo SW, Li Z, Dash RP, Rais R, Haughey NJ, Nencka R, Slusher B. A novel and potent brain penetrant inhibitor of extracellular vesicle release. Br J Pharmacol 2019; 176:3857-3870. [PMID: 31273753 DOI: 10.1111/bph.14789] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/16/2018] [Revised: 06/12/2019] [Accepted: 06/13/2019] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are constitutively shed from cells and released by various stimuli. Their protein and RNA cargo are modified by the stimulus, and in disease conditions can carry pathological cargo involved in disease progression. Neutral sphingomyelinase 2 (nSMase2) is a major regulator in at least one of several independent routes of EV biogenesis, and its inhibition is a promising new therapeutic approach for neurological disorders. Unfortunately, known inhibitors exhibit μM potency, poor physicochemical properties, and/or limited brain penetration. Here, we sought to identify a drug-like inhibitor of nSMase2. EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH We conducted a human nSMase2 high throughput screen (>365,000 compounds). Selected hits were optimized focusing on potency, selectivity, metabolic stability, pharmacokinetics, and ability to inhibit EV release in vitro and in vivo. KEY RESULTS We identified phenyl(R)-(1-(3-(3,4-dimethoxyphenyl)-2,6-dimethylimidazo[1,2-b]pyridazin-8-yl)pyrrolidin-3-yl)-carbamate (PDDC), a potent (pIC50 = 6.57) and selective non-competitive inhibitor of nSMase2. PDDC was metabolically stable, with excellent oral bioavailability (%F = 88) and brain penetration (AUCbrain /AUCplasma = 0.60). PDDC dose-dependently (pEC50 = 5.5) inhibited release of astrocyte-derived extracellular vesicles (ADEV). In an in vivo inflammatory brain injury model, PDDC robustly inhibited ADEV release and the associated peripheral immunological response. A closely related inactive PDDC analogue was ineffective. CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS PDDC is a structurally novel, potent, orally available, and brain penetrant inhibitor of nSMase2. PDDC inhibited release of ADEVs in tissue culture and in vivo. PDDC is actively being tested in animal models of neurological disease and, along with closely related analogues, is being considered for clinical translation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Camilo Rojas
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland.,Department of Molecular and Comparative Pathobiology, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland
| | - Michal Sala
- Chem Research Group, Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Ajit G Thomas
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland
| | | | - Seung-Wan Yoo
- Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland
| | - Zhigang Li
- Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland
| | - Ranjeet P Dash
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland
| | - Rana Rais
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland.,Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland
| | - Norman J Haughey
- Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland
| | - Radim Nencka
- Chem Research Group, Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Barbara Slusher
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland.,Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland.,Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland.,Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland.,Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland.,Department of Oncology, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland
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33
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Udupa S, Nguyen S, Hoang G, Nguyen T, Quinones A, Pham K, Asaka R, Nguyen K, Zhang C, Elgogary A, Jung JG, Xu Q, Fu J, Thomas AG, Tsukamoto T, Hanes J, Slusher BS, Cooper AJL, Le A. Upregulation of the Glutaminase II Pathway Contributes to Glutamate Production upon Glutaminase 1 Inhibition in Pancreatic Cancer. Proteomics 2019; 19:e1800451. [PMID: 31231915 PMCID: PMC6851409 DOI: 10.1002/pmic.201800451] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [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: 04/03/2019] [Revised: 06/07/2019] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
The targeting of glutamine metabolism specifically via pharmacological inhibition of glutaminase 1 (GLS1) has been translated into clinical trials as a novel therapy for several cancers. The results, though encouraging, show room for improvement in terms of tumor reduction. In this study, the glutaminase II pathway is found to be upregulated for glutamate production upon GLS1 inhibition in pancreatic tumors. Moreover, genetic suppression of glutamine transaminase K (GTK), a key enzyme of the glutaminase II pathway, leads to the complete inhibition of pancreatic tumorigenesis in vivo unveiling GTK as a new metabolic target for cancer therapy. These results suggest that current trials using GLS1 inhibition as a therapeutic approach targeting glutamine metabolism in cancer should take into account the upregulation of other metabolic pathways that can lead to glutamate production; one such pathway is the glutaminase II pathway via GTK.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sunag Udupa
- Department of Pathology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA.,Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Johns Hopkins University Whiting School of Engineering, Baltimore, MD, 21218, USA
| | - Stephanie Nguyen
- Department of Pathology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA
| | - Giang Hoang
- Department of Pathology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA
| | - Tu Nguyen
- Department of Pathology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA
| | - Addison Quinones
- Department of Pathology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA
| | - Khoa Pham
- Department of Pathology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA
| | - Ryoichi Asaka
- Department of Pathology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA
| | - Kiet Nguyen
- Department of Pathology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA
| | - Cissy Zhang
- Department of Pathology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA
| | - Amira Elgogary
- Department of Pathology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA
| | - Jin G Jung
- Department of Pathology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA
| | - Qingguo Xu
- Department of Ophthalmology and Wilmer Eye Institute Center for Nanomedicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA.,Department of Pharmaceutics, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, 23298, USA
| | - Jie Fu
- Department of Ophthalmology and Wilmer Eye Institute Center for Nanomedicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA
| | - Ajit G Thomas
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA
| | - Takashi Tsukamoto
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA.,Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA
| | - Justin Hanes
- Department of Ophthalmology and Wilmer Eye Institute Center for Nanomedicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA.,Department of Oncology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA.,Department of Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA.,Department of Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA.,Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Johns Hopkins University Whiting School of Engineering, Baltimore, MD, 21218, USA
| | - Barbara S Slusher
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA.,Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA.,Department of Oncology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA.,Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA.,Department of Psychiatry, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA
| | - Arthur J L Cooper
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, New York Medical College, Valhalla, NY, 10595, USA
| | - Anne Le
- Department of Pathology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA.,Department of Oncology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA
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34
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Nedelcovych MT, Kim BH, Zhu X, Lovell LE, Manning AA, Kelschenbach J, Hadas E, Chao W, Prchalová E, Dash RP, Wu Y, Alt J, Thomas AG, Rais R, Kamiya A, Volsky DJ, Slusher BS. Glutamine Antagonist JHU083 Normalizes Aberrant Glutamate Production and Cognitive Deficits in the EcoHIV Murine Model of HIV-Associated Neurocognitive Disorders. J Neuroimmune Pharmacol 2019; 14:391-400. [PMID: 31209775 DOI: 10.1007/s11481-019-09859-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [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: 02/27/2019] [Accepted: 05/28/2019] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders (HAND) have been linked to dysregulation of glutamate metabolism in the central nervous system (CNS) culminating in elevated extracellular glutamate and disrupted glutamatergic neurotransmission. Increased glutamate synthesis via upregulation of glutaminase (GLS) activity in brain immune cells has been identified as one potential source of excess glutamate in HAND. However, direct evidence for this hypothesis in an animal model is lacking, and the viability of GLS as a drug target has not been explored. In this brief report, we demonstrate that GLS inhibition with the glutamine analogue 6-diazo-5-oxo-L-norleucine (DON) can reverse cognitive impairment in the EcoHIV-infected mouse model of HAND. However, due to peripheral toxicity DON is not amenable to clinical use in a chronic disease such as HAND. We thus tested JHU083, a novel, brain penetrant DON prodrug predicted to exhibit improved tolerability. Systemic administration of JHU083 reversed cognitive impairment in EcoHIV-infected mice similarly to DON, and simultaneously normalized EcoHIV-induced increases in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) glutamate and GLS activity in microglia-enriched brain CD11b + cells without observed toxicity. These studies support the mechanistic involvement of elevated microglial GLS activity in HAND pathogenesis, and identify JHU083 as a potential treatment option. Graphical Abstract Please provide Graphical Abstract caption.Glutamine Antagonist JHU083 Normalizes Aberrant Glutamate Production and Cognitive Deficits in the EcoHIV Murine Model of HIV-Associated Neurocognitive Disorders .
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael T Nedelcovych
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, 855 North Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA.,Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.,Department of Oncology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Boe-Hyun Kim
- Department of Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Annenberg Building Floor 21, Room 42, 1468 Madison Ave, New York, NY, 10029, USA
| | - Xiaolei Zhu
- Department of Oncology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.,Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Lyndah E Lovell
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, 855 North Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA.,Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.,Department of Oncology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Arena A Manning
- Department of Oncology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.,Graduate Program in Neuroscience, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Jennifer Kelschenbach
- Department of Oncology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.,Department of Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Annenberg Building Floor 21, Room 42, 1468 Madison Ave, New York, NY, 10029, USA
| | - Eran Hadas
- Department of Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Annenberg Building Floor 21, Room 42, 1468 Madison Ave, New York, NY, 10029, USA
| | - Wei Chao
- Department of Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Annenberg Building Floor 21, Room 42, 1468 Madison Ave, New York, NY, 10029, USA
| | - Eva Prchalová
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, 855 North Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA.,Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.,Department of Oncology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Ranjeet P Dash
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, 855 North Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA.,Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.,Department of Oncology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Ying Wu
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, 855 North Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA.,Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.,Department of Oncology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Jesse Alt
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, 855 North Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA.,Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.,Department of Oncology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Ajit G Thomas
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, 855 North Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA.,Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.,Department of Oncology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Rana Rais
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, 855 North Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA.,Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.,Department of Oncology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Atsushi Kamiya
- Department of Oncology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.,Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - David J Volsky
- Department of Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Annenberg Building Floor 21, Room 42, 1468 Madison Ave, New York, NY, 10029, USA.
| | - Barbara S Slusher
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, 855 North Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA. .,Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA. .,Department of Oncology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA. .,Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA. .,Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA. .,Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.
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35
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Soomro I, Sun Y, Li Z, Diggs L, Hatzivassiliou G, Thomas AG, Rais R, Parker SJ, Slusher BS, Kimmelman AC, Somlo S, Skolnik EY. Glutamine metabolism via glutaminase 1 in autosomal-dominant polycystic kidney disease. Nephrol Dial Transplant 2019; 35:1824. [PMID: 31329939 DOI: 10.1093/ndt/gfz109] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
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36
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Stepanek O, Hin N, Thomas AG, Dash R, Alt J, Rais R, Rojas C, Slusher BS, Tsukamoto T. Neutral sphingomyelinase 2 inhibitors based on the 4-(1H-imidazol-2-yl)-2,6-dialkoxyphenol scaffold. Eur J Med Chem 2019; 170:276-289. [PMID: 30921693 PMCID: PMC9850959 DOI: 10.1016/j.ejmech.2019.03.015] [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] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/04/2019] [Revised: 03/05/2019] [Accepted: 03/06/2019] [Indexed: 01/21/2023]
Abstract
Neutral sphingomyelinase 2 (nSMase2), a key enzyme in ceramide biosynthesis, is a new therapeutic target for the treatment of neurological disorders and cancer. Using 2,6-dimethoxy-4-[4-phenyl-5-(2-thienyl)-1H-imidazol-2-yl]phenol (DPTIP), our initial hit compound (IC50 = 30 nM) from nSMase2 screening efforts, as a molecular template, a series of 4-(1H-imidazol-2-yl)-2,6-dialkoxyphenol derivatives were designed, synthesized, and evaluated. Systematic examination of various regions of DPTIP identified the key pharmacophore required for potent nSMase2 inhibition as well as a number of compounds with the 4-(1H-imidazol-2-yl)-2,6-dialkoxyphenol scaffold with similar or higher inhibitory potency against nSMase2 as compared to DPTIP. Among them, 4-(4,5-diisopropyl-1H-imidazol-2-yl)-2,6-dimethoxyphenol (25b) was found to be metabolically stable against P450 metabolism in liver microsomes and displayed higher plasma exposure following oral administration as compared to DPTIP. Analysis of plasma samples identified an O-glucuronide as the major metabolite. Blockade of the phase II metabolism should further facilitate our efforts to identify potent nSMase2 inhibitors with desirable ADME properties.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ondrej Stepanek
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Niyada Hin
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Ajit G. Thomas
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Ranjeet Dash
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA,Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Jesse Alt
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Rana Rais
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA,Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Camilo Rojas
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA,Department of Molecular and Comparative Pathobiology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Barbara S. Slusher
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA,Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Takashi Tsukamoto
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA,Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA,Address correspondence to: Tel: +1-410-614-0982;
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37
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Zhu X, Nedelcovych MT, Thomas AG, Hasegawa Y, Moreno-Megui A, Coomer W, Vohra V, Saito A, Perez G, Wu Y, Alt J, Prchalova E, Tenora L, Majer P, Rais R, Rojas C, Slusher BS, Kamiya A. Correction: JHU-083 selectively blocks glutaminase activity in brain CD11b + cells and prevents depression-associated behaviors induced by chronic social defeat stress. Neuropsychopharmacology 2019; 44:1178. [PMID: 30862949 PMCID: PMC6461747 DOI: 10.1038/s41386-019-0354-3] [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] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/07/2019] [Accepted: 02/19/2019] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
During this process, we found that we need add the following sentence in the manuscript within the Acknowledgement section.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaolei Zhu
- 0000 0001 2171 9311grid.21107.35Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD USA
| | - Michael T. Nedelcovych
- 0000 0001 2171 9311grid.21107.35Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD USA ,0000 0001 2171 9311grid.21107.35Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD USA
| | - Ajit G. Thomas
- 0000 0001 2171 9311grid.21107.35Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD USA
| | - Yuto Hasegawa
- 0000 0001 2171 9311grid.21107.35Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD USA
| | - Aisa Moreno-Megui
- 0000 0001 2171 9311grid.21107.35Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD USA
| | - Wade Coomer
- 0000 0001 2171 9311grid.21107.35Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD USA
| | - Varun Vohra
- 0000 0001 2171 9311grid.21107.35Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD USA
| | - Atsushi Saito
- 0000 0001 2171 9311grid.21107.35Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD USA
| | - Gabriel Perez
- 0000 0001 2171 9311grid.21107.35Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD USA
| | - Ying Wu
- 0000 0001 2171 9311grid.21107.35Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD USA
| | - Jesse Alt
- 0000 0001 2171 9311grid.21107.35Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD USA
| | - Eva Prchalova
- 0000 0001 2171 9311grid.21107.35Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD USA ,0000 0001 2171 9311grid.21107.35Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD USA
| | - Lukáš Tenora
- 0000 0001 1015 3316grid.418095.1Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic v.v.i., Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Pavel Majer
- 0000 0001 1015 3316grid.418095.1Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic v.v.i., Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Rana Rais
- 0000 0001 2171 9311grid.21107.35Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD USA ,0000 0001 2171 9311grid.21107.35Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD USA
| | - Camilo Rojas
- 0000 0001 2171 9311grid.21107.35Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD USA ,0000 0001 2171 9311grid.21107.35Department of Molecular and Comparative Pathobiology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD USA
| | - Barbara S. Slusher
- 0000 0001 2171 9311grid.21107.35Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD USA ,0000 0001 2171 9311grid.21107.35Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD USA ,0000 0001 2171 9311grid.21107.35Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD USA ,0000 0001 2171 9311grid.21107.35Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD USA ,0000 0001 2171 9311grid.21107.35Department of Oncology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD USA ,0000 0001 2171 9311grid.21107.35Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD USA
| | - Atsushi Kamiya
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.
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Zhu X, Nedelcovych MT, Thomas AG, Hasegawa Y, Moreno-Megui A, Coomer W, Vohra V, Saito A, Perez G, Wu Y, Alt J, Prchalova E, Tenora L, Majer P, Rais R, Rojas C, Slusher BS, Kamiya A. JHU-083 selectively blocks glutaminase activity in brain CD11b + cells and prevents depression-associated behaviors induced by chronic social defeat stress. Neuropsychopharmacology 2019; 44:683-694. [PMID: 30127344 PMCID: PMC6372721 DOI: 10.1038/s41386-018-0177-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/02/2017] [Revised: 07/25/2018] [Accepted: 07/29/2018] [Indexed: 02/08/2023]
Abstract
There are a number of clinically effective treatments for stress-associated psychiatric diseases, including major depressive disorder (MDD). Nonetheless, many patients exhibit resistance to first-line interventions calling for novel interventions based on pathological mechanisms. Accumulating evidence implicates altered glutamate signaling in MDD pathophysiology, suggesting that modulation of glutamate signaling cascades may offer novel therapeutic potential. Here we report that JHU-083, our recently developed prodrug of the glutaminase inhibitor 6-diazo-5-oxo-L-norleucine (DON) ameliorates social avoidance and anhedonia-like behaviors in mice subjected to chronic social defeat stress (CSDS). JHU-083 normalized CSDS-induced increases in glutaminase activity specifically in microglia-enriched CD11b+ cells isolated from the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus. JHU-083 treatment also reverses the CSDS-induced inflammatory activation of CD11b+ cells. These results support the importance of altered glutamate signaling in the behavioral abnormalities observed in the CSDS model, and identify glutaminase in microglia-enriched CD11b+ cells as a pharmacotherapeutic target implicated in the pathophysiology of stress-associated psychiatric conditions such as MDD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaolei Zhu
- 0000 0001 2171 9311grid.21107.35Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD USA
| | - Michael T. Nedelcovych
- 0000 0001 2171 9311grid.21107.35Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD USA ,0000 0001 2171 9311grid.21107.35Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD USA
| | - Ajit G. Thomas
- 0000 0001 2171 9311grid.21107.35Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD USA
| | - Yuto Hasegawa
- 0000 0001 2171 9311grid.21107.35Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD USA
| | - Aisa Moreno-Megui
- 0000 0001 2171 9311grid.21107.35Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD USA
| | - Wade Coomer
- 0000 0001 2171 9311grid.21107.35Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD USA
| | - Varun Vohra
- 0000 0001 2171 9311grid.21107.35Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD USA
| | - Atsushi Saito
- 0000 0001 2171 9311grid.21107.35Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD USA
| | - Gabriel Perez
- 0000 0001 2171 9311grid.21107.35Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD USA
| | - Ying Wu
- 0000 0001 2171 9311grid.21107.35Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD USA
| | - Jesse Alt
- 0000 0001 2171 9311grid.21107.35Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD USA
| | - Eva Prchalova
- 0000 0001 2171 9311grid.21107.35Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD USA ,0000 0001 2171 9311grid.21107.35Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD USA
| | - Lukáš Tenora
- 0000 0001 1015 3316grid.418095.1Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic v.v.i., Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Pavel Majer
- 0000 0001 1015 3316grid.418095.1Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic v.v.i., Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Rana Rais
- 0000 0001 2171 9311grid.21107.35Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD USA ,0000 0001 2171 9311grid.21107.35Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD USA
| | - Camilo Rojas
- 0000 0001 2171 9311grid.21107.35Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD USA ,0000 0001 2171 9311grid.21107.35Department of Molecular and Comparative Pathobiology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD USA
| | - Barbara S. Slusher
- 0000 0001 2171 9311grid.21107.35Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD USA ,0000 0001 2171 9311grid.21107.35Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD USA ,0000 0001 2171 9311grid.21107.35Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD USA ,0000 0001 2171 9311grid.21107.35Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD USA ,0000 0001 2171 9311grid.21107.35Department of Oncology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD USA ,0000 0001 2171 9311grid.21107.35Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD USA
| | - Atsushi Kamiya
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.
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Kato Y, Hin N, Maita N, Thomas AG, Kurosawa S, Rojas C, Yorita K, Slusher BS, Fukui K, Tsukamoto T. Structural basis for potent inhibition of d-amino acid oxidase by thiophene carboxylic acids. Eur J Med Chem 2018; 159:23-34. [PMID: 30265959 PMCID: PMC6193832 DOI: 10.1016/j.ejmech.2018.09.040] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [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: 04/27/2018] [Revised: 07/10/2018] [Accepted: 09/14/2018] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
A series of thiophene-2-carboxylic acids and thiophene-3-carboxylic acids were identified as a new class of DAO inhibitors. Structure-activity relationship (SAR) studies revealed that small substituents are well-tolerated on the thiophene ring of both the 2-carboxylic acid and 3-carboxylic acid scaffolds. Crystal structures of human DAO in complex with potent thiophene carboxylic acids revealed that Tyr224 was tightly stacked with the thiophene ring of the inhibitors, resulting in the disappearance of the secondary pocket observed with other DAO inhibitors. Molecular dynamics simulations of the complex revealed that Tyr224 preferred the stacked conformation irrespective of whether Tyr224 was stacked or not in the initial state of the simulations. MM/GBSA indicated a substantial hydrophobic interaction between Tyr244 and the thiophene-based inhibitor. In addition, the active site was tightly closed with an extensive network of hydrogen bonds including those from Tyr224 in the stacked conformation. The introduction of a large branched side chain to the thiophene ring markedly decreased potency. These results are in marked contrast to other DAO inhibitors that can gain potency with a branched side chain extending to the secondary pocket due to Tyr224 repositioning. These insights should be of particular importance in future efforts to optimize DAO inhibitors with novel scaffolds.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yusuke Kato
- Institute for Enzyme Research, Tokushima University, Tokushima, 770-8503, Japan
| | - Niyada Hin
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA
| | - Nobuo Maita
- Institute for Enzyme Research, Tokushima University, Tokushima, 770-8503, Japan
| | - Ajit G Thomas
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA
| | - Sumire Kurosawa
- Institute for Enzyme Research, Tokushima University, Tokushima, 770-8503, Japan
| | - Camilo Rojas
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA
| | - Kazuko Yorita
- Institute for Enzyme Research, Tokushima University, Tokushima, 770-8503, Japan
| | - Barbara S Slusher
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA; Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA
| | - Kiyoshi Fukui
- Institute for Enzyme Research, Tokushima University, Tokushima, 770-8503, Japan.
| | - Takashi Tsukamoto
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA; Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA
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Abstract
Water-induced reordering in ultrathin ionic liquid films has been observed using in situ x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. An ultrathin layer of 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate ([C4C1Im][BF4]) was deposited on a rutile TiO2 (1 1 0) single crystal and exposed to water vapour at a relative humidity of ~70% in an in situ cell. Water was found to adsorb onto the ionic liquid surface, causing a reordering of the ions at the interface. Water initially remained trapped on the ionic liquid surface as the in situ cell was evacuated. This could have negative implications for supported ionic liquid phase catalysis, where reactants and products move in and out of an ionic liquid containing the catalyst. This insight into the behaviour at the water/ionic liquid interface provides a basis for understanding interfacial behaviour in more complex gas/ionic liquid systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Z Henderson
- Jeremiah Horrocks Institute for Mathematics, Physics and Astronomy, University of Central Lancashire, Preston, PR1 2HE, United Kingdom
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Nedelcovych MT, Gadiano AJ, Wu Y, Manning AA, Thomas AG, Khuder SS, Yoo SW, Xu J, McArthur JC, Haughey NJ, Volsky DJ, Rais R, Slusher BS. Pharmacokinetics of Intranasal versus Subcutaneous Insulin in the Mouse. ACS Chem Neurosci 2018; 9:809-816. [PMID: 29257872 PMCID: PMC5906198 DOI: 10.1021/acschemneuro.7b00434] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [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] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Insulin delivery to the brain has emerged as an important therapeutic target for cognitive disorders associated with abnormal brain energy metabolism. Although insulin is transported across the blood-brain barrier, peripheral routes of administration are problematic due to systemic effects of insulin on blood glucose. Intranasal (IN) administration is being investigated as an alternative route. We conducted a head-to-head comparison of subcutaneous (SC) and IN insulin, assessing plasma and brain pharmacokinetics and blood glucose levels in the mouse. SC insulin (2.4 IU) achieved therapeutically relevant concentrations in the brain (AUCbrain = 2537 h·μIU/mL) but dramatically increased plasma insulin (AUCplasma = 520 351 h·*μIU/mL), resulting in severe hypoglycemia and in some cases death. IN administration of the same dose resulted in similar insulin levels in the brain (AUCbrain = 3442 h·μIU/mL) but substantially lower plasma concentrations (AUCplasma = 354 h·μIU/mL), amounting to a ∼ 2000-fold increase in the AUCbrain:plasma ratio relative to SC. IN dosing also had no significant effect on blood glucose. When administered daily for 9 days, IN insulin increased brain glucose and energy metabolite concentrations (e.g., adenosine triphosphate and phosphocreatine) without causing overt toxicity, suggesting that IN insulin may be a safe therapeutic option for cognitively impaired patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael T. Nedelcovych
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, United States
- Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, United States
| | - Alexandra J. Gadiano
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, United States
| | - Ying Wu
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, United States
| | - Arena A. Manning
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, United States
- Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, United States
| | - Ajit G. Thomas
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, United States
| | - Saja S. Khuder
- Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, United States
- Department of Neuroimmunology, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, United States
| | - Seung-Wan Yoo
- Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, United States
| | - Jiadi Xu
- Department of Radiology and Radiological Science, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, United States
| | - Justin C. McArthur
- Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, United States
| | - Norman J. Haughey
- Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, United States
- Department of Psychiatry, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, United States
| | - David J. Volsky
- Department of Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York 10029, United States
| | - Rana Rais
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, United States
- Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, United States
| | - Barbara S. Slusher
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, United States
- Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, United States
- Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, United States
- Department of Oncology, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, United States
- Department of Psychiatry, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, United States
- Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, United States
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Henderson ML, Thomas AG, Shaffer A, Massie AB, Luo X, Holscher CM, Purnell TS, Lentine KL, Segev DL. The National Landscape of Living Kidney Donor Follow-Up in the United States. Am J Transplant 2017; 17:3131-3140. [PMID: 28510355 PMCID: PMC5690895 DOI: 10.1111/ajt.14356] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [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: 10/19/2016] [Revised: 04/28/2017] [Accepted: 05/04/2017] [Indexed: 01/25/2023]
Abstract
In 2013, the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN)/ United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) mandated that transplant centers collect data on living kidney donors (LKDs) at 6 months, 1 year, and 2 years postdonation, with policy-defined thresholds for the proportion of complete living donor follow-up (LDF) data submitted in a timely manner (60 days before or after the expected visit date). While mandated, it was unclear how centers across the country would perform in meeting thresholds, given potential donor and center-level challenges of LDF. To better understand the impact of this policy, we studied Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients data for 31,615 LKDs between January 2010 and June 2015, comparing proportions of complete and timely LDF form submissions before and after policy implementation. We also used multilevel logistic regression to assess donor- and center-level characteristics associated with complete and timely LDF submissions. Complete and timely 2-year LDF increased from 33% prepolicy (January 2010 through January 2013) to 54% postpolicy (February 2013 through June 2015) (p < 0.001). In an adjusted model, the odds of 2-year LDF increased by 22% per year prepolicy (p < 0.001) and 23% per year postpolicy (p < 0.001). Despite these annual increases in LDF, only 43% (87/202) of centers met the OPTN/UNOS-required 6-month, 1-year, and 2-year LDF thresholds for LKDs who donated in 2013. These findings motivate further evaluation of LDF barriers and the optimal approaches to capturing outcomes after living donation.
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Affiliation(s)
- M L Henderson
- Department of Surgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD
| | - A G Thomas
- Department of Surgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD
| | - A Shaffer
- Department of Surgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD
- Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD
| | - A B Massie
- Department of Surgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD
- Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD
| | - X Luo
- Department of Surgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD
| | - C M Holscher
- Department of Surgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD
| | - T S Purnell
- Department of Surgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD
- Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD
| | - K L Lentine
- Center for Abdominal Transplantation, Saint Louis University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO
| | - D L Segev
- Department of Surgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD
- Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD
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Date AA, Rais R, Babu T, Ortiz J, Kanvinde P, Thomas AG, Zimmermann SC, Gadiano AJ, Halpert G, Slusher BS, Ensign LM. Local enema treatment to inhibit FOLH1/GCPII as a novel therapy for inflammatory bowel disease. J Control Release 2017; 263:132-138. [PMID: 28159515 PMCID: PMC5661937 DOI: 10.1016/j.jconrel.2017.01.036] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [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: 11/24/2016] [Revised: 01/17/2017] [Accepted: 01/27/2017] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
Here we evaluate the potential for local administration of a small molecule FOLH1/GCPII inhibitor 2-phosphonomethyl pentanedioic acid (2-PMPA) as a novel treatment for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). We found that FOLH1/GCPII enzyme activity was increased in the colorectal tissues of mice with TNBS-induced colitis, and confirmed that 2-PMPA inhibited FOLH1/GCPII enzyme activity ex vivo. In order to maximize local enema delivery of 2-PMPA, we studied the effect of vehicle tonicity on the absorption of 2-PMPA in the colon. Local administration of 2-PMPA in a hypotonic enema vehicle resulted in increased colorectal tissue absorption at 30min compared to 2-PMPA administered in an isotonic enema vehicle. Furthermore, local delivery of 2-PMPA in hypotonic enema vehicle resulted in prolonged drug concentrations for at least 24h with minimal systemic exposure. Finally, daily treatment with the hypotonic 2-PMPA enema ameliorated macroscopic and microscopic symptoms of IBD in the TNBS-induced colitis mouse model, indicating the potential of FOLH1/GCPII inhibitors for the local treatment of IBD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Abhijit A Date
- The Center for Nanomedicine, The Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 400 N Broadway, Baltimore, MD 21231, USA; Department of Ophthalmology, The Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 400 N. Broadway, Baltimore, MD 21231, USA
| | - Rana Rais
- Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA; Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Taarika Babu
- The Center for Nanomedicine, The Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 400 N Broadway, Baltimore, MD 21231, USA; Department of Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Jairo Ortiz
- The Center for Nanomedicine, The Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 400 N Broadway, Baltimore, MD 21231, USA
| | - Pranjali Kanvinde
- The Center for Nanomedicine, The Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 400 N Broadway, Baltimore, MD 21231, USA
| | - Ajit G Thomas
- Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Sarah C Zimmermann
- Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Alexandra J Gadiano
- Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Gilad Halpert
- The Center for Nanomedicine, The Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 400 N Broadway, Baltimore, MD 21231, USA; Department of Ophthalmology, The Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 400 N. Broadway, Baltimore, MD 21231, USA
| | - Barbara S Slusher
- Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA; Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA; Departments of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Medicine, and Oncology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA.
| | - Laura M Ensign
- The Center for Nanomedicine, The Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 400 N Broadway, Baltimore, MD 21231, USA; Department of Ophthalmology, The Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 400 N. Broadway, Baltimore, MD 21231, USA; Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, 3400 N. Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA.
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Nedelcovych M, Dash RP, Tenora L, Zimmermann SC, Gadiano AJ, Garrett C, Alt J, Hollinger KR, Pommier E, Jančařík A, Rojas C, Thomas AG, Wu Y, Wozniak K, Majer P, Slusher BS, Rais R. Enhanced Brain Delivery of 2-(Phosphonomethyl)pentanedioic Acid Following Intranasal Administration of Its γ-Substituted Ester Prodrugs. Mol Pharm 2017; 14:3248-3257. [PMID: 28763226 DOI: 10.1021/acs.molpharmaceut.7b00231] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
2-(Phosphonomethyl)pentanedioic acid (2-PMPA) is a potent and selective inhibitor of glutamate carboxypeptidase-II (GCPII) with efficacy in multiple neurological and psychiatric disease models, but its clinical utility is hampered by low brain penetration due to the inclusion of multiple acidic functionalities. We recently reported an improvement in the brain-to-plasma ratio of 2-PMPA after intranasal (IN) dosing in both rodents and primates. Herein, we describe the synthesis of several 2-PMPA prodrugs with further improved brain delivery of 2-PMPA after IN administration by masking of the γ-carboxylate. When compared to IN 2-PMPA in rats at 1 h post dose, γ-(4-acetoxybenzyl)-2-PMPA (compound 1) resulted in significantly higher 2-PMPA delivery to both plasma (4.1-fold) and brain (11-fold). Subsequent time-dependent evaluation of 1 also showed high brain as well as plasma 2-PMPA exposures with brain-to-plasma ratios of 2.2, 0.48, and 0.26 for olfactory bulb, cortex, and cerebellum, respectively, as well as an improved sciatic nerve to plasma ratio of 0.84. In contrast, IV administration of compound 1 resulted in similar plasma exposure of 2-PMPA versus the IN route (AUCIV: 76 ± 9 h·nmol/mL versus AUCIN: 99 ± 24 h·nmol/mL); but significantly lower nerve and brain tissue exposures with tissue-to-plasma ratios of 0.21, 0.03, 0.04, and 0.04 in nerve, olfactory bulb, cortex, and cerebellum, respectively. In primates, IN administration of 1 more than doubled 2-PMPA concentrations in the cerebrospinal fluid relative to previously reported levels following IN 2-PMPA. The results of these experiments provide a promising strategy for testing GCPII inhibition in neurological and psychiatric disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Lukáš Tenora
- Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic v.v.i. , Prague, Czech Republic
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | - Andrej Jančařík
- Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic v.v.i. , Prague, Czech Republic
| | | | | | | | | | - Pavel Majer
- Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic v.v.i. , Prague, Czech Republic
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Patel N, Horsfield MA, Banahan C, Thomas AG, Nath M, Nath J, Ambrosi PB, Chung EML. Detection of Focal Longitudinal Changes in the Brain by Subtraction of MR Images. AJNR Am J Neuroradiol 2017; 38:923-927. [PMID: 28364006 DOI: 10.3174/ajnr.a5165] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/11/2015] [Accepted: 12/14/2016] [Indexed: 01/19/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE The detection of new subtle brain pathology on MR imaging is a time-consuming and error-prone task for the radiologist. This article introduces and evaluates an image-registration and subtraction method for highlighting small changes in the brain with a view to minimizing the risk of missed pathology and reducing fatigue. MATERIALS AND METHODS We present a fully automated algorithm for highlighting subtle changes between multiple serially acquired brain MR images with a novel approach to registration and MR imaging bias field correction. The method was evaluated for the detection of new lesions in 77 patients undergoing cardiac surgery, by using pairs of fluid-attenuated inversion recovery MR images acquired 1-2 weeks before the operation and 6-8 weeks postoperatively. Three radiologists reviewed the images. RESULTS On the basis of qualitative comparison of pre- and postsurgery FLAIR images, radiologists identified 37 new ischemic lesions in 22 patients. When these images were accompanied by a subtraction image, 46 new ischemic lesions were identified in 26 patients. After we accounted for interpatient and interradiologist variability using a multilevel statistical model, the likelihood of detecting a lesion was 2.59 (95% CI, 1.18-5.67) times greater when aided by the subtraction algorithm (P = .017). Radiologists also reviewed the images significantly faster (P < .001) by using the subtraction image (mean, 42 seconds; 95% CI, 29-60 seconds) than through qualitative assessment alone (mean, 66 seconds; 95% CI, 46-96 seconds). CONCLUSIONS Use of this new subtraction algorithm would result in considerable savings in the time required to review images and in improved sensitivity to subtle focal pathology.
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Affiliation(s)
- N Patel
- From the Department of Cardiovascular Sciences (N.P., M.A.H., M.N., J.N., E.M.L.C.), University of Leicester, Leicester Royal Infirmary, Leicester, UK.,Leicester National Institute of Health Research Cardiovascular Biomedical Research Unit (N.P., E.M.L.C.), Glenfield Hospital, Leicester, UK
| | - M A Horsfield
- From the Department of Cardiovascular Sciences (N.P., M.A.H., M.N., J.N., E.M.L.C.), University of Leicester, Leicester Royal Infirmary, Leicester, UK
| | - C Banahan
- Medical Physics (C.B., E.M.L.C.), University Hospitals of Leicester National Health Service Trust, Leicester, UK
| | - A G Thomas
- Departments of Radiology (A.G.T., P.B.A.)
| | - M Nath
- From the Department of Cardiovascular Sciences (N.P., M.A.H., M.N., J.N., E.M.L.C.), University of Leicester, Leicester Royal Infirmary, Leicester, UK
| | - J Nath
- From the Department of Cardiovascular Sciences (N.P., M.A.H., M.N., J.N., E.M.L.C.), University of Leicester, Leicester Royal Infirmary, Leicester, UK
| | - P B Ambrosi
- Departments of Radiology (A.G.T., P.B.A.).,Neuri Beaujon (P.B.A.), University Paris Diderot, Paris, France
| | - E M L Chung
- From the Department of Cardiovascular Sciences (N.P., M.A.H., M.N., J.N., E.M.L.C.), University of Leicester, Leicester Royal Infirmary, Leicester, UK .,Leicester National Institute of Health Research Cardiovascular Biomedical Research Unit (N.P., E.M.L.C.), Glenfield Hospital, Leicester, UK.,Medical Physics (C.B., E.M.L.C.), University Hospitals of Leicester National Health Service Trust, Leicester, UK
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46
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Figuera-Losada M, Thomas AG, Stathis M, Stockwell BR, Rojas C, Slusher BS. Development of a primary microglia screening assay and its use to characterize inhibition of system x c- by erastin and its analogs. Biochem Biophys Rep 2017; 9:266-272. [PMID: 28956014 PMCID: PMC5614578 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbrep.2016.12.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/28/2016] [Revised: 12/21/2016] [Accepted: 12/29/2016] [Indexed: 01/03/2023] Open
Abstract
The inflammatory response in the central nervous system involves activated microglia. Under normal conditions they remove damaged neurons by phagocytosis. On the other hand, neurodegenerative diseases are thought to involve chronic microglia activation resulting in release of excess glutamate, proinflammatory cytokines and reactive oxygen species, leading to neuronal death. System xC- cystine/glutamate antiporter (SXC), a sodium independent heterodimeric transporter found in microglia and astrocytes in the CNS, imports cystine into the cell and exports glutamate. SXC has been shown to be upregulated in neurodegenerative diseases including multiple sclerosis, ALS, neuroAIDS Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease. Consequently, SXC inhibitors could be of use in the treatment of diseases characterized by neuroinflammation and glutamate excitotoxicity. We report on the optimization of a primary microglia-based assay to screen for SXC inhibitors. Rat primary microglia were activated using lipopolysaccharides (LPS) and glutamate release and cystine uptake were monitored by fluorescence and radioactivity respectively. LPS-induced glutamate release increased with increasing cell density, time of incubation and LPS concentration. Conditions to screen for SXC inhibitors were optimized in 96-well format and subsequently used to evaluate SXC inhibitors. Known SXC inhibitors sulfasalazine, S-4CPG and erastin blocked glutamate release and cystine uptake while R-4CPG, the inactive enantiomer of S-4CPG, failed to inhibit glutamate release or cystine transport. In addition, several erastin analogs were evaluated using primary microglia and found to have EC50 values in agreement with previous studies using established cell lines. Conditions to screen for SXC inhibitors were optimized in 96-well format. Assay enables higher throughput screens for SXC inhibitors with primary microglia. Screening assay was used to evaluate prototype SXC inhibitors and erastin analogs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mariana Figuera-Losada
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, United States
- Departments of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, United States
| | - Ajit G. Thomas
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, United States
| | - Marigo Stathis
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, United States
| | - Brent R. Stockwell
- Departments of Biological Sciences and Chemistry, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, United States
| | - Camilo Rojas
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, United States
- Departments of Molecular and Comparative Pathobiology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, United States
| | - Barbara S. Slusher
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, United States
- Departments of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, United States
- Departments of Psychiatry, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, United States
- Departments of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, United States
- Departments of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, United States
- Departments of Oncology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, United States
- Correspondence to: Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, 855 North Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD 21205, United States.
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47
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Rais R, Jiang W, Zhai H, Wozniak KM, Stathis M, Hollinger KR, Thomas AG, Rojas C, Vornov JJ, Marohn M, Li X, Slusher BS. FOLH1/GCPII is elevated in IBD patients, and its inhibition ameliorates murine IBD abnormalities. JCI Insight 2016; 1. [PMID: 27536732 DOI: 10.1172/jci.insight.88634] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [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] Open
Abstract
Recent gene-profiling analyses showed significant upregulation of the folate hydrolase (FOLH1) gene in the affected intestinal mucosa of patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The FOLH1 gene encodes a type II transmembrane glycoprotein termed glutamate carboxypeptidase II (GCPII). To establish that the previously reported increased gene expression was functional, we quantified the glutamate carboxypeptidase enzymatic activity in 31 surgical specimens and report a robust 2.8- to 41-fold increase in enzymatic activity in the affected intestinal mucosa of IBD patients compared with an uninvolved area in the same patients or intestinal mucosa from healthy controls. Using a human-to-mouse approach, we next showed a similar enzymatic increase in two well-validated IBD murine models and evaluated the therapeutic effect of the potent FOLH1/ GCPII inhibitor 2-phosphonomethyl pentanedioic acid (2-PMPA) (IC50 = 300 pM). In the dextran sodium sulfate (DSS) colitis model, 2-PMPA inhibited the GCPII activity in the colonic mucosa by over 90% and substantially reduced the disease activity. The significance of the target was confirmed in FOLH1-/- mice who exhibited resistance to DSS treatment. In the murine IL-10-/- model of spontaneous colitis, daily 2-PMPA treatment also significantly reduced both macroscopic and microscopic disease severity. These results provide the first evidence of FOLH1/GCPII enzymatic inhibition as a therapeutic option for IBD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rana Rais
- Department of Neurology, Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
| | - Weiwei Jiang
- Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Division of Gastroenterology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
| | - Huihong Zhai
- Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
| | | | | | - Kristen R Hollinger
- Department of Neurology, Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
| | - Ajit G Thomas
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
| | - Camilo Rojas
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Department of Molecular and Comparative Pathobiology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
| | | | - Michael Marohn
- Department of Surgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
| | - Xuhang Li
- Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
| | - Barbara S Slusher
- Department of Neurology, Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
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48
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Zhang Z, Bassam B, Thomas AG, Williams M, Liu J, Nance E, Rojas C, Slusher BS, Kannan S. Maternal inflammation leads to impaired glutamate homeostasis and up-regulation of glutamate carboxypeptidase II in activated microglia in the fetal/newborn rabbit brain. Neurobiol Dis 2016; 94:116-28. [PMID: 27326668 DOI: 10.1016/j.nbd.2016.06.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.9] [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: 01/13/2016] [Revised: 06/05/2016] [Accepted: 06/16/2016] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Astrocyte dysfunction and excessive activation of glutamatergic systems have been implicated in a number of neurologic disorders, including periventricular leukomalacia (PVL) and cerebral palsy (CP). However, the role of chorioamnionitis on glutamate homeostasis in the fetal and neonatal brains is not clearly understood. We have previously shown that intrauterine endotoxin administration results in intense microglial 'activation' and increased pro-inflammatory cytokines in the periventricular region (PVR) of the neonatal rabbit brain. In this study, we assessed the effect of maternal inflammation on key components of the glutamate pathway and its relationship to astrocyte and microglial activation in the fetal and neonatal New Zealand white rabbit brain. We found that intrauterine endotoxin exposure at gestational day 28 (G28) induced acute and prolonged glutamate elevation in the PVR of fetal (G29, 1day post-injury) and postnatal day 1 (PND1, 3days post-injury) brains along with prominent morphological changes in the astrocytes (soma hypertrophy and retracted processes) in the white matter tracts. There was a significant increase in glutaminase and N-Methyl-d-Aspartate receptor (NMDAR) NR2 subunit expression along with decreased glial L-glutamate transporter 1 (GLT-1) in the PVR at G29, that would promote acute dysregulation of glutamate homeostasis. This was accompanied with significantly decreased TGF-β1 at PND1 in CP kits indicating ongoing neuroinflammation. We also show for the first time that glutamate carboxypeptidase II (GCPII) was significantly increased in the activated microglia at the periventricular white matter area in both G29 and PND1 CP kits. This was confirmed by in vitro studies demonstrating that LPS activated primary microglia markedly upregulate GCPII enzymatic activity. These results suggest that maternal intrauterine endotoxin exposure results in early onset and long-lasting dysregulation of glutamate homeostasis, which may be mediated by impaired astrocyte function and GCPII upregulation in activated microglia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhi Zhang
- Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, 1800 Orleans St, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA
| | - Bassam Bassam
- Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, 1800 Orleans St, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA
| | - Ajit G Thomas
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, 1800 Orleans St, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA
| | - Monica Williams
- Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, 1800 Orleans St, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA
| | - Jinhuan Liu
- Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, 1800 Orleans St, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA
| | - Elizabeth Nance
- Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, 1800 Orleans St, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA
| | - Camilo Rojas
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, 1800 Orleans St, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA
| | - Barbara S Slusher
- Neurology, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, 1800 Orleans St, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA; Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, 1800 Orleans St, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA
| | - Sujatha Kannan
- Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, 1800 Orleans St, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA.
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49
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Zimmermann SC, Wolf EF, Luu A, Thomas AG, Stathis M, Poore B, Nguyen C, Le A, Rojas C, Slusher BS, Tsukamoto T. Allosteric Glutaminase Inhibitors Based on a 1,4-Di(5-amino-1,3,4-thiadiazol-2-yl)butane Scaffold. ACS Med Chem Lett 2016; 7:520-4. [PMID: 27200176 PMCID: PMC4868099 DOI: 10.1021/acsmedchemlett.6b00060] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [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: 02/09/2016] [Accepted: 03/13/2016] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
![]()
A series
of allosteric kidney-type glutaminase (GLS) inhibitors
were designed and synthesized using 1,4-di(5-amino-1,3,4-thiadiazol-2-yl)butane
as a core scaffold. A variety of modified phenylacetyl groups were
incorporated into the 5-amino group of the two thiadiazole rings in
an attempt to facilitate additional binding interactions with the
allosteric binding site of GLS. Among the newly synthesized compounds,
4-hydroxy-N-[5-[4-[5-[(2-phenylacetyl)amino]-1,3,4-thiadiazol-2-yl]butyl]-1,3,4-thiadiazol-2-yl]-benzeneacetamide, 2m, potently inhibited GLS with an IC50 value of
70 nM, although it did not exhibit time-dependency as seen with CB-839.
Antiproliferative effects of 2m on human breast cancer
lines will be also presented in comparison with those observed with
CB-839.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah C. Zimmermann
- Johns
Hopkins Drug Discovery Program, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, United States
- Department
of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, United States
| | - Emily F. Wolf
- Johns
Hopkins Drug Discovery Program, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, United States
| | - Andrew Luu
- Johns
Hopkins Drug Discovery Program, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, United States
| | - Ajit G. Thomas
- Johns
Hopkins Drug Discovery Program, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, United States
| | - Marigo Stathis
- Johns
Hopkins Drug Discovery Program, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, United States
| | - Brad Poore
- Department
of Pathology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland 21231, United States
| | - Christopher Nguyen
- Department
of Pathology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland 21231, United States
| | - Anne Le
- Department
of Pathology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland 21231, United States
| | - Camilo Rojas
- Department
of Molecular and Comparative Pathobiology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, United States
| | - Barbara S. Slusher
- Johns
Hopkins Drug Discovery Program, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, United States
- Department
of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, United States
| | - Takashi Tsukamoto
- Johns
Hopkins Drug Discovery Program, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, United States
- Department
of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, United States
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50
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Rojas C, Alt J, Ator NA, Thomas AG, Wu Y, Hin N, Wozniak K, Ferraris D, Rais R, Tsukamoto T, Slusher BS. D-Amino-Acid Oxidase Inhibition Increases D-Serine Plasma Levels in Mouse But not in Monkey or Dog. Neuropsychopharmacology 2016; 41:1610-9. [PMID: 26471255 PMCID: PMC4832022 DOI: 10.1038/npp.2015.319] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/12/2015] [Revised: 10/09/2015] [Accepted: 10/10/2015] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
D-serine has been shown to improve positive, negative, and cognitive symptoms when used as add-on therapy for the treatment of schizophrenia. However, D-serine has to be administered at high doses to observe clinical effects. This is thought to be due to D-serine undergoing oxidation by D-amino-acid oxidase (DAAO) before it reaches the brain. Consequently, co-administration of D-serine with a DAAO inhibitor could be a way to lower the D-serine dose required to treat schizophrenia. Early studies in rodents to evaluate this hypothesis showed that concomitant administration of structurally distinct DAAO inhibitors with D-serine enhanced plasma and brain D-serine levels in rodents compared with administration of D-serine alone. In the present work we used three potent DAAO inhibitors and confirmed previous results in mice. In a follow-up effort, we evaluated plasma D-serine levels in monkeys after oral administration of D-serine in the presence or absence of these DAAO inhibitors. Even though the compounds reached steady state plasma concentrations exceeding their Ki values by >60-fold, plasma D-serine levels remained the same as those in the absence of DAAO inhibitors. Similar results were obtained with dogs. In summary, in contrast to rodents, DAAO inhibition in monkeys and dogs did not influence the exposure to exogenously administered D-serine. Results could be due to differences in D-serine metabolism and/or clearance mechanisms and suggest that the role of DAAO in the metabolism of D-serine is different across species. These data provide caution regarding the utility of DAAO inhibition for patients with schizophrenia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Camilo Rojas
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Baltimore, MD, USA,Department of Molecular and Comparative Pathobiology, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Jesse Alt
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Nancy A Ator
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | | | - Ying Wu
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Niyada Hin
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | | | | | - Rana Rais
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Baltimore, MD, USA,Department of Neurology, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Takashi Tsukamoto
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Baltimore, MD, USA,Department of Neurology, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Barbara S Slusher
- Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery, Baltimore, MD, USA,Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Baltimore, MD, USA,Department of Neurology, Baltimore, MD, USA,Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA,Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University, 855 North Wolfe, Suite 277, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA, Tel: +1 410 614 0662, Fax: +1 410 614 0659, E-mail:
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