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Zhou Y, Li X, Shen R, Wang X, Zhang F, Liu S, Li D, Liu J, Li P, Yan Y, Dong P, Zhang Z, Wu H, Zhuang L, Chowdhury R, Miller M, Issa M, Mao Y, Chen H, Feng J, Li J, Bai C, He F, Tao W. Novel Small Molecule Tyrosine Kinase 2 Pseudokinase Ligands Block Cytokine-Induced TYK2-Mediated Signaling Pathways. Front Immunol 2022; 13:884399. [PMID: 35693820 PMCID: PMC9186491 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.884399] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/26/2022] [Accepted: 04/22/2022] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Abstract
A member of the Janus kinase (JAK) family, Tyrosine Kinase 2 (TYK2), is crucial in mediating various cytokine-signaling pathways such as interleukin-23 (IL23), interleukin-12 (IL12) and type I Interferons (IFN) which contribute to autoimmune disorders (e.g., psoriasis, lupus, and inflammatory bowel disease). Thus, TYK2 represents an attractive target to develop small-molecule therapeutics for the treatment of cytokine-driven inflammatory diseases. Selective inhibition of TYK2 over other JAK isoforms is critical to achieve a favorable therapeutic index in the development of TYK2 inhibitors. However, designing small molecule inhibitors to target the adenosine triphosphate (ATP) binding site of TYK2 kinase has been challenging due to the substantial structural homology of the JAK family catalytic domains. Here, we employed an approach to target the JAK homology 2 (JH2) pseudokinase regulatory domain of the TYK2 protein. We developed a series of small-molecule TYK2 pseudokinase ligands, which suppress the TYK2 catalytic activity through allosteric regulation. The TYK2 pseudokinase-binding small molecules in this study simultaneously achieve high affinity-binding for the TYK2 JH2 domain while also affording significantly reduced affinity for the TYK2 JAK homology 1 (JH1) kinase domain. These TYK2 JH2 selective molecules, although possessing little effect on suppressing the catalytic activity of the isolated TYK2 JH1 catalytic domain in the kinase assays, can still significantly block the TYK2-mediated receptor-stimulated pathways by binding to the TYK2 JH2 domain and allosterically regulating the TYK2 JH1 kinase. These compounds are potent towards human T-cell lines and primary immune cells as well as in human whole-blood specimens. Moreover, TYK2 JH2-binding ligands exhibit remarkable selectivity of TYK2 over JAK isoforms not only biochemically but also in a panel of receptor-stimulated JAK1/JAK2/JAK3-driven cellular functional assays. In addition, the TYK2 JH2-targeting ligands also demonstrate high selectivity in a multi-kinase screening panel. The data in the current study underscores that the TYK2 JH2 pseudokinase is a promising therapeutic target for achieving a high degree of biological selectivity. Meanwhile, targeting the JH2 domain represents an appealing strategy for the development of clinically well-tolerated TYK2 inhibitors that would have superior efficacy and a favorable safety profile compared to the existing Janus kinase inhibitors against autoimmune diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yu Zhou
- R & D Center, Eternity Bioscience Inc., Cranbury, NJ, United States
- *Correspondence: Yu Zhou, ; Xin Li,
| | - Xin Li
- R & D Center, Shanghai Hengrui Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., Shanghai, China
- *Correspondence: Yu Zhou, ; Xin Li,
| | - Ru Shen
- R & D Center, Eternity Bioscience Inc., Cranbury, NJ, United States
| | - Xiangzhu Wang
- R & D Center, Eternity Bioscience Inc., Cranbury, NJ, United States
| | - Fan Zhang
- R & D Center, Eternity Bioscience Inc., Cranbury, NJ, United States
| | - Suxing Liu
- R & D Center, Eternity Bioscience Inc., Cranbury, NJ, United States
| | - Di Li
- R & D Center, Eternity Bioscience Inc., Cranbury, NJ, United States
| | - Jian Liu
- R & D Center, Eternity Bioscience Inc., Cranbury, NJ, United States
| | - Puhui Li
- R & D Center, Eternity Bioscience Inc., Cranbury, NJ, United States
| | - Yinfa Yan
- R & D Center, Eternity Bioscience Inc., Cranbury, NJ, United States
| | - Ping Dong
- R & D Center, Shanghai Hengrui Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., Shanghai, China
| | - Zhigao Zhang
- R & D Center, Shanghai Hengrui Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., Shanghai, China
| | - Heping Wu
- R & D Center, Eternity Bioscience Inc., Cranbury, NJ, United States
| | - Linghang Zhuang
- R & D Center, Eternity Bioscience Inc., Cranbury, NJ, United States
| | | | - Matthew Miller
- R & D Center, Eternity Bioscience Inc., Cranbury, NJ, United States
| | - Mena Issa
- R & D Center, Eternity Bioscience Inc., Cranbury, NJ, United States
| | - Yuchang Mao
- R & D Center, Shanghai Hengrui Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., Shanghai, China
| | - Hongli Chen
- R & D Center, Shanghai Hengrui Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., Shanghai, China
| | - Jun Feng
- R & D Center, Shanghai Hengrui Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., Shanghai, China
| | - Jing Li
- R & D Center, Eternity Bioscience Inc., Cranbury, NJ, United States
| | - Chang Bai
- R & D Center, Shanghai Hengrui Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., Shanghai, China
| | - Feng He
- R & D Center, Shanghai Hengrui Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., Shanghai, China
| | - Weikang Tao
- R & D Center, Shanghai Hengrui Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., Shanghai, China
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Huang J, Wang L, Yu C, Fu Z, Liu C, Zhang H, Wang K, Guo X, Wang J. Characterization of a reliable cell-based reporter gene assay for measuring bioactivities of therapeutic anti-interleukin-23 monoclonal antibodies. Int Immunopharmacol 2020; 85:106647. [DOI: 10.1016/j.intimp.2020.106647] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/03/2020] [Revised: 05/27/2020] [Accepted: 05/27/2020] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
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Vashishtha S, Broderick G, Craddock TJA, Barnes ZM, Collado F, Balbin EG, Fletcher MA, Klimas NG. Leveraging Prior Knowledge to Recover Characteristic Immune Regulatory Motifs in Gulf War Illness. Front Physiol 2020; 11:358. [PMID: 32411011 PMCID: PMC7198798 DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2020.00358] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/21/2019] [Accepted: 03/27/2020] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Potentially linked to the basic physiology of stress response, Gulf War Illness (GWI) is a debilitating condition presenting with complex immune, endocrine and neurological symptoms. Here we interrogate the immune response to physiological stress by measuring 16 blood-borne immune markers at 8 time points before, during and after maximum exercise challenge in n = 12 GWI veterans and n = 11 healthy veteran controls deployed to the same theater. Immune markers were combined into functional sets and the dynamics of their joint expression described as classical rate equations. These empirical networks were further informed structurally by projection onto prior knowledge networks mined from the literature. Of the 49 literature-informed immune signaling interactions, 21 were found active in the combined exercise response data. However, only 4 signals were common to both subject groups while 7 were uniquely active in GWI and 10 uniquely active in healthy veterans. Feedforward mediation of IL-23 and IL-17 by IL-6 and IL-10 emerged as distinguishing control elements that were characteristically active in GWI versus healthy subjects. Simulated restructuring of the regulatory circuitry in GWI as a result of applying an IL-6 receptor antagonist in combination with either a Th1 (IL-2, IFNγ, and TNFα) or IL-23 receptor antagonist predicted a partial rescue of immune response elements previously associated with illness severity. Overall, results suggest that pharmacologically altering the topology of the immune response circuitry identified as active in GWI can inform on strategies that while not curative, may nonetheless deliver a reduction in symptom burden. A lasting and more complete remission in GWI may therefore require manipulation of a broader physiology, namely one that includes endocrine oversight of immune function.
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Affiliation(s)
- Saurabh Vashishtha
- Department of Medicine, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada.,Center for Clinical Systems Biology, Rochester General Hospital, Rochester, NY, United States
| | - Gordon Broderick
- Center for Clinical Systems Biology, Rochester General Hospital, Rochester, NY, United States.,Department of Biomedical Engineering, Kate Gleason College of Engineering, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY, United States
| | - Travis J A Craddock
- Institute for Neuro-Immune Medicine, Nova Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale, FL, United States.,Departments of Psychology & Neuroscience, Computer Science and Clinical Immunology, Nova Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale, FL, United States
| | - Zachary M Barnes
- Diabetes Research Institute, University of Miami, Miami, FL, United States.,Miami Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Miami, FL, United States
| | - Fanny Collado
- Miami Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Miami, FL, United States
| | - Elizabeth G Balbin
- Institute for Neuro-Immune Medicine, Nova Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale, FL, United States.,Miami Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Miami, FL, United States
| | - Mary Ann Fletcher
- Institute for Neuro-Immune Medicine, Nova Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale, FL, United States.,Departments of Psychology & Neuroscience, Computer Science and Clinical Immunology, Nova Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale, FL, United States.,Miami Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Miami, FL, United States
| | - Nancy G Klimas
- Institute for Neuro-Immune Medicine, Nova Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale, FL, United States.,Departments of Psychology & Neuroscience, Computer Science and Clinical Immunology, Nova Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale, FL, United States.,Miami Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Miami, FL, United States
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Sasaki-Iwaoka H, Taguchi K, Okada Y, Imamura E, Kubo S, Furukawa S, Morokata T. AS2762900-00, a potent anti-human IL-23 receptor monoclonal antibody, prevents epidermal hyperplasia in a psoriatic human skin xenograft model. Eur J Pharmacol 2019; 843:190-198. [PMID: 30472202 DOI: 10.1016/j.ejphar.2018.11.030] [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: 09/12/2018] [Revised: 11/17/2018] [Accepted: 11/21/2018] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
Abstract
Interleukin (IL)-23 is thought to be critical in the pathogenesis of psoriasis, and anti-IL-23 monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) have been approved for the treatment of psoriasis. We speculated that an anti-IL-23 receptor mAb might have greater efficacy than an anti-IL-23 mAb in the treatment of local inflamed lesions with high IL-23 levels. We previously generated an anti-human IL-23 receptor mAb, AS2762900-00, which potently blocked IL-23-induced cell proliferation, regardless of the concentration of IL-23. Here, we evaluated the therapeutic potential of AS2762900-00 in the treatment of psoriasis. Compared with untreated control, AS2762900-00 significantly reduced the epidermal thickness of lesions in a clinically relevant psoriatic human skin xenograft model. The expression of inflammatory genes including genes downstream of IL-23 signaling in the lesion tended to be lower in the AS2762900-00 group than the untreated group, suggesting that the inhibitory effects of AS2762900-00 in the psoriatic human skin xenograft model might occur via blockade of IL-23 signaling pathways. Further, AS2762900-00 showed an inhibitory effect on signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) phosphorylation as a downstream signal of IL-23 receptor activation in whole blood from patients with psoriasis. We also confirmed that AS2762900-00 inhibited IL-23-induced STAT3 phosphorylation in a concentration-dependent manner using whole blood from healthy donors. These data suggest that AS2762900-00 is a promising drug candidate for the treatment of psoriasis. In addition, STAT3 phosphorylation in whole blood may be a useful biomarker for the evaluation of the pharmacodynamic effects of AS2762900-00 in healthy volunteers in clinical development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Haruna Sasaki-Iwaoka
- Drug Discovery Research, Astellas Pharma Inc., 21 Miyukigaoka, Tsukuba-shi, Ibaraki 305-8585, Japan.
| | - Katsunari Taguchi
- Drug Discovery Research, Astellas Pharma Inc., 21 Miyukigaoka, Tsukuba-shi, Ibaraki 305-8585, Japan
| | - Yohei Okada
- Drug Discovery Research, Astellas Pharma Inc., 21 Miyukigaoka, Tsukuba-shi, Ibaraki 305-8585, Japan
| | - Emiko Imamura
- Drug Discovery Research, Astellas Pharma Inc., 21 Miyukigaoka, Tsukuba-shi, Ibaraki 305-8585, Japan
| | - Satoshi Kubo
- Drug Discovery Research, Astellas Pharma Inc., 21 Miyukigaoka, Tsukuba-shi, Ibaraki 305-8585, Japan
| | - Shigetada Furukawa
- Drug Discovery Research, Astellas Pharma Inc., 21 Miyukigaoka, Tsukuba-shi, Ibaraki 305-8585, Japan
| | - Tatsuaki Morokata
- Drug Discovery Research, Astellas Pharma Inc., 21 Miyukigaoka, Tsukuba-shi, Ibaraki 305-8585, Japan
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Yan J, Cua DJ, Teng MW. IL-23 promotes the development of castration-resistant prostate cancer. Immunol Cell Biol 2018; 96:883-885. [PMID: 30194885 DOI: 10.1111/imcb.12195] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/09/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Juming Yan
- Cancer Immunoregulation and Immunotherapy Laboratory, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, Australia.,School of Medicine, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
| | | | - Michele Wl Teng
- Cancer Immunoregulation and Immunotherapy Laboratory, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, Australia.,School of Medicine, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
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Yan J, Allen S, Vijayan D, Li XY, Harjunpää H, Takeda K, Liu J, Cua DJ, Smyth MJ, Teng MWL. Experimental Lung Metastases in Mice Are More Effectively Inhibited by Blockade of IL23R than IL23. Cancer Immunol Res 2018; 6:978-987. [PMID: 29921599 DOI: 10.1158/2326-6066.cir-18-0011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/06/2018] [Revised: 04/14/2018] [Accepted: 06/14/2018] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
Tumor-induced immunosuppression is mediated through various mechanisms including engagement of immune checkpoint receptors on effector cells, function of immunoregulatory cells such as regulatory T cells and myeloid-derived suppressor cells, and deployment of immunosuppressive cytokines such as TGFβ and IL10. IL23 is a cytokine that negatively affects antitumor immunity. In this study, we investigated whether IL23-deficient (IL23p19-/-) and IL23R-deficient (IL23R-/-) mice phenocopied each other, with respect to their tumor control. We found that IL23R-/- mice had significantly fewer lung metastases compared with IL23p19-/- mice across three different experimental lung metastasis models (B16F10, LWT1, and RM-1). Similarly, IL23R blocking antibodies were more effective than antibodies neutralizing IL23 in suppressing experimental lung metastases. The antimetastatic activity of anti-IL23R was dependent on NK cells and IFNγ but independent of CD8+ T cells, CD4+ T cells, activating Fc receptors, and IL12. Furthermore, our data suggest this increased antitumor efficacy was due to an increase in the proportion of IFNγ-producing NK cells in the lungs of B16F10 tumor-bearing mice. Anti-IL23R, but not anti-IL23p19, partially suppressed lung metastases in tumor-bearing mice neutralized for IL12p40. Collectively, our data imply that IL23R has tumor-promoting effects that are partially independent of IL23p19. Blocking IL23R may be more effective than neutralizing IL23 in the suppression of tumor metastases. Cancer Immunol Res; 6(8); 978-87. ©2018 AACR.
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Affiliation(s)
- Juming Yan
- Cancer Immunoregulation and Immunotherapy Laboratory, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, Australia
- School of Medicine, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
| | - Stacey Allen
- Cancer Immunoregulation and Immunotherapy Laboratory, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, Australia
| | - Dipti Vijayan
- Immunology in Cancer and Infection Laboratory, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, Australia
| | - Xian-Yang Li
- Immunology in Cancer and Infection Laboratory, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, Australia
| | - Heidi Harjunpää
- Cancer Immunoregulation and Immunotherapy Laboratory, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, Australia
- School of Medicine, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
| | - Kazuyoshi Takeda
- Division of Cell Biology, Biomedical Research Center, Graduate School of Medicine, Juntendo University, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Jing Liu
- Cancer Immunoregulation and Immunotherapy Laboratory, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, Australia
| | - Daniel J Cua
- Merck Research Laboratories, Palo Alto, California
| | - Mark J Smyth
- School of Medicine, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
- Immunology in Cancer and Infection Laboratory, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, Australia
| | - Michele W L Teng
- Cancer Immunoregulation and Immunotherapy Laboratory, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, Australia.
- School of Medicine, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
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