Environmental toxicant-induced germ cell apoptosis in the human fetal testis.

BACKGROUND: Disorders of the male reproductive system are increasing in prevalence. The term testicular dysgenesis syndrome emphasizes the importance of developmental influences on the aetiology of conditions including cryptorchidism, testicular germ cell cancer and reduced spermatogenesis. Men whose mothers smoked during pregnancy have lower sperm production. Cigarette smoke contains agents acting on the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR). We have investigated the presence of AHR in the developing human testis and the effects of functional activation. METHODS AND RESULTS: Immunohistochemistry determined AHR to be expressed by germ cells in the human testis between 7 and 19 week gestation, but not by other cells. Treatment of cultured fetal testis with an AHR ligand present in tobacco smoke increased markers of cell apoptosis, and this was prevented by an AHR receptor antagonist. Immunohistochemistry indicated that apoptosis was restricted to germ cells. CONCLUSIONS: Germ cells in the developing human testis are a target for regulation by AHR ligands. Activation of AHR by environmental toxicants and AHR-induced apoptotic pathways may be the mechanism of action underlying the epidemiological findings of reduced spermatogenesis in men exposed to cigarette smoke before birth, and may also be of importance in other conditions comprising the testicular dysgenesis syndrome.

Object-oriented approach to drug design enabled by NMR SOLVE: first real-time structural tool for characterizing protein-ligand interactions.

As a result of genomics efforts, the number of protein drug targets is expected to increase by an order of magnitude. Functional genomics efforts are identifying these targets, while structural genomics efforts are determining structures for many of them. However, there is a significant gap in going from structural information for a protein target to a high affinity (K(d) < 100 nM) inhibitor, and the problem is multiplied by the sheer number of new targets now available. nature frequently designs proteins in classes that are related by the reuse, through gene duplication events, of cofactor binding domains. This reuse of functional domains is an efficient way to build related proteins in that it is object-oriented. There is a growing realization that the most efficient drug design strategies for attacking the mass of targets coming from genomics efforts will be systems-based approaches that attack groups of related proteins in parallel. We propose that the most effective drug design strategy will be one that parallels the object-oriented manner by which nature designed the gene families themselves. IOPE (Integrated Object-Oriented PharmacoEngineering) is such an approach. It is a three-step technology to build focused combinatorial libraries of potential inhibitors for major families and sub-families of enzymes, using cogent NMR data derived from representatives of these protein families. The NMR SOLVE (Structurally Oriented Library Valency Engineering) data used to design these libraries are gathered in days, and data can be obtained for large proteins (> 170 kDa). Furthermore, the process is fully object-oriented in that once a given bi-ligand is identified for a target, potency is retained if different cofactor mimics are swapped. This gives the drug design process maximum flexibility, allowing for the more facile transition from in vitro potency to in vivo efficacy.

Multivalent thioether-peptide conjugates: B cell tolerance of an anti-peptide immune response.

Antibodies which bind beta2-glycoprotein I (beta2GPI) are associated with antiphospholipid syndrome. Synthetic peptide mimotopes have been discovered which compete with beta2GPI for binding to selected anti-beta2GPI. A thiol-containing linker was attached to the N-terminus of two cyclic thioether peptide mimotopes, peptides 1a and 1b. The resulting peptides, with linker attached, were reacted with two different haloacetylated platforms to prepare four tetravalent peptide-platform conjugates to be tested as B cell toleragens. The linker-containing peptides were reacted with maleimide-derivatized keyhole limpet hemocyanin (KLH) to provide peptide-KLH conjugates. Peptides 1a and 1b were also modified by acylation with 3-(4'-hydroxyphenyl)propionic acid N-hydroxysuccinimidyl ester. The resulting hydroxyphenyl peptides were radioiodinated and used to measure anti-peptide antibody levels. The KLH conjugates were used to immunize mice to generate an anti-peptide immune response. The immunized mice were treated with the conjugates or saline solution and boosted with the appropriate peptide-KLH conjugate. Three of the four conjugates suppressed the formation of anti-peptide antibody. The stabilities of the conjugates in mouse serum were measured, and the relative stabilities did not correlate with ability to suppress antibody formation.

Carbonothioate phospholipids as substrate for a spectrophotometric assay of phospholipase A2.

A continuous spectrophotometric assay for phospholipase A2 (PLA2) was developed using novel carbonothioate phospholipids. These phospholipid analogues contain a carbonothioate bond in the place of the sn-2 ester of the natural substrates of phospholipase A2 and were synthesized in a one-pot two-step reaction. Phospholipase A2 from cobra venom (Naja naja atra) hydrolyzes carbonothioate phospholipids and liberates a free thiol, alkylmercaptan, which is reacted with 5,5'-dithiobis(2-nitrobenzoic acid) to yield a product that absorbs at 412 nm. The kinetic studies on PLA2 hydrolysis of carbonothioate phospholipids were carried out in pure phospholipid forms and in Triton X-100 mixed micelles. The hydrolysis of pure carbonothioate phospholipids exhibits an interfacial activation phenomenon. The hydrolysis of phospholipid in mixed Triton X-100 micelles follows classical Michaelis-Menten kinetics. In a mixed micellar system, the catalytic efficiency observed with this series of substrates is two orders of magnitude lower than that of the hydrolysis of the natural substrate dipalmitoyl phosphocholine. However, these substrates bind to the enzyme over 10 times tighter than does the natural substrate. Application of this carbonothioate assay to screen both reversible and irreversible enzyme inhibitors of phospholipase A2 is also demonstrated.

Structural characterization and optimization of antibody-selected phage library mimotopes of an antigen associated with autoimmune recurrent thrombosis.

The presence of high titers of anti-cardiolipin antibodies (ACA's) of autoimmune origin, which are known to bind to plasma beta2-glycoprotein I (aka apolipoprotein H), correlates clinically with autoimmune recurrent thrombosis. Soluble beta2-glycoprotein I binds to solid-phase ACA (immobilized on a surface plasmon resonance chip) with a Kd of 1.4 microM, but if the reactants are reversed and beta2-glycoprotein I is on the solid-phase support, then the Kd is 52 nM. This 27-fold difference in affinity reflects the avidity/entropic advantage obtained for an antibody binding to an antigen that is made multivalent because it is attached to a solid phase. A mimotope of this antigen, selected from a phage display peptide library screen with an ACA, has been shown to bind to solid-phase ACA as a phage, using surface plasmon resonance. This peptide is representative of the motif from 37 peptides obtained in a previously reported phage library screen with this ACA (1). A synthetic version of this peptide, referred to as P4, has the sequence: A1G2P3C4I5L6L7A8R9D10R11C12P13G14, and binds to its selecting antibody with a Kd of 42 nM. NMR data indicate that proline-13 is present in both cis and trans configurations, and that these two geometries dramatically affect the overall tertiary structure of the molecule. The peptide lacking this proline binds severalfold better to the ACA, consistent with at least one of these structures having low affinity for binding ACA. Replacement of the arginine-9 position with a proline decreases binding affinity to ACA 10-fold. Another phage library-selected peptide has a proline in position 9, but also has a leucine in position 5, instead of isoleucine. Since its affinity for ACA is nearly as good as that for peptide P4, the phage library screening must have selected for a non-beta-branched amino acid in this position to compensate for the adverse effects of the arginine-9 to proline-9 substitution. The solution structure of a modified version of the antibody-selected phage peptide P4 with the central proline was determined. This peptide has one turn comprised of Ala-Pro-Asp-Arg, with the proline peptide bond in the cis configuration, and another turn that contains the disulfide and adjacent residues. If the disulfide is replaced by a thioether, and the central proline by an alpha-methyl proline, in an attempt to make the peptide more biologically stable, there is little adverse effect on affinity for ACA. The thioether bond/turn is fairly well defined with a Calpha to Calpha separation of 4.9 +/- 0.8 A. The alpha-methyl proline adopts the trans configuration, and this central Ala-(alpha-methyl-Pro)-Asp-Arg turn adopts a distorted type I turn conformation with a probable i to i+3 hydrogen bond. Modeling studies suggest that the proline peptide bond configuration switched from cis to trans in the presence of the alpha-methyl group on proline because of steric hindrance with the beta-carbon of the preceding residue. Overall, this peptidomimetic molecule is structurally very similar to the peptide with natural amino acids, with an rmsd difference of only 1.37 A, when comparing backbone atoms.

Current insights into the "antiphospholipid" syndrome: clinical, immunological, and molecular aspects.

Advances in defining the target antigen(s) for the autoantibodies in the APS highlight the inadequacies of the current classification of these autoantibodies into anticardiolipin and LA antibodies. The discovery that beta 2GPI is the target antigen for the autoantibodies detected in solid-phase immunoassays has opened a number of areas of research linking these autoantibodies to atherogenesis and thrombus formation. Although the role of beta 2GPI in the regulation of blood coagulation in unclear, current evidence suggests that anti-beta 2GPI antibodies interfere with its "normal" role and appear to promote a procoagulant tendency. The expansion of research in this area and the diversity of the clinical manifestations of patients with APS have resulted in the inclusion of molecular biologists and pharmaceutical companies joining immunologists, hematologists, rheumatologists, obstetricians, neurologists, vascular surgeons, and protein and lipid biochemists in attempting to understand the pathophysiology of this condition. Although the published literature may result in conflicting results and introduce new controversies, developing standardized laboratory methods and extrapolation of in vitro experimental results to the vivo situation will advance our understanding of the regulation of the immune system and its interaction with normal hemostatic mechanisms. Since the authors' last review in 1991, the study and understanding of the pathophysiology of APS have evolved from lipid biochemistry to molecular techniques that may eventually provide specific therapies for the clinical manifestations of this condition. Although current treatment has improved the morbidity associated with this condition, especially in improving pregnancy outcomes, future therapies, as outlined in this review, may specifically address the biological abnormalities and have fewer side effects. Better diagnostic tools, such as magnetic resonance imaging with perfusion studies, will allow the study of the true incidence and prevalence of vascular flow changes/tissue ischemia and infarction associated with aPL antibodies and help determine treatment and prophylaxis for APS patients. APS is still the only hypercoagulable condition where both arterial and venous beds can be affected independently or in the same individual.

The structure-activity relationships of a series of suicide inhibitors of phospholipase A2.

A series of mechanism-based inhibitors of phospholipase A2 (SIBLINKS) were synthesized. These new SIBLINKS are phospholipid analogues that contain a para-substituted phenyl 3,3-dimethylglutaryl group in the place of the sn-2 acyl chain. The effect of the phenyl leaving group on inhibitory activity was studied by varying the electron-withdrawing ability of the para-substituted group. A strong correlation was observed between the leaving group potential of the suicide inhibitor and the inhibitory activity of the derivative toward cobra venom phospholipase A2.

Pharmacological intervention in antibody mediated disease.

The use of single signal anergy to inactive pathological B cells in an antigen-specific manner is discussed. Cross-linking surface immunoglobulin, with a construct which contains oligovalent B cell epitopes on a non-immunogenic molecular framework can be used to inactivate the target B cells if the construct lacks T cells epitopes. An example of such a B cell toleragen is LJP 394, which inactivates anti-dsDNA-specific B cells in vivo in murine immunized and spontaneous disease models. The drug enhances survival and lowers renal pathology in BXSB mice. Appropriate definition of epitopes of pathological (auto) antibodies thus offers an opportunity for pharmacological intervention.

Conjugates of double-stranded oligonucleotides with poly(ethylene glycol) and keyhole limpet hemocyanin: a model for treating systemic lupus erythematosus.

Two types of oligonucleotides were synthesized with linker groups attached at the 5'-end. Both were repeating dimers of deoxyribocytidine and deoxyriboadenosine. A 20-mer was prepared with a thiol-containing linker, masked as a disulfide, and a 50-mer was prepared with a vicinal diol-containing linker. A tetraiodoacetylated poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) derivative was synthesized and reacted with the thiol-containing 20-mer to provide an oligonucleotide PEG conjugate of precisely four oligonucleotides on each PEG carrier. The vicinal diol on the 50-mer was oxidized to an aldehyde and conjugated to keyhole limpet hemocyanin (KLH) to provide an oligonucleotide-KLH conjugate by reductive alkylation. The conjugates were annealed with complementary (TG)n strands. While the double-stranded oligonucleotide-KLH conjugate is an immunogen, eliciting the synthesis of antibodies against oligonucleotides, the PEG conjugate has the biological property of specifically suppressing (tolerizing) B cells which make antibodies against the immunizing oligonucleotide.

REV 2871 (CHBZ): a potent antiallergic agent with a novel mechanism of action. II. Studies on the mechanism of action.

REV 2871 (CHBZ) was taken up by rat mast cells and human leukocytes in a specific and saturable manner. The compound can be hydrolyzed by a granule-associated enzyme in the mast cell to an ionic metabolite (REV 3579) whose in vitro profile is identical to that of disodium cromoglycate (DSCG). REV 3579, although achieving millimolar concentrations inside cells incubated with CHBZ, was not itself taken up by rat mast cells or human leukocytes. The unusual in vitro activity of CHBZ is postulated to arise from the fact that it is a prodrug for delivering a DSCG-like drug to the interior of a secretory cell. The internalized drug apparently exerts a more general and longer-lived inhibition of the secretory process than it can by acting on exterior membrane receptors. CHBZ thus represents a novel drug for studying anaphylactic responses in vitro.

Substituted arylmethyl phenyl ethers. 1. A novel series of 5-lipoxygenase inhibitors and leukotriene antagonists.

A series of new substituted arylmethyl phenyl ethers has been prepared. These compounds were tested as inhibitors of 5-lipoxygenase (5-LO) in rat neutrophils, in vitro antagonists of leukotriene-induced contraction of guinea pig (GP) lung parenchymal strips, and inhibitors of slow reacting substance of anaphylaxis (SRS-A) mediated bronchospasm in the GP in vivo. Most representatives of this new class of potential antiallergic/antiinflammatory agents showed potent inhibition of 5-LO activity in rat PMNs. The most potent compound, 2-[[3-(1-hydroxyhexyl)phenoxy]-methyl]quinoline (33), had an I50 of 0.12 microM in the rat PMN 5-LO assay and an I50 of 3.6 microM in the leukotriene-induced contraction of GP lung parenchymal strips, and it also showed 91% inhibition of SRS-A-mediated bronchospasm in the GP in vivo at 10 mg/kg, administered intraduodenally. Some of the compounds in this series were also leukotriene antagonists in vitro, and several of them showed in vivo activity against SRS-A-mediated bronchospasm in the GP.

REV 2871 (CHBZ): a novel inhibitor of histamine release.

CHBZ is a novel, non-disodium cromoglycate (DSCG)-like, antiallergic drug in vitro. Whereas DSCG loses antisecretory activity with increasing time of preincubation with rat mast cells (RMC) before antigen challenge, and does not inhibit non-immunologically mediated release from human leukocytes, CHBZ exerts long-lived inhibition of both types of release from both types of cells. CHBZ is taken up by RMC in a saturable and time-dependent manner. It is enzymatically converted inside RMC to a DSCG-like metabolite, REV 3579, which, because of its ionic character, accumulates inside the cell. CHBZ, presumably through the action of the REV 3579 generated intracellularly, may mediate long-lived phosphorylation of the same 78 K protein which is transiently phosphorylated upon exposure of RMC to DSCG.

Synthesis and antiallergic activities of 1,3-oxazolo[4,5-h]quinolines.

A series of new 1,3-oxazolo[4,5-h]quinolines has been prepared. These compounds were tested as inhibitors of antigen-induced release of histamine (AIR) in vitro from rat peritoneal mast cells (RMC) and as inhibitors of IgE-mediated passive cutaneous anaphylaxis in the rat (PCA). After several modifications of the original lead, the most potent compound of the series was determined to be 5-chloro-1,3-oxazolo[4,5-h]quinoline-2-carboxylic acid methyl ester (4a). It has an IC50 of 0.3 microM in the RMC assay and an ED50 (intraperitoneal) of 0.1 mg/kg in the PCA test, which is 10 times and 60 times more potent than disodium cromoglycate (DSCG), respectively. Of greater importance, it is orally active (ED50 = 0.5 mg/kg) as an inhibitor of the PCA test.

Antiallergic activity of nylidrin hydrochloride (RHC 3432-A). I. Effect on release of histamine in vitro from rat peritoneal mast cells, guinea pig lung slices and human basophils.

Nylidrin (RHC 3432-A) has been investigated for its antiallergic activity in three in vitro models. Nylidrin was an effective inhibitor of IgE-mediated release of histamine from passively sensitized rat peritoneal mast cells and human basophils, and of IgG1-mediated release of histamine from passively sensitized guinea pig lung slices. The inhibition of the release of histamine by nylidrin in all three models was not antagonized by propranolol, indicating that nylidrin does not inhibit histamine release via stimulation of beta-adrenergic receptors. Isoproterenol and epinephrine were effective as inhibitors of the release of histamine only from guinea pig lung while salbutamol and terbutaline had no effect on immunologic release of histamine in all three models. Detailed comparative studies with disodium cromoglycate (DSCG) indicated that the mechanism of action of nylidrin in the rat mast cell model is different from that of DSCG.

Antiallergic activity of nylidrin hydrochloride (RHC 3432-A). II. A lack of correlation between inhibition of mediator release and levels of cyclic AMP.

Nylidrin hydrochloride has weak beta-adrenergic agonist properties with rat mast cells, and shows synergy with 3-isobutyl-1-methylxanthine (IBMX) in raising intracellular cAMP in purified mast cells; both of these properties can be blocked by dl-propranolol. However, the action of nylidrin hydrochloride as an inhibitor of histamine secretion from purified rat mast cells is not antagonized by dl-propranolol, nor is it potentiated by IBMX. Nylidrin-induced elevation of cellular cAMP in purified rat mast cells shows no correlation with nylidrin-induced inhibition of histamine release. Thus, nylidrin hydrochloride inhibits release of histamine from mast cells by a novel, non-adrenergic mechanism, which is not dependent on increased levels of cAMP.

RHC 3024: antiallergic activity in vitro and comparison with disodium cromoglycate and other antiallergic agents.

RHC 3024 has been investigated for its antiallergic activity in three in vitro models of anaphylaxis. We have also compared its activity profile in these models with that of disodium cromoglycate (DSCG) and other antiallergic agents. As an inhibitor of antigen-induced release of histamine from rat mast cells RHC 3024 was 4 times more potent than DSCG. In the same model the activity profile of RHC 3024 was identical to that of DSCG in the following respects: loss of inhibitory activity with increasing preincubation time, reversibility of the inhibition, tachyphylaxis and cross-tachyphylaxis to each other and inability to inhibit histamine release stimulated by Ca++ ionophore, dextran/phosphatidyl serine and compound 48/80. Both drugs had no effect in the other two models, IgG1-mediated histamine release from guinea pig lung and anti-IgE-induced histamine release from human basophils. We conclude: (1) RHC 3024 is a potent inhibitor of mediator release with a mechanism of action similar to that of DSCG, M&B 22,948, PRD-92-Ea and AH-7725 and (2) the in vitro activity profiles of proxicromil, doxantrazole, ICI 74,917 and WY-16,922 are different from DSCG and RHC 3024.

Facile in vitro method for screening inhibitors of IgE binding to mast cells.

A method for rapidly testing large numbers of chemical structures as potential modulators of the interaction between immunoglobulin E (IgE) and its specific receptors on rat peritoneal mast cells is described. IgE, isolated from the ascitic fluid of a transplantable rat IgE immunocytoma, is labeled with iodine-125 under mild conditions employing the Bolton--Hunter reagent. The antibody is incubated with mixed periotoneal cells at 37 degrees, and the cell-bound IgE is separated from unbound label by sedimentation through an 8% sucrose--polymer solution in microsediment tubes. Optimal conditions for the interaction of 3 nM IgE with 3 X 10(5) mast cells in 150 mul are: incubation time, 2 hr; pH, 6.5--7.0; and ionic strength, equivalent to 150 mM NaCl. Mixed peritoneal cells bind IgE with an affinity equal to that of purified mast cells. Human IgE pentapeptide III and several antiallergic agents do not compete with rat IgE in this assay.

Purification of small peptides labeled with Bolton-Hunter reagent.

A method utilizing high-voltage electrophoresis on paper is described whereby a pentapeptide (Asp-Ser-Asp-Pro-Arg) labeled with Bolton-Hunter reagent is separated from hydrolyzed reagent and unreacted peptide and is recovered from the electrophoretogram in high yield. The general applicability to other peptides is discussed.