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Veitch M, Beaumont K, Pouwer R, Chew HY, Frazer IH, Soyer HP, Campbell S, Dymock BW, Harvey A, Cock TA, Wells JW. Local blockade of tacrolimus promotes T-cell-mediated tumor regression in systemically immunosuppressed hosts. J Immunother Cancer 2023; 11:e006783. [PMID: 37678918 PMCID: PMC10496666 DOI: 10.1136/jitc-2023-006783] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [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: 07/30/2023] [Indexed: 09/09/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Immunosuppressive drugs such as tacrolimus have revolutionized our ability to transplant organs between individuals. Tacrolimus acts systemically to suppress the activity of T-cells within and around transplanted organs. However, tacrolimus also suppresses T-cell function in the skin, contributing to a high incidence of skin cancer and associated mortality and morbidity in solid organ transplant recipients. Here, we aimed to identify a compound capable of re-establishing antitumor T-cell control in the skin despite the presence of tacrolimus. METHODS In this study, we performed time-resolved fluorescence resonance energy transfer to identify molecules capable of antagonizing the interaction between tacrolimus and FKBP12. The capacity of these molecules to rescue mouse and human T-cell function in the presence of tacrolimus was determined in vitro, and the antitumor effect of the lead compound, Q-2361, was assessed in "regressor" models of skin cancer in immunosuppressed mice. Systemic CD8 T-cell depletion and analyses of intratumoral T-cell activation markers and effector molecule production were performed to determine the mechanism of tumor rejection. Pharmacokinetic studies of topically applied Q-2361 were performed to assess skin and systemic drug exposure. RESULTS Q-2361 potently blocked the interaction between tacrolimus and FKBP12 and reversed the inhibition of the nuclear factor of activated T cells activation by tacrolimus following T-cell receptor engagement in human Jurkat cells. Q-2361 rescued T-cell function in the presence of tacrolimus, rapamycin, and everolimus. Intratumoral injection of Q-2361-induced tumor regression in mice systemically immune suppressed with tacrolimus. Mechanistically, Q-2361 treatment permitted T-cell activation, proliferation, and effector function within tumors. When CD8 T cells were depleted, Q-2361 could not induce tumor regression. A simple solution-based Q-2361 topical formulation achieved high and sustained residence in the skin with negligible drug in the blood. CONCLUSIONS Our findings demonstrate that the local application of Q-2361 permits T-cells to become activated driving tumor rejection in the presence of tacrolimus. The data presented here suggests that topically applied Q-2361 has great potential for the reactivation of T-cells in the skin but not systemically, and therefore represents a promising strategy to prevent or treat skin malignancies in immunosuppressed organ transplant recipients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Margaret Veitch
- Frazer Institute, Faculty of Medicine, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Kimberly Beaumont
- Queensland Emory Drug Discovery Initiative, UniQuest, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Rebecca Pouwer
- Queensland Emory Drug Discovery Initiative, UniQuest, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Hui Yi Chew
- Frazer Institute, Faculty of Medicine, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Ian H Frazer
- Faculty of Medicine, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - H Peter Soyer
- Frazer Institute, Dermatology Research Centre, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
- Department of Dermatology, Princess Alexandra Hospital, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Scott Campbell
- Faculty of Medicine, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
- Department of Nephrology, Princess Alexandra Hospital, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Brian W Dymock
- Queensland Emory Drug Discovery Initiative, UniQuest, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Andrew Harvey
- Queensland Emory Drug Discovery Initiative, UniQuest, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Terrie-Anne Cock
- Queensland Emory Drug Discovery Initiative, UniQuest, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - James W Wells
- Frazer Institute, Faculty of Medicine, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
- Frazer Institute, Dermatology Research Centre, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
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2
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Vu H, Pedro L, Mak T, McCormick B, Rowley J, Liu M, Di Capua A, Williams-Noonan B, Pham NB, Pouwer R, Nguyen B, Andrews KT, Skinner-Adams T, Kim J, Hol WGJ, Hui R, Crowther GJ, Van Voorhis WC, Quinn RJ. Fragment-Based Screening of a Natural Product Library against 62 Potential Malaria Drug Targets Employing Native Mass Spectrometry. ACS Infect Dis 2018; 4:431-444. [PMID: 29436819 PMCID: PMC5902791 DOI: 10.1021/acsinfecdis.7b00197] [Citation(s) in RCA: 45] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.5] [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] [Indexed: 01/03/2023]
Abstract
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Natural
products are well known for their biological relevance, high degree
of three-dimensionality, and access to areas of largely unexplored
chemical space. To shape our understanding of the interaction between
natural products and protein targets in the postgenomic era, we have
used native mass spectrometry to investigate 62 potential protein
targets for malaria using a natural-product-based fragment library.
We reveal here 96 low-molecular-weight natural products identified
as binding partners of 32 of the putative malarial targets. Seventy-nine
(79) fragments have direct growth inhibition on Plasmodium
falciparum at concentrations that are promising for the development
of fragment hits against these protein targets. This adds a fragment
library to the published HTS active libraries in the public domain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hoan Vu
- Griffith Institute for Drug Discovery, Griffith University, 170 Kessels Road, Nathan, Queensland 4111, Australia
| | - Liliana Pedro
- Griffith Institute for Drug Discovery, Griffith University, 170 Kessels Road, Nathan, Queensland 4111, Australia
| | - Tin Mak
- Griffith Institute for Drug Discovery, Griffith University, 170 Kessels Road, Nathan, Queensland 4111, Australia
| | - Brendan McCormick
- Griffith Institute for Drug Discovery, Griffith University, 170 Kessels Road, Nathan, Queensland 4111, Australia
| | - Jessica Rowley
- Griffith Institute for Drug Discovery, Griffith University, 170 Kessels Road, Nathan, Queensland 4111, Australia
| | - Miaomiao Liu
- Griffith Institute for Drug Discovery, Griffith University, 170 Kessels Road, Nathan, Queensland 4111, Australia
| | - Angela Di Capua
- Griffith Institute for Drug Discovery, Griffith University, 170 Kessels Road, Nathan, Queensland 4111, Australia
| | - Billy Williams-Noonan
- Griffith Institute for Drug Discovery, Griffith University, 170 Kessels Road, Nathan, Queensland 4111, Australia
| | - Ngoc B. Pham
- Griffith Institute for Drug Discovery, Griffith University, 170 Kessels Road, Nathan, Queensland 4111, Australia
| | - Rebecca Pouwer
- Griffith Institute for Drug Discovery, Griffith University, 170 Kessels Road, Nathan, Queensland 4111, Australia
| | - Bao Nguyen
- Griffith Institute for Drug Discovery, Griffith University, 170 Kessels Road, Nathan, Queensland 4111, Australia
| | - Katherine T. Andrews
- Griffith Institute for Drug Discovery, Griffith University, 170 Kessels Road, Nathan, Queensland 4111, Australia
| | - Tina Skinner-Adams
- Griffith Institute for Drug Discovery, Griffith University, 170 Kessels Road, Nathan, Queensland 4111, Australia
| | | | | | - Raymond Hui
- Structural Genomics Consortium, University of Toronto, MaRS South Tower, seventh floor 101 College Street, Toronto, Ontario M5G 1L7, Canada
| | | | | | - Ronald J. Quinn
- Griffith Institute for Drug Discovery, Griffith University, 170 Kessels Road, Nathan, Queensland 4111, Australia
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Williams C, Pouwer R. Method in the Madness - Methodology from Total Synthesis. Synlett 2012. [DOI: 10.1055/s-0031-1290967] [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: 10/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Craig Williams
- School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, University of Queensland
| | - Rebecca Pouwer
- Eskitis Insitute for Cell and Molecular Therapies, Griffith University
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Christopher Braddock D, Bhuva R, Pérez-Fuertes Y, Pouwer R, Roberts CA, Ruggiero A, Stokes ESE, White AJP. The stereochemical course of bromoetherification of enynes. Chem Commun (Camb) 2008:1419-21. [PMID: 18338042 DOI: 10.1039/b800054a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
Enynes undergo stereoselective syn intramolecular bromoetherification; the stereochemical course of the reaction was elucidated by X-ray crystallographic studies and by stereospecific synthesis of authentic bromoallenes.
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