1
|
Flinspach M, Xu Q, Piekarz AD, Fellows R, Hagan R, Gibbs A, Liu Y, Neff RA, Freedman J, Eckert WA, Zhou M, Bonesteel R, Pennington MW, Eddinger KA, Yaksh TL, Hunter M, Swanson RV, Wickenden AD. Insensitivity to pain induced by a potent selective closed-state Nav1.7 inhibitor. Sci Rep 2017; 7:39662. [PMID: 28045073 PMCID: PMC5206724 DOI: 10.1038/srep39662] [Citation(s) in RCA: 86] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/10/2016] [Accepted: 11/25/2016] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Pain places a devastating burden on patients and society and current pain therapeutics exhibit limitations in efficacy, unwanted side effects and the potential for drug abuse and diversion. Although genetic evidence has clearly demonstrated that the voltage-gated sodium channel, Nav1.7, is critical to pain sensation in mammals, pharmacological inhibitors of Nav1.7 have not yet fully recapitulated the dramatic analgesia observed in Nav1.7-null subjects. Using the tarantula venom-peptide ProTX-II as a scaffold, we engineered a library of over 1500 venom-derived peptides and identified JNJ63955918 as a potent, highly selective, closed-state Nav1.7 blocking peptide. Here we show that JNJ63955918 induces a pharmacological insensitivity to pain that closely recapitulates key features of the Nav1.7-null phenotype seen in mice and humans. Our findings demonstrate that a high degree of selectivity, coupled with a closed-state dependent mechanism of action is required for strong efficacy and indicate that peptides such as JNJ63955918 and other suitably optimized Nav1.7 inhibitors may represent viable non-opioid alternatives for the pharmacological treatment of severe pain.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- M Flinspach
- Janssen R&D, L.L.C., 3210 Merryfield Row, San Diego, CA 92121, USA
| | - Q Xu
- Janssen R&D, L.L.C., 3210 Merryfield Row, San Diego, CA 92121, USA
| | - A D Piekarz
- Janssen R&D, L.L.C., 3210 Merryfield Row, San Diego, CA 92121, USA
| | - R Fellows
- Janssen R&D, L.L.C., 3210 Merryfield Row, San Diego, CA 92121, USA
| | - R Hagan
- Janssen R&D, L.L.C., 3210 Merryfield Row, San Diego, CA 92121, USA
| | - A Gibbs
- Janssen R&D, L.L.C., 3210 Merryfield Row, San Diego, CA 92121, USA
| | - Y Liu
- Janssen R&D, L.L.C., 3210 Merryfield Row, San Diego, CA 92121, USA
| | - R A Neff
- Janssen R&D, L.L.C., 3210 Merryfield Row, San Diego, CA 92121, USA
| | - J Freedman
- Janssen R&D, L.L.C., 3210 Merryfield Row, San Diego, CA 92121, USA
| | - W A Eckert
- Janssen R&D, L.L.C., 3210 Merryfield Row, San Diego, CA 92121, USA
| | - M Zhou
- Janssen R&D, L.L.C., 3210 Merryfield Row, San Diego, CA 92121, USA
| | - R Bonesteel
- Janssen R&D, L.L.C., 3210 Merryfield Row, San Diego, CA 92121, USA
| | | | - K A Eddinger
- University of California, San Diego, Department Anesthesiology and Pharmacology, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093-0818, USA
| | - T L Yaksh
- University of California, San Diego, Department Anesthesiology and Pharmacology, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093-0818, USA
| | - M Hunter
- Janssen R&D, L.L.C., 3210 Merryfield Row, San Diego, CA 92121, USA
| | - R V Swanson
- Janssen R&D, L.L.C., 3210 Merryfield Row, San Diego, CA 92121, USA
| | - A D Wickenden
- Janssen R&D, L.L.C., 3210 Merryfield Row, San Diego, CA 92121, USA
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Edwards W, Fung-Leung WP, Huang C, Chi E, Wu N, Liu Y, Maher MP, Bonesteel R, Connor J, Fellows R, Garcia E, Lee J, Lu L, Ngo K, Scott B, Zhou H, Swanson RV, Wickenden AD. Targeting the ion channel Kv1.3 with scorpion venom peptides engineered for potency, selectivity, and half-life. J Biol Chem 2014; 289:22704-22714. [PMID: 24939846 DOI: 10.1074/jbc.m114.568642] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Ion channels are an attractive class of drug targets, but progress in developing inhibitors for therapeutic use has been limited largely due to challenges in identifying subtype selective small molecules. Animal venoms provide an alternative source of ion channel modulators, and the venoms of several species, such as scorpions, spiders and snails, are known to be rich sources of ion channel modulating peptides. Importantly, these peptides often bind to hyper-variable extracellular loops, creating the potential for subtype selectivity rarely achieved with small molecules. We have engineered scorpion venom peptides and incorporated them in fusion proteins to generate highly potent and selective Kv1.3 inhibitors with long in vivo half-lives. Kv1.3 has been reported to play a role in human T cell activation, and therefore, these Kv1.3 inhibitor fusion proteins may have potential for the treatment of autoimmune diseases. Our results support an emerging approach to generating subtype selective therapeutic ion channel inhibitors.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Wilson Edwards
- Janssen Research and Development, LLC, San Diego, California 92121.
| | | | - Chichi Huang
- Janssen Research and Development, LLC, San Diego, California 92121
| | - Ellen Chi
- Janssen Research and Development, LLC, San Diego, California 92121
| | - Nancy Wu
- Janssen Research and Development, LLC, San Diego, California 92121
| | - Yi Liu
- Janssen Research and Development, LLC, San Diego, California 92121
| | - Michael P Maher
- Janssen Research and Development, LLC, San Diego, California 92121
| | | | - Judith Connor
- Janssen Research and Development, LLC, San Diego, California 92121
| | - Ross Fellows
- Janssen Research and Development, LLC, San Diego, California 92121
| | - Elena Garcia
- Janssen Research and Development, LLC, San Diego, California 92121
| | - Jerry Lee
- Janssen Research and Development, LLC, San Diego, California 92121
| | - Lu Lu
- Janssen Research and Development, LLC, San Diego, California 92121
| | - Karen Ngo
- Janssen Research and Development, LLC, San Diego, California 92121
| | - Brian Scott
- Janssen Research and Development, LLC, San Diego, California 92121
| | - Hong Zhou
- Janssen Research and Development, LLC, San Diego, California 92121
| | - Ronald V Swanson
- Janssen Research and Development, LLC, San Diego, California 92121
| | - Alan D Wickenden
- Janssen Research and Development, LLC, San Diego, California 92121
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Nauwelaers D, Van Houtte M, Winters B, Steegen K, Van Baelen K, Chi E, Zhou M, Steiner D, Bonesteel R, Aston C, Stuyver LJ. A synthetic HIV-1 subtype C backbone generates comparable PR and RT resistance profiles to a subtype B backbone in a recombinant virus assay. PLoS One 2011; 6:e19643. [PMID: 21629677 PMCID: PMC3101197 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0019643] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/09/2010] [Accepted: 04/05/2011] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
In order to determine phenotypic protease and reverse transcriptase inhibitor-associated resistance in HIV subtype C virus, we have synthetically constructed an HIV-1 subtype C (HIV-1-C) viral backbone for use in a recombinant virus assay. The in silico designed viral genome was divided into 4 fragments, which were chemically synthesized and joined together by conventional subcloning. Subsequently, gag-protease-reverse-transcriptase (GPRT) fragments from 8 HIV-1 subtype C-infected patient samples were RT-PCR-amplified and cloned into the HIV-1-C backbone (deleted for GPRT) using In-Fusion reagents. Recombinant viruses (1 to 5 per patient sample) were produced in MT4-eGFP cells where cyto-pathogenic effect (CPE), p24 and Viral Load (VL) were monitored. The resulting HIV-1-C recombinant virus stocks (RVS) were added to MT4-eGFP cells in the presence of serial dilutions of antiretroviral drugs (PI, NNRTI, NRTI) to determine the fold-change in IC50 compared to the IC50 of wild-type HIV-1 virus. Additionally, viral RNA was extracted from the HIV-1-C RVS and the amplified GPRT products were used to generate recombinant virus in a subtype B backbone. Phenotypic resistance profiles in a subtype B and subtype C backbone were compared. The following observations were made: i) functional, infectious HIV-1 subtype C viruses were generated, confirmed by VL and p24 measurements; ii) their rate of infection was slower than viruses generated in the subtype B backbone; iii) they did not produce clear CPE in MT4 cells; and iv) drug resistance profiles generated in both backbones were very similar, including re-sensitizing effects like M184V on AZT.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | | | - Ellen Chi
- Centocor Research and Discovery, Centocor, San Diego, California, United States of America
| | - Mimi Zhou
- Centocor Research and Discovery, Centocor, San Diego, California, United States of America
| | - Derek Steiner
- Centocor Research and Discovery, Centocor, San Diego, California, United States of America
| | - Rachelle Bonesteel
- Centocor Research and Discovery, Centocor, San Diego, California, United States of America
| | - Colin Aston
- Centocor Research and Discovery, Centocor, San Diego, California, United States of America
| | | |
Collapse
|