Discovery and evaluation of a non-Zn chelating, selective matrix metalloproteinase 13 (MMP-13) inhibitor for potential intra-articular treatment of osteoarthritis.

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a nonsystemic disease for which no oral or parenteral disease-modifying osteoarthritic drug (DMOAD) is currently available. Matrix metalloproteinase 13 (MMP-13) has attracted attention as a target with disease-modifying potential because of its major role in tissue destruction associated with OA. Being localized to one or a few joints, OA is amenable to intra-articular (IA) therapy, which has distinct advantages over oral therapies in terms of increasing therapeutic index, by maximizing drug delivery to cartilage and minimizing systemic exposure. Here we report on the synthesis and biological evaluation of a non-zinc binding MMP-13 selective inhibitor, 4-methyl-1-(S)-({5-[(3-oxo-3,4-dihydro-2H-benzo[1,4]oxazin-6-ylmethyl)carbamoyl]pyrazolo[1,5-a]pyrimidine-7-carbonyl}amino)indan-5-carboxylic acid (1), that is uniquely suited as a potential IA-DMOAD: it has long durability in the joint, penetrates cartilage effectively, exhibits nearly no detectable systemic exposure, and has remarkable efficacy.

Pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic (PK/PD) differentiation of native and PEGylated recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH and PEG-rhGH) in the rat model of osteoarthritis.

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a degenerative joint disease that has no FDA-approved treatment. The current standard of care does not address the regeneration of the damaged cartilage. Human growth hormone (hGH) is part of the insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-1 axis. There has been preclinical data that suggest its potential regenerative property in the joint. However, unformulated recombinant hGH (rhGH) is short-lived in the joint, and does not provide a desirable pharmacokinetic (PK) profile to support a clinical treatment paradigm. Polyethylene glycol (PEG)ylation is a potential method to extend the half-life of rhGH in the joint. The purpose of this study was to delineate the PK/PD profile of PEG-rhGH in the knee joint in a rat preclinical model of OA. After intra-articular (IA) injection of 100 microg into a rat knee joint that underwent medial meniscectomy, PEG-rhGH exhibits 2-fold longer half-lives in joint than native hGH. However, PEG-rhGH has a much longer systemic exposure. IA injections of PEG-rhGH also resulted in higher levels of IGF-1 in the joint and serum when compared with native rhGH. In order to develop PEG-rhGH as an IA therapeutic treatment for OA, careful dose selection is necessary to avoid systemic effects while retaining its anabolic efficacy in the joint.

Structural and thermodynamic characterization of the TYK2 and JAK3 kinase domains in complex with CP-690550 and CMP-6.

Janus kinases (JAKs) are critical regulators of cytokine pathways and attractive targets of therapeutic value in both inflammatory and myeloproliferative diseases. Although the crystal structures of active JAK1 and JAK2 kinase domains have been reported recently with the clinical compound CP-690550, the structures of both TYK2 and JAK3 with CP-690550 have remained outstanding. Here, we report the crystal structures of TYK2, a first in class structure, and JAK3 in complex with PAN-JAK inhibitors CP-690550 ((3R,4R)-3-[4-methyl-3-[N-methyl-N-(7H-pyrrolo[2,3-d]pyrimidin-4-yl)amino]piperidin-1-yl]-3-oxopropionitrile) and CMP-6 (tetracyclic pyridone 2-t-butyl-9-fluoro-3,6-dihydro-7H-benz[h]-imidaz[4,5-f]isoquinoline-7-one), both of which bind in the ATP-binding cavities of both JAK isozymes in orientations similar to that observed in crystal structures of JAK1 and JAK2. Additionally, a complete thermodynamic characterization of JAK/CP-690550 complex formation was completed by isothermal titration calorimetry, indicating the critical role of the nitrile group from the CP-690550 compound. Finally, computational analysis using WaterMap further highlights the critical positioning of the CP-690550 nitrile group in the displacement of an unfavorable water molecule beneath the glycine-rich loop. Taken together, the data emphasize the outstanding properties of the kinome-selective JAK inhibitor CP-690550, as well as the challenges in obtaining JAK isozyme-selective inhibitors due to the overall structural and sequence similarities between the TYK2, JAK1, JAK2 and JAK3 isozymes. Nevertheless, subtle amino acid variations of residues lining the ligand-binding cavity of the JAK enzymes, as well as the global positioning of the glycine-rich loop, might provide the initial clues to obtaining JAK-isozyme selective inhibitors.

Expression, purification, and characterization of TYK-2 kinase domain, a member of the Janus kinase family.

The Janus kinase family consists of four members: JAK-1, -2, -3 and TYK-2. While JAK-2 and JAK-3 have been well characterized biochemically, there is little data on TYK-2. Recent work suggests that TYK-2 may play a critical role in the development of a number of inflammatory processes. We have carried out a series of biochemical studies to better understand TYK-2 enzymology and its inhibition profile, in particular how the TYK-2 phosphorylated forms differ from each other and from the other JAK family members. We have expressed and purified milligram quantities of the TYK-2 kinase domain (KD) to high purity and developed a method to separate the non-, mono- (pY(1054)) and di-phosphorylated forms of the enzyme. Kinetic studies (k(cat(app))/K(m(app))) indicated that phosphorylation of the TYK-2-KD (pY(1054)) increased the catalytic efficiency 4.4-fold compared to its non-phosphorylated form, while further phosphorylation to generate the di-phosphorylated enzyme imparted no further increase in activity. These results are in contrast to those obtained with the JAK-2-KD and JAK-3-KD, where little or no increase in activity occurred upon mono-phosphorylation, while di-phosphorylation resulted in a 5.1-fold increase in activity for the JAK-2-KD. Moreover, ATP-competitive inhibitors demonstrated 10-30-fold shifts in potency (K(i(app))) as a result of the TYK-2-KD phosphorylation state, while the shifts for JAK-3-KD were only 2-3-fold and showed little or no change for JAK-2-KD. Thus, the phosphorlyation state imparted differential effects on both activity and inhibition within the JAK family of kinases.

A new class of potent matrix metalloproteinase 13 inhibitors for potential treatment of osteoarthritis: Evidence of histologic and clinical efficacy without musculoskeletal toxicity in rat models.

OBJECTIVE: Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) have long been considered excellent targets for osteoarthritis (OA) treatment. However, clinical utility of broad-spectrum MMP inhibitors developed for this purpose has been restricted by dose-limiting musculoskeletal side effects observed in humans. This study was undertaken to identify a new class of potent and selective MMP-13 inhibitors that would provide histologic and clinical efficacy without musculoskeletal toxicity. METHODS: Selectivity assays were developed using catalytic domains of human MMPs. Freshly isolated bovine articular cartilage or human OA cartilage was used in in vitro cartilage degradation assays. The rat model of monoiodoacetate (MIA)-induced OA was implemented for assessing the effects of MMP-13 inhibitors on cartilage degradation and joint pain. The surgical medial meniscus tear model in rats was used to evaluate the chondroprotective ability of MMP-13 inhibitors in a chronic disease model of OA. The rat model of musculoskeletal side effects (MSS) was used to assess whether selective MMP-13 inhibitors have the joint toxicity associated with broad-spectrum MMP inhibitors. RESULTS: A number of non-hydroxamic acid-containing compounds that showed a high degree of potency for MMP-13 and selectivity against other MMPs were designed and synthesized. Steady-state kinetics experiments and Lineweaver-Burk plot analysis of rate versus substrate concentration with one such compound, ALS 1-0635, indicated linear, noncompetitive inhibition, and Dixon plot analysis from competition studies with a zinc chelator (acetoxyhydroxamic acid) and ALS 1-0635 demonstrated nonexclusive binding. ALS 1-0635 inhibited bovine articular cartilage degradation in a dose-dependent manner (48.7% and 87.1% at 500 nM and 5,000 nM, respectively) and was effective in inhibiting interleukin-1alpha- and oncostatin M-induced C1,C2 release in human OA cartilage cultures. ALS 1-0635 modulated cartilage damage in the rat MIA model (mean +/- SEM damage score 1.3 +/- 0.3, versus 2.2 +/- 0.4 in vehicle-treated animals). Most significantly, when treated twice daily with oral ALS 1-0635, rats with surgically induced medial meniscus tear exhibited histologic evidence of chondroprotection and reduced cartilage degeneration, without observable musculoskeletal toxicity. CONCLUSION: The compounds investigated in this study represent a novel class of MMP-13 inhibitors. They are mechanistically distinct from previously reported broad-spectrum MMP inhibitors and do not exhibit the problems previously associated with these inhibitors, including selectivity, poor pharmacokinetics, and MSS liability. MMP-13 inhibitors exert chondroprotective effects and can potentially modulate joint pain, and are, therefore, uniquely suited as potential disease-modifying osteoarthritis drugs.