Identification of a pharmacological approach to reduce ACE2 expression and development of an in vitro COVID-19 viral entry model.

Because of rapid emergence and circulation of the SARS-CoV-2 variants, especially Omicron which shows increased transmissibility and resistant to antibodies, there is an urgent need to develop novel therapeutic drugs to treat COVID-19. In this study we developed an in vitro cellular model to explore the regulation of ACE2 expression and its correlation with ACE2-mediated viral entry. We examined ACE2 expression in a variety of human cell lines, some of which are commonly used to study SARS-CoV-2. Using the developed model, we identified a number of inhibitors which reduced ACE2 protein expression. The greatest reduction of ACE2 expression was observed when CK869, an inhibitor of the actin-related protein 2/3 (ARP2/3) complex, was combined with 5-(N-ethyl-N-isopropyl)-amiloride (EIPA), an inhibitor of sodium-hydrogen exchangers (NHEs), after treatment for 24 h. Using pseudotyped lentivirus expressing the SARS-CoV-2 full-length spike protein, we found that ACE2-dependent viral entry was inhibited in CK869 + EIPA-treated Calu-3 and MDA-MB-468 cells. This study provides an in vitro model that can be used for the screening of novel therapeutic candidates that may be warranted for further pre-clinical and clinical studies on COVID-19 countermeasures.

PAAN/MIF nuclease inhibition prevents neurodegeneration in Parkinson's disease.

Parthanatos-associated apoptosis-inducing factor (AIF) nuclease (PAAN), also known as macrophage migration inhibitor factor (MIF), is a member of the PD-D/E(X)K nucleases that acts as a final executioner in parthanatos. PAAN's role in Parkinson's disease (PD) and whether it is amenable to chemical inhibition is not known. Here, we show that neurodegeneration induced by pathologic α-synuclein (α-syn) occurs via PAAN/MIF nuclease activity. Genetic depletion of PAAN/MIF and a mutant lacking nuclease activity prevent the loss of dopaminergic neurons and behavioral deficits in the α-syn preformed fibril (PFF) mouse model of sporadic PD. Compound screening led to the identification of PAANIB-1, a brain-penetrant PAAN/MIF nuclease inhibitor that prevents neurodegeneration induced by α-syn PFF, AAV-α-syn overexpression, or MPTP intoxication in vivo. Our findings could have broad relevance in human pathologies where parthanatos plays a role in the development of cell death inhibitors targeting the druggable PAAN/MIF nuclease.

Influence of stereochemistry on the activity of rapadocin, an isoform-specific inhibitor of the nucleoside transporter ENT1.

Rapadocin is a novel rapamycin-inspired polyketide-tetrapeptide hybrid macrocycle that possesses highly potent and isoform-specific inhibitory activity against the human equilibrative nucleoside transporter 1 (hENT1). Rapadocin contains an epimerizable chiral center in phenylglycine and an olefin group, and can thus exist as a mixture of four stereoisomers. Herein, we report the first total synthesis of the four stereoisomers of rapadocin using two different synthetic strategies and the assignment of their structures. The inhibitory activity of each of the four synthetic isomers on both hENT1 and hENT2 was determined. It was found that the stereochemistry of phenylglycine played a more dominant role than the configuration of the olefin in the activity of rapadocin. These findings will guide the future design and development of rapadocin analogs as new modulators of adenosine signaling.

Design and Synthesis of Tetrazole- and Pyridine-Containing Itraconazole Analogs as Potent Angiogenesis Inhibitors.

Itraconazole, a widely used antifungal drug, was found to possess antiangiogenic activity and is currently undergoing multiple clinical trials for the treatment of different types of cancer. However, it suffers from extremely low solubility and strong interactions with many drugs through inhibition of CYP3A4, limiting its potential as a new antiangiogenic and anticancer drug. To address these issues, a series of analogs in which the phenyl group is replaced with pyridine or fluorine-substituted benzene was synthesized. Among them the pyridine- and tetrazole-containing compound 24 has significantly improved solubility and reduced CYP3A4 inhibition compared to itraconazole. Similar to itraconazole, compound 24 inhibited the AMPK/mTOR signaling axis and the glycosylation of VEGFR2. It also induced cholesterol accumulation in the endolysosome and demonstrated binding to the sterol-sensing domain of NPC1 in a simulation study. These results suggested that compound 24 may serve as an attractive candidate for the development of a new generation of antiangiogenic drug.

Discovery of a Potent GLUT Inhibitor from a Library of Rapafucins by Using 3D Microarrays.

Glucose transporters play an essential role in cancer cell proliferation and survival and have been pursued as promising cancer drug targets. Using microarrays of a library of new macrocycles known as rapafucins, which were inspired by the natural product rapamycin, we screened for new inhibitors of GLUT1. We identified multiple hits from the rapafucin 3D microarray and confirmed one hit as a bona fide GLUT1 ligand, which we named rapaglutin A (RgA). We demonstrate that RgA is a potent inhibitor of GLUT1 as well as GLUT3 and GLUT4, with an IC50 value of low nanomolar for GLUT1. RgA was found to inhibit glucose uptake, leading to a decrease in cellular ATP synthesis, activation of AMP-dependent kinase, inhibition of mTOR signaling, and induction of cell-cycle arrest and apoptosis in cancer cells. Moreover, RgA was capable of inhibiting tumor xenografts in vivo without obvious side effects. RgA could thus be a new chemical tool to study GLUT function and a promising lead for developing anticancer drugs.

Activation of BMP Signaling by FKBP12 Ligands Synergizes with Inhibition of CXCR4 to Accelerate Wound Healing.

The combination of AMD3100 and low-dose FK506 has been shown to accelerate wound healing in vivo. Although AMD3100 is known to work by releasing hematopoietic stem cells into circulation, the mechanism of FK506 in this setting has remained unknown. In this study, we investigated the activities of FK506 in human cells and a diabetic-rat wound model using a non-immunosuppressive FK506 analog named FKVP. While FKVP was incapable of inhibiting calcineurin, wound-healing enhancement with AMD3100 was unaffected. Further study showed that both FK506 and FKVP activate BMP signaling in multiple cell types through FKBP12 antagonism. Furthermore, selective inhibition of BMP signaling abolished stem cell recruitment and wound-healing enhancement by combination treatment. These results shed new light on the mechanism of action of FK506 in acceleration of wound healing, and raise the possibility that less toxic FKBP ligands such as FKVP can replace FK506 for the treatment of chronic wounds.

Rapamycin-inspired macrocycles with new target specificity.

Rapamycin and FK506 are macrocyclic natural products with an extraordinary mode of action, in which they form binary complexes with FK506-binding protein (FKBP) through a shared FKBP-binding domain before forming ternary complexes with their respective targets, mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) and calcineurin, respectively. Inspired by this, we sought to build a rapamycin-like macromolecule library to target new cellular proteins by replacing the effector domain of rapamycin with a combinatorial library of oligopeptides. We developed a robust macrocyclization method using ring-closing metathesis and synthesized a 45,000-compound library of hybrid macrocycles (named rapafucins) using optimized FKBP-binding domains. Screening of the rapafucin library in human cells led to the discovery of rapadocin, an inhibitor of nucleoside uptake. Rapadocin is a potent, isoform-specific and FKBP-dependent inhibitor of the equilibrative nucleoside transporter 1 and is efficacious in an animal model of kidney ischaemia reperfusion injury. Together, these results demonstrate that rapafucins are a new class of chemical probes and drug leads that can expand the repertoire of protein targets well beyond mTOR and calcineurin.

Diallyl trisulfide protects against high glucose-induced cardiac apoptosis by stimulating the production of cystathionine gamma-lyase-derived hydrogen sulfide.

BACKGROUND: Cystathionine-γ-lyase (CSE)-derived hydrogen sulfide (H2S) is a potent cardioprotective agent. We investigated the effects of diallyl trisulfide (DATS) on CSE expression and H2S generation in myocardium and examined whether DATS-mediated H2S generation effectively protects rat heart from diabetes-induced cardiac damage. METHODS: The correlations between the effects of hyperglycemia and diabetes on CSE expression and the effects of DATS and H2S on hyperglycemia and diabetes were examined in vitro in the cardiomyocyte cell line H9c2 and in vivo in hearts from rats with streptozotocin-induced diabetes mellitus (DM). RESULTS: Expression of CSE, a catalyst of H2S production, was suppressed in H9c2 cells treated with high glucose (33 mM) and in DM rat hearts. CSE suppression also correlated with a decrease in the activation of the pro-survival protein kinase Akt. Treatment of H9c2 cells with DATS resulted in increased CSE expression and a reduction in apoptosis via a mechanism involving IGF1R/pAkt signaling and by modulating the expression of reactive oxygen species-related enzymes. The role CSE plays in the cardioprotective effects of DATS was further confirmed by CSE inhibition assays including inhibitors and siRNA. CONCLUSION: DATS produces H2S as efficiently as NaSH and DATS-derived H2S provides effective cardioprotection. Further, our data indicate that H2S plays a major role in the protective effect of DATS against apoptosis of cardiomyocytes.

Redox-based selective fluorometric detection of homocysteine.

Plasma homocysteine (Hcy) is an important risk factor for various diseases. A novel redox-sensitive fluorescent probe is developed for the selective detection of Hcy. A linear calibration curve has been obtained in buffer and plasma for the quantitative determination of Hcy in such media.

Recent advances in thiol and sulfide reactive probes.

Because of the biological relevance of thiols and sulfides such as cysteine, homocysteine, glutathione and hydrogen sulfide, their detection has attracted a great deal of research interest. Fluorescent probes are emerging as a new strategy for thiol and hydrogen sulfide analysis due to their high sensitivity, low cost, and ability to detect and image thiols in biological samples. In this short review, we have summarized recent advances in the development of thiol and hydrogen sulfide reactive fluorescent probes. These probes are compared and contrasted with regard to their designing strategies, mechanisms, photophysical properties, and/or reaction kinetics. Biological applications of these probes are also discussed.

Hydrogen sulfide inhibits the renal fibrosis of obstructive nephropathy.

Hydrogen sulfide has recently been found decreased in chronic kidney disease. Here we determined the effect and underlying mechanisms of hydrogen sulfide on a rat model of unilateral ureteral obstruction. Compared with normal rats, obstructive injury decreased the plasma hydrogen sulfide level. Cystathionine-ß-synthase, a hydrogen sulfide-producing enzyme, was dramatically reduced in the ureteral obstructed kidney, but another enzyme cystathionine-γ-lyase was increased. A hydrogen sulfide donor (sodium hydrogen sulfide) inhibited renal fibrosis by attenuating the production of collagen, extracellular matrix, and the expression of α-smooth muscle actin. Meanwhile, the infiltration of macrophages and the expression of inflammatory cytokines including interleukin-1ß, tumor necrosis factor-α, and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 in the kidney were also decreased. In cultured kidney fibroblasts, a hydrogen sulfide donor inhibited the cell proliferation by reducing DNA synthesis and downregulating the expressions of proliferation-related proteins including proliferating cell nuclear antigen and c-Myc. Further, the hydrogen sulfide donor blocked the differentiation of quiescent renal fibroblasts to myofibroblasts by inhibiting the transforming growth factor-ß1-Smad and mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling pathways. Thus, low doses of hydrogen sulfide or its releasing compounds may have therapeutic potentials in treating chronic kidney disease.

2,6-dansyl azide as a fluorescent probe for hydrogen sulfide.

A second-generation sulfonyl azide-based fluorescent probe, 2,6-DNS-Az, has been developed for the quantitative detection of H2S in aqueous media such as phosphate buffer and bovine serum. Compare to the first-generation 1,5-DNS-Az probe, this probe shows both high sensitivity in phosphate buffer without the need for addition of surfactant and selectivity for sulfide over other anions and biomolecules, and thus can be used as a useful tool for detection of H2S in the biological system.

An unexpected copper catalyzed 'reduction' of an arylazide to amine through the formation of a nitrene intermediate.

Azido nitrobenzoxadiazole (NBD) was observed to undergo a 'reduction' reaction in the absence of an obvious reducing agent, leading to amine formation. In the presence of an excess amount of DMSO, a sulfoxide conjugate was also formed. The ratio of these two products was both temperature- and solvent-dependent, with the addition of water significantly enhancing the ratio of the 'reduction' product. Two intermediates of the azido-NBD reaction in DMSO were trapped and characterized by low-temperature EPR spectroscopy. One was an organic free radical (S=1/2) and another was a triplet nitrene (S=1) species. A mechanism was proposed based on the characterized free radical and triplet intermediates.

Rapid and specific post-synthesis modification of DNA through a biocompatible condensation of 1,2-aminothiols with 2-cyanobenzothiazole.

Post-synthesis modification of DNA is an important way of functionalizing DNA molecules. Herein, we describe a method that first enzymatically incorporates a cyanobenzothiazole (CBT)-modified thymidine. The side-chain handle CBT can undergo a rapid and site-specific cyclization reaction with 1,2-aminothiols to afford DNA functionalization in aqueous solution. Another key advantage of this method is the formation of a single stereo/regioisomer in the process, which allows for precise control of DNA modification to yield a single component for aptamer selection work and other applications.

Thiol reactive probes and chemosensors.

Thiols are important molecules in the environment and in biological processes. Cysteine (Cys), homocysteine (Hcy), glutathione (GSH) and hydrogen sulfide (H(2)S) play critical roles in a variety of physiological and pathological processes. The selective detection of thiols using reaction-based probes and sensors is very important in basic research and in disease diagnosis. This review focuses on the design of fluorescent and colorimetric probes and sensors for thiol detection. Thiol detection methods include probes and labeling agents based on nucleophilic addition and substitution, Michael addition, disulfide bond or Se-N bond cleavage, metal-sulfur interactions and more. Probes for H(2)S are based on nucleophilic cyclization, reduction and metal sulfide formation. Thiol probe and chemosensor design strategies and mechanism of action are discussed in this review.

Novel AI-2 quorum sensing inhibitors in Vibrio harveyi identified through structure-based virtual screening.

In this letter, a high-throughput virtual screening was accomplished to identify potent inhibitors against AI-2 quorum sensing on the basis of Vibrio harveyi LuxPQ crystal structure. Seven compounds were found to inhibit AI-2 quorum sensing with IC(50) values in the micromolar range, and presented low cytotoxicity or no cytotoxicity in V. harveyi.

Design, synthesis, and polymerase-catalyzed incorporation of click-modified boronic acid-TTP analogues.

DNA molecules are known to be important materials in sensing, aptamer selection, nanocomputing, and construction of unique architectures. The incorporation of modified nucleobases affords unique DNA properties for applications in areas that would otherwise be difficult or not possible. Earlier, we demonstrated that the boronic acid moiety can be introduced into DNA through polymerase-catalyzed reactions. In order to study whether such incorporation by polymerase is a general phenomenon, we designed and synthesized four boronic acid-modified thymidine triphosphate (TTP) analogues. The synthesis of certain analogues was through the use of a single dialkyne tether for both the Sonogashira coupling with thymidine and the later Cu-mediated [3+2] cycloaddition for linking the boronic acid moiety. This approach is much more efficient than the previously described method, and paves the way for the preparation of a large number of boronic acid-modified TTPs with a diverse set of structural features. All analogues showed very good stability under polymerase chain reaction (PCR) conditions and were recognized as a substrate by DNA polymerase, and thus incorporated into DNA.

The first chemical synthesis of boronic acid-modified DNA through a copper-free click reaction.

The first chemical incorporation of the boronic acid group into DNA using a copper-free click reagent was reported. Compared with the PCR-based method, this approach allows for site-specific incorporation and synthesis on a larger scale.