Effective siRNA delivery and target mRNA degradation using an amphipathic peptide to facilitate pH-dependent endosomal escape.

Effective delivery of siRNA (small interfering RNA) into the cells requires the translocation of siRNA into the cytosol. One potential delivery strategy uses cell-delivery peptides that facilitate this step. In the present paper, we describe the characterization of an amphipathic peptide that mediates the uptake of non-covalently bound siRNA into cells and its subsequent release into the cytosol. Biophysical characterization of peptide and peptide/siRNA mixtures at neutral and lysosomal (acidic) pH suggested the formation of α-helical structure only in endosomes and lysosomes. Surprisingly, even though the peptide enhanced the uptake of siRNA into cells, no direct interaction between siRNA and peptide was observed at neutral pH by isothermal titration calorimetry. Importantly, we show that peptide-mediated siRNA uptake occurred through endocytosis and, by applying novel endosomal-escape assays and cell-fractionation techniques, we demonstrated a pH-dependent alteration in endosome and lysosome integrity and subsequent release of siRNA and other cargo into the cytosol. These results indicate a peptide-mediated siRNA delivery through a pH-dependent and conformation-specific interaction with cellular membranes and not with the cargo.

Quantitative evaluation of siRNA delivery in vivo.

Effective small interfering RNA (siRNA)-mediated therapeutics require the siRNA to be delivered into the cellular RNA-induced silencing complex (RISC). Quantitative information of this essential delivery step is currently inferred from the efficacy of gene silencing and siRNA uptake in the tissue. Here we report an approach to directly quantify siRNA in the RISC in rodents and monkey. This is achieved by specific immunoprecipitation of the RISC from tissue lysates and quantification of small RNAs in the immunoprecipitates by stem-loop PCR. The method, expected to be independent of delivery vehicle and target, is label-free, and the throughput is acceptable for preclinical animal studies. We characterized a lipid-formulated siRNA by integrating these approaches and obtained a quantitative perspective on siRNA tissue accumulation, RISC loading, and gene silencing. The described methodologies have utility for the study of silencing mechanism, the development of siRNA therapeutics, and clinical trial design.

Allosteric inhibitors of Akt1 and Akt2: discovery of [1,2,4]triazolo[3,4-f][1,6]naphthyridines with potent and balanced activity.

A series of [1,2,4]triazolo[3,4-f][1,6]naphthyridine allosteric dual inhibitors of Akt1 and 2 have been developed. These compounds have been shown to have potent dual Akt1 and 2 cell potency. The representative compound 13 provided potent inhibitory activity against Akt1 and 2 in vivo in a mouse model.

Discovery of potent and cell-active allosteric dual Akt 1 and 2 inhibitors.

This paper describes the improvement of cell potency in a class of allosteric Akt 1 and 2 inhibitors. Key discoveries include identifying the solvent exposed region of the molecule and appending basic amines to enhance the physiochemical properties of the molecules. Findings from the structure-activity relationships are discussed.

The design and synthesis of potent and cell-active allosteric dual Akt 1 and 2 inhibitors devoid of hERG activity.

This letter details the attenuation of hERG in a class of Akt inhibitors through heteroatom insertions into aromatic rings. The development of a cell-active dual Akt 1 and 2 inhibitors devoid of hERG activity is discussed using structure-activity relationships.

Allosteric inhibitors of Akt1 and Akt2: a naphthyridinone with efficacy in an A2780 tumor xenograft model.

A series of naphthyridine and naphthyridinone allosteric dual inhibitors of Akt1 and 2 have been developed. These compounds have been optimized to have potent dual activity against the activated kinase as well as the activation of Akt in cells. One molecule in particular, compound 17, has potent inhibitory activity against Akt1 and 2 in vivo in a mouse lung and efficacy in a tumor xenograft model.

Development of pyridopyrimidines as potent Akt1/2 inhibitors.

This communication reports a new synthetic route of pyridopyrimidines to facilitate their structural optimization in a library fashion and describes the development of pyridopyrimidines that have excellent enzymatic and cell potency against Akt1 and Akt2. This series also shows a high level of selectivity over other closely related kinases and significantly improved caspase-3 activity with the more optimized compounds.

Optimization of 2,3,5-trisubstituted pyridine derivatives as potent allosteric Akt1 and Akt2 inhibitors.

This letter shows inhibitor SAR on a pyridine series of allosteric Akt inhibitors to optimize enzymatic and cellular potency. We have optimized 2,3,5-trisubstituted pyridines to give potent Akt1 and Akt2 inhibitors in both enzyme and cell based assays. In addition, we will also highlight the pharmacokinetic profile of an optimized inhibitor that has low clearance and long half-life in dogs.

Rapid assembly of diverse and potent allosteric Akt inhibitors.

This paper describes the rapid assembly of four different classes of potent Akt inhibitors from a common intermediate. Among them, a pyridopyrimidine series displayed the best intrinsic and cell potency against Akt1 and Akt2. This series also showed a promising pharmacokinetic profile and excellent selectivity over other closely related kinases.

The PI3K/Akt pathway: recent progress in the development of ATP-competitive and allosteric Akt kinase inhibitors.

This article describes recent advances in the development and biological evaluation of allosteric and ATP-competitive small molecule inhibitors for the serine/threonine kinase Akt (protein kinase B, PKB). Unregulated activation of the PI3K/Akt/PTEN pathway is a prominent feature of many human cancers and Akt is over-expressed or activated in all major cancers making Akt an exciting new target for cancer therapy. The development of Akt inhibitors has been complicated and hampered by the presence of three Akt isozymes, (Akt1, Akt2 and Akt3) which differ in function and tissue distribution, as well as a lack of Akt specific inhibitors. In the past 18 months, a large number of reports have appeared describing the discovery and development of allosteric Akt kinase inhibitors and classical ATP-competitive Akt kinase inhibitors. This review will discuss the PI3K/Akt/PTEN pathway, allosteric and ATP-competitive Akt kinase inhibitors, their biological evaluation and progress towards target validation.

Development of potent, allosteric dual Akt1 and Akt2 inhibitors with improved physical properties and cell activity.

This letter describes the development of potent, allosteric dual Akt1 and Akt2 inhibitors with improved aqueous solubility (approximately 18 mg/mL) that translates into enhanced cell activity and caspase-3 induction.

Recent progress in the development of ATP-competitive and allosteric Akt kinase inhibitors.

This article describes recent advances in the development and biological evaluation of small molecule inhibitors for the serine/threonine kinase Akt (PKB). Akt plays a pivotal role in cell survival and proliferation through a number of downstream effectors. Recent studies indicate that unregulated activation of the PI3K/Akt pathway is a prominent feature of many human cancers and Akt is over-expressed or activated in all major cancers. Akt is considered an attractive target for cancer therapy and inhibition of Akt alone or in combination with standard cancer chemotherapeutics has been postulated to reduce the apoptotic threshold and preferentially kill cancer cells. The development of specific and potent inhibitors will allow this hypothesis to be tested in animals. Recently, several series of small molecule, ATP-competitive inhibitors have been reported with a range of Akt potencies and selectivities. Phosphatidylinositol (PI) analogs have been reported to inhibit Akt, but these inhibitors may also have specificity problems with respect to other pleckstrin homology (PH) domain containing proteins and may have poor bioavailability. In addition, novel allosteric inhibitors have been reported which are PH domain dependent, exhibit selectivity for the individual Akt isozymes and inhibit the activity and the activation of Akt. Compounds within these classes Akt inhibitors have sufficient potency and specificity to test for tumor efficacy in animal models and recently reported preliminary experiments are reviewed.

The Akt/PKB family of protein kinases: a review of small molecule inhibitors and progress towards target validation.

This article describes recent advances in the development and biological evaluation of small molecule inhibitors for the serine/threonine kinase Akt (PKB). Akt plays a pivotal role in cell survival and proliferation through a number of downstream effectors. Recent studies indicate that unregulated activation of the PI3K/Akt pathway is a prominent feature of many human cancers and Akt is over-expressed or activated in all major cancers. Akt is considered an attractive target for chemotherapy and it has been postulated that inhibition of Akt alone or in combination with standard cancer chemotherapeutics will reduce the apoptotic threshold and preferentially kill cancer cells. The development of specific and potent inhibitors will allow this hypothesis to be tested in animals. The majority of small molecule inhibitors in this nascent field are classic ATP-competitive inhibitors which provide little specificity. Phosphatidylinositol (PI) analogs have been reported to inhibit Akt, but these inhibitors may also have specificity problems with respect to other PH domain containing proteins and may have poor bioavailability. None of the inhibitors in these classes have been reported to have Akt isozyme specificity. Recently, novel allosteric inhibitors have been reported which are pleckstrin homology domain dependent and exhibit Akt isozyme selectivity. Inhibitors in this class may have sufficient potency and specificity to test for tumor efficacy in animal models and recently reported preliminary experiments are reviewed.

Discovery of 2,3,5-trisubstituted pyridine derivatives as potent Akt1 and Akt2 dual inhibitors.

This letter describes the discovery of a novel series of dual Akt1/Akt2 kinase inhibitors, based on a 2,3,5-trisubstituted pyridine scaffold. Compounds from this series, which contain a 5-tetrazolyl moiety, exhibit more potent inhibition of Akt2 than Akt1.

Tumor cell sensitization to apoptotic stimuli by selective inhibition of specific Akt/PKB family members.

Recent studies indicate that dysregulation of the Akt/PKB family of serine/threonine kinases is a prominent feature of many human cancers. The Akt/PKB family is composed of three members termed Akt1/PKBalpha, Akt2/PKBbeta, and Akt3/PKBgamma. It is currently not known to what extent there is functional overlap between these family members. We have recently identified small molecule inhibitors of Akt. These compounds have pleckstrin homology domain-dependent, isozyme-specific activity. In this report, we present data showing the relative contribution that inhibition of the different isozymes has on the apoptotic response of tumor cells to a variety of chemotherapies. In multiple cell backgrounds, maximal induction of caspase-3 activity is achieved when both Akt1 and Akt2 are inhibited. This induction is not reversed by overexpression of functionally active Akt3. The level of caspase-3 activation achieved under these conditions is equivalent to that observed with the phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase inhibitor LY294002. We also show that in different tumor cell backgrounds inhibition of mammalian target of rapamycin, a downstream substrate of Akt, is less effective in inducing caspase-3 activity than inhibition of Akt1 and Akt2. This shows that the survival phenotype conferred by Akt can be mediated by signaling pathways independent of mammalian target of rapamycin in some tumor cell backgrounds. Finally, we show that inhibition of both Akt1 and Akt2 selectively sensitizes tumor cells, but not normal cells, to apoptotic stimuli.

Allosteric Akt (PKB) inhibitors: discovery and SAR of isozyme selective inhibitors.

This letter describes the development of two series of potent and selective allosteric Akt kinase inhibitors that display an unprecedented level of selectivity for either Akt1, Akt2 or both Akt1/Akt2. An iterative analog library synthesis approach quickly provided a highly selective Akt1/Akt2 inhibitor that induces apoptosis in tumor cells and inhibits Akt phosphorylation in vivo.

Identification and characterization of pleckstrin-homology-domain-dependent and isoenzyme-specific Akt inhibitors.

We developed a high-throughput HTRF (homogeneous time-resolved fluorescence) assay for Akt kinase activity and screened approx. 270000 compounds for their ability to inhibit the three isoforms of Akt. Two Akt inhibitors were identified that exhibited isoenzyme specificity. The first compound (Akt-I-1) inhibited only Akt1 (IC50 4.6 microM) while the second compound (Akt-I-1,2) inhibited both Akt1 and Akt2 with IC50 values of 2.7 and 21 microM respectively. Neither compound inhibited Akt3 nor mutants lacking the PH (pleckstrin homology) domain at concentrations up to 250 microM. These compounds were reversible inhibitors, and exhibited a linear mixed-type inhibition against ATP and peptide substrate. In addition to inhibiting kinase activity of individual Akt isoforms, both inhibitors blocked the phosphorylation and activation of the corresponding Akt isoforms by PDK1 (phosphoinositide-dependent kinase 1). A model is proposed in which these inhibitors bind to a site formed only in the presence of the PH domain. Binding of the inhibitor is postulated to promote the formation of an inactive conformation. In support of this model, antibodies to the Akt PH domain or hinge region blocked the inhibition of Akt by Akt-I-1 and Akt-I-1,2. These inhibitors were found to be cell-active and to block phosphorylation of Akt at Thr308 and Ser473, reduce the levels of active Akt in cells, block the phosphorylation of known Akt substrates and promote TRAIL (tumour-necrosis-factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand)-induced apoptosis in LNCap prostate cancer cells.