Discovery, Optimization, and Biological Evaluation of Arylpyridones as Cbl-b Inhibitors.

Casitas B-lymphoma proto-oncogene-b (Cbl-b), a member of the Cbl family of RING finger E3 ubiquitin ligases, has been demonstrated to play a central role in regulating effector T-cell function. Multiple studies using gene-targeting approaches have provided direct evidence that Cbl-b negatively regulates T, B, and NK cell activation via a ubiquitin-mediated protein modulation. Thus, inhibition of Cbl-b ligase activity can lead to immune activation and has therapeutic potential in immuno-oncology. Herein, we describe the discovery and optimization of an arylpyridone series as Cbl-b inhibitors by structure-based drug discovery to afford compound 31. This compound binds to Cbl-b with an IC50 value of 30 nM and induces IL-2 production in T-cells with an EC50 value of 230 nM. Compound 31 also shows robust intracellular target engagement demonstrated through inhibition of Cbl-b autoubiquitination, inhibition of ubiquitin transfer to ZAP70, and the cellular modulation of phosphorylation of a downstream signal within the TCR axis.

Discovery of a Novel Benzodiazepine Series of Cbl-b Inhibitors for the Enhancement of Antitumor Immunity.

Casitas B-lineage lymphoma proto-oncogene-b (Cbl-b) is a RING finger E3 ligase that is responsible for repressing T-cell, natural killer (NK) cell, and B-cell activation. The robust antitumor activity observed in Cbl-b deficient mice arising from elevated T-cell and NK-cell activity justified our discovery effort toward Cbl-b inhibitors that might show therapeutic promise in immuno-oncology, where activation of the immune system can drive the recognition and killing of cancer cells. We undertook a high-throughput screening campaign followed by structure-enabled optimization to develop a novel benzodiazepine series of potent Cbl-b inhibitors. This series displayed nanomolar levels of biochemical potency, as well as potent T-cell activation. The functional activity of this class of Cbl-b inhibitors was further corroborated with ubiquitin-based cellular assays.

Discovery of morpholine-based aryl sulfonamides as Nav1.7 inhibitors.

Replacement of the piperidine ring in the lead benzenesulfonamide Nav1.7 inhibitor 1 with a weakly basic morpholine core resulted in a significant reduction in Nav1.7 inhibitory activity, but the activity was restored by shortening the linkage from methyleneoxy to oxygen. These efforts led to a series of morpholine-based aryl sulfonamides as isoform-selective Nav1.7 inhibitors. This report describes the synthesis and SAR of these analogs.

NMR in drug design.

The use of NMR as a tool to determine 3 dimensional protein solution structures, once a darling of the pharmaceutical industry, has largely given way to study of the interaction of prospective drugs with macromolecular targets. Many of these approaches involve ligand-centered studies, which have the advantage of speed and efficiency, but there are also many approaches that take directly from our learnings in macromolecular NMR and provide greater structural detail yet are still optimized for rapid turn-around of information. In the evolution of NMR in the pharmaceutical industry, the unique strengths of NMR to provide dynamic and atomic level information continue to be exploited to discover and design new drugs. Numerous methods have been developed over the past two decades that fall into the categories of fragment-based pre-lead discovery, ligand binding studies and qualitative structural screening.

Peptide Macrocyclization Inspired by Non-Ribosomal Imine Natural Products.

A thermodynamic approach to peptide macrocyclization inspired by the cyclization of non-ribosomal peptide aldehydes is presented. The method provides access to structurally diverse macrocycles by exploiting the reactivity of transient macrocyclic peptide imines toward inter- and intramolecular nucleophiles. Reactions are performed in aqueous media, in the absence of side chain protecting groups, and are tolerant of all proteinogenic functional groups. Macrocyclic products bearing non-native and rigidifying structural motifs, isotopic labels, and a variety of bioorthogonal handles are prepared, along with analogues of four distinct natural products. Structural interrogation of the linear and macrocyclic peptides using variable-temperature NMR and circular dichroism suggests that preorganization of linear substrates is not a prerequisite for macrocyclization.

Development of New Benzenesulfonamides As Potent and Selective Nav1.7 Inhibitors for the Treatment of Pain.

By taking advantage of certain features in piperidine 4, we developed a novel series of cyclohexylamine- and piperidine-based benzenesulfonamides as potent and selective Nav1.7 inhibitors. However, compound 24, one of the early analogs, failed to reduce phase 2 flinching in the mouse formalin test even at a dose of 100 mpk PO due to insufficient dorsal root ganglion (DRG) exposure attributed to poor membrane permeability. Two analogs with improved membrane permeability showed much increased DRG concentrations at doses of 30 mpk PO, but, confoundingly, only one of these was effective in the formalin test. More data are needed to understand the disconnect between efficacy and exposure relationships.

Contextual Role of a Salt Bridge in the Phage P22 Coat Protein I-Domain.

The I-domain is a genetic insertion in the phage P22 coat protein that chaperones its folding and stability. Of 11 acidic residues in the I-domain, seven participate in stabilizing electrostatic interactions with basic residues across elements of secondary structure, fastening the ß-barrel fold. A hydrogen-bonded salt bridge between Asp-302 and His-305 is particularly interesting as Asp-302 is the site of a temperature-sensitive-folding mutation. The pKa of His-305 is raised to 9.0, indicating the salt bridge stabilizes the I-domain by ∼4 kcal/mol. Consistently, urea denaturation experiments indicate the stability of the WT I-domain decreases by 4 kcal/mol between neutral and basic pH. The mutants D302A and H305A remove the pH dependence of stability. The D302A substitution destabilizes the I-domain by 4 kcal/mol, whereas H305A had smaller effects, on the order of 1-2 kcal/mol. The destabilizing effects of D302A are perpetuated in the full-length coat protein as shown by a higher sensitivity to protease digestion, decreased procapsid assembly rates, and impaired phage production in vivo By contrast, the mutants have only minor effects on capsid expansion or stability in vitro The effects of the Asp-302-His-305 salt bridge are thus complex and context-dependent. Substitutions that abolish the salt bridge destabilize coat protein monomers and impair capsid self-assembly, but once capsids are formed the effects of the substitutions are overcome by new quaternary interactions between subunits.

K114 (trans, trans)-bromo-2,5-bis(4-hydroxystyryl)benzene is an efficient detector of cationic amyloid fibrils.

Cationic amyloid fibrils found in human semen enhance the transmission of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and thus, are named semen-derived enhancer of virus infection (SEVI). The mechanism for the enhancement of transmission is not completely understood but it has been proposed that SEVI neutralizes the repulsion that exists between the negatively charged viral envelope and host cell membrane. Consistent with this view, here we show that the fluorescence of cationic thioflavin T (ThT) in the presence of SEVI is weak, and thus ThT is not an efficient detector of SEVI. On the other hand, K114 ((trans, trans)-bromo-2,5-bis(4-hydroxystyryl)benzene) forms a highly fluorescent, phenolate-like species on the cationic surface of SEVI. This species does not form in the presence of amyloid fibrils from insulin and amyloid-ß protein, both of which are efficiently detected by ThT fluorescence. Together, our results show that K114 is an efficient detector of SEVI.

Conformational analysis of thioflavin T bound to the surface of amyloid fibrils.

The interaction of small molecules with the surface of amyloid assemblies is important for the detection and inhibition of amyloid formation. Thioflavin T (ThT), a small molecular rotor, has been used for the detection of amyloid fibrils for over half a century. The basis for detection is simple in that in the presence of fibrils the fluorescence of ThT is dramatically enhanced. The mechanism for this enhancement is not well understood but may depend on the determination of the conformation of ThT bound to the fibril surface. Here, we first use solution-state (1)H NMR to show that the on-off binding of ThT to the surface of insulin amyloid fibrils correlates with the enhancement of ThT fluorescence. We then show that the conformation of surface-bound ThT is twisted. The implications of this result in light of recent experimental and computational studies of the binding of ThT to amyloid or amyloid-like assemblies are discussed.

Curcumin modulates the self-assembly of the islet amyloid polypeptide by disassembling α-helix.

Understanding how small molecules affect amyloid formation is of major biomedical and pharmaceutical importance due to the association of amyloid with incurable diseases including Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and type II diabetes. Using solution state (1)H NMR, we demonstrate that curcumin, a planar biphenolic compound found in the Indian spice turmeric, delays the self-assembly of islet amyloid polypeptide to NMR-invisible assemblies. Accompanying circular dichroism studies show that curcumin disassembles α-helix in maturing assemblies of IAPP. The amount of α-helix disassembled correlates with predicted and experimentally determined helical content of IAPP obtained by others. Taken together, these results indicate that curcumin modulates IAPP self-assembly by unfolding α-helix on pathway to amyloid. The implications of this work in the elucidation of the mechanism for amyloid formation by IAPP in the presence of curcumin are discussed.

Helix-dipole effects in peptide self-assembly to amyloid.

The formation of amyloid fibrils is associated with incurable diseases including Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and type 2 diabetes. Important mechanistic details of the self-assembly are unknown partly because of the absence of a clear structural characterization of intermediates. There is experimental evidence, however, for α-helical intermediates that has come primarily from circular dichroism spectroscopy. Here, we strengthen the evidence for helical intermediates by demonstrating helix-dipole effects in the early events of self-assembly. Previously, we showed that capped peptides containing the part of the islet amyloid polypeptide that may be responsible for the initial intermolecular contacts (Acetyl-R(11)LANFLVHSSNNFGA(25)-NH(2) and Acetyl-R(11)LANFLVHSGNNFGA(25)-NH(2) which contains the S20G mutation associated with early onset type 2 diabetes) self-assemble via helical intermediates [Liu et al. (2010) J. Am. Chem. Soc.132, 18223-18232]. We demonstrate here that when the peptides are uncapped, they do not self-assemble as indicated primarily by circular dichroism and nuclear magnetic resonance data. Self-assembly is restored when the charge on α-NH(3)(+) of Arg11 is eliminated but not when the charge on α-COO(-) of Ala25 is removed, consistent with the helicity of the peptides skewed toward the N-terminus. Our results strengthen the hypothesis that α-helical intermediates are on pathway to amyloid formation and indicate that the helix dipole is an attractive target for inhibiting the formation of α-helical assemblies.

Kinetic profile of amyloid formation in the presence of an aromatic inhibitor by nuclear magnetic resonance.

The self-assembly of amyloid proteins into ß-sheet rich assemblies is associated with human amyloidoses including Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and type 2 diabetes. An attractive therapeutic strategy therefore is to develop small molecules that would inhibit protein self-assembly. Natural polyphenols are potential inhibitors of ß-sheet formation. How these compounds affect the kinetics of self-assembly studied by thioflavin T (ThT) fluorescence is not understood primarily because their presence interferes with ThT fluorescence. Here, we show that by plotting peak intensities from nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) against incubation time, kinetic profiles in the presence of the polyphenol can be obtained from which kinetic parameters of self-assembly can be easily determined. In applying this technique to the self-assembly of the islet amyloid polypeptide in the presence of curcumin, a biphenolic compound found in turmeric, we show that the kinetic profile is atypical in that it shows a prenucleation period during which there is no observable decrease in NMR peak intensities.

Mechanistic studies of peptide self-assembly: transient α-helices to stable ß-sheets.

The pathologic self-assembly of proteins is associated with typically late-onset disorders such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and type 2 diabetes. Important mechanistic details of the self-assembly are unknown, but there is increasing evidence supporting the role of transient α-helices in the early events. Islet amyloid polypeptide (IAPP) is a 37-residue polypeptide that self-assembles into aggregates that are toxic to the insulin-producing ß cells. To elucidate early events in the self-assembly of IAPP, we used limited proteolysis to identify an exposed and flexible region in IAPP monomer. This region includes position 20 where a serine-to-glycine substitution (S20G) is associated with enhanced formation of amyloid fibrils and early onset type 2 diabetes. To perform detailed biophysical studies of the exposed and flexible region, we synthesized three peptides including IAPP(11-25)WT (wild type), IAPP(11-25)S20G, and IAPP(11-25)S20P. Solution-state NMR shows that all three peptides transiently populate the α-helical conformational space, but the S20P peptide, which does not self-assemble, transiently samples a broken helix. Under similar sample conditions, the WT and S20G peptides populate the α-helical intermediate state and ß-sheet end state, respectively, of fibril formation. Our results suggest a mechanism for self-assembly that includes the stabilization of transient α-helices through the formation of NMR-invisible helical intermediates followed by an α-helix to ß-sheet conformational rearrangement. Furthermore, our results suggest that reducing intermolecular helix-helix contacts as in the S20P peptide is an attractive strategy for the design of blockers of peptide self-assembly.