Sexually dimorphic effects of monoacylglycerol lipase inhibitor MJN110 on stress-related behaviour and drinking in Marchigian Sardinian alcohol-preferring rats

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

The endocannabinoid (eCB) system plays an important homeostatic role in the regulation of stress circuits and has emerged as a therapeutic target to treat stress disorders and alcohol use disorder (AUD). Extensive research has elucidated a role for the eCB anandamide (AEA), but less is known about 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG) mediated signalling.

EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH

We pharmacologically enhanced eCB signalling by inhibiting the 2-AG metabolizing enzyme, monoacylglycerol lipase (MAGL), in male and female Marchigian Sardinian alcohol-preferring (msP) rats, a model of innate alcohol preference and stress hypersensitivity, and in control Wistar rats. We tested the acute effect of the selective MAGL inhibitor MJN110 in alleviating symptoms of alcohol drinking, anxiety, irritability and fear.

KEY RESULTS

A single systemic administration of MJN110 increased 2-AG levels in the central amygdala, prelimbic and infralimbic cortex but did not acutely alter alcohol drinking. MAGL inhibition reduced aggressive behaviours in female msPs, and increased defensive behaviours in male msPs, during the irritability test. Moreover, in the novelty-induced hypophagia test, MJN110 selectively enhanced palatable food consumption in females, mitigating stress-induced food suppression. Lastly, msP rats showed increased conditioned fear behaviour compared with Wistar rats, and MJN110 reduced context-associated conditioned fear responses, but not cue-probed fear expression, in male msPs.

CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS

Acute inhibition of MAGL attenuated some stress-related responses in msP rats but not voluntary alcohol drinking. Our results provide new insights into the sex dimorphism documented in stress-induced responses. Sex-specific eCB-based approaches should be considered in the clinical development of therapeutics.

Selective inhibitors of SARM1 targeting an allosteric cysteine in the autoregulatory ARM domain

The nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide hydrolase (NADase) sterile alpha toll/interleukin receptor motif containing-1 (SARM1) acts as a central executioner of programmed axon death and is a possible therapeutic target for neurodegenerative disorders. While orthosteric inhibitors of SARM1 have been described, this multidomain enzyme is also subject to intricate forms of autoregulation, suggesting the potential for allosteric modes of inhibition. Previous studies have identified multiple cysteine residues that support SARM1 activation and catalysis, but which of these cysteines, if any, might be selectively targetable by electrophilic small molecules remains unknown. Here, we describe the chemical proteomic discovery of a series of tryptoline acrylamides that site-specifically and stereoselectively modify cysteine-311 (C311) in the noncatalytic, autoregulatory armadillo repeat (ARM) domain of SARM1. These covalent compounds inhibit the NADase activity of WT-SARM1, but not C311A or C311S SARM1 mutants, show a high degree of proteome-wide selectivity for SARM1_C311 and stereoselectively block vincristine- and vacor-induced neurite degeneration in primary rodent dorsal root ganglion neurons. Our findings describe selective, covalent inhibitors of SARM1 targeting an allosteric cysteine, pointing to a potentially attractive therapeutic strategy for axon degeneration-dependent forms of neurological disease.

Development of a Chemical Toolset for Studying the Paralog-Specific Function of IRE1

The dual kinase endoribonuclease IRE1 is a master regulator of cell fate decisions in cells experiencing endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress. In mammalian cells, there are two paralogs of IRE1: IRE1α and IRE1β. While IRE1α has been extensively studied, much less is understood about IRE1β and its role in signaling. In addition, whether the regulation of IRE1β's enzymatic activities varies compared to IRE1α is not known. Here, we show that the RNase domain of IRE1β is enzymatically active and capable of cleaving an XBP1 RNA mini-substrate in vitro. Using ATP-competitive inhibitors, we find that, like IRE1α, there is an allosteric relationship between the kinase and RNase domains of IRE1β. This allowed us to develop a novel toolset of both paralog specific and dual-IRE1α/β kinase inhibitors that attenuate RNase activity (KIRAs). Using sequence alignments of IRE1α and IRE1β, we propose a model for paralog-selective inhibition through interactions with nonconserved residues that differentiate the ATP-binding pockets of IRE1α and IRE1β.

Targeting ABL-IRE1α Signaling Spares ER-Stressed Pancreatic β Cells to Reverse Autoimmune Diabetes

In cells experiencing unrelieved endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, the ER transmembrane kinase/endoribonuclease (RNase)-IRE1α-endonucleolytically degrades ER-localized mRNAs to promote apoptosis. Here we find that the ABL family of tyrosine kinases rheostatically enhances IRE1α's enzymatic activities, thereby potentiating ER stress-induced apoptosis. During ER stress, cytosolic ABL kinases localize to the ER membrane, where they bind, scaffold, and hyperactivate IRE1α's RNase. Imatinib-an anti-cancer tyrosine kinase inhibitor-antagonizes the ABL-IRE1α interaction, blunts IRE1α RNase hyperactivity, reduces pancreatic β cell apoptosis, and reverses type 1 diabetes (T1D) in the non-obese diabetic (NOD) mouse model. A mono-selective kinase inhibitor that allosterically attenuates IRE1α's RNase-KIRA8-also efficaciously reverses established diabetes in NOD mice by sparing β cells and preserving their physiological function. Our data support a model wherein ER-stressed β cells contribute to their own demise during T1D pathogenesis and implicate the ABL-IRE1α axis as a drug target for the treatment of an autoimmune disease.

Structural and Functional Analysis of the Allosteric Inhibition of IRE1α with ATP-Competitive Ligands

The accumulation of unfolded proteins under endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress leads to the activation of the multidomain protein sensor IRE1α as part of the unfolded protein response (UPR). Clustering of IRE1α lumenal domains in the presence of unfolded proteins promotes kinase trans-autophosphorylation in the cytosol and subsequent RNase domain activation. Interestingly, there is an allosteric relationship between the kinase and RNase domains of IRE1α, which allows ATP-competitive inhibitors to modulate the activity of the RNase domain. Here, we use kinase inhibitors to study how ATP-binding site conformation affects the activity of the RNase domain of IRE1α. We find that diverse ATP-competitive inhibitors of IRE1α promote dimerization and activation of RNase activity despite blocking kinase autophosphorylation. In contrast, a subset of ATP-competitive ligands, which we call KIRAs, allosterically inactivate the RNase domain through the kinase domain by stabilizing monomeric IRE1α. Further insight into how ATP-competitive inhibitors are able to divergently modulate the RNase domain through the kinase domain was gained by obtaining the first structure of apo human IRE1α in the RNase active back-to-back dimer conformation. Comparison of this structure with other existing structures of IRE1α and integration of our extensive structure activity relationship (SAR) data has led us to formulate a model to rationalize how ATP-binding site ligands are able to control the IRE1α oligomeric state and subsequent RNase domain activity.