Small Molecules as Toll-like Receptor 4 Modulators Drug and In-House Computational Repurposing.

The innate immunity toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) system is a receptor of paramount importance as a therapeutic target. Virtual screening following a "computer-aided drug repurposing" approach was applied to the discovery of novel TLR4 modulators with a non-lipopolysaccharide-like structure. We screened almost 29,000 approved drugs and drug-like molecules from commercial, public, and in-house academia chemical libraries and, after biological assays, identified several compounds with TLR4 antagonist activity. Our computational protocol showed to be a robust approach for the identification of hits with drug-like scaffolds as possible inhibitors of the TLR4 innate immune pathways. Our collaborative work broadens the chemical diversity for inspiration of new classes of TLR4 modulators.

Full-Atom Model of the Agonist LPS-Bound Toll-like Receptor 4 Dimer in a Membrane Environment.

The Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4)/myeloid differentiation factor 2 (MD-2) innate immunity system is a membrane receptor of paramount importance as therapeutic target. Its assembly, upon binding of Gram-negative bacteria lipopolysaccharide (LPS), and also dependent on the membrane composition, finally triggers the immune response cascade. We have combined ab-initio calculations, molecular docking, all-atom molecular dynamics simulations, and thermodynamics calculations to provide the most realistic and complete 3D models of the active full TLR4 complex embedded into a realistic membrane to date. Our studies give functional and structural insights into the transmembrane domain behavior in different membrane environments, the ectodomain bouncing movement, and the dimerization patterns of the intracellular Toll/Interleukin-1 receptor domain. Our work provides TLR4 models as reasonable 3D structures for the (TLR4/MD-2/LPS)2 architecture accounting for the active (agonist) state of the TLR4, and pointing to a signal transduction mechanism across cell membrane. These observations unveil relevant molecular aspects involved in the TLR4 innate immune pathways and will promote the discovery of new TLR4 modulators.

Antagonistic Pleiotropy in the Bifunctional Surface Protein FadL (OmpP1) during Adaptation of Haemophilus influenzae to Chronic Lung Infection Associated with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.

Tracking bacterial evolution during chronic infection provides insights into how host selection pressures shape bacterial genomes. The human-restricted opportunistic pathogen nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHi) infects the lower airways of patients suffering chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and contributes to disease progression. To identify bacterial genetic variation associated with bacterial adaptation to the COPD lung, we sequenced the genomes of 92 isolates collected from the sputum of 13 COPD patients over 1 to 9 years. Individuals were colonized by distinct clonal types (CTs) over time, but the same CT was often reisolated at a later time or found in different patients. Although genomes from the same CT were nearly identical, intra-CT variation due to mutation and recombination occurred. Recurrent mutations in several genes were likely involved in COPD lung adaptation. Notably, nearly a third of CTs were polymorphic for null alleles of ompP1 (also called fadL), which encodes a bifunctional membrane protein that both binds the human carcinoembryonic antigen-related cell adhesion molecule 1 (hCEACAM1) receptor and imports long-chain fatty acids (LCFAs). Our computational studies provide plausible three-dimensional models for FadL's interaction with hCEACAM1 and LCFA binding. We show that recurrent fadL mutations are likely a case of antagonistic pleiotropy, since loss of FadL reduces NTHi's ability to infect epithelia but also increases its resistance to bactericidal LCFAs enriched within the COPD lung. Supporting this interpretation, truncated fadL alleles are common in publicly available NTHi genomes isolated from the lower airway tract but rare in others. These results shed light on molecular mechanisms of bacterial pathoadaptation and guide future research toward developing novel COPD therapeutics.IMPORTANCE Nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae is an important pathogen in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). To elucidate the bacterial pathways undergoing in vivo evolutionary adaptation, we compared bacterial genomes collected over time from 13 COPD patients and identified recurrent genetic changes arising in independent bacterial lineages colonizing different patients. Besides finding changes in phase-variable genes, we found recurrent loss-of-function mutations in the ompP1 (fadL) gene. We show that loss of OmpP1/FadL function reduces this bacterium's ability to infect cells via the hCEACAM1 epithelial receptor but also increases its resistance to bactericidal fatty acids enriched within the COPD lung, suggesting a case of antagonistic pleiotropy that restricts ΔfadL strains' niche. These results show how H. influenzae adapts to host-generated inflammatory mediators in the COPD airways.

Virtual Screening Approaches towards the Discovery of Toll-Like Receptor Modulators.

This review aims to summarize the latest efforts performed in the search for novel chemical entities such as Toll-like receptor (TLR) modulators by means of virtual screening techniques. This is an emergent research field with only very recent (and successful) contributions. Identification of drug-like molecules with potential therapeutic applications for the treatment of a variety of TLR-regulated diseases has attracted considerable interest due to the clinical potential. Additionally, the virtual screening databases and computational tools employed have been overviewed in a descriptive way, widening the scope for researchers interested in the field.

Glycolipid-based TLR4 Modulators and Fluorescent Probes: Rational Design, Synthesis, and Biological Properties.

The cationic glycolipid IAXO-102, a potent TLR4 antagonist targeting both MD-2 and CD14 co-receptors, has been used as scaffold to design new potential TLR4 modulators and fluorescent labels for the TLR4 receptor complex (membrane TLR4.MD-2 dimer and CD14). The primary amino group of IAXO-102, not involved in direct interaction with MD-2 and CD14 receptors, has been exploited to covalently attach a fluorescein (molecules 1 and 2) or to link two molecules of IAXO-102 through diamine and diammonium spacers, obtaining 'dimeric' molecules 3 and 4. The structure-based rational design of compounds 1-4 was guided by the optimization of MD-2 and CD14 binding. Compounds 1 and 2 inhibited TLR4 activation, in a concentration-dependent manner, and signaling in HEK-Blue TLR4 cells. The fluorescent labeling of murine macrophages by molecule 1 was inhibited by LPS and was also abrogated when cell surface proteins were digested by trypsin, thus suggesting an interaction of fluorescent probe 1 with membrane proteins of the TLR4 receptor system.

Modulation of toll-like receptor 4. Insights from x-ray crystallography and molecular modeling.

Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are a family of proteins with a key role in the innate immune system. They are specialized in the recognition of molecular patterns present in microbial components, through mechanisms not yet unraveled at atomic level. Improvement in the understanding of the molecular mechanisms that drive TLR signaling is of paramount importance to grasp key aspects of immunity, potentially leading to the design of new molecules able to modulate their functions. Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4), along with its accessory protein myeloid differentiation factor 2 (MD-2), builds a heterodimeric complex that specifically recognizes lipopolysaccharides (LPS), which are present on the cell wall of gramnegative bacteria, activating the immune response. Some TLR4 modulators are undergoing preclinical and clinical evaluation for the treatment of sepsis, inflammatory diseases, cancer, and rheumatoid arthritis. Reported X-ray crystal structures together with molecular modeling studies, not reviewed before in the literature, have recently contributed to the elucidation of key interactions at atomic level of the binding between the TLR4/MD-2 system and different TLR4/MD-2 ligands. The purpose of this review is to summarize these reported studies which may account for the SAR rationalization of natural/ synthetic agonist/antagonist TLR4 binders and may also guide further design of novel TLR4 modulators.