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van der Sluijs P, Hoelen H, Schmidt A, Braakman I. The Folding Pathway of ABC Transporter CFTR: Effective and Robust. J Mol Biol 2024:168591. [PMID: 38677493 DOI: 10.1016/j.jmb.2024.168591] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/23/2024] [Revised: 04/16/2024] [Accepted: 04/23/2024] [Indexed: 04/29/2024]
Abstract
De novo protein folding into a native three-dimensional structure is indispensable for biological function, is instructed by its amino acid sequence, and occurs along a vectorial trajectory. The human proteome contains thousands of membrane-spanning proteins, whose biosynthesis begins on endoplasmic reticulum-associated ribosomes. Nearly half of all membrane proteins traverse the membrane more than once, including therapeutically important protein families such as solute carriers, G-protein-coupled receptors, and ABC transporters. These mediate a variety of functions like signal transduction and solute transport and are often of vital importance for cell function and tissue homeostasis. Missense mutations in multispan membrane proteins can lead to misfolding and cause disease; an example is the ABC transporter Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane Conductance Regulator (CFTR). Even though our understanding of multispan membrane-protein folding still is rather rudimental, the cumulative knowledge of 20 years of basic research on CFTR folding has led to development of drugs that modulate the misfolded protein. This has provided the prospect of a life without CF to the vast majority of patients. In this review we describe our understanding of the folding pathway of CFTR in cells, which is modular and tolerates many defects, making it effective and robust. We address how modulator drugs affect folding and function of CFTR, and distinguish protein stability from its folding process. Since the domain architecture of (mammalian) ABC transporters are highly conserved, we anticipate that the insights we discuss here for folding of CFTR may lay the groundwork for understanding the general rules of ABC-transporter folding.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter van der Sluijs
- Cellular Protein Chemistry, Bijvoet Centre for Biomolecular Research, Utrecht University, 3584 CH Utrecht, the Netherlands.
| | - Hanneke Hoelen
- Cellular Protein Chemistry, Bijvoet Centre for Biomolecular Research, Utrecht University, 3584 CH Utrecht, the Netherlands; Present address: GenDx, Yalelaan 48, 3584 CM Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Andre Schmidt
- Cellular Protein Chemistry, Bijvoet Centre for Biomolecular Research, Utrecht University, 3584 CH Utrecht, the Netherlands; 3D-Pharmxchange, Tilburg, the Netherlands
| | - Ineke Braakman
- Cellular Protein Chemistry, Bijvoet Centre for Biomolecular Research, Utrecht University, 3584 CH Utrecht, the Netherlands
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2
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Taniguchi S, Berenger F, Doi Y, Mimura A, Yamanishi Y, Okiyoneda T. Ligand-based virtual-screening identified a novel CFTR ligand which improves the defective cell surface expression of misfolded ABC transporters. Front Pharmacol 2024; 15:1370676. [PMID: 38666024 PMCID: PMC11043560 DOI: 10.3389/fphar.2024.1370676] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/15/2024] [Accepted: 04/01/2024] [Indexed: 04/28/2024] Open
Abstract
Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a monogenetic disease caused by the mutation of CFTR, a cAMP-regulated Cl- channel expressing at the apical plasma membrane (PM) of epithelia. ∆F508-CFTR, the most common mutant in CF, fails to reach the PM due to its misfolding and premature degradation at the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). Recently, CFTR modulators have been developed to correct CFTR abnormalities, with some being used as therapeutic agents for CF treatment. One notable example is Trikafta, a triple combination of CFTR modulators (TEZ/ELX/IVA), which significantly enhances the functionality of ΔF508-CFTR on the PM. However, there's room for improvement in its therapeutic effectiveness since TEZ/ELX/IVA doesn't fully stabilize ΔF508-CFTR on the PM. To discover new CFTR modulators, we conducted a virtual screening of approximately 4.3 million compounds based on the chemical structures of existing CFTR modulators. This effort led us to identify a novel CFTR ligand named FR3. Unlike clinically available CFTR modulators, FR3 appears to operate through a distinct mechanism of action. FR3 enhances the functional expression of ΔF508-CFTR on the apical PM in airway epithelial cell lines by stabilizing NBD1. Notably, FR3 counteracted the degradation of mature ΔF508-CFTR, which still occurs despite the presence of TEZ/ELX/IVA. Furthermore, FR3 corrected the defective PM expression of a misfolded ABCB1 mutant. Therefore, FR3 may be a potential lead compound for addressing diseases resulting from the misfolding of ABC transporters.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shogo Taniguchi
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, School of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Kwansei Gakuin University, Nishinomiya, Japan
| | - Francois Berenger
- Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Kashiwa, Japan
| | - Yukako Doi
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, School of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Kwansei Gakuin University, Nishinomiya, Japan
| | - Ayana Mimura
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, School of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Kwansei Gakuin University, Nishinomiya, Japan
| | - Yoshihiro Yamanishi
- Department of Complex Systems Science, Graduate School of Informatics, Nagoya University, Graduate School of Informatics, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Japan
| | - Tsukasa Okiyoneda
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, School of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Kwansei Gakuin University, Nishinomiya, Japan
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3
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Ferreira FC, Buarque CD, Lopes-Pacheco M. Organic Synthesis and Current Understanding of the Mechanisms of CFTR Modulator Drugs Ivacaftor, Tezacaftor, and Elexacaftor. Molecules 2024; 29:821. [PMID: 38398574 PMCID: PMC10891718 DOI: 10.3390/molecules29040821] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/31/2023] [Revised: 02/02/2024] [Accepted: 02/06/2024] [Indexed: 02/25/2024] Open
Abstract
The monogenic rare disease Cystic Fibrosis (CF) is caused by mutations in the gene encoding the CF transmembrane conductance (CFTR) protein, an anion channel expressed at the apical plasma membrane of epithelial cells. The discovery and subsequent development of CFTR modulators-small molecules acting on the basic molecular defect in CF-have revolutionized the standard of care for people with CF (PwCF), thus drastically improving their clinical features, prognosis, and quality of life. Currently, four of these drugs are approved for clinical use: potentiator ivacaftor (VX-770) alone or in combination with correctors lumacaftor, (VX-809), tezacaftor (VX-661), and elexacaftor (VX-445). Noteworthily, the triple combinatorial therapy composed of ivacaftor, tezacaftor, and elexacaftor constitutes the most effective modulator therapy nowadays for the majority of PwCF. In this review, we exploit the organic synthesis of ivacaftor, tezacaftor, and elexacaftor by providing a retrosynthetic drug analysis for these CFTR modulators. Furthermore, we describe the current understanding of the mechanisms of action (MoA's) of these compounds by discussing several studies that report the key findings on the molecular mechanisms underlying their action on the CFTR protein.
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Affiliation(s)
- Filipa C. Ferreira
- Biosystems & Integrative Sciences Institute (BioISI), Faculty of Sciences, University of Lisbon, 1749-016 Lisbon, Portugal
| | - Camilla D. Buarque
- Department of Chemistry, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio), Rio de Janeiro 22435-900, RJ, Brazil
| | - Miquéias Lopes-Pacheco
- Biosystems & Integrative Sciences Institute (BioISI), Faculty of Sciences, University of Lisbon, 1749-016 Lisbon, Portugal
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McDonald EF, Oliver KE, Schlebach JP, Meiler J, Plate L. Benchmarking AlphaMissense pathogenicity predictions against cystic fibrosis variants. PLoS One 2024; 19:e0297560. [PMID: 38271453 PMCID: PMC10810519 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0297560] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/03/2023] [Accepted: 01/08/2024] [Indexed: 01/27/2024] Open
Abstract
Variants in the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator gene (CFTR) result in cystic fibrosis-a lethal autosomal recessive disorder. Missense variants that alter a single amino acid in the CFTR protein are among the most common cystic fibrosis variants, yet tools for accurately predicting molecular consequences of missense variants have been limited to date. AlphaMissense (AM) is a new technology that predicts the pathogenicity of missense variants based on dual learned protein structure and evolutionary features. Here, we evaluated the ability of AM to predict the pathogenicity of CFTR missense variants. AM predicted a high pathogenicity for CFTR residues overall, resulting in a high false positive rate and fair classification performance on CF variants from the CFTR2.org database. AM pathogenicity score correlated modestly with pathogenicity metrics from persons with CF including sweat chloride level, pancreatic insufficiency rate, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection rate. Correlation was also modest with CFTR trafficking and folding competency in vitro. By contrast, the AM score correlated well with CFTR channel function in vitro-demonstrating the dual structure and evolutionary training approach learns important functional information despite lacking such data during training. Different performance across metrics indicated AM may determine if polymorphisms in CFTR are recessive CF variants yet cannot differentiate mechanistic effects or the nature of pathophysiology. Finally, AM predictions offered limited utility to inform on the pharmacological response of CF variants i.e., theratype. Development of new approaches to differentiate the biochemical and pharmacological properties of CFTR variants is therefore still needed to refine the targeting of emerging precision CF therapeutics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eli Fritz McDonald
- Department of Chemistry, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, United States of America
- Center for Structural Biology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, United States of America
| | - Kathryn E. Oliver
- Department of Pediatrics, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America
- Center for Cystic Fibrosis and Airways Diseases, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America
| | - Jonathan P. Schlebach
- Department of Chemistry, Purdue University, West Lafyette, Indiana, United States of America
| | - Jens Meiler
- Department of Chemistry, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, United States of America
- Center for Structural Biology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, United States of America
- Department of Pharmacology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, United States of America
- Institute for Drug Discovery, Leipzig University, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Lars Plate
- Department of Chemistry, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, United States of America
- Department of Biological Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, United States of America
- Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee, United States of America
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Krasnova M, Efremova A, Mokrousova D, Bukharova T, Kashirskaya N, Kutsev S, Kondratyeva E, Goldshtein D. Advances in the Study of Common and Rare CFTR Complex Alleles Using Intestinal Organoids. J Pers Med 2024; 14:129. [PMID: 38392563 PMCID: PMC10890655 DOI: 10.3390/jpm14020129] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/20/2023] [Revised: 01/15/2024] [Accepted: 01/19/2024] [Indexed: 02/24/2024] Open
Abstract
Complex alleles (CAs) arise when two or more nucleotide variants are present on a single allele. CAs of the CFTR gene complicate the cystic fibrosis diagnosis process, classification of pathogenic variants, and determination of the clinical picture of the disease and increase the need for additional studies to determine their pathogenicity and modulatory effect in response to targeted therapy. For several different populations around the world, characteristic CAs of the CFTR gene have been discovered, although in general the prevalence and pathogenicity of CAs have not been sufficiently studied. This review presents examples of using intestinal organoid models for assessments of the two most common and two rare CFTR CAs in individuals with cystic fibrosis in Russia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria Krasnova
- Research Centre for Medical Genetics, Moscow 115522, Russia
| | - Anna Efremova
- Research Centre for Medical Genetics, Moscow 115522, Russia
| | | | | | - Nataliya Kashirskaya
- Research Centre for Medical Genetics, Moscow 115522, Russia
- Moscow Regional Research and Clinical Institute ("MONIKI"), Schepkina Street, 61/2, 1, Moscow 129110, Russia
| | - Sergey Kutsev
- Research Centre for Medical Genetics, Moscow 115522, Russia
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McDonald EF, Oliver KE, Schlebach JP, Meiler J, Plate L. Benchmarking AlphaMissense Pathogenicity Predictions Against Cystic Fibrosis Variants. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2023.10.05.561147. [PMID: 37873426 PMCID: PMC10592606 DOI: 10.1101/2023.10.05.561147] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/25/2023]
Abstract
Variants in the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator gene (CFTR) result in cystic fibrosis - a lethal autosomal recessive disorder. Missense variants that alter a single amino acid in the CFTR protein are among the most common cystic fibrosis variants, yet tools for accurately predicting molecular consequences of missense variants have been limited to date. AlphaMissense (AM) is a new technology that predicts the pathogenicity of missense variants based on dual learned protein structure and evolutionary features. Here, we evaluated the ability of AM to predict the pathogenicity of CFTR missense variants. AM predicted a high pathogenicity for CFTR residues overall, resulting in a high false positive rate and fair classification performance on CF variants from the CFTR2.org database. AM pathogenicity score correlated modestly with pathogenicity metrics from persons with CF including sweat chloride level, pancreatic insufficiency rate, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection rate. Correlation was also modest with CFTR trafficking and folding competency in vitro. By contrast, the AM score correlated well with CFTR channel function in vitro - demonstrating the dual structure and evolutionary training approach learns important functional information despite lacking such data during training. Different performance across metrics indicated AM may determine if polymorphisms in CFTR are recessive CF variants yet cannot differentiate mechanistic effects or the nature of pathophysiology. Finally, AM predictions offered limited utility to inform on the pharmacological response of CF variants i.e., theratype. Development of new approaches to differentiate the biochemical and pharmacological properties of CFTR variants is therefore still needed to refine the targeting of emerging precision CF therapeutics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eli Fritz McDonald
- Department of Chemistry, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37235, USA
- Center for Structural Biology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37240, USA
| | - Kathryn E. Oliver
- Department of Pediatrics, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
- Center for Cystic Fibrosis and Airways Diseases, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
| | | | - Jens Meiler
- Department of Chemistry, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37235, USA
- Center for Structural Biology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37240, USA
- Department of Pharmacology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37240, USA
- Institute for Drug Discovery, Leipzig University, Leipzig, SAC 04103, Germany
| | - Lars Plate
- Department of Chemistry, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37235, USA
- Department of Biological Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37235, USA
- Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN 37232, USA
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McDonald EF, Meiler J, Plate L. CFTR Folding: From Structure and Proteostasis to Cystic Fibrosis Personalized Medicine. ACS Chem Biol 2023; 18:2128-2143. [PMID: 37730207 PMCID: PMC10595991 DOI: 10.1021/acschembio.3c00310] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/25/2023] [Accepted: 08/02/2023] [Indexed: 09/22/2023]
Abstract
Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a lethal genetic disease caused by mutations in the chloride ion channel cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR). Class-II mutants of CFTR lack intermolecular interactions important for CFTR structural stability and lead to misfolding. Misfolded CFTR is detected by a diverse suite of proteostasis factors that preferentially bind and route mutant CFTR toward premature degradation, resulting in reduced plasma membrane CFTR levels and impaired chloride ion conductance associated with CF. CF treatment has been vastly improved over the past decade by the availability of small molecules called correctors. Correctors directly bind CFTR, stabilize its structure by conferring thermodynamically favorable interactions that compensate for mutations, and thereby lead to downstream folding fidelity. However, each of over 100 Class-II CF causing mutations causes unique structural defects and shows a unique response to drug treatment, described as theratype. Understanding CFTR structural defects, the proteostasis factors evaluating those defects, and the stabilizing effects of CFTR correctors will illuminate a path toward personalized medicine for CF. Here, we review recent advances in our understanding of CFTR folding, focusing on structure, corrector binding sites, the mechanisms of proteostasis factors that evaluate CFTR, and the implications for CF personalized medicine.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eli Fritz McDonald
- Department
of Chemistry, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee 37235, United States
- Center
for Structural Biology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee 37240, United States
| | - Jens Meiler
- Department
of Chemistry, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee 37235, United States
- Center
for Structural Biology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee 37240, United States
- Department
of Pharmacology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee 37240, United States
- Institute
for Drug Discovery, Leipzig University, Leipzig, SAC 04103, Germany
| | - Lars Plate
- Department
of Chemistry, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee 37235, United States
- Department
of Biological Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee 37235, United States
- Department
of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee 37232, United States
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Kim M, McDonald EF, Sabusap CMP, Timalsina B, Joshi D, Hong JS, Rab A, Sorscher EJ, Plate L. Elexacaftor/VX-445-mediated CFTR interactome remodeling reveals differential correction driven by mutation-specific translational dynamics. J Biol Chem 2023; 299:105242. [PMID: 37690692 PMCID: PMC10579539 DOI: 10.1016/j.jbc.2023.105242] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/06/2023] [Revised: 08/30/2023] [Accepted: 09/04/2023] [Indexed: 09/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Cystic fibrosis (CF) is one of the most prevalent lethal genetic diseases with over 2000 identified mutations in the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) gene. Pharmacological chaperones such as lumacaftor (VX-809), tezacaftor (VX-661), and elexacaftor (VX-445) treat mutation-induced defects by stabilizing CFTR and are called correctors. These correctors improve proper folding and thus facilitate processing and trafficking to increase the amount of functional CFTR on the cell surface. Yet, CFTR variants display differential responses to each corrector. Here, we report that variants P67L and L206W respond similarly to VX-809 but divergently to VX-445 with P67L exhibiting little rescue when treated with VX-445. We investigate the underlying cellular mechanisms of how CFTR biogenesis is altered by correctors in these variants. Affinity purification-mass spectrometry multiplexed with isobaric tandem mass tags was used to quantify CFTR protein-protein interaction changes between variants P67L and L206W. VX-445 facilitates unique proteostasis factor interactions especially in translation, folding, and degradation pathways in a CFTR variant-dependent manner. A number of these interacting proteins knocked down by siRNA, such as ribosomal subunit proteins, moderately rescued fully glycosylated P67L. Importantly, these knockdowns sensitize P67L to VX-445 and further enhance the trafficking correction of this variant. Partial inhibition of protein translation also mildly sensitizes P67L CFTR to VX-445 correction, supporting a role for translational dynamics in the rescue mechanism of VX-445. Our results provide a better understanding of VX-445 biological mechanism of action and reveal cellular targets that may sensitize nonresponsive CFTR variants to known and available correctors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Minsoo Kim
- Department of Chemistry, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Program in Chemical and Physical Biology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, USA
| | - Eli Fritz McDonald
- Department of Chemistry, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, USA
| | | | - Bibek Timalsina
- Department of Chemistry, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, USA
| | - Disha Joshi
- Department of Pediatrics, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
| | - Jeong S Hong
- Department of Pediatrics, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
| | - Andras Rab
- Department of Pediatrics, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
| | - Eric J Sorscher
- Department of Pediatrics, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
| | - Lars Plate
- Department of Chemistry, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Department of Biological Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee, USA.
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