Dehalogenation of an Anthropogenic Compound by an Engineered Variant of the Mouse Cytokine Macrophage Migration Inhibitory Factor

Small-molecule inhibitors of macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) as an emerging class of therapeutics for immune disorders

Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) is an important cytokine for which an increasing number of functions is being described in the pathogenesis of inflammation and cancer. Nevertheless, the availability of potent and druglike MIF inhibitors that are well-characterized in relevant disease models remains limited. Development of highly potent and selective small-molecule MIF inhibitors and validation of their use in relevant disease models will advance drug discovery. In this review, we provide an overview of recent advances in the identification of MIF as a pharmacological target in the pathogenesis of inflammatory diseases and cancer. We also give an overview of the current developments in the discovery and design of small-molecule MIF inhibitors and define future aims in this field.

MIF, a controversial cytokine: a review of structural features, challenges, and opportunities for drug development

INTRODUCTION

Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) has emerged as a promising drug target in diseases including sepsis, rheumatoid arthritis, and cancer. MIF has multiple properties that favor development of specific, targeted therapies: it is expressed broadly among human cells, has noted roles in diverse inflammatory and oncological processes, and has intrinsic enzymatic activity amenable to high-throughput screening. Despite these advantages, anti-MIF therapy remains well behind other cytokine-targeted therapeutics, with no small molecules in the pipeline for clinical development and anti-MIF antibodies only recently beginning clinical trials. Areas covered: In this review we summarize current literature regarding MIF structure and function-including challenges and controversies that have arisen in studies of anti-MIF therapeutics-and propose a strategy for development of clinically relevant anti-MIF drugs. Expert opinion: We believe that the field of anti-MIF therapeutics would benefit from capitalizing on the protein's multiple assets while acknowledging their flaws. The tautomerase enzymatic site of MIF may not be active biologically, but can nonetheless offer a high-throughput method to highlight molecules of interest that can affect its other, frequently intertwined bioactivities. Future work should also focus on developing more robust assays for MIF bioactivity that can be used for second-pass screening and specificity studies.

Promiscuous catalysis of asymmetric Michael-type additions of linear aldehydes to β-nitrostyrene by the proline-based enzyme 4-oxalocrotonate tautomerase

Exploiting catalytic promiscuity: The proline-based enzyme 4-oxalocrotonate tautomerase (4-OT) promiscuously catalyzes asymmetric Michael-type additions of linear aldehydes--ranging from acetaldehyde to octanal--to trans-β-nitrostyrene in aqueous solvent. The presence of 1.4 mol% of 4-OT effected formation of the anticipated γ-nitroaldehydes in fair to good yields with dr values of up to 93:7 and ee values of up to 81 %.