RESUMO
Perforin is a pore-forming protein whose normal function enables cytotoxic T and natural killer (NK) cells to kill virus-infected and transformed cells. Conversely, unwanted perforin activity can also result in auto-immune attack, graft rejection and aberrant responses to pathogens. Perforin is critical for the function of the granule exocytosis cell death pathway and is therefore a target for drug development. In this study, by screening a fragment library using NMR and surface plasmon resonance, we identified 4,4-diaminodiphenyl sulfone (dapsone) as a perforin ligand. We also found that dapsone has modest (mM) inhibitory activity of perforin lytic activity in a red blood cell lysis assay in vitro. Sequential modification of this lead fragment, guided by structural knowledge of the ligand binding site and binding pose, and supported by SPR and ligand-detected 19F NMR, enabled the design of nanomolar inhibitors of the cytolytic activity of intact NK cells against various tumour cell targets. Interestingly, the ligands we developed were largely inert with respect to direct perforin-mediated red blood cell lysis but were very potent in the context of perforin's action on delivering granzymes in the immune synapse, the context in which it functions physiologically. Our work indicates that a fragment-based, structure-guided drug discovery strategy can be used to identify novel ligands that bind perforin. Moreover, these molecules have superior physicochemical properties and solubility compared to previous generations of perforin ligands.
Assuntos
Dapsona , Células Matadoras Naturais , Perforina/metabolismo , Ligantes , Células Matadoras Naturais/metabolismo , Morte Celular , Dapsona/metabolismoRESUMO
Aminoacyl transfer RNA (tRNA) synthetases (aaRSs) are attractive drug targets, and we present class I and II aaRSs as previously unrecognized targets for adenosine 5'-monophosphate-mimicking nucleoside sulfamates. The target enzyme catalyzes the formation of an inhibitory amino acid-sulfamate conjugate through a reaction-hijacking mechanism. We identified adenosine 5'-sulfamate as a broad-specificity compound that hijacks a range of aaRSs and ML901 as a specific reagent a specific reagent that hijacks a single aaRS in the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum, namely tyrosine RS (PfYRS). ML901 exerts whole-life-cycle-killing activity with low nanomolar potency and single-dose efficacy in a mouse model of malaria. X-ray crystallographic studies of plasmodium and human YRSs reveal differential flexibility of a loop over the catalytic site that underpins differential susceptibility to reaction hijacking by ML901.
Assuntos
Antimaláricos , Malária Falciparum , Terapia de Alvo Molecular , Plasmodium falciparum , Biossíntese de Proteínas , Proteínas de Protozoários , Tirosina-tRNA Ligase , Adenosina/análogos & derivados , Animais , Antimaláricos/química , Antimaláricos/farmacologia , Antimaláricos/uso terapêutico , Cristalografia por Raios X , Humanos , Malária Falciparum/tratamento farmacológico , Malária Falciparum/parasitologia , Camundongos , Plasmodium falciparum/efeitos dos fármacos , Plasmodium falciparum/enzimologia , Biossíntese de Proteínas/efeitos dos fármacos , Conformação Proteica , Proteínas de Protozoários/química , Proteínas de Protozoários/metabolismo , Ácidos Sulfônicos/química , Tirosina-tRNA Ligase/química , Tirosina-tRNA Ligase/metabolismoRESUMO
The Plasmodium falciparum proteasome is a potential antimalarial drug target. We have identified a series of amino-amide boronates that are potent and specific inhibitors of the P. falciparum 20S proteasome (Pf20S) ß5 active site and that exhibit fast-acting antimalarial activity. They selectively inhibit the growth of P. falciparum compared with a human cell line and exhibit high potency against field isolates of P. falciparum and Plasmodium vivax They have a low propensity for development of resistance and possess liver stage and transmission-blocking activity. Exemplar compounds, MPI-5 and MPI-13, show potent activity against P. falciparum infections in a SCID mouse model with an oral dosing regimen that is well tolerated. We show that MPI-5 binds more strongly to Pf20S than to human constitutive 20S (Hs20Sc). Comparison of the cryo-electron microscopy (EM) structures of Pf20S and Hs20Sc in complex with MPI-5 and Pf20S in complex with the clinically used anti-cancer agent, bortezomib, reveal differences in binding modes that help to explain the selectivity. Together, this work provides insights into the 20S proteasome in P. falciparum, underpinning the design of potent and selective antimalarial proteasome inhibitors.
Assuntos
Compostos de Boro/farmacologia , Malária Falciparum/tratamento farmacológico , Plasmodium falciparum/efeitos dos fármacos , Complexo de Endopeptidases do Proteassoma/química , Inibidores de Proteassoma/farmacologia , Administração Oral , Animais , Compostos de Boro/administração & dosagem , Compostos de Boro/química , Domínio Catalítico , Humanos , Malária Falciparum/enzimologia , Malária Falciparum/parasitologia , Camundongos , Camundongos Endogâmicos NOD , Camundongos SCID , Modelos Moleculares , Plasmodium falciparum/enzimologia , Inibidores de Proteassoma/administração & dosagem , Inibidores de Proteassoma/químicaRESUMO
Most serpins are associated with protease inhibition, and their ability to form loop-sheet polymers is linked to conformational disease and the human serpinopathies. Here we describe the structural and functional dissection of how a unique serpin, the non-histone architectural protein, MENT (Myeloid and Erythroid Nuclear Termination stage-specific protein), participates in DNA and chromatin condensation. Our data suggest that MENT contains at least two distinct DNA-binding sites, consistent with its simultaneous binding to the two closely juxtaposed linker DNA segments on a nucleosome. Remarkably, our studies suggest that the reactive centre loop, a region of the MENT molecule essential for chromatin bridging in vivo and in vitro, is able to mediate formation of a loop-sheet oligomer. These data provide mechanistic insight into chromatin compaction by a non-histone architectural protein and suggest how the structural plasticity of serpins has adapted to mediate physiological, rather than pathogenic, loop-sheet linkages.
Assuntos
Cromatina/metabolismo , Proteínas de Ligação a DNA/química , Modelos Moleculares , Serpinas/química , Animais , Sítios de Ligação , Catepsina L , Catepsinas/química , Cristalografia por Raios X , Cisteína Endopeptidases/química , Proteínas de Ligação a DNA/genética , Proteínas de Ligação a DNA/metabolismo , Humanos , Mutação , Nucleossomos/metabolismo , Conformação Proteica , Serpinas/genética , Serpinas/metabolismoRESUMO
Maspin is a serpin that acts as a tumor suppressor in a range of human cancers, including tumors of the breast and lung. Maspin is crucial for development, because homozygous loss of the gene is lethal; however, the precise physiological role of the molecule is unclear. To gain insight into the function of human maspin, we have determined its crystal structure in two similar, but non-isomorphous crystal forms, to 2.1- and 2.8-A resolution, respectively. The structure reveals that maspin adopts the native serpin fold in which the reactive center loop is expelled fully from the A beta-sheet, makes minimal contacts with the core of the molecule, and exhibits a high degree of flexibility. A buried salt bridge unique to maspin orthologues causes an unusual bulge in the region around the D and E alpha-helices, an area of the molecule demonstrated in other serpins to be important for cofactor recognition. Strikingly, the structural data reveal that maspin is able to undergo conformational change in and around the G alpha-helix, switching between an open and a closed form. This change dictates the electrostatic character of a putative cofactor binding surface and highlights this region as a likely determinant of maspin function. The high resolution crystal structure of maspin provides a detailed molecular framework to elucidate the mechanism of function of this important tumor suppressor.