Inhibition of CREB phosphorylation by conjugates of adenosine analogues and arginine-rich peptides, inhibitors of PKA catalytic subunit.

Bisubstrate inhibitors of protein kinases associate simultaneously with two substrate-binding sites of the kinase and thus potentially possess better inhibitory potency and selectivity than inhibitors binding to only the conserved ATP-site of the kinase. We have previously used conjugates of adenosine analogues and arginine-rich peptides (ARCs) to develop proteolytically stable cell plasma membrane-permeable bisubstrate inhibitors whose biochemical affinities towards several basophilic protein kinases of the AGC group are in the picomolar range. The potency of bisubstrate inhibitors to affect the phosphorylation of proteins in living cells has been described in a limited number of publications. In this study, the effect of ARCs on the protein kinase A (PKA)-catalysed cAMP response element-binding protein (CREB) phosphorylation pathway was studied in living mammalian cells. Our results demonstrate that at low micromolar extracellular concentration N-myristoylated ARCs are capable of reducing the activity of transcription factor CREB through inhibition of PKA.

Responsive microsecond-lifetime photoluminescent probes for analysis of protein kinases and their inhibitors.

Responsive ARC-Lum probes were used for measurement of the concentration of active protein kinases (PKs) and determination of affinity of inhibitors of PKs. ARC-Lum probes incorporate thiophene or a selenophene heterocycle and a fluorophore conjugated to the lysine residue in the peptide fragment. In the complex with a PK, ARC-Lum probes emit long-lifetime (microsecond-scale) luminescence at the emission wavelengths of the fluorescent label if the complex is illuminated at the excitation wavelength of the thiophene- or selenophene-containing phosphorescence donors. Bisubstrate ARC-Lum probes bind with sub-nanomolar affinity with several PKs of the AGC group. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Inhibitors of Protein Kinases (2012).

Time-gated luminescence assay using nonmetal probes for determination of protein kinase activity-based disease markers.

A novel nonmetal optical probe ARC-1063 whose long-lifetime luminescence is induced by association with the target protein kinase is used for the measurement of the concentration of catalytic subunit of protein kinase A (PKAc) in complicated biological solutions. High affinity (K(D) = 10 pM toward PKAc) and unique optical properties of the probe enable its application for the measurement of picomolar concentrations of PKAc in the presence of high concentrations of other proteins. The described assay is applicable in the high-throughput format with the instrument setups designed for lanthanide-based time-gated (time-resolved) luminescence methods. The assay is used for demonstration that extracellular PKAc (ECPKA) is present in plasma samples of all healthy persons and cancer patients but great care must be taken for procedures of treatment of blood samples to avoid disruption, damage, or activation of platelets in the course of plasma (or serum) preparation and conservation.

Conjugates of 5-isoquinolinesulfonylamides and oligo-D-arginine possess high affinity and selectivity towards Rho kinase (ROCK).

In the present work, conjugates of 5-isoquinolinesulfonylamides and D-arginine-rich peptides were developed into highly potent inhibitors for basophilic protein kinases. Based on Hidaka's inhibitor H9, a generic fluorescent probe ARC-1083 was constructed possessing subnanomolar dissociation constant towards several kinases of the AGC-group. Thereafter, Hidaka's inhibitor HA1077 or Fasudil was conjugated with oligo-D-arginine resulting in the compound ARC-3002 revealing high affinity towards ROCK-II (K(d)=20 pM) and over 160-fold selectivity compared to PKAc.

Bisubstrate fluorescent probes and biosensors in binding assays for HTS of protein kinase inhibitors.

Conjugates of adenosine mimics and d-arginine-rich peptides (ARCs) are potent inhibitors of protein kinases (PKs) from the AGC group. Labeling ARCs with fluorescent dyes or immobilizing on chip surfaces gives fluorescent probes (ARC-Photo) and biosensors that can be used for high-throughput screening (HTS) of inhibitors of protein kinases. The bisubstrate character (simultaneous association with both binding sites of the kinase) and high affinity of ARCs allow ARC-based probes and sensors to be used for characterization of inhibitors targeted to either binding site of the kinase with affinities in whole nanomolar to micromolar range. The ability to penetrate cell plasma membrane and bind to the target kinase fused with a fluorescent protein leads to the possibility to use ARC-Photo probes for high content screening (HCS) of inhibitors in cellular milieu with detection of intensity of Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) between two fluorophores.

Adenosine analogue-oligo-arginine conjugates (ARCs) serve as high-affinity inhibitors and fluorescence probes of type I cGMP-dependent protein kinase (PKGIalpha).

INTRODUCTION: Type I cGMP-dependent protein kinase (PKGIalpha) belongs to the family of cyclic nucleotide-dependent protein kinases and is one of the main effectors of cGMP. PKGIalpha is involved in regulation of cardiac contractility, vasorelaxation, and blood pressure; hence, the development of potent modulators of PKGIalpha would lead to advances in the treatment of a variety of cardiovascular diseases. AIM: Representatives of ARC-type compounds previously characterized as potent inhibitors and high-affinity fluorescent probes of PKA catalytic subunit (PKAc) were tested towards PKGIalpha to determine that ARCs could serve as activity regulators and sensors for the latter protein kinase both in vitro and in complex biological systems. RESULTS: Structure-activity profiling of ARCs with PKGIalpha in vitro demonstrated both similarities as well as differences to corresponding profiling with PKAc, whereas ARC-903 and ARC-668 revealed low nanomolar displacement constants and inhibition IC(50) values with both cyclic nucleotide-dependent kinases. The ability of ARC-based fluorescent probes to penetrate cell plasma membrane was demonstrated in the smooth muscle tissue of rat cerebellum isolated arteries, and the compound with the highest affinity in vitro (ARC-903) showed also potential for in vivo applications, fully abolishing the PKG1alpha-induced vasodilation.

Small-molecule FRET probes for protein kinase activity monitoring in living cells.

In this study, the applicability of fluorescently labeled adenosine analogue-oligoarginine conjugates (ARC-Photo probes) for monitoring of protein kinase A (PKA) activity in living cells was demonstrated. ARC-Photo probes possessing subnanomolar affinity towards the catalytic subunit of PKA (PKAc) and competitive with the regulatory subunit (PKAr), penetrate cell plasma membrane and associate with PKAc fused with yellow fluorescent protein (PKAc-YFP). Detection of inter-molecular Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) efficiency between the fluorophores of the fusion protein and ARC-Photo probe can be used for both the evaluation of non-labeled inhibitors of PKAc and for monitoring of cAMP signaling via detection of changes in the activity of PKA as a cAMP downstream effector.

High-affinity bisubstrate probe for fluorescence anisotropy binding/displacement assays with protein kinases PKA and ROCK.

The bisubstrate fluorescent probe ARC-583 (Adc-Ahx-(D-Arg)(6)-d-Lys(5-TAMRA)-NH2) and its application for the characterization of both ATP- and protein/peptide substrate-competitive inhibitors of protein kinases PKA (cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase) and ROCK (rho kinase) in fluorescence polarization-based assay are described. High affinity of the probe (K(D)=0.48 nM toward PKA) enables its application for the characterization of inhibitors with nanomolar and micromolar potency and determination of the active concentration of the kinase in individual experiments as well as in the high-throughput screening format. The probe can be used for the assessment of protein-protein interactions (e.g., between regulatory and catalytic subunits of PKA) and as a cyclic AMP biosensor.

Conjugation of adenosine and hexa-(D-arginine) leads to a nanomolar bisubstrate-analog inhibitor of basophilic protein kinases.

Conjugates of oligoarginine peptides with adenine, adenosine, adenosine-5'-carboxylic acid, and 5-isoquinolinesulfonic acid were synthesized and characterized as bisubstrate-analog inhibitors of cAMP-dependent protein kinase. Adenosine and adenine derivatives were connected to the N- or C-terminus of peptides containing four to six L- or D-arginine residues via a linker with a length that had been optimized in structure-activity studies. The orientation of the peptide chain strongly affected the activity of compounds incorporating D-arginines. The biligand inhibitor containing Hidaka's H9 isoquinolinesulfonamide connected to the L-peptide had 65 times higher potency than the corresponding adenosine-containing conjugate, while both types of the conjugate comprising D-peptides had similar low nanomolar activity. Two of the most active adenosine- and H9-peptide conjugates were tested in the panel of 52 different kinases. At 1 microM concentration, both compounds showed strong (more than 95%) inhibition of several basophilic AGC kinases, including pharmaceutically important kinases ROCK II and PKB/Akt.

Selective bisubstrate inhibitors with sub-nanomolar affinity for protein kinase Pim-1.

Potent and selective: The unique nature of the ATP binding pocket structure of Pim family protein kinases (PKs) was used for the development of bisubstrate inhibitors and a fluorescent probe with sub-nanomolar affinity. Conjugates of arginine-rich peptides with two ATP mimetic scaffolds were synthesized and tested as inhibitors of Pim-1. Against a panel of 124 protein kinases, a novel ARC-PIM conjugate selectively inhibited PKs of the Pim family.

Time-gated luminescence microscopy with responsive nonmetal probes for mapping activity of protein kinases in living cells.

A photoluminescence probe ARC-1185, possessing both high affinity towards basophilic protein kinases (PKs) and microsecond-scale luminescence lifetime when associated with a kinase, was used for the mapping of ARC-1185-PK complexes in living cells with time-gated luminescence microscopy.

Protein-induced long lifetime luminescence of nonmetal probes.

Time-resolved luminometry-based assays have great potential for measurements in complicated biological solutions and living cells as the measured signal can be easily distinguished from nanosecond lifetime background fluorescence of organic compounds and autofluorescence of cells. In the present study we discovered that binding of a thiophene- or a selenophene-containing heteroaromatic moiety (luminescence donor) to the purine-binding pocket of a protein kinase (PK) induces long lifetime photoluminescence signal that is largely intensified through efficient energy transfer to a fluorescent dye present in close proximity to the luminescence donor. The developed ARC-Lum probes possessing 19-266 µs luminescence lifetime when associated with the target kinase can be used for determination of activity of basophilic PKs, characterization of inhibitors of PKs, and as cAMP sensors. An ARC-Lum probe was also used for the determination of kinetic parameters of inhibitor binding to the catalytic subunit of protein kinase A (PKAc). Effective real-time monitoring of the activation of PKA by Forskolin and the displacement of an ARC-Lum probe from its complex with PKA by inhibitor H89 was performed in live cells. The discovered phenomenon, protein-induced long lifetime luminescence of aromatic probes is very likely to occur with all PKs and many other proteins.

Carbocyclic 3'-deoxyadenosine-based highly potent bisubstrate-analog inhibitor of basophilic protein kinases.

Carbocyclic analogs of 3'-deoxyadenosine were synthesized as racemates and the resulting stereoisomers were separated by chromatography on a chiral column. The conjugation of obtained compounds with hexa-(D-arginine) via 6-aminohexanoic acid linker led to a highly potent inhibitor of several basophilic protein kinases with some selectivity towards cAMP-dependent protein kinase.

Surface-plasmon-resonance-based biosensor with immobilized bisubstrate analog inhibitor for the determination of affinities of ATP- and protein-competitive ligands of cAMP-dependent protein kinase.

Interactions between adenosine-oligoarginine conjugates (ARC), bisubstrate analog inhibitors of protein kinases, and catalytic subunits of cAMP-dependent protein kinase (cAPK Calpha) were characterized with surface-plasmon-resonance-based biosensors. ARC-704 bound to the immobilized kinase with subnanomolar affinity. The immobilization of ARC-704 to the chip surface via streptavidin-biotin complex yielded a high-affinity surface (K(D)=16nM). The bisubstrate character of ARC-704 was demonstrated with various ligands targeted to ATP-binding pocket (ATP and inhibitors H89 and H1152P) and protein-substrate-binding domain of Calpha (RIIalpha and GST-PKIalpha) in competition assays. The experiments performed on surfaces with different immobilization levels of ARC-704 produced similar results. The closeness of the obtained affinities of the tested compounds to the inhibitory potencies and affinities of the compounds measured with other methods demonstrates the applicability of the chip with the immobilized biligand inhibitor for the characterization of both ATP- and substrate protein-competitive ligands of basophilic protein kinases.

Fluorometric TLC assay for evaluation of protein kinase inhibitors.

A fluorometric assay for measuring protein kinase activity has been developed. The assay is based on the separation of fluorescently marked substrate 5-carboxytetramethylrhodamine-kemptide (5-TAMRA-kemptide) from its phosphorylated counterpart by TLC and quantification of the product ratiometrically by fluorescence imaging. The utility of the assay was demonstrated by measuring the activity of cAMP-dependent protein kinase. 5-TAMRA-kemptide was characterized as a substrate of this kinase by the kinetic parameters K(m)(app) and V(max). The attachment of 5-TAMRA dye to the N terminal of kemptide decreased the K(m)(app) value but did not have a significant effect on the rate and stoichiometry of the phosphorylation reaction. The inhibitory potency of three known inhibitors was evaluated with the new assay. The closeness of the obtained inhibitory activities of the compounds to the activities determined with the phosphocellulose paper-binding assay, as well as the Z' factor value of 0.5, demonstrates the reliability of the new assay for evaluation of inhibitors of protein kinases.