Macrophilones from the Marine Hydroid Macrorhynchia philippina Can Inhibit ERK Cascade Signaling.

Six new macrophilone-type pyrroloiminoquines were isolated and identified from an extract of the marine hydroid Macrorhynchia philippina. The proton-deficient and heteroatom-rich structures of macrophilones B-G (2-7) were elucidated by spectroscopic analysis and comparison of their data with those of the previously reported metabolite macrophilone A (1). Compounds 1-7 are the first pyrroloiminoquines to be reported from a hydroid. The macrophilones were shown to inhibit the enzymatic conjugation of SUMO to peptide substrates, and macrophilones A (1) and C (3) exhibit potent and selective cytotoxic properties in the NCI-60 anticancer screen. Bioinformatic analysis revealed a close association of the cytotoxicity profiles of 1 and 3 with two known B-Raf kinase inhibitory drugs. While compounds 1 and 3 showed no kinase inhibitory activity, they resulted in a dramatic decrease in cellular protein levels of selected components of the ERK signal cascade. As such, the chemical scaffold of the macrophilones could provide small-molecule therapeutic leads that target the ERK signal transduction pathway.

Characterization of clinically used oral antiseptics as quadruplex-binding ligands.

Approaches to characterize the nucleic acid-binding properties of drugs and druglike small molecules are crucial to understanding the behavior of these compounds in cellular systems. Here, we use a Small Molecule Microarray (SMM) profiling approach to identify the preferential interaction between chlorhexidine, a widely used oral antiseptic, and the G-quadruplex (G4) structure in the KRAS oncogene promoter. The interaction of chlorhexidine and related drugs to the KRAS G4 is evaluated using multiple biophysical methods, including thermal melt, fluorescence titration and surface plasmon resonance (SPR) assays. Chlorhexidine has a specific low micromolar binding interaction with the G4, while related drugs have weaker and/or less specific interactions. Through NMR experiments and docking studies, we propose a plausible binding mode driven by both aromatic stacking and groove binding interactions. Additionally, cancer cell lines harbouring oncogenic mutations in the KRAS gene exhibit increased sensitivity to chlorhexidine. Treatment of breast cancer cells with chlorhexidine decreases KRAS protein levels, while a KRAS gene transiently expressed by a promoter lacking a G4 is not affected. This work confirms that known ligands bind broadly to G4 structures, while other drugs and druglike compounds can have more selective interactions that may be biologically relevant.

Macrophilone A: Structure Elucidation, Total Synthesis, and Functional Evaluation of a Biologically Active Iminoquinone from the Marine Hydroid Macrorhynchia philippina.

A previously uncharacterized pyrroloiminoquinone natural product, macrophilone A, was isolated from the stinging hydroid Macrorhynchia philippina. The structure was assigned utilizing long-range NMR couplings and DFT calculations and proved by a concise, five-step total synthesis. Macrophilone A and a synthetic analogue displayed potent biological activity, including increased intracellular reactive oxygen species levels and submicromolar cytotoxicity toward lung adenocarcinoma cells.

A Small-Molecule Microarray Approach for the Identification of E2 Enzyme Inhibitors in Ubiquitin-Like Conjugation Pathways.

E2 enzymes in ubiquitin-like conjugation pathways are important, highly challenging pharmacological targets, and despite significant efforts, few noncovalent modulators have been discovered. Small-molecule microarray (SMM)-based screening was employed to identify an inhibitor of the "undruggable" small ubiquitin-like modifier (SUMO) E2 enzyme Ubc9. The inhibitor, a degradation product from a commercial screening collection, was chemically synthesized and evaluated in biochemical, mechanistic, and structure-activity relationship studies. Binding to Ubc9 was confirmed through the use of ligand-detected nuclear magnetic resonance, and inhibition of sumoylation in a reconstituted enzymatic cascade was found to occur with an IC50 of 75 µM. This work establishes the utility of the SMM approach for identifying inhibitors of E2 enzymes, targets with few known small-molecule modulators.

Insights Into the Allosteric Inhibition of the SUMO E2 Enzyme Ubc9.

Conjugation of the small ubiquitin-like modifier (SUMO) to protein substrates is an important disease-associated posttranslational modification, although few inhibitors of this process are known. Herein, we report the discovery of an allosteric small-molecule binding site on Ubc9, the sole SUMO E2 enzyme. An X-ray crystallographic screen was used to identify two distinct small-molecule fragments that bind to Ubc9 at a site distal to its catalytic cysteine. These fragments and related compounds inhibit SUMO conjugation in biochemical assays with potencies of 1.9-5.8 mm. Mechanistic and biophysical analyses, coupled with molecular dynamics simulations, point toward ligand-induced rigidification of Ubc9 as a mechanism of inhibition.

Expedited access to vinaxanthone and chemically edited derivatives possessing neuronal regenerative effects through ynone coupling reactions.

The natural product vinaxanthone has demonstrated a remarkable capability to promote nerve growth following injury or transplantation. In rats following total transection of the spinal cord delivery of vinaxanthone enhanced axonal regeneration, remyelination and angiogenesis at the site of injury all leading to an improved reinstatement of motor function. Through the development of a new ynone coupling reaction, chemically edited derivatives of vinaxanthone have been prepared and studied for improved activity. The coupling reaction allows rapid access to new derivatives, wherein n ynone precursors provide n(2) vinaxanthone analogues. These compounds have been tested for their ability to promote neuronal regrowth using laser axotomy, severing axonal connections in Caenorhabditis elegans. This precise microsurgery using C. elegans allows a new in vivo approach for medicinal chemistry based optimization of neuronal growth promoting compounds.

Small-molecule mechanism of action studies in Caenorhabditis elegans.

A general protocol for exogenous small-molecule pull-down experiments with Caenorhabditis elegans is described; it provides a link between small-molecule screens in worms and existing mutant and RNAi technologies, thereby enabling organismal mechanism of action studies for the natural product clovanemagnolol. Forward chemical genetic screens followed by mechanism of action studies with C. elegans, when coupled with genetic validation of identified targets to reproduce the small molecule's phenotypic effects, provide a unique platform for discovering the biological targets of compounds that affect multicellular processes. First, the use of an immobilized FK506 derivative and soluble competition experiments with optimally prepared soluble C. elegans proteome successfully identified interactions with FK506 binding proteins 1 to 6. This approach was used to determine an unknown mechanism of action for clovanemagnolol, a small molecule that promotes axonal branching in both primary neuronal cultures and in vivo in C. elegans. Following the synthesis of an appropriately functionalized solid-phase reagent bearing a clovanemagnolol analogue pull-down experiments employing soluble competition identified kinesin light chain-1 (KLC-1), a protein involved in axonal cargo transport, as a putative target. This was corroborated through the use of mutant worms lacking klc-1 and possessing GFP neuronal labeling, reproducing the axonal branching phenotype induced by the small molecule clovanemagnolol.

Small-molecule-mediated axonal branching in Caenorhabditis elegans.

An in vivo system for monitoring small-molecule-mediated neuronal branching has been developed by using C. elegans. Growth-promoting compounds can be detected by visual inspection of GFPlabeled cholinergic neurons, as axonal branching occurs following treatment with neurotrophic agents. Investigation of the structure-activity relationship of the neurotrophic natural product clovanemagnolol (1) led us to a comparable chemically edited derivative.