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Jiang W, Abdulkadir S, Zhao X, Sang P, Tomatsidou A, Zhang X, Chen Y, Calcul L, Sun X, Cheng F, Hu Y, Cai J. Inhibition of Hypoxia-Inducible Transcription Factor (HIF-1α) Signaling with Sulfonyl-γ-AApeptide Helices. J Am Chem Soc 2023; 145:20009-20020. [PMID: 37665648 PMCID: PMC10637359 DOI: 10.1021/jacs.3c06694] [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] [Indexed: 09/06/2023]
Abstract
The development of inhibitors that selectively block protein-protein interactions (PPIs) is crucial for chemical biology, medicinal chemistry, and biomedical sciences. Herein, we reported the design, synthesis, and investigation of sulfonyl-γ-AApeptide as an alternative strategy of canonical peptide-based inhibitors to disrupt hypoxia-inducible factor 1α (HIF-1α) and p300 PPI by mimicking the helical domain of HIF-1α involved in the binding to p300. The designed molecules recognized the p300 protein with high affinity and potently inhibited the hypoxia-inducible signaling pathway. Gene expression profiling supported the idea that the lead molecules selectively inhibited hypoxia-inducible genes involved in the signaling cascade. Our studies also demonstrated that both helical faces consisting of either chiral side chains or achiral sulfonyl side chains of sulfonyl-γ-AApeptides could be adopted for mimicry of the α-helix engaging in PPIs. Furthermore, these sulfonyl-γ-AApeptides were cell-permeable and exhibited favorable stability and pharmacokinetic profiles. Our results could inspire the design of helical sulfonyl-γ-AApeptides as a general strategy to mimic the protein helical domain and modulate many other PPIs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wei Jiang
- Department of Chemistry, University of South Florida, 4202 E. Fowler Ave, Tampa, Florida 33620, United States
- Institute of Materials Engineering, College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210093, China
| | - Sami Abdulkadir
- Department of Chemistry, University of South Florida, 4202 E. Fowler Ave, Tampa, Florida 33620, United States
| | - Xue Zhao
- Department of Chemistry, University of South Florida, 4202 E. Fowler Ave, Tampa, Florida 33620, United States
| | - Peng Sang
- Department of Chemistry, University of South Florida, 4202 E. Fowler Ave, Tampa, Florida 33620, United States
| | - Anastasia Tomatsidou
- Department of Molecular Medicine, Morsani College of Medicine, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida 33612, United States
| | - Xiujun Zhang
- Department of Molecular Medicine, Morsani College of Medicine, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida 33612, United States
| | - Yu Chen
- Department of Molecular Medicine, Morsani College of Medicine, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida 33612, United States
| | - Laurent Calcul
- Department of Chemistry, University of South Florida, 4202 E. Fowler Ave, Tampa, Florida 33620, United States
| | - Xingmin Sun
- Department of Molecular Medicine, Morsani College of Medicine, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida 33612, United States
| | - Feng Cheng
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Taneja College of Pharmacy, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida 33612, United States
| | - Yong Hu
- Institute of Materials Engineering, College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210093, China
| | - Jianfeng Cai
- Department of Chemistry, University of South Florida, 4202 E. Fowler Ave, Tampa, Florida 33620, United States
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Abdulkadir S, Li C, Jiang W, Zhao X, Sang P, Wei L, Hu Y, Li Q, Cai J. Modulating Angiogenesis by Proteomimetics of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor. J Am Chem Soc 2021; 144:270-281. [PMID: 34968032 DOI: 10.1021/jacs.1c09571] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Angiogenesis, formation of new blood vessels from the existing vascular network, is a hallmark of cancer cells that leads to tumor vascular proliferation and metastasis. This process is mediated through the binding interaction of VEGF-A with VEGF receptors. However, the balance between pro-angiogenic and anti-angiogenic effect after ligand binding yet remains elusive and is therefore challenging to manipulate. To interrogate this interaction, herein we designed a few sulfono-γ-AA peptide based helical peptidomimetics that could effectively mimic a key binding interface on VEGF (helix-α1) for VEGFR recognition. Intriguingly, although both sulfono-γ-AA peptide sequences V2 and V3 bound to VEGF receptors tightly, in vitro angiogenesis assays demonstrated that V3 potently inhibited angiogenesis, whereas V2 activated angiogenesis effectively instead. Our findings suggested that this distinct modulation of angiogenesis might be due to the result of selective binding of V2 to VEGFR-1 and V3 to VEGFR-2, respectively. These molecules thus provide us a key to switch the angiogenic signaling, a biological process that balances the effects of pro-angiogenic and anti-angiogenic factors, where imbalances lead to several diseases including cancer. In addition, both V2 and V3 exhibited remarkable stability toward proteolytic hydrolysis, suggesting that V2 and V3 are promising therapeutic agents for the intervention of disease conditions arising due to angiogenic imbalances and could also be used as novel molecular switching probes to interrogate the mechanism of VEGFR signaling. The findings also further demonstrated the potential of sulfono-γ-AA peptides to mimic the α-helical domain for protein recognition and modulation of protein-protein interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sami Abdulkadir
- Department of Chemistry, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida 33620, United States
| | - Chunpu Li
- Department of Chemistry, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida 33620, United States.,Department of Medical Oncology, Cancer Institute of Medicine, Shuguang Hospital; Academy of Integrative Medicine, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai 201203, China
| | - Wei Jiang
- Department of Chemistry, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida 33620, United States.,Institute of Materials Engineering, College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210093, China
| | - Xue Zhao
- Department of Chemistry, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida 33620, United States
| | - Peng Sang
- Department of Chemistry, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida 33620, United States
| | - Lulu Wei
- Department of Chemistry, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida 33620, United States
| | - Yong Hu
- Institute of Materials Engineering, College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210093, China
| | - Qi Li
- Department of Medical Oncology, Cancer Institute of Medicine, Shuguang Hospital; Academy of Integrative Medicine, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai 201203, China
| | - Jianfeng Cai
- Department of Chemistry, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida 33620, United States
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Sang P, Shi Y, Lu J, Chen L, Yang L, Borcherds W, Abdulkadir S, Li Q, Daughdrill G, Chen J, Cai J. Correction to α-Helix-Mimicking Sulfono-γ-AApeptide Inhibitors for p53–MDM2/MDMX Protein–Protein Interactions. J Med Chem 2020; 63:10087. [PMID: 32822169 PMCID: PMC7853636 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.0c01284] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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Sang P, Shi Y, Higbee P, Wang M, Abdulkadir S, Lu J, Daughdrill G, Chen J, Cai J. Rational Design and Synthesis of Right-Handed d-Sulfono-γ-AApeptide Helical Foldamers as Potent Inhibitors of Protein-Protein Interactions. J Org Chem 2020; 85:10552-10560. [PMID: 32700908 DOI: 10.1021/acs.joc.0c00996] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
Novel unprecedented helical foldamers have been effectively designed and synthesized. The homogeneous right-handed d-sulfono-γ-AApeptides represent a new generation of unnatural helical peptidomimetics, which have similar folding conformation to α-peptides, making them an ideal molecular scaffold to design α-helical mimetics. As demonstrated with p53-MDM2 PPI as a model application, the right-handed d-sulfono-γ-AApeptides reveal much-enhanced binding affinity compared to the p53 peptide. The design of d-sulfono-γ-AApeptides may provide a new and alternative strategy to modulate protein-protein interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peng Sang
- Department of Chemistry, University of South Florida, 4202 E. Fowler Ave., Tampa, Florida 33620, United States
| | - Yan Shi
- Department of Chemistry, University of South Florida, 4202 E. Fowler Ave., Tampa, Florida 33620, United States
| | - Pirada Higbee
- Department of Cell Biology, Microbiology and Molecular Biology, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida 33620, United States
| | - Minghui Wang
- Department of Chemistry, University of South Florida, 4202 E. Fowler Ave., Tampa, Florida 33620, United States
| | - Sami Abdulkadir
- Department of Chemistry, University of South Florida, 4202 E. Fowler Ave., Tampa, Florida 33620, United States
| | - Junhao Lu
- Department of Molecular Oncology, H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute, 12902 Magnolia Drive, Tampa, Florida 33612, United States
| | - Gary Daughdrill
- Department of Cell Biology, Microbiology and Molecular Biology, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida 33620, United States
| | - Jiandong Chen
- Department of Molecular Oncology, H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute, 12902 Magnolia Drive, Tampa, Florida 33612, United States
| | - Jianfeng Cai
- Department of Chemistry, University of South Florida, 4202 E. Fowler Ave., Tampa, Florida 33620, United States
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Sang P, Shi Y, Lu J, Chen L, Yang L, Borcherds W, Abdulkadir S, Li Q, Daughdrill G, Chen J, Cai J. α-Helix-Mimicking Sulfono-γ-AApeptide Inhibitors for p53-MDM2/MDMX Protein-Protein Interactions. J Med Chem 2020; 63:975-986. [PMID: 31971801 PMCID: PMC7025332 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.9b00993] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
The use of peptidomimetic scaffolds is a promising strategy for the inhibition of protein-protein interactions (PPIs). Herein, we demonstrate that sulfono-γ-AApeptides can be rationally designed to mimic the p53 α-helix and inhibit p53-MDM2 PPIs. The best inhibitor, with Kd and IC50 values of 26 nM and 0.891 μM toward MDM2, respectively, is among the most potent unnatural peptidomimetic inhibitors disrupting the p53-MDM2/MDMX interaction. Using fluorescence polarization assays, circular dichroism, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, and computational simulations, we demonstrate that sulfono-γ-AApeptides adopt helical structures resembling p53 and competitively inhibit the p53-MDM2 interaction by binding to the hydrophobic cleft of MDM2. Intriguingly, the stapled sulfono-γ-AApeptides showed promising cellular activity by enhancing p53 transcriptional activity and inducing expression of MDM2 and p21. Moreover, sulfono-γ-AApeptides exhibited remarkable resistance to proteolysis, augmenting their biological potential. Our results suggest that sulfono-γ-AApeptides are a new class of unnatural helical foldamers that disrupt PPIs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peng Sang
- Department of Chemistry , University of South Florida , 4202 E. Fowler Avenue , Tampa , Florida 33620 , United States
| | - Yan Shi
- Department of Chemistry , University of South Florida , 4202 E. Fowler Avenue , Tampa , Florida 33620 , United States
| | - Junhao Lu
- Department of Molecular Oncology , H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute , 12902 Magnolia Drive , Tampa , Florida 33612 , United States
| | - Lihong Chen
- Department of Molecular Oncology , H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute , 12902 Magnolia Drive , Tampa , Florida 33612 , United States
| | - Leixiang Yang
- Department of Molecular Oncology , H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute , 12902 Magnolia Drive , Tampa , Florida 33612 , United States
| | - Wade Borcherds
- Department of Cell Biology, Microbiology and Molecular Biology , University of South Florida , Tampa , Florida 33620 , United States
| | - Sami Abdulkadir
- Department of Chemistry , University of South Florida , 4202 E. Fowler Avenue , Tampa , Florida 33620 , United States
| | - Qi Li
- Department of Medical Oncology , Shuguang Hospital, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine , Shanghai 201203 , China
| | - Gary Daughdrill
- Department of Cell Biology, Microbiology and Molecular Biology , University of South Florida , Tampa , Florida 33620 , United States
| | - Jiandong Chen
- Department of Molecular Oncology , H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute , 12902 Magnolia Drive , Tampa , Florida 33612 , United States
| | - Jianfeng Cai
- Department of Chemistry , University of South Florida , 4202 E. Fowler Avenue , Tampa , Florida 33620 , United States
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Abdulkadir S. Bacteriology of infected hands and feet in leprosy patients. Indian J Lepr 1989; 61:65-7. [PMID: 2703746] [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] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/02/2023]
Abstract
70 cases of infected hands and feet admitted to ALERT Hospital during 1986/1987 (3/10/86-5/5/87) were studied for the infecting organisms and the sensitivity of these organisms to available antibiotics. Single organisms were isolated in 56 cases (95%), two organisms were isolated in 3 cases (5%), no organisms were isolated in 11 cases (15.7%). Proteus was the commonest organism. Most effective drug was Ampicillin. Three organisms isolated in 7 cases proved resistant to all drugs tested. The study shows that commonly available drugs are effective in the great majority of secondary infections in leprosy patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- S Abdulkadir
- Dept of Surgery, Alert Hospital, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
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