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Yu YC, Tong ZJ, Liang XT, Wu JZ, Xu YJ, Wang JJ, Zhang MY, Wei TH, Yang J, Wang YB, Wang QX, Li QQ, Wang Z, Leng X, Ding N, Xue X, Sun SL, Li NG, Wang XL. Discovery of RORγ Allosteric Fluorescent Probes and Their Application: Fluorescence Polarization, Screening, and Bioimaging. J Med Chem 2024; 67:4194-4224. [PMID: 38442261 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.4c00058] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/07/2024]
Abstract
Retinoic acid receptor-related orphan receptor γ (RORγ) acts as a crucial transcription factor in Th17 cells and is involved in diverse autoimmune disorders. RORγ allosteric inhibitors have gained significant research focus as a novel strategy to inhibit RORγ transcriptional activity. Leveraging the high affinity and selectivity of RORγ allosteric inhibitor MRL-871 (1), this study presents the design, synthesis, and characterization of 11 allosteric fluorescent probes. Utilizing the preferred probe 12h, we established an efficient and cost-effective fluorescence polarization-based affinity assay for screening RORγ allosteric binders. By employing virtual screening in conjunction with this assay, 10 novel RORγ allosteric inhibitors were identified. The initial SAR studies focusing on the hit compound G381-0087 are also presented. The encouraging outcomes indicate that probe 12h possesses the potential to function as a powerful tool in facilitating the exploration of RORγ allosteric inhibitors and furthering understanding of RORγ function.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yan-Cheng Yu
- National and Local Collaborative Engineering Center of Chinese Medicinal Resources Industrialization and Formulae Innovative Medicine, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, 138 Xianlin Avenue, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210023, China
| | - Zhen-Jiang Tong
- National and Local Collaborative Engineering Center of Chinese Medicinal Resources Industrialization and Formulae Innovative Medicine, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, 138 Xianlin Avenue, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210023, China
| | - Xiao-Ting Liang
- National and Local Collaborative Engineering Center of Chinese Medicinal Resources Industrialization and Formulae Innovative Medicine, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, 138 Xianlin Avenue, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210023, China
| | - Jia-Zhen Wu
- National and Local Collaborative Engineering Center of Chinese Medicinal Resources Industrialization and Formulae Innovative Medicine, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, 138 Xianlin Avenue, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210023, China
| | - Yu-Jing Xu
- National and Local Collaborative Engineering Center of Chinese Medicinal Resources Industrialization and Formulae Innovative Medicine, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, 138 Xianlin Avenue, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210023, China
| | - Jing-Jing Wang
- National and Local Collaborative Engineering Center of Chinese Medicinal Resources Industrialization and Formulae Innovative Medicine, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, 138 Xianlin Avenue, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210023, China
| | - Meng-Yuan Zhang
- National and Local Collaborative Engineering Center of Chinese Medicinal Resources Industrialization and Formulae Innovative Medicine, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, 138 Xianlin Avenue, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210023, China
| | - Tian-Hua Wei
- National and Local Collaborative Engineering Center of Chinese Medicinal Resources Industrialization and Formulae Innovative Medicine, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, 138 Xianlin Avenue, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210023, China
| | - Jin Yang
- National and Local Collaborative Engineering Center of Chinese Medicinal Resources Industrialization and Formulae Innovative Medicine, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, 138 Xianlin Avenue, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210023, China
| | - Yi-Bo Wang
- National and Local Collaborative Engineering Center of Chinese Medicinal Resources Industrialization and Formulae Innovative Medicine, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, 138 Xianlin Avenue, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210023, China
| | - Qing-Xin Wang
- National and Local Collaborative Engineering Center of Chinese Medicinal Resources Industrialization and Formulae Innovative Medicine, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, 138 Xianlin Avenue, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210023, China
| | - Qing-Qing Li
- National and Local Collaborative Engineering Center of Chinese Medicinal Resources Industrialization and Formulae Innovative Medicine, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, 138 Xianlin Avenue, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210023, China
| | - Zixuan Wang
- National and Local Collaborative Engineering Center of Chinese Medicinal Resources Industrialization and Formulae Innovative Medicine, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, 138 Xianlin Avenue, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210023, China
| | - XueJiao Leng
- National and Local Collaborative Engineering Center of Chinese Medicinal Resources Industrialization and Formulae Innovative Medicine, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, 138 Xianlin Avenue, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210023, China
| | - Ning Ding
- National and Local Collaborative Engineering Center of Chinese Medicinal Resources Industrialization and Formulae Innovative Medicine, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, 138 Xianlin Avenue, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210023, China
| | - Xin Xue
- National and Local Collaborative Engineering Center of Chinese Medicinal Resources Industrialization and Formulae Innovative Medicine, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, 138 Xianlin Avenue, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210023, China
| | - Shan-Liang Sun
- National and Local Collaborative Engineering Center of Chinese Medicinal Resources Industrialization and Formulae Innovative Medicine, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, 138 Xianlin Avenue, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210023, China
| | - Nian-Guang Li
- National and Local Collaborative Engineering Center of Chinese Medicinal Resources Industrialization and Formulae Innovative Medicine, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, 138 Xianlin Avenue, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210023, China
| | - Xiao-Long Wang
- National and Local Collaborative Engineering Center of Chinese Medicinal Resources Industrialization and Formulae Innovative Medicine, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, 138 Xianlin Avenue, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210023, China
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Lu L, Sun N, Wang Y. Development and therapeutic potential of allosteric retinoic acid receptor-related orphan receptor γt (RORγt) inverse agonists for autoimmune diseases. Eur J Med Chem 2023; 258:115574. [PMID: 37336069 DOI: 10.1016/j.ejmech.2023.115574] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/15/2023] [Revised: 06/12/2023] [Accepted: 06/14/2023] [Indexed: 06/21/2023]
Abstract
The transcription factor retinoic acid receptor-related orphan receptor γt (RORγt) is an attractive drug target for some autoimmune diseases owing to its roles in the differentiation of human T helper 17 (Th17) cells which produce pro-inflammatory cytokine interleukin (IL)-17. RORγt agonists and inverse agonists are classically targeted to the hydrophobic and highly conserved orthosteric binding pocket of RORγt ligand binding domain (LBD). Although successful, this approach also brings some challenges, including off-target effects due to lack of selectivity over other nuclear receptors (NRs). Allosteric regulation of RORγt by synthetic small molecules has recently emerged as novel research interests for its interesting modes of action (MOA), satisfying bioactivity profile and improved selectivity. In this review, we delineated the discovery and identification of the allosteric pocket of RORγt. Subsequently, we focused on examples of small molecules that allosterically inhibit RORγt, with a central attention on structural-activity-relationship (SAR) information, biological activity, pharmacokinetic (PK) property, and the ligand binding mode of these compounds. We also discussed the potential role of RORγt allosteric inverse agonists as small molecule therapeutics for autoimmune diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lixue Lu
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, School of Pharmacy, Fudan University, 826 Zhangheng Road, Shanghai, 201203, China
| | - Nannan Sun
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, School of Pharmacy, Fudan University, 826 Zhangheng Road, Shanghai, 201203, China; School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450001, China
| | - Yonghui Wang
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, School of Pharmacy, Fudan University, 826 Zhangheng Road, Shanghai, 201203, China.
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Zhang J, Chen B, Zhang C, Sun N, Huang X, Wang W, Fu W. Modes of action insights from the crystallographic structures of retinoic acid receptor-related orphan receptor-γt (RORγt). Eur J Med Chem 2023; 247:115039. [PMID: 36566711 DOI: 10.1016/j.ejmech.2022.115039] [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: 10/26/2022] [Revised: 11/29/2022] [Accepted: 12/19/2022] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
RORγt plays an important role in mediating IL-17 production and some tumor cells. It has four functional domains, of which the ligand-binding domain (LBD) is responsible for binding agonists to recruit co-activators or inverse agonists to prevent co-activator recruiting the agonists. Thus, potent ligands targeting the LBD of this protein could provide novel treatments for cancer and autoimmune diseases. In this perspective, we summarized and discussed various modes of action (MOA) of RORγt-ligand binding structures. The ligands can bind with RORγt at either orthosteric site or the allosteric site, and the binding modes at these two sites are different for agonists and inverse agonist. At the orthosteric site, the binding of agonist is to stabilize the H479-Y502-F506 triplet interaction network of RORγt. The binding of inverse agonist features as these four apparent ways: (1) blocking the entrance of the agonist pocket in RORγt; (2) directly breaking the H479-Y502 pair interactions; (3) destabilizing the triplet H479-Y502-F506 interaction network through perturbing the conformation of the side chain in M358 at the bottom of the binding pocket; (4) and destabilizing the triplet H479-Y502-F506 through changing the conformation of the side chain of residue W317 side chain. At the allosteric site of RORγt, the binding of inverse agonist was found recently to inhibit the activation of protein by interacting directly with H12, which results in unfolding of helix 11' and orientation of H12 to directly block cofactor peptide binding. This overview of recent advances in the RORγt structures is expected to provide a guidance of designing more potent drugs to treat RORγt-related diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Junjie Zhang
- School of Pharmacy & Minhang Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, 201301, PR China
| | - Baiyu Chen
- School of Pharmacy & Minhang Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, 201301, PR China
| | - Chao Zhang
- School of Pharmacy & Minhang Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, 201301, PR China
| | - Nannan Sun
- School of Pharmacy & Minhang Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, 201301, PR China
| | - Xiaoqin Huang
- Center for Research Computing, Office of Information Technology, Center for Theoretical Biological Physics, Rice University, Houston, TX, 77030, USA
| | - Wuqing Wang
- School of Pharmacy & Minhang Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, 201301, PR China
| | - Wei Fu
- School of Pharmacy & Minhang Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, 201301, PR China.
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Neural Networks in the Design of Molecules with Affinity to Selected Protein Domains. Int J Mol Sci 2023; 24:ijms24021762. [PMID: 36675273 PMCID: PMC9865393 DOI: 10.3390/ijms24021762] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/14/2022] [Revised: 01/04/2023] [Accepted: 01/05/2023] [Indexed: 01/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Drug design with machine learning support can speed up new drug discoveries. While current databases of known compounds are smaller in magnitude (approximately 108), the number of small drug-like molecules is estimated to be between 1023 and 1060. The use of molecular docking algorithms can help in new drug development by sieving out the worst drug-receptor complexes. New chemical spaces can be efficiently searched with the application of artificial intelligence. From that, new structures can be proposed. The research proposed aims to create new chemical structures supported by a deep neural network that will possess an affinity to the selected protein domains. Transferring chemical structures into SELFIES codes helped us pass chemical information to a neural network. On the basis of vectorized SELFIES, new chemical structures can be created. With the use of the created neural network, novel compounds that are chemically sensible can be generated. Newly created chemical structures are sieved by the quantitative estimation of the drug-likeness descriptor, Lipinski's rule of 5, and the synthetic Bayesian accessibility classifier score. The affinity to selected protein domains was verified with the use of the AutoDock tool. As per the results, we obtained the structures that possess an affinity to the selected protein domains, namely PDB IDs 7NPC, 7NP5, and 7KXD.
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A green protocol for the one-pot synthesis of 3,4-disubstituted isoxazole-5(4H)-ones using modified β-cyclodextrin as a catalyst. Sci Rep 2022; 12:19106. [PMID: 36352247 PMCID: PMC9646907 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-23814-5] [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: 06/23/2022] [Accepted: 11/07/2022] [Indexed: 11/11/2022] Open
Abstract
This manuscript reports an impressive and facile strategy for synthesizing isoxazole derivatives using immobilized Cu (I) in metformin-functionalized β-cyclodextrin as a catalyst. The architecture of this catalyst was characterized by different analytical techniques such as Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, Thermogravimetric analysis, X-ray diffraction, Field emission scanning electron microscopy, and Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The catalyst showed remarkable reusability even after 7 consecutive runs.
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Horbaczewskyj CS, Fairlamb IJS. Pd-Catalyzed Cross-Couplings: On the Importance of the Catalyst Quantity Descriptors, mol % and ppm. Org Process Res Dev 2022; 26:2240-2269. [PMID: 36032362 PMCID: PMC9396667 DOI: 10.1021/acs.oprd.2c00051] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/18/2022] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
Abstract
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This Review examines parts per million (ppm) palladium
concentrations
in catalytic cross-coupling reactions and their relationship with
mole percentage (mol %). Most studies in catalytic cross-coupling
chemistry have historically focused on the concentration ratio between
(pre)catalyst and the limiting reagent (substrate), expressed as mol
%. Several recent papers have outlined the use of “ppm level”
palladium as an alternative means of describing catalytic cross-coupling
reaction systems. This led us to delve deeper into the literature
to assess whether “ppm level” palladium is a practically
useful descriptor of catalyst quantities in palladium-catalyzed cross-coupling
reactions. Indeed, we conjectured that many reactions could, unknowingly,
have employed low “ppm levels” of palladium (pre)catalyst,
and generally, what would the spread of ppm palladium look like across
a selection of studies reported across the vast array of the cross-coupling
chemistry literature. In a few selected examples, we have examined
other metal catalyst systems for comparison with palladium.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Ian J. S. Fairlamb
- University of York, Heslington, York, North Yorkshire, YO10 5DD, United Kingdom
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Bisht S, Kumar L, Kaul G, Akhir A, Saxena D, Chopra S, Karthik R, Goyal N, Batra S. Synthesis and Biological Evaluation of Substituted 3‐Isoxazolethioethers as Antileishmanial and Antibacterial Agents. ChemistrySelect 2022. [DOI: 10.1002/slct.202201664] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Shweta Bisht
- Medicinal and Process Chemistry Division CSIR-Central Drug Research Institute Sector 10, Jankipuram Extension Sitapur Road Lucknow 226031 UP India
| | - Lalan Kumar
- Medicinal and Process Chemistry Division CSIR-Central Drug Research Institute Sector 10, Jankipuram Extension Sitapur Road Lucknow 226031 UP India
| | - Grace Kaul
- Molecular Microbiology and Immunology Division CSIR-Central Drug Research Institute, Sector 10, Jankipuram Extension Sitapur Road Lucknow 226031 India
- Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research CSIR- Human Resource Development Centre CSIR-HRDC) Campus, Sector 19, Kamla Nehru Nagar Ghaziabad 201002 UP India
| | - Abdul Akhir
- Molecular Microbiology and Immunology Division CSIR-Central Drug Research Institute, Sector 10, Jankipuram Extension Sitapur Road Lucknow 226031 India
- Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research CSIR- Human Resource Development Centre CSIR-HRDC) Campus, Sector 19, Kamla Nehru Nagar Ghaziabad 201002 UP India
| | - Deepanshi Saxena
- Molecular Microbiology and Immunology Division CSIR-Central Drug Research Institute, Sector 10, Jankipuram Extension Sitapur Road Lucknow 226031 India
- Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research CSIR- Human Resource Development Centre CSIR-HRDC) Campus, Sector 19, Kamla Nehru Nagar Ghaziabad 201002 UP India
| | - Sidharth Chopra
- Molecular Microbiology and Immunology Division CSIR-Central Drug Research Institute, Sector 10, Jankipuram Extension Sitapur Road Lucknow 226031 India
- Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research CSIR- Human Resource Development Centre CSIR-HRDC) Campus, Sector 19, Kamla Nehru Nagar Ghaziabad 201002 UP India
| | - R. Karthik
- Biochemistry Division CSIR-Central Drug Research Institute, Sector 10, Jankipuram Extension Sitapur Road Lucknow 226031 India
- Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research CSIR- Human Resource Development Centre CSIR-HRDC) Campus, Sector 19, Kamla Nehru Nagar Ghaziabad 201002 UP India
| | - Neena Goyal
- Biochemistry Division CSIR-Central Drug Research Institute, Sector 10, Jankipuram Extension Sitapur Road Lucknow 226031 India
- Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research CSIR- Human Resource Development Centre CSIR-HRDC) Campus, Sector 19, Kamla Nehru Nagar Ghaziabad 201002 UP India
| | - Sanjay Batra
- Medicinal and Process Chemistry Division CSIR-Central Drug Research Institute Sector 10, Jankipuram Extension Sitapur Road Lucknow 226031 UP India
- Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research CSIR- Human Resource Development Centre CSIR-HRDC) Campus, Sector 19, Kamla Nehru Nagar Ghaziabad 201002 UP India
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Pham B, Cheng Z, Lopez D, Lindsay RJ, Foutch D, Majors RT, Shen T. Statistical Analysis of Protein-Ligand Interaction Patterns in Nuclear Receptor RORγ. Front Mol Biosci 2022; 9:904445. [PMID: 35782874 PMCID: PMC9240913 DOI: 10.3389/fmolb.2022.904445] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/25/2022] [Accepted: 05/16/2022] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
The receptor RORγ belongs to the nuclear receptor superfamily that senses small signaling molecules and regulates at the gene transcription level. Since RORγ has a high basal activity and plays an important role in immune responses, inhibitors targeting this receptor have been a focus for many studies. The receptor-ligand interaction is complex, and often subtle differences in ligand structure can determine its role as an inverse agonist or an agonist. We examined more than 130 existing RORγ crystal structures that have the same receptor complexed with different ligands. We reported the features of receptor-ligand interaction patterns and the differences between agonist and inverse agonist binding. Specific changes in the contact interaction map are identified to distinguish active and inactive conformations. Further statistical analysis of the contact interaction patterns using principal component analysis reveals a dominant mode which separates allosteric binding vs. canonical binding and a second mode which may indicate active vs. inactive structures. We also studied the nature of constitutive activity by performing a 100-ns computer simulation of apo RORγ. Using constitutively active nuclear receptor CAR as a comparison, we identified a group of conserved contacts that have similar contact strength between the two receptors. These conserved contact interactions, especially a couple key contacts in H11–H12 interaction, can be considered essential to the constitutive activity of RORγ. These protein-ligand and internal protein contact interactions can be useful in the development of new drugs that direct receptor activity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bill Pham
- Department of Biochemistry and Cellular and Molecular Biology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, United States
| | - Ziju Cheng
- Department of Biochemistry and Cellular and Molecular Biology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, United States
| | - Daniel Lopez
- Department of Biochemistry and Cellular and Molecular Biology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, United States
| | - Richard J. Lindsay
- UT-ORNL Graduate School of Genome Science and Technology, Knoxville, TN, United States
| | - David Foutch
- UT-ORNL Graduate School of Genome Science and Technology, Knoxville, TN, United States
| | - Rily T. Majors
- Department of Biochemistry and Cellular and Molecular Biology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, United States
| | - Tongye Shen
- Department of Biochemistry and Cellular and Molecular Biology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, United States
- *Correspondence: Tongye Shen,
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