Silk-elastinlike protein polymers enhance the efficacy of a therapeutic glycosaminoglycan for prophylactic treatment of radiation-induced proctitis.

Radiation-induced proctitis (RIP) is the most common clinical adverse effect for patients receiving radiotherapy as part of the standard course of treatment for ovarian, prostate, colon, and bladder cancers. RIP limits radiation dosage, interrupts treatment, and lowers patients' quality of life. A prophylactic treatment that protects the gastrointestinal tract from deleterious effects of radiotherapy will significantly improve patient quality of life and may allow for higher and more regular doses of radiation therapy. Semi-synthetic glycosaminoglycan (GAG), generated from the sulfation of hyaluronic acid, are anti-inflammatory but have difficulty achieving therapeutic levels in many tissues. To enhance the delivery of GAG, we created an in situ gelling rectal delivery system using silk-elastinlike protein polymers (SELPs). Using solutions of SELP 815K (which contains 6 repeats of blocks comprised of 8 silk-like units, 15 elastin-like units, and 1 lysine-substituted elastin-like unit) with GAG GM-0111, we created an injectable delivery platform that transitioned in <5min from a liquid at room temperature to a hydrogel at body temperature. The hydrogels released 50% of their payload within 30min and enhanced the accumulation of GAG in the rectum compared to traditional enema-based delivery. Using a murine model of radiation-induced proctitis, the prophylactic delivery of a single dose of GAG from a SELP matrix administered prior to irradiation significantly reduced radiation-induced pain after 3, 7, and 21days by 53±4%, 47±10%, and 12±6%, respectively. Matrix-mediated delivery of GAG by SELP represents an innovative method for more effective treatment of RIP and promises to improve quality of life of cancer patients by allowing higher radiotherapy doses with improved safety.

Prevention of anti-microbial peptide LL-37-induced apoptosis and ATP release in the urinary bladder by a modified glycosaminoglycan.

Interstitial cystitis (IC), often referred to in combination with painful bladder syndrome, is a chronic inflammatory disease of the bladder. Current therapies primarily focus on replenishing urothelial glycosaminoglycan (GAG) layer using GAG analogs and managing pain with supportive therapies. However, the elusive etiology of IC and the lack of animal models to study the disease have been major hurdles developing more effective therapeutics. Previously, we showed an increased urinary concentration of antimicrobial peptide LL-37 in spina bifida patients and used LL-37 to develop a mouse model of cystitis that mimics important clinical findings of IC. Here we investigate (1) the molecular mechanism of LL-37 induced cystitis in cultured human urothelial cells and in mice, (2) the protective effects of GM-0111, a modified GAG, within the context of this mechanism, (3) the physiological and molecular markers that correlate with the severity of the inflammation, and (4) the protective effects of several GAGs using these biomarkers in our LL-37 induced cystitis model. We find that LL-37 quickly induces release of ATP and apoptosis in the urothelium. These changes can be inhibited by a chemically-modified GAG, GM-0111. Furthermore, we also find that GAG analogs provide varying degrees of protection against LL-37 challenge in mice. These findings suggest that GM-0111 and possibly GAG molecules prevent the development of cystitis by blocking the apoptosis and the concurrent release of ATP from the urothelium.

Comparing predictive drug nephrotoxicity biomarkers in kidney 3-D primary organoid culture and immortalized cell lines.

The cellular microenvironment is recognized to play a key role in stabilizing cell differentiation states and phenotypes in culture. This study addresses the hypothesis that preservation of in vivo-like tissue architecture in vitro produces a cell culture more capable of responding to environmental stimuli with clinically relevant toxicity biomarkers. This was achieved using kidney proximal tubules in three-dimensional organoid hydrogel culture, with comparisons to conventional monolayer kidney cell cultures on plastic. Kidney proximal tubule cultures and two immortalized kidney cell line monolayer cultures exposed to known nephrotoxic drugs were evaluated for inflammatory cytokines, nephrotoxicity-associated genes, Kim-1 protein, cytochrome enzymes, and characteristic cellular enzyme shedding. Significant similarities are shown for these traditional biomarkers of kidney toxicity between in vivo and 3-D organoid endpoints of drug toxicity, and significantly, a consistent lack of clinically relevant endpoints produced by traditional 2-D kidney cell cultures. These findings impact both in vitro bioreactor-based kidney functional and regenerative medicine models, as well as high-throughput cell-based drug screening validations.

Novel sulfated polysaccharides disrupt cathelicidins, inhibit RAGE and reduce cutaneous inflammation in a mouse model of rosacea.

BACKGROUND: Rosacea is a common disfiguring skin disease of primarily Caucasians characterized by central erythema of the face, with telangiectatic blood vessels, papules and pustules, and can produce skin thickening, especially on the nose of men, creating rhinophyma. Rosacea can also produce dry, itchy eyes with irritation of the lids, keratitis and corneal scarring. The cause of rosacea has been proposed as over-production of the cationic cathelicidin peptide LL-37. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We tested a new class of non-anticoagulant sulfated anionic polysaccharides, semi-synthetic glycosaminoglycan ethers (SAGEs) on key elements of the pathogenic pathway leading to rosacea. SAGEs were anti-inflammatory at ng/ml, including inhibition of polymorphonuclear leukocyte (PMN) proteases, P-selectin, and interaction of the receptor for advanced glycation end-products (RAGE) with four representative ligands. SAGEs bound LL-37 and inhibited interleukin-8 production induced by LL-37 in cultured human keratinocytes. When mixed with LL-37 before injection, SAGEs prevented the erythema and PMN infiltration produced by direct intradermal injection of LL-37 into mouse skin. Topical application of a 1% (w/w) SAGE emollient to overlying injected skin also reduced erythema and PMN infiltration from intradermal LL-37. CONCLUSIONS: Anionic polysaccharides, exemplified by SAGEs, offer potential as novel mechanism-based therapies for rosacea and by extension other LL-37-mediated and RAGE-ligand driven skin diseases.

Stabilized phosphatidylinositol-5-phosphate analogues as ligands for the nuclear protein ING2: chemistry, biology, and molecular modeling.

The interaction of PtdIns(5)P with the tumor suppressor protein ING2 has been implicated in the regulation of chromatin modification. To enhance the stability of PtdIns(5)P for studies of the biological role in vivo, two phosphatase-resistant moieties were used to replace the labile 5-phosphate. The total asymmetric synthesis of the 5-methylenephosphonate (MP) and 5-phosphothionate (PT) analogues of PtdIns(5)P is described herein, and the resulting metabolically stabilized lipid analogues were evaluated in three ways. First, liposomes containing either the dioleoyl MP or PT analogues bound to recombinant ING2 similar to liposomes containing dipalmitoyl PtdIns(5)P, indicating that the replacement of the hydrolyzable 5-phosphate group does not compromise the binding. Second, the dioleoyl MP and PT PtdIns(5)P analogues were equivalent to dipalmitoyl PtdIns(5)P in augmenting cell death induced by a DNA double-strand break in HT1080 cells. Finally, molecular modeling and docking of the MP or PT analogues to the C-terminus PtdInsP-binding region of ING2 (consisting of a PHD finger and a polybasic region) revealed a number of complementary surface and electrostatic contacts between the lipids and ING2.

Synthesis and biological activity of PTEN-resistant analogues of phosphatidylinositol 3,4,5-trisphosphate.

The activation of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI 3-K) and subsequent production of PtdIns(3,4,5)P3 launches a signal transduction cascade that impinges on a plethora of downstream effects on cell physiology. Control of PI 3-K and PtdIns(3,4,5)P3 levels is an important therapeutic target in treatments for allergy, inflammation, cardiovascular, and malignant human diseases. We designed metabolically stabilized, that is, phosphatase resistant, analogues of PtdIns(3,4,5)P3 as probes for long-lived potential agonists or potential antagonists for cellular events mediated by PtdIns(3,4,5)P3. In particular, two types of analogues were prepared containing phosphomimetics that would be selectively resistant to the lipid 3-phosphatase PTEN. The total asymmetric synthesis of the 3-phosphorothioate-PtdIns(3,4,5)P3 and 3-methylenephosphonate-PtdIns(3,4,5)P3 analogues is described. These two analogues showed differential binding to PtdIns(3,4,5)P3 binding modules, and both were potential long-lived activators that mimicked insulin action in sodium transport in A6 cells.

Synthesis and evaluation of injectable, in situ crosslinkable synthetic extracellular matrices for tissue engineering.

Simple and effective biocompatible materials that mimic the natural extracellular matrix (ECM) were developed for a variety of uses in regenerative medicine. These synthetic ECMs (sECMs) were designed to recapitulate the minimal composition required to obtain functional ECMs. The sECM components are crosslinkable in situ, and may be seeded with cells prior to injection in vivo, without compromising either the cells or the recipient tissues. Several sECM compositions were evaluated to establish which formulation would be most beneficial for cell growth and tissue remodeling. Three natural ECM macromonomeric building blocks were employed: hyaluronan (HA), chondroitin sulfate (CS), and gelatin (Gtn). The carboxyl-rich glycosaminoglycans and Gtn were each chemically modified to give the corresponding thiolated dithiopropionylhydrazide (DTPH) derivatives (CS-DTPH, HA-DTPH, and Gtn-DTPH). Different compositions of CS-Gtn and HA-Gtn hydrogels were fabricated by crosslinking the thiolated biomacromonomers with polyethylene glycol diacrylate. Each sECM had high water content (>96%), biologically suitable mechanical properties, and a useful gelation time ( approximately 2-6 min). The bioerosion rates for the sECMs were determined, and a given composition could be selected to meet the requirements of a given clinical application. Both the HA-Gtn and CS-Gtn sECM hydrogels supported cell growth and proliferation with cultured murine fibroblasts in vitro. Moreover, subcutaneous injection of a suspension of murine fibroblasts in each of the two sECM hydrogels into nude mice in vivo resulted in the formation of viable and uniform soft tissue in vivo.

Discovering modes of action for therapeutic compounds using a genome-wide screen of yeast heterozygotes.

Modern medicine faces the challenge of developing safer and more effective therapies to treat human diseases. Many drugs currently in use were discovered without knowledge of their underlying molecular mechanisms. Understanding their biological targets and modes of action will be essential to design improved second-generation compounds. Here, we describe the use of a genome-wide pool of tagged heterozygotes to assess the cellular effects of 78 compounds in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Specifically, lanosterol synthase in the sterol biosynthetic pathway was identified as a target of the antianginal drug molsidomine, which may explain its cholesterol-lowering effects. Further, the rRNA processing exosome was identified as a potential target of the cell growth inhibitor 5-fluorouracil. This genome-wide screen validated previously characterized targets or helped identify potentially new modes of action for over half of the compounds tested, providing proof of this principle for analyzing the modes of action of clinically relevant compounds.