Scaffold-hopping identifies furano[2,3-d]pyrimidine amides as potent Notum inhibitors.

The carboxylesterase Notum is a key negative regulator of the Wnt signaling pathway by mediating the depalmitoleoylation of Wnt proteins. Our objective was to discover potent small molecule inhibitors of Notum suitable for exploring the regulation of Wnt signaling in the central nervous system. Scaffold-hopping from thienopyrimidine acids 1 and 2, supported by X-ray structure determination, identified 3-methylimidazolin-4-one amides 20-24 as potent inhibitors of Notum with activity across three orthogonal assay formats (biochemical, extra-cellular, occupancy). A preferred example 24 demonstrated good stability in mouse microsomes and plasma, and cell permeability in the MDCK-MDR1 assay albeit with modest P-gp mediated efflux. Pharmacokinetic studies with 24 were performed in vivo in mouse with single oral administration of 24 showing good plasma exposure and reasonable CNS penetration. We propose that 24 is a new chemical tool suitable for cellular studies to explore the fundamental biology of Notum.

Structural Analysis and Development of Notum Fragment Screening Hits.

The Wnt signaling suppressor Notum is a promising target for osteoporosis, Alzheimer's disease, and colorectal cancers. To develop novel Notum inhibitors, we used an X-ray crystallographic fragment screen with the Diamond-SGC Poised Library (DSPL) and identified 59 fragment hits from the analysis of 768 data sets. Fifty-eight of the hits were found bound at the enzyme catalytic pocket with potencies ranging from 0.5 to >1000 µM. Analysis of the fragments' diverse binding modes, enzymatic inhibitory activities, and chemical properties led to the selection of six hits for optimization, and five of these resulted in improved Notum inhibitory potencies. One hit, 1-phenyl-1,2,3-triazole 7, and its related cluster members, have shown promising lead-like properties. These became the focus of our fragment development activities, resulting in compound 7d with IC50 0.0067 µM. The large number of Notum fragment structures and their initial optimization provided an important basis for further Notum inhibitor development.

Design of a Potent, Selective, and Brain-Penetrant Inhibitor of Wnt-Deactivating Enzyme Notum by Optimization of a Crystallographic Fragment Hit.

Notum is a carboxylesterase that suppresses Wnt signaling through deacylation of an essential palmitoleate group on Wnt proteins. There is a growing understanding of the role Notum plays in human diseases such as colorectal cancer and Alzheimer's disease, supporting the need to discover improved inhibitors, especially for use in models of neurodegeneration. Here, we have described the discovery and profile of 8l (ARUK3001185) as a potent, selective, and brain-penetrant inhibitor of Notum activity suitable for oral dosing in rodent models of disease. Crystallographic fragment screening of the Diamond-SGC Poised Library for binding to Notum, supported by a biochemical enzyme assay to rank inhibition activity, identified 6a and 6b as a pair of outstanding hits. Fragment development of 6 delivered 8l that restored Wnt signaling in the presence of Notum in a cell-based reporter assay. Assessment in pharmacology screens showed 8l to be selective against serine hydrolases, kinases, and drug targets.

Highly specific, sensitive and rapid enzyme immunoassays for the measurement of acetaminophen in serum.

Acetaminophen antibodies were purified using affinity chromatography and labelled with horseradish peroxidase (HRP). The antibody-HRP conjugate and a new acetaminophen derivative were used in the construction of two immunoassay methods facilitating the direct quantitative measurement of acetaminophen in serum: a 96-well microtitre plate and coated-tube ELISAs. A minimum detection limit of 0.2 µg mL(-1) and a dynamic range of 0.2 to 1 µg mL(-1) in serum were achieved using the 96-well microtitre plate ELISA. The tube assay was optimised for the measurement of the clinically critical acetaminophen concentration of 50 to 250 µg mL(-1) of serum. The quantitative and specific tests could be completed within less than an hour. Common drugs including aspirin showed less than 0.1% cross-reactivity.

Detection of proteases using an immunochemical method with haptenylated-gelatin as a solid-phase substrate.

A simplified method for the measurement of proteases utilising solid-phase substrates incorporating an ELISA end-point detection step is described. Gelatin-hapten conjugates adsorbed onto polystyrene surfaces were found to be efficient substrates for proteases. Digestion of the solid-phase protein-hapten complexes resulted in proportional desorption of the attached conjugates and decrease in the detectable hapten species. Gelatin-cholic acid conjugates, affinity-purified sheep anti-cholic acid antibody-HRP and a chromogenic substrate were incorporated into a convenient and highly sensitive solid-phase immunochemical method. The detectable signal is inversely proportional to enzyme activity. Bacterial proteases (alpha-chymotrypsin Type II, Type IX from Bacillus polymyxa, Type XIV from Streptomyces griseus, Type XXIV from Bacillus licheniformens) were assayed. Dose-response curves for enzyme activities were measured within ranges of 0-550 microunits mL(-1) for chymotrypsin, 0-12 microunits mL(-1) for type IX, 0-35 microunits mL(-1) for type XIV and 0-100 microunits mL(-1) for type XXIV. The detection limits of the proteases studied were 89 microunits mL(-1) for chymotrypsin, 0.26 microunits mL(-1) for type IX, 5.8 microunits mL(-1) for type XIV and 6.5 microunits mL(-1) for type XXIV. It was demonstrated that the two-step immunochemical method combines the simplicity and sensitivity of solid-phase enzyme immunoassays, the broad specificity of gelatin as a protease substrate and the flexibility of the solid-phase format.

Characterization of bacterial proteases with a panel of fluorescent peptide substrates.

Bacteria produce a range of proteolytic enzymes. In an attempt to detect and identify bacteria on the basis of their protease activity, a panel of protease substrates was investigated. Peptides conjugated to the fluorophore 7-amino-4-methylcoumarin (AMC) are well-established substrates for measuring protease activity. Although peptide-AMC substrates are generally not specific for a single protease, a unique pattern can be achieved for both highly specific enzymes and those with a broader substrate range by comparing different peptide substrates. The panel of 7 peptide-AMC substrates chosen exhibited a unique pattern for nine microbial proteases. The selected peptides were used to determine protease activity in cultured strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus. A signal pattern obtained with peptides with arginine, lysine, and tyrosine in the P1 position characterized the bacterial protease activities in these samples. The kinetic parameters for the three best substrates for the P. aeruginosa sample were calculated. Further information about substrate specificity was gained by the selective use of protease inhibitors. The results presented show that peptide-AMC substrates provide a simple and sensitive tool to characterize protease activity in microbiological samples and that they have the potential to identify and distinguish different bacterial species.

Discovery of 2-phenoxyacetamides as inhibitors of the Wnt-depalmitoleating enzyme NOTUM from an X-ray fragment screen.

NOTUM is a carboxylesterase that has been shown to act by mediating the O-depalmitoleoylation of Wnt proteins resulting in suppression of Wnt signaling. Here, we describe the development of NOTUM inhibitors that restore Wnt signaling for use in in vitro disease models where NOTUM over activity is an underlying cause. A crystallographic fragment screen with NOTUM identified 2-phenoxyacetamide 3 as binding in the palmitoleate pocket with modest inhibition activity (IC50 33 µM). Optimization of hit 3 by SAR studies guided by SBDD identified indazole 38 (IC50 0.032 µM) and isoquinoline 45 (IC50 0.085 µM) as potent inhibitors of NOTUM. The binding of 45 to NOTUM was rationalized through an X-ray co-crystal structure determination which showed a flipped binding orientation compared to 3. However, it was not possible to combine NOTUM inhibition activity with metabolic stability as the majority of the compounds tested were rapidly metabolized in an NADPH-independent manner.

C8-substituted pyrido[3,4-d]pyrimidin-4(3H)-ones: Studies towards the identification of potent, cell penetrant Jumonji C domain containing histone lysine demethylase 4 subfamily (KDM4) inhibitors, compound profiling in cell-based target engagement assays.

Residues in the histone substrate binding sites that differ between the KDM4 and KDM5 subfamilies were identified. Subsequently, a C8-substituted pyrido[3,4-d]pyrimidin-4(3H)-one series was designed to rationally exploit these residue differences between the histone substrate binding sites in order to improve affinity for the KDM4-subfamily over KDM5-subfamily enzymes. In particular, residues E169 and V313 (KDM4A numbering) were targeted. Additionally, conformational restriction of the flexible pyridopyrimidinone C8-substituent was investigated. These approaches yielded potent and cell-penetrant dual KDM4/5-subfamily inhibitors including 19a (KDM4A and KDM5B Ki = 0.004 and 0.007 µM, respectively). Compound cellular profiling in two orthogonal target engagement assays revealed a significant reduction from biochemical to cell-based activity across multiple analogues; this decrease was shown to be consistent with 2OG competition, and suggests that sub-nanomolar biochemical potency will be required with C8-substituted pyrido[3,4-d]pyrimidin-4(3H)-one compounds to achieve sub-micromolar target inhibition in cells.

Exploiting Protein Conformational Change to Optimize Adenosine-Derived Inhibitors of HSP70.

HSP70 is a molecular chaperone and a key component of the heat-shock response. Because of its proposed importance in oncology, this protein has become a popular target for drug discovery, efforts which have as yet brought little success. This study demonstrates that adenosine-derived HSP70 inhibitors potentially bind to the protein with a novel mechanism of action, the stabilization by desolvation of an intramolecular salt-bridge which induces a conformational change in the protein, leading to high affinity ligands. We also demonstrate that through the application of this mechanism, adenosine-derived HSP70 inhibitors can be optimized in a rational manner.

A fragment-based approach applied to a highly flexible target: Insights and challenges towards the inhibition of HSP70 isoforms.

The heat shock protein 70s (HSP70s) are molecular chaperones implicated in many cancers and of significant interest as targets for novel cancer therapies. Several HSP70 inhibitors have been reported, but because the majority have poor physicochemical properties and for many the exact mode of action is poorly understood, more detailed mechanistic and structural insight into ligand-binding to HSP70s is urgently needed. Here we describe the first comprehensive fragment-based inhibitor exploration of an HSP70 enzyme, which yielded an amino-quinazoline fragment that was elaborated to a novel ATP binding site ligand with different physicochemical properties to known adenosine-based HSP70 inhibitors. Crystal structures of amino-quinazoline ligands bound to the different conformational states of the HSP70 nucleotide binding domain highlighted the challenges of a fragment-based approach when applied to this particular flexible enzyme class with an ATP-binding site that changes shape and size during its catalytic cycle. In these studies we showed that Ser275 is a key residue in the selective binding of ATP. Additionally, the structural data revealed a potential functional role for the ATP ribose moiety in priming the protein for the formation of the ATP-bound pre-hydrolysis complex by influencing the conformation of one of the phosphate binding loops.

Structure of the Epigenetic Oncogene MMSET and Inhibition by N-Alkyl Sinefungin Derivatives.

The members of the NSD subfamily of lysine methyl transferases are compelling oncology targets due to the recent characterization of gain-of-function mutations and translocations in several hematological cancers. To date, these proteins have proven intractable to small molecule inhibition. Here, we present initial efforts to identify inhibitors of MMSET (aka NSD2 or WHSC1) using solution phase and crystal structural methods. On the basis of 2D NMR experiments comparing NSD1 and MMSET structural mobility, we designed an MMSET construct with five point mutations in the N-terminal helix of its SET domain for crystallization experiments and elucidated the structure of the mutant MMSET SET domain at 2.1 Å resolution. Both NSD1 and MMSET crystal systems proved resistant to soaking or cocrystallography with inhibitors. However, use of the close homologue SETD2 as a structural surrogate supported the design and characterization of N-alkyl sinefungin derivatives, which showed low micromolar inhibition against both SETD2 and MMSET.

8-Substituted Pyrido[3,4-d]pyrimidin-4(3H)-one Derivatives As Potent, Cell Permeable, KDM4 (JMJD2) and KDM5 (JARID1) Histone Lysine Demethylase Inhibitors.

We report the discovery of N-substituted 4-(pyridin-2-yl)thiazole-2-amine derivatives and their subsequent optimization, guided by structure-based design, to give 8-(1H-pyrazol-3-yl)pyrido[3,4-d]pyrimidin-4(3H)-ones, a series of potent JmjC histone N-methyl lysine demethylase (KDM) inhibitors which bind to Fe(II) in the active site. Substitution from C4 of the pyrazole moiety allows access to the histone peptide substrate binding site; incorporation of a conformationally constrained 4-phenylpiperidine linker gives derivatives such as 54j and 54k which demonstrate equipotent activity versus the KDM4 (JMJD2) and KDM5 (JARID1) subfamily demethylases, selectivity over representative exemplars of the KDM2, KDM3, and KDM6 subfamilies, cellular permeability in the Caco-2 assay, and, for 54k, inhibition of H3K9Me3 and H3K4Me3 demethylation in a cell-based assay.

Optimisation of the detection of bacterial proteases using adsorbed immunoglobulins as universal substrates.

Bacterial proteases, Type XXIV from Bacillus licheniformens and Type XIV from Streptomyces griseus, were used to investigate the utility and optimisation of a solid phase assay for proteases, using immunoglobulin proteins as substrates. Immunoglobulins IgA and IgG were adsorbed on to surfaces of ELISA plates and exposed to various levels of the bacterial proteases which led to digestion and desorption of proportional amounts of the immunoglobulins. The assay signal was developed by measuring the remaining proteins on the polystyrene surface with appropriate enzyme-labelled anti-immunoglobulin reagents. The assay was fully optimised in terms of substrate levels employing ELISA techniques to titrate levels of adsorbed substrates and protease analytes. The critical factor which influences assay sensitivity was found to be the substrate concentration, the levels of adsorbed immunoglobulins. The estimated detection limits for protease XXIV and XIV were 10micro units/test and 9micro units/test using IgA as a substrate. EC(50) values were calculated as 213 and 48micro units/test for each protease respectively. Using IgG as a substrate, the estimated detection limits were 104micro units/test for protease XXIV and 9micro units/test for protease XIV. EC(50) values were calculated at 529micro units/test and 28micro units/test for protease XXIV and XIV respectively. The solid phase protease assay required no modification of the substrates and the adsorption step is merely simple addition of immunoglobulins to ELISA plates. Adsorption of the immunoglobulins to polystyrene enabled straightforward separation of reaction mixtures prior to development of assay signal. The assay exploits the advantages of the technical facilities of ELISA technology and commercially available reagents enabling the detection and measurement of a wide range of proteases. However, the key issue was found to be that in order to achieve the potential performance of the simple assay, optimisation of the method was essential.

Use of antibody-hapten complexes attached to optical sensor surfaces as a substrate for proteases: real-time biosensing of protease activity.

Fluorescent antibody protein (IgG) was attached to the surface of an integrated optical glass waveguide chip via specific binding to a covalently attached hapten and used as a substrate for the measurement of protease activities. Exposure of the optical chip to proteases resulted in digestion of the bound fluorescent antibody molecules and proportional decrease in the detectable fluorescence resulting from loss of fluorescence from the evanescent field. The bound fluorescent antibody protein was used as a unique universal protease substrate in which the combined biological activity and fluorescence signal were the basis of measurement. The action of proteases was monitored in real-time mode where the gradual decrease in evanescent fluorescence was recorded. The chip was regenerated by complete digestion of the antibody substrate by excess pepsin and recharged by incubation with a fresh sample of the labelled antibody. The biosensor was used to detect activity of several proteases including a bacterial protease preparation, Pronase E. The linear range of measurable Pronase E activity was from 0.03 to 2 units/mL. A measurement cycle took 40 min for samples with high protease concentration (>or=0.5 units/mL), when the concentration of the protease was less measurement times up to 100 min were required. The method demonstrates the principle of a new mode of real-time biosensing of proteases. The modular integrated optical glass waveguide biosensor system used in this study is compact and controlled by a laptop computer and could easily be miniaturised and utilized as a true probe device for detecting proteases with potential applications in a wide range of areas including research, clinical diagnostics, biotechnology processing and food and detergent manufacturing industries.

Labeling of biotin antibodies with horseradish peroxidase using cyanuric chloride.

In this report, we describe a two-step protocol for labeling of an affinity-purified antibody to biotin with horseradish peroxidase (HRP) using cyanuric chloride (CC) as a bridge. The enzyme was first modified with CC, and following chromatography on a PD-10 column, the activated HRP was incubated with the antibody to effect coupling of the two proteins. Assessment of the conjugate product was carried out using ELISA and SDS-PAGE electrophoresis where evidence for high antibody activity, high specific activity of the conjugate preparation, coupling of nearly all the antibody and over 90% of the enzyme was shown. The titer of the conjugate exceeded 1/100,000. High molecular weight complexes were observed in the SDS-PAGE results, indicating an efficient conjugation procedure. The presence of high molecular weight complexes indicated an efficient conjugation procedure. The protocol is simple, and the conjugation steps can be completed in 27 h once the preparatory phase has been carried out; the method is entirely generic and may be applied to labeling of any antibody.