New class of small nonpeptidyl compounds blocks Plasmodium falciparum development in vitro by inhibiting plasmepsins

Malarial parasites rely on aspartic proteases called plasmepsins to digest hemoglobin during the intraerythrocytic stage. Plasmepsins from Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax have been cloned and expressed for a variety of structural and enzymatic studies. Recombinant plasmepsins possess kinetic similarity to the native enzymes, indicating their suitability for target-based antimalarial drug development. We developed an automated assay of P. falciparum plasmepsin II and P. vivax plasmepsin to quickly screen compounds in the Walter Reed chemical database. A low-molecular-mass (346 Da) diphenylurea derivative (WR268961) was found to inhibit plasmepsins with a K(i) of 1 to 6 microM. This compound appears to be selective for plasmepsin, since it is a poor inhibitor of the human aspartic protease cathepsin D (K(i) greater than 280 microM). WR268961 inhibited the growth of P. falciparum strains W2 and D6, with 50% inhibitory concentrations ranging from 0.03 to 0.16 microg/ml, but was much less toxic to mammalian cells. The Walter Reed chemical database contains over 1,500 compounds with a diphenylurea core structure, 9 of which inhibit the plasmepsins, with K(i) values ranging from 0.05 to 0.68 microM. These nine compounds show specificity for the plasmepsins over human cathepsin D, but they are poor inhibitors of P. falciparum growth in vitro. Computational docking experiments indicate how diphenylurea compounds bind to the plasmepsin active site and inhibit the enzyme.

Brefeldin-A enhancement of ricin A-chain immunotoxins and blockade of intact ricin, modeccin, and abrin

After binding, the protein toxins ricin, abrin, and modeccin are endocytosed and processed through the cell's vesicular system in a poorly understood fashion, prior to translocation to the cytosol. The role of the Golgi apparatus in toxin processing was studied using brefeldin-A (BFA), a fungal metabolite which blocks Golgi function. At concentrations that inhibit secretion of interleukin-2 (IL-2), BFA blocks ricin, modeccin, and abrin intoxication of a lymphocyte derived cell line (Jurkat). Paradoxically, BFA enhances the toxicity of two ricin A-chain immunotoxins targeted against distinct cell surface determinants. BFA concentrations which are optimal for immunotoxin enhancement are below those needed to affect ricin intoxication or IL-2 secretion. BFA blockade of ricin does not involve effects on ricin endocytosis, toxin translocation to the cytosol, or the enzymatic activity of toxin A-chain. In contrast, BFA has no effect on immunotoxin processing but does enhance the immunotoxin translocation step. It is concluded that: 1) intact Golgi function is required for holotoxin processing. 2) Intact Golgi function is not required for holotoxin translocation. 3) Golgi function is tightly linked to immunotoxin translocation. 4) BFA has effects on vesicular routing in addition to the block of Golgi function in secretion which has been reported.

Energy requirements for diphtheria toxin translocation are coupled to the maintenance of a plasma membrane potential and a proton gradient

Translocation of diphtheria toxin (DT) or ricin to the cytosol is the rate-limiting step responsible for (pseudo) first-order decline in protein synthesis observed in intoxicated cell populations. The requirements for energy utilization in the translocation of both toxins are examined by perturbing the intoxication during this period of protein synthesis decline. Translocation of either toxin is blocked at 4 degrees C and requires energy. Ricin translocation is tightly coupled to ATP hydrolysis with no involvement of membrane potential. Cell depolarization slows the rate of DT translocation but does not block completely. Elimination of transmembrane pH gradients alone does not affect DT translocation; however, in combination with depolarization, translocation is blocked virtually completely. Energy requirements for DT intoxication are mediated by establishing a plasma membrane potential and a pH gradient across some cellular membrane. It is proposed that a postendocytotic vesicle containing processed DT fuses with the plasma membrane. Either component of the proton motive force across the plasma membrane then drives DT translocation. Ricin apparently utilizes a different energy coupling mechanism at a different intracellular site, thus demonstrating toxin specificity in the translocation mechanism.

Temporal separation of protein toxin translocation from processing events

Intoxication of Vero cells by ricin, modeccin, diphtheria toxin (DT), and Pseudomonas exotoxin A requires: 1) binding to cell surface receptors; 2) transport to the cytoplasm; and 3) enzymatic inactivation of a component of the protein synthetic machinery. The kinetic profiles of all four toxins consist of a lag followed by the apparent first-order decrease in protein synthesis. Autoradiographic analysis of DT-intoxicated cell populations has demonstrated that two subpopulations of cells exist during the period of decreasing protein synthesis: one population synthesizing at control levels and the other synthesizing little or no protein (Hudson, T. H., and Neville, D. M., Jr. (1985) J. Biol. Chem. 260, 2675-2680). The present study correlates the autoradiographic data with the rates of protein synthesis decline in cells intoxicated with modeccin, ricin, Pseudomonas exotoxin A, as well DT. In all cases, the first time point which exhibits a decrease in protein synthetic activity also exhibits two subpopulations of cells, one synthesizing protein at control rates and the other synthesizing little or no protein. As the intoxication progresses, cells leave the control population by the rapid cessation of all protein synthesis. These experiments demonstrate that transport of all four toxins to the cytosol is the rate-limiting step during the pseudo first-order decline in protein synthesis. Furthermore, the final step in the transport process (translocation) must result in the release to the cytoplasm of a quantity of toxin sufficient to rapidly inactivate all protein synthesis in that cell. The probability of a translocation event occurring in any cell of the population is established during the lag and remains constant throughout the first-order decrease in protein synthesis. The requirement for acidification during the intoxication by DT, Pseudomonas exotoxin A, or modeccin is restricted to the lag period. Acidification is therefore necessary to establish the probability of translocation, but it is not directly involved in the actual translocation of these toxins. The pseudo first-order passage of DT intoxications through antitoxin and NH4Cl- or monensin-sensitive stages are shown to have the same cellular basis as the pseudo first-order decrease in protein synthesis. A kinetic model is presented which defines the DT intoxication process from one of its earliest events (endocytosis) to its penultimate event (translocation of toxin to the cytosol).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Quantal entry of diphtheria toxin to the cytosol

The rate-limiting step in diphtheria toxin (DT) intoxication of Vero cells has been determined utilizing cycloheximide as an inhibitor of the intoxication process. Cycloheximide is shown to inhibit the toxin catalyzed ADP-ribosylation of elongation factor 2 (EF-2). The inhibition is blocked by puromycin thus establishing the ribosome as the location of cycloheximide protection. Washing cells free of cycloheximide rapidly reverses the protective effect. The initial rates of protein synthesis inhibition observed after removal of cycloheximide from DT-intoxicated cells are 5 to 12-fold greater than rates observed in unprotected cells and are shown to reflect ADP-ribosylation of EF-2 by cytosolic DT. Ten to thirty minutes after cycloheximide removal, the rate of protein synthesis inhibition abruptly changes to values identical to those of unprotected cells. Both the initial rates and extent of the initial rapid inactivation are directly related to toxin concentration and time of incubation with DT in the presence of cycloheximide. We concluded that: the rate-limiting step in protein synthesis inhibition by DT is not the ADP-ribosylation of EF-2 by cytosolic toxin but rather the earlier entry step of DT into the cytosol. DT enters the cytosol as a bolus of sufficient size to rapidly inactivate all EF-2 in that cell. It is inferred from 1 and 2 that the first order inactivation rate exhibited by DT is the result of the probability of the release of a bolus of toxin to the cytosol of any cell in the population per unit time. Autoradiographic analysis of intoxicated cell populations support this two-population state model. The size of a single bolus or quantum of DT is calculated from data over the range of 10(-11) to 10(-9) M DT and is found to remain constant. We suggest that the cytosolic entry mechanism of DT results from a unique ability of the internalized toxin molecules to destabilize the vesicular membrane resulting in a random release of a bolus of toxin into the cytosol. Because the bolus size remains constant over a 50-fold change in receptor occupancy the possibility is raised that DT undergoes a post-receptor packaging process, package size remaining a constant and package number increasing with receptor occupancy.

Forskolin-activated adenylate cyclase. Inhibition by guanyl-5'-yl imidodiphosphate

Forskolin activated adenylate cyclase of purified rat adipocyte membranes in the absence of exogenous guanine nucleotides. Guanyl-5'-yl imidodiphosphate (Gpp(NH)p) inhibited the forskolin-activated cyclase immediately upon addition of the nucleotide at concentrations too low to activate adenylate cyclase (10(-9) to 10(-7) M). Inhibition seen with a very high concentration of Gpp(NH)p (10(-4) M) lasted for 3-4 min and was followed by an increase in the synthetic rate which remained constant for at least 15 min. The length of the transient inhibition did not vary with forskolin concentrations above 0.05 microM but low Gpp(NH)p (10(-8) M) exhibited a lengthened (6-7 min) inhibitory phase. The transient inhibitory effects of Gpp(NH)p were eliminated by 10(-7) M isoproterenol, high (40 mM) Mg2+, or preincubation with Gpp(NH)p in the absence of forskolin. While forskolin stimulated fat cell cyclase in the presence of Mn2+, this ion blocked the inhibitory effects of Gpp(NH)p. The well documented inhibitory effects of GTP on the fat cell adenylate cyclase system were also observed in the presence of forskolin. However, the inhibition by GTP is not transitory. These findings indicate that Gpp(NH)p regulation of forskolin-stimulated cyclase has at least two components: 1) an inhibitory component which acts through an undetermined mechanism and which acts immediately to decrease cyclase activity; and 2) an activating component which modulates the inhibited cyclase activity through the guanine nucleotide regulatory protein.

Forskolin as an activator of cyclic AMP accumulation and lipolysis in rat adipocytes

Forskolin increased cyclic AMP accumulation in isolated adipocytes and markedly potentiated the elevation of cyclic AMP due to isoproterenol. In adipocyte membranes, forskolin stimulated adenylate cyclase activity at concentrations of 0.1 microM or greater. Forskolin did not affect the EC50 for activation of adenylate cyclase but did increase the maximal effect of isoproterenol. Neither the soluble nor particulate low-Km cyclic AMP phosphodiesterase activity was affected by forskolin. Low concentrations of forskolin (0.1-1.0 microM), which significantly elevated cyclic AMP levels, did not increase lipolysis, whereas similar increases in cyclic AMP levels due to isoproterenol elevated lipolysis. Forskolin did not inhibit the activation of triacylglycerol lipase by cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase or the subsequent hydrolysis of triacylglycerol. Higher concentrations of forskolin (10-100 microM) did increase lipolysis. Both the increased cyclic AMP production and lipolysis due to forskolin were inhibited by the antilipolytic agents insulin and N6-(phenylisopropyl)adenosine. Hypothyroidism reduced the ability of forskolin to stimulate cyclic AMP production and lipolysis. These results indicate that forskolin increases cyclic AMP production in adipocytes through an activation of adenylate cyclase. Lipolysis is activated by forskolin but at higher concentrations of total cyclic AMP than for catecholamines.

Adenosine 3',5'-monophosphate analogs promote a circular morphology of cultured Schwannoma cells

Dibutyryl adenosine 3',5'-monophosphate (dibutyrl cycle AMP) and 8-bromo cyclic AMP stimulated cells cultured from a rat Schwannoma to change their morphology from irregularly shaped to flattened circular and hollow circular forms within 30 minutes. The change in shape was specifically effected by analogs of cyclic AMP and cyclic AMP elevating agents, was reversible after removal of these additives, and was prevented by vinblastine and cytochalasin b, but was not affected by actinomycin D or cycloheximide.