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French AR, Meqbil YJ, van Rijn RM. ClickArr: a novel, high-throughput assay for evaluating β-arrestin isoform recruitment. Front Pharmacol 2023; 14:1295518. [PMID: 38027002 PMCID: PMC10662323 DOI: 10.3389/fphar.2023.1295518] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/16/2023] [Accepted: 10/13/2023] [Indexed: 12/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Background: Modern methods for quantifying signaling bias at G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) rely on using a single β-arrestin isoform. However, it is increasingly appreciated that the two β-arrestin isoforms have unique roles, requiring the ability to assess β-arrestin isoform preference. Thus, methods are needed to efficiently screen the recruitment of both β-arrestin isoforms as they compete for a target GPCR in cells. Methods: We used molecular cloning to develop fusion proteins of the δ-opioid receptor (δOR), β-arrestin 1, and β-arrestin 2 to fragments of click beetle green and click beetle red luciferases. In this assay architecture, recruitment of either β-arrestin 1 or 2 to the δOR generates a spectrally distinct bioluminescent signal, allowing us to co-transfect all three constructs into cells prior to agonist challenge. Results: We demonstrate that our new assay, named "ClickArr," is a live-cell assay that simultaneously reports the recruitment of both β-arrestin isoforms as they compete for interaction with the δOR. We further find that the partial δOR agonist TAN67 has a significant efficacy bias for β-arrestin 2 over β-arrestin 1 when recruitment is normalized to the reference agonist leu-enkephalin. We confirm that ClickArr reports this bias when run either as a high-throughput endpoint or high-throughput kinetic assay, and cross-validate this result using the PathHunter assay, an orthogonal commercial assay for reporting β-arrestin recruitment to the δOR. Conclusion: Our results suggest that agonist:GPCR complexes can have relative β-arrestin isoform bias, a novel signaling bias that may potentially open up a new dimension for drug development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexander R. French
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, United States
- Purdue Institute for Integrative Neuroscience, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, United States
| | - Yazan J. Meqbil
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, United States
- Computational Interdisciplinary Graduate Program, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, United States
| | - Richard M. van Rijn
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, United States
- Purdue Institute for Integrative Neuroscience, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, United States
- Purdue Institute for Drug Discovery, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, United States
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Zhou Z, Van der Jeught K, Li Y, Sharma S, Yu T, Moulana I, Liu S, Wan J, Territo PR, Opyrchal M, Zhang X, Wan G, Lu X. A T Cell-Engaging Tumor Organoid Platform for Pancreatic Cancer Immunotherapy. Adv Sci (Weinh) 2023; 10:e2300548. [PMID: 37271874 PMCID: PMC10427404 DOI: 10.1002/advs.202300548] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/25/2023] [Revised: 04/22/2023] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDA) is a clinically challenging disease with limited treatment options. Despite a small percentage of cases with defective mismatch DNA repair (dMMR), PDA is included in the most immune-resistant cancer types that are poorly responsive to immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) therapy. To facilitate drug discovery combating this immunosuppressive tumor type, a high-throughput drug screen platform is established with the newly developed T cell-incorporated pancreatic tumor organoid model. Tumor-specific T cells are included in the pancreatic tumor organoids by two-step cell packaging, fully recapitulating immune infiltration in the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment (TME). The organoids are generated with key components in the original tumor, including epithelial, vascular endothelial, fibroblast and macrophage cells, and then packaged with T cells into their outside layer mimicking a physical barrier and enabling T cell infiltration and cytotoxicity studies. In the PDA organoid-based screen, epigenetic inhibitors ITF2357 and I-BET151 are identified, which in combination with anti-PD-1 based therapy show considerably greater anti-tumor effect. The combinatorial treatment turns the TME from immunosuppressive to immunoactive, up-regulates the MHC-I antigen processing and presentation, and enhances the effector T cell activity. The standardized PDA organoid model has shown great promise to accelerate drug discovery for the immunosuppressive cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhuolong Zhou
- Department of Medical and Molecular GeneticsIndiana University School of MedicineIndianapolisIN46202USA
| | - Kevin Van der Jeught
- Department of Medical and Molecular GeneticsIndiana University School of MedicineIndianapolisIN46202USA
| | - Yujing Li
- Department of Medical and Molecular GeneticsIndiana University School of MedicineIndianapolisIN46202USA
| | - Samantha Sharma
- Department of Medical and Molecular GeneticsIndiana University School of MedicineIndianapolisIN46202USA
| | - Tao Yu
- Department of Medical and Molecular GeneticsIndiana University School of MedicineIndianapolisIN46202USA
| | - Ishara Moulana
- Department of Medical and Molecular GeneticsIndiana University School of MedicineIndianapolisIN46202USA
| | - Sheng Liu
- Department of Medical and Molecular GeneticsCenter for Computational Biology and BioinformaticsIndiana University School of MedicineIndianapolisIN46202USA
| | - Jun Wan
- Department of Medical and Molecular GeneticsCenter for Computational Biology and BioinformaticsIndiana University School of MedicineIndianapolisIN46202USA
| | - Paul R. Territo
- Department of Radiology and Imaging SciencesIndiana University School of MedicineIndianapolisIN46202USA
| | - Mateusz Opyrchal
- Division of Hematology/OncologyDepartment of MedicineMelvin and Bren Simon Comprehensive Cancer CenterIndiana University School of MedicineIndianapolisIN46202USA
| | - Xinna Zhang
- Department of Medical and Molecular GeneticsMelvin and Bren Simon Comprehensive Cancer CenterIndiana University School of MedicineIndianapolisIN46202USA
| | - Guohui Wan
- School of Pharmaceutical SciencesSun Yat‐Sen UniversityGuangzhou510006China
| | - Xiongbin Lu
- Department of Medical and Molecular GeneticsCenter for Computational Biology and BioinformaticsMelvin and Bren Simon Comprehensive Cancer CenterIndiana University School of MedicineIndianapolisIN46202USA
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Sterin I, Santos AC, Park S. Neuronal Activity Reporters as Drug Screening Platforms. Micromachines (Basel) 2022; 13:1500. [PMID: 36144123 PMCID: PMC9504476 DOI: 10.3390/mi13091500] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/02/2022] [Revised: 08/25/2022] [Accepted: 09/06/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
Understanding how neuronal activity changes and detecting such changes in both normal and disease conditions is of fundamental importance to the field of neuroscience. Neuronal activity plays important roles in the formation and function of both synapses and circuits, and dysregulation of these processes has been linked to a number of debilitating diseases such as autism, schizophrenia, and epilepsy. Despite advances in our understanding of synapse biology and in how it is altered in disease, the development of therapeutics for these diseases has not advanced apace. Many neuronal activity assays have been developed over the years using a variety of platforms and approaches, but major limitations persist. Current assays, such as fluorescence indicators are not designed to monitor neuronal activity over a long time, they are typically low-throughput or lack sensitivity. These are major barriers to the development of new therapies, as drug screening needs to be both high-throughput to screen through libraries of compounds, and longitudinal to detect any effects that may emerge after continued application of the drug. This review will cover existing assays for measuring neuronal activity and highlight a live-cell assay recently developed. This assay can be performed with easily accessible lab equipment, is both scalable and longitudinal, and can be combined with most other established methods.
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Affiliation(s)
- Igal Sterin
- Department of Neurobiology, University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA
| | - Ana C. Santos
- Department of Neurobiology, University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA
- Center for Neuroscience, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA 95618, USA
| | - Sungjin Park
- Department of Neurobiology, University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA
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Nguyen PBH, Ohnmacht AJ, Sharifli S, Garnett MJ, Menden MP. Inferred Ancestral Origin of Cancer Cell Lines Associates with Differential Drug Response. Int J Mol Sci 2021; 22:ijms221810135. [PMID: 34576298 PMCID: PMC8467551 DOI: 10.3390/ijms221810135] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/23/2021] [Revised: 09/16/2021] [Accepted: 09/17/2021] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Disparities between risk, treatment outcomes and survival rates in cancer patients across the world may be attributed to socioeconomic factors. In addition, the role of ancestry is frequently discussed. In preclinical studies, high-throughput drug screens in cancer cell lines have empowered the identification of clinically relevant molecular biomarkers of drug sensitivity; however, the genetic ancestry from tissue donors has been largely neglected in this setting. In order to address this, here, we show that the inferred ancestry of cancer cell lines is conserved and may impact drug response in patients as a predictive covariate in high-throughput drug screens. We found that there are differential drug responses between European and East Asian ancestries, especially when treated with PI3K/mTOR inhibitors. Our finding emphasizes a new angle in precision medicine, as cancer intervention strategies should consider the germline landscape, thereby reducing the failure rate of clinical trials.
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Affiliation(s)
- Phong B. H. Nguyen
- Helmholtz Center Munich, Institute of Computational Biology, 85764 Neuherberg, Germany; (P.B.H.N.); (A.J.O.); (S.S.)
- Department of Biology, Ludwig-Maximilians University Munich, 82152 Martinsried, Germany
| | - Alexander J. Ohnmacht
- Helmholtz Center Munich, Institute of Computational Biology, 85764 Neuherberg, Germany; (P.B.H.N.); (A.J.O.); (S.S.)
- Department of Biology, Ludwig-Maximilians University Munich, 82152 Martinsried, Germany
| | - Samir Sharifli
- Helmholtz Center Munich, Institute of Computational Biology, 85764 Neuherberg, Germany; (P.B.H.N.); (A.J.O.); (S.S.)
- Department of Mathematics, Technical University Munich, 85748 Garching, Germany
| | - Mathew J. Garnett
- Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Wellcome Genome Campus, Hinxton CB10 1SA, UK;
| | - Michael P. Menden
- Helmholtz Center Munich, Institute of Computational Biology, 85764 Neuherberg, Germany; (P.B.H.N.); (A.J.O.); (S.S.)
- Department of Biology, Ludwig-Maximilians University Munich, 82152 Martinsried, Germany
- German Center for Diabetes Research (DZD e.V.), 85764 Neuherberg, Germany
- Correspondence:
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Konopka G, Wexler E, Rosen E, Mukamel Z, Osborn GE, Chen L, Lu D, Gao F, Gao K, Lowe JK, Geschwind DH. Modeling the functional genomics of autism using human neurons. Mol Psychiatry 2012; 17:202-14. [PMID: 21647150 PMCID: PMC3170664 DOI: 10.1038/mp.2011.60] [Citation(s) in RCA: 65] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
Human neural progenitors from a variety of sources present new opportunities to model aspects of human neuropsychiatric disease in vitro. Such in vitro models provide the advantages of a human genetic background combined with rapid and easy manipulation, making them highly useful adjuncts to animal models. Here, we examined whether a human neuronal culture system could be utilized to assess the transcriptional program involved in human neural differentiation and to model some of the molecular features of a neurodevelopmental disorder, such as autism. Primary normal human neuronal progenitors (NHNPs) were differentiated into a post-mitotic neuronal state through addition of specific growth factors and whole-genome gene expression was examined throughout a time course of neuronal differentiation. After 4 weeks of differentiation, a significant number of genes associated with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are either induced or repressed. This includes the ASD susceptibility gene neurexin 1, which showed a distinct pattern from neurexin 3 in vitro, and which we validated in vivo in fetal human brain. Using weighted gene co-expression network analysis, we visualized the network structure of transcriptional regulation, demonstrating via this unbiased analysis that a significant number of ASD candidate genes are coordinately regulated during the differentiation process. As NHNPs are genetically tractable and manipulable, they can be used to study both the effects of mutations in multiple ASD candidate genes on neuronal differentiation and gene expression in combination with the effects of potential therapeutic molecules. These data also provide a step towards better understanding of the signaling pathways disrupted in ASD.
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