Bromocriptine as a Novel Pharmacological Chaperone for Mucopolysaccharidosis IV A.

Mucopolysaccharidosis IVA (MPS IVA) is a lysosomal storage disease caused by mutations in the gene encoding for the enzyme N-acetylgalactosamine-6-sulfate sulfatase (GALNS), leading to lysosomal accumulation of keratan sulfate (KS) and chondroitin-6-sulfate. In this study, we identified and characterized bromocriptine (BC) as a novel PC for MPS IVA. BC was identified through virtual screening and predicted to be docked within the active cavity of GALNS in a similar conformation to that observed for KS. BC interacted with similar residues to those predicted for natural GALNS substrates. In vitro inhibitory assay showed that BC at 50 µM reduced GALNS activity up to 30%. However, the activity of hrGALNS produced in HEK293 cells was increased up to 1.48-fold. BC increased GALNS activity and reduced lysosomal mass in MPS IVA fibroblasts in a mutation-dependent manner. Overall, these results show the potential of BC as a novel PC for MPS IVA and contribute to the consolidation of PCs as a potential therapy for this disease.

Identification of Ezetimibe and Pranlukast as Pharmacological Chaperones for the Treatment of the Rare Disease Mucopolysaccharidosis Type IVA.

Mucopolysaccharidosis type IVA (MPS IVA) is a rare disease caused by mutations in the gene encoding the lysosomal enzyme N-acetylgalactosamine-6-sulfate sulfatase (GALNS). We report here two GALNS pharmacological chaperones, ezetimibe and pranlukast, identified by molecular docking-based virtual screening. These compounds bound to the active cavity of GALNS and increased its thermal stability as well as the production of recombinant GALNS in bacteria, yeast, and HEK293 cells. MPS IVA fibroblasts treated with these chaperones exhibited increases in GALNS protein and enzyme activity and reduced the size of enlarged lysosomes. Abnormalities in autophagy markers p62 and LC3B-II were alleviated by ezetimibe and pranlukast. Combined treatment of recombinant GALNS with ezetimibe or pranlukast produced an additive effect. Altogether, the results demonstrate that ezetimibe and pranlukast can increase the yield of recombinant GALNS and be used as a monotherapy or combination therapy to improve the therapeutic efficacy of MPS IVA enzyme replacement therapy.

In Silico Analysis of the Structure of Fungal Fructooligosaccharides-Synthesizing Enzymes.

Fructooligosaccharides (FOS) are prebiotics commonly manufactured using fungal fructosyltransferases (FTases) or ß-fructofuranosidases. Several reports have attempted to optimize FOS production by changing operational conditions. Nevertheless, there is a lack of information related to the molecular enzyme-substrate interaction. In this study, we present an in silico evaluation of the interactions between substrates (i.e., glucose, sucrose, GF2, GF3, and GF4) and native FOS-synthesizing enzymes from fungi, with reported FOS production yield. In addition, a molecular dynamic simulation was conducted to assess the stability of these interactions. Six fungal enzymes with reported data of FOS production were selected: sucrose-sucrose 1-fructosyltransferase from A. foetidus (GenBank No. CAA04131); intracellular invertase from A. niger (GenBank No. ABB59679); extracellular invertase from A. niger (GenBank No. ABB59678); ß-fructofuranidase from A. japonicus ATCC 20611 (GenBank No. BAB67771); fructosyltransferase from A. oryzae N74 (GenBank No. ACZ48670); and fructosyltransferase from A. japonicus (PDB ID 3LF7). These enzymes shared an identity between 15 and 96 %, but have a highly conserved folding, and the characteristic FTases domains. Docking results showed that these enzymes also share a similar protein-ligand interaction profile. It was observed that the production yield of total FOS correlated with the sum of affinity energies for GF2, GF3, and GF4. Finally, we present the first molecular dynamic simulation for FOS and fungal FOS-synthesizing enzymes, showing that the protein-ligand interaction does not induce significant changes on the enzyme stability. Overall, these results represent valuable information to continue understanding the FOS synthesis process by fungal FOS-synthesizing enzymes, and they can have a significant impact toward the improvement in their catalytic properties and the synthesis of specific FOS.

Computational analysis of human N-acetylgalactosamine-6-sulfate sulfatase enzyme: an update in genotype-phenotype correlation for Morquio A.

Mucopolysaccharidosis IV A (MPS IV A) is a lysosomal storage disease produced by the deficiency of N-acetylgalactosamine-6-sulfate sulfatase (GALNS) enzyme. Although genotype-phenotype correlations have been reported, these approaches have not enabled to establish a complete genotype-phenotype correlation, and they have not considered a ligand-enzyme interaction. In this study, we expanded the in silico evaluation of GALNS mutations by using several bioinformatics tools. Tertiary GALNS structure was modeled and used for molecular docking against galactose-6-sulfate, N-acetylgalactosamine-6-sulfate, keratan sulfate, chondroitin-6-sulfate, and the artificial substrate 4-methylumbelliferyl-ß-D-galactopyranoside-6-sulfate. Furthermore, we considered the evolutionary residue conservation, change conservativeness, position within GALNS structure, and the impact of amino acid substitution on the structure and function of GALNS. Molecular docking showed that amino acids involved in ligand interaction correlated with those observed in other human sulfatases, and mutations within the active cavity reduced affinity of all evaluated ligands. Combination of several bioinformatics approaches allowed to explaine 90% of the missense mutations affecting GALNS, and the prediction of the phenotype for another 21 missense mutations. In summary, we have shown for the first time a docking evaluation of natural and artificial ligands for human GALNS, and proposed an update in genotype-phenotype correlation for Morquio A, based on the use of multiple parameters to predict the disease severity.