Selective Janus Kinase 2 (JAK2) Pseudokinase Ligands with a Diaminotriazole Core.

Janus kinases (JAKs) are non-receptor tyrosine kinases that are essential components of the JAK-STAT signaling pathway. Associated aberrant signaling is responsible for many forms of cancer and disorders of the immune system. The present focus is on the discovery of molecules that may regulate the activity of JAK2 by selective binding to the JAK2 pseudokinase domain, JH2. Specifically, the Val617Phe mutation in JH2 stimulates the activity of the adjacent kinase domain (JH1) resulting in myeloproliferative disorders. Starting from a non-selective screening hit, we have achieved the goal of discovering molecules that preferentially bind to the ATP binding site in JH2 instead of JH1. We report the design and synthesis of the compounds and binding results for the JH1, JH2, and JH2 V617F domains, as well as five crystal structures for JH2 complexes. Testing with a selective and non-selective JH2 binder on the autophosphorylation of wild-type and V617F JAK2 is also contrasted.

Bioinspired Construction of a Nanozyme-Based H2O2 Homeostasis Disruptor for Intensive Chemodynamic Therapy.

The insufficient intracellular H2O2 level in tumor cells is closely associated with the limited efficacy of chemodynamic therapy (CDT). Despite tremendous efforts, engineering CDT agents with a straightforward and secure H2O2 supplying ability remains a great challenge. Inspired by the balance of H2O2 generation and elimination in cancer cells, herein, a nanozyme-based H2O2 homeostasis disruptor is fabricated to elevate the intracellular H2O2 level through facilitating H2O2 production and restraining H2O2 elimination for enhanced CDT. In the formulation, the disruptor with superoxide dismutase-mimicking activity can convert O2•- to H2O2, promoting the production of H2O2. Simultaneously, the suppression of catalase activity and depletion of glutathione by the disruptor weaken the transformation of H2O2 to H2O. Thus, the well-defined system could perturb the H2O2 balance and give rise to the accumulation of H2O2 in cancer cells. The raised H2O2 level would ultimately amplify the Fenton-like reaction-based CDT efficiency. Our work not only paves a way to engineer alternative CDT agents with a H2O2 supplying ability for intensive CDT but also provides new insights into the construction of bioinspired materials.

Analyzing Resistance to Design Selective Chemical Inhibitors for AAA Proteins.

Drug-like inhibitors are often designed by mimicking cofactor or substrate interactions with enzymes. However, as active sites are comprised of conserved residues, it is difficult to identify the critical interactions needed to design selective inhibitors. We are developing an approach, named RADD (resistance analysis during design), which involves engineering point mutations in the target to generate active alleles and testing compounds against them. Mutations that alter compound potency identify residues that make key interactions with the inhibitor and predict target-binding poses. Here, we apply this approach to analyze how diaminotriazole-based inhibitors bind spastin, a microtubule-severing AAA (ATPase associated with diverse cellular activities) protein. The distinct binding poses predicted for two similar inhibitors were confirmed by a series of X-ray structures. Importantly, our approach not only reveals how selective inhibition of the target can be achieved but also identifies resistance-conferring mutations at the early stages of the design process.

Structural and functional studies of histidine biosynthesis in Acanthamoeba spp. demonstrates a novel molecular arrangement and target for antimicrobials.

Acanthamoeba is normally free-living, but sometimes facultative and occasionally opportunistic parasites. Current therapies are, by necessity, arduous and yet poorly effective due to their inabilities to kill cyst stages or in some cases to actually induce encystation. Acanthamoeba can therefore survive as cysts and cause disease recurrence. Herein, in pursuit of better therapies and to understand the biochemistry of this understudied organism, we characterize its histidine biosynthesis pathway and explore the potential of targeting this with antimicrobials. We demonstrate that Acanthamoeba is a histidine autotroph, but with the ability to scavenge preformed histidine. It is able to grow in defined media lacking this amino acid, but is inhibited by 3-amino-1,2,4-triazole (3AT) that targets Imidazoleglycerol-Phosphate Dehydratase (IGPD) the rate limiting step of histidine biosynthesis. The structure of Acanthamoeba IGPD has also been determined in complex with 2-hydroxy-3-(1,2,4-triazol-1-yl) propylphosphonate [(R)-C348], a recently described novel inhibitor of Arabidopsis thaliana IGPD. This compound inhibited the growth of four Acanthamoeba species, having a 50% inhibitory concentration (IC50) ranging from 250-526 nM. This effect could be ablated by the addition of 1 mM exogenous free histidine, but importantly not by physiological concentrations found in mammalian tissues. The ability of 3AT and (R)-C348 to restrict the growth of four strains of Acanthamoeba spp. including a recently isolated clinical strain, while not inducing encystment, demonstrates the potential therapeutic utility of targeting the histidine biosynthesis pathway in Acanthamoeba.

(99m)Tc-amitrole as a novel selective imaging probe for solid tumor: In silico and preclinical pharmacological study.

Lactoperoxidase (LPO) inhibitors are very selective for solid tumor due to their high binding affinity to the LPO enzyme. A computational study was used to select top-ranked LPO inhibitor (alone and in complex with (99m)Tc) with high in silico affinity. The novel prepared (99m)Tc-amitrole complex demonstrated both in silico and in vivo high affinity toward solid tumors.(99m)Tc-amitrole was radio-synthesized with a high radiochemical yield (89.7±3.25). It showed in vitro stability for up to 6h. Its preclinical evaluation in solid tumor-bearing mice showed high retention and biological accumulation in solid tumor cells with a high Target/Non-Target (T/NT) ratio equal to 4.9 at 60min post-injection. The data described previously could recommend (99m)Tc-amitrole as potential targeting scintigraphic probe for solid tumor imaging.

Benzothiazole aniline tetra(ethylene glycol) and 3-amino-1,2,4-triazole inhibit neuroprotection against amyloid peptides by catalase overexpression in vitro.

Alzheimer's disease, Familial British dementia, Familial Danish dementia, Type 2 diabetes mellitus, plus Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease are associated with amyloid fibril deposition and oxidative stress. The antioxidant enzyme catalase is a neuroprotective amyloid binding protein. Herein the effects of catalase overexpression in SH-SY5Y neuronal cells on the toxicity of amyloid-ß (Aß), amyloid-Bri (ABri), amyloid-Dan (ADan), amylin (IAPP), and prion protein (PrP) peptides were determined. Results showed catalase overexpression was neuroprotective against Aß, ABri, ADan, IAPP, and PrP peptides. The catalase inhibitor 3-amino-1,2,4-triazole (3-AT) and catalase-amyloid interaction inhibitor benzothiazole aniline tetra(ethylene glycol) (BTA-EG4) significantly enhanced neurotoxicity of amyloid peptides in catalase overexpressing neuronal cells. This suggests catalase neuroprotection involves breakdown of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) plus a direct binding interaction between catalase and the Aß, ABri, ADan, IAPP, and PrP peptides. Kisspeptin 45-50 had additive neuroprotective actions against the Aß peptide in catalase overexpressing cells. The effects of 3-AT had an intracellular site of action, while catalase-amyloid interactions had an extracellular component. These results suggest that the 3-AT and BTA-EG4 compounds may be able to inhibit endogenous catalase mediated neuroprotection. Use of BTA-EG4, or compounds that inhibit catalase binding to amyloid peptides, as potential therapeutics for Neurodegenerative diseases may therefore result in unwanted effects.

2-Amino-[1,2,4]triazolo[1,5-a]pyridines as JAK2 inhibitors.

The advancement of a series of ligand efficient 2-amino-[1,2,4]triazolo[1,5-a]pyridines, initially identified from high-throughput screening, to a JAK2 inhibitor with pharmacodynamic activity in a mouse xenograft model is disclosed.

Formation of refractory ring-expanded triazine intermediates during the photocatalyzed mineralization of the endocrine disruptor amitrole and related triazole derivatives at UV-irradiated TiO2/H2O interfaces.

Amitrole (ATz, 3-amino-1H-1,2,4-triazole) is a widely employed herbicide with strong estrogenic activity that can lead to abnormalities of the thyroid gland and can cause mutations. The photocatalytic transformation of ATz was carried out at the UV-irradiated TiO2/H2O interface, along with the triazole derivatives Tz (1H-1,2,4-triazole) and DaTz (3,5-diamino-1H-1,2,4-triazole) to assess the decomposition of these herbicides, to identify intermediates, and to elucidate some mechanistic details of the ATz degradation. Conversion of the nitrogens of these triazoles to NH4+ and/ or NO3- ions occurs competitively and depends on the number of amine functions on the five-membered triazole rings. Photomineralization of the substrates in terms of loss of nitrogen to NH4+/NO3- was rather low (ca. 25-40%) for each of the triazoles, whereas evolution of CO2 (loss of TOC) was more significant (60-70%), indicating considerable retention of nitrogen in the intermediate products. UV-Vis spectroscopy, TOC assays, FT-IR spectroscopy, proton NMR spectrometry, electrospray LC-MS, and molecular orbital calculations were brought to bear in assessing the temporal course of the photocatalyzed process(es). Results show that after cleavage of the triazole ring, the various intermediate fragments recombine to yield ring-expanded six-membered triazine intermediates, which slowly degrade to give the refractory cyanuric acid under the conditions used.

Adsorption of pesticides on resins.

The objective of this work was to assess the capability of organic hydrophobic polymeric resins Amberlite XAD-4 and XAD-7 to remove the pesticides alachlor and amitrole from water. The pesticides adsorption on the two different adsorbents was measured by batch equilibrium technique and isotherm types and parameters were estimated. Two theoretical models were applied based on a Freundlich and a Langmuir isotherms. The effect of pesticides chemical composition and structure as well as the nature of solid surface on the efficiency of adsorption was evaluated. The influence of pH also was studied. In low pH solutions adsorption of amitrole was higher upon the nonionic aliphatic acrylic ester copolymer XAD-7 in comparison to the nonionic, crosslinked macroreticular copolymer of styrene divinylbenzene XAD-4. In neutral and intermediate pH solutions the polar acrylic ester copolymer XAD-7 was more effective to the retention of alachlor. The acrylic ester copolymer showed at pH 3 the lower effectiveness in alachlor removal from water. The data of the adsorption isotherms of pesticides upon the examined polymeric resins seemed to conform to both the Freundlich and the Langmuir isotherm models.

Active and inhibited human catalase structures: ligand and NADPH binding and catalytic mechanism.

Human catalase is an heme-containing peroxisomal enzyme that breaks down hydrogen peroxide to water and oxygen; it is implicated in ethanol metabolism, inflammation, apoptosis, aging and cancer. The 1. 5 A resolution human enzyme structure, both with and without bound NADPH, establishes the conserved features of mammalian catalase fold and assembly, implicates Tyr370 as the tyrosine radical, suggests the structural basis for redox-sensitive binding of cognate mRNA via the catalase NADPH binding site, and identifies an unexpectedly substantial number of water-mediated domain contacts. A molecular ruler mechanism based on observed water positions in the 25 A-long channel resolves problems for selecting hydrogen peroxide. Control of water-mediated hydrogen bonds by this ruler selects for the longer hydrogen peroxide and explains the paradoxical effects of mutations that increase active site access but lower catalytic rate. The heme active site is tuned without compromising peroxide binding through a Tyr-Arg-His-Asp charge relay, arginine residue to heme carboxylate group hydrogen bonding, and aromatic stacking. Structures of the non-specific cyanide and specific 3-amino-1,2, 4-triazole inhibitor complexes of human catalase identify their modes of inhibition and help reveal the catalytic mechanism of catalase. Taken together, these resting state and inhibited human catalase structures support specific, structure-based mechanisms for the catalase substrate recognition, reaction and inhibition and provide a molecular basis for understanding ethanol intoxication and the likely effects of human polymorphisms.

Histochemical demonstration of hydrogen peroxide production by leukocytes in fixed-frozen tissue sections of inflammatory lesions.

The production of H2O2 by cells in cold paraformaldehyde-fixed frozen sections of inflammatory lesions was histochemically demonstrated by incubating them with diaminobenzidine (DAB) for 2 to 6 h. Catalase (150 micrograms/ml, about 1400 U/ml) inhibited the reaction, indicating that H2O2 was required to produce the chromogenic DAB product. Granulocytes (PMNs and eosinophils) were the main types of cells stained by the DAB reaction. Positive staining of macrophages was less frequent. The H2O2 was produced by metabolic enzymes that were still active after cell death and mild fixation. An atmosphere of 95 to 100% oxygen enhanced the specific DAB reaction, and an atmosphere of 100% nitrogen eliminated it. The DAB histochemical reaction to detect H2O2 requires the presence of peroxidases to produce the colored reaction product. Within our tissue sections, such peroxidases were evidently present in excess, because addition of low concentrations of H2O2 significantly increased the reaction product. Although some of the H2O2 produced by the granulocytes may have been derived from the dismutation of superoxide (O2-), the NADPH oxidase pathway for O2- formation did not seem to be involved: NADPH oxidase, a rather labile enzyme, should not be active after mild fixation, and diphenyleneiodonium (100 microM), an inhibitor of flavine-requiring NADPH oxidase, did not inhibit the reaction. Reactive nitrogen intermediates were also not involved, because NG-monomethyl-L-arginine and NG-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester, inhibitors of nitric oxide synthetase, did not appreciably inhibit the reaction. We conclude that stable, non-flavine-requiring oxidases, possibly cyclooxygenases or lipoxygenases, produced the H2O2 measured histochemically by our DAB reaction. These studies were made on tissue sections of acute dermal inflammatory lesions produced in rabbits by the topical application of 1% sulfur mustard [bis(2-chloroethyl) sulfide] in methylene chloride. Both intact PMNs and disintegrating PMNs in the base of the crust produced H2O2. Despite the production of H2O2 and the presence of peroxidase activity, no tissue damage was seen microscopically near the H2O2-producing cells, which indicates that the tissues are well protected by the antioxidants present in this self-limiting inflammatory reaction.