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Dhuri K, Duran T, Chaudhuri B, Slack FJ, Vikram A, Glazer PM, Bahal R. Head-to-head comparison of in vitro and in vivo efficacy of pHLIP-conjugated anti-seed gamma peptide nucleic acids. CELL REPORTS. PHYSICAL SCIENCE 2023; 4:101584. [PMID: 38144419 PMCID: PMC10745205 DOI: 10.1016/j.xcrp.2023.101584] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/26/2023]
Abstract
Gamma peptide nucleic acids (γPNAs) have recently garnered attention in diverse therapeutic and diagnostic applications. Serine and diethylene-glycol-containing γPNAs have been tested for numerous RNA-targeting purposes. Here, we comprehensively evaluated the in vitro and in vivo efficacy of pH-low insertion peptide (pHLIP)-conjugated serine and diethylene-based γPNAs. pHLIP targets only the acidic tumor microenvironment and not the normal cells. We synthesized and parallelly tested pHLIP-serine γPNAs and pHLIP-diethylene glycol γPNAs that target the seed region of microRNA-155, a microRNA that is upregulated in various cancers. We performed an all-atom molecular dynamics simulation-based computational study to elucidate the interaction of pHLIP-γPNA constructs with the lipid bilayer. We also determined the biodistribution and efficacy of the pHLIP constructs in the U2932-derived xenograft model. Overall, we established that the pHLIP-serine γPNAs show superior results in vivo compared with the pHLIP-diethylene glycol-based γPNA.
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Affiliation(s)
- Karishma Dhuri
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269, USA
| | - Tibo Duran
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269, USA
| | - Bodhisattwa Chaudhuri
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269, USA
- Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269, USA
| | - Frank J. Slack
- HMS Initiative for RNA Medicine, Department of Pathology, BIDMC Cancer Center, Harvard Medical School, 330 Brookline Avenue, Boston, MA 02215, USA
| | - Ajit Vikram
- Department of Internal Medicine, Carver College of Medicine, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA
| | - Peter M. Glazer
- Department of Therapeutic Radiology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06520, USA
| | - Raman Bahal
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269, USA
- Lead contact
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Jin M, Yuan Z, Li T, Wang H, Wei C. The Effects of DDI1 on Inducing Differentiation in Ovine Preadipocytes via Oar-miR-432. Int J Mol Sci 2023; 24:11567. [PMID: 37511326 PMCID: PMC10380388 DOI: 10.3390/ijms241411567] [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: 06/13/2023] [Revised: 07/05/2023] [Accepted: 07/14/2023] [Indexed: 07/30/2023] Open
Abstract
Reducing fat deposition in sheep (Ovis aries) tails is one of the most important ways to combat rising costs and control consumer preference. Our previous studies have shown that oar-miR-432 is differentially expressed in the tail adipose tissue of Hu (a fat-tailed sheep breed) and Tibetan (a thin-tailed sheep breed) sheep and is a key factor in the negative regulation of fat deposition through BMP2 in ovine preadipocytes. This study investigated the effect of oar-miR-432 and its target genes in ovine preadipocytes. A dual luciferase assay revealed that DDI1 is a direct target gene of oar-miR-432. We transfected an oar-miR-432 mimic and inhibitor into preadipocytes to analyze the expression of target genes. Overexpression of oar-miR-432 inhibits DDI1 expression, whereas inhibition showed the opposite results. Compared with thin-tailed sheep, DDI1 was highly expressed in the fat-tailed sheep at the mRNA and protein levels. Furthermore, we transfected the overexpression and knockdown target genes into preadipocytes to analyze their influence after inducing differentiation. Knockdown of DDI1 induced ovine preadipocyte differentiation into adipocytes but suppressed oar-miR-432 expression. Conversely, the overexpression of DDI1 significantly inhibited differentiation but promoted oar-miR-432 expression. DDI1 overexpression also decreased the content of triglycerides. Additionally, DDI1 is a nested gene in intron 1 of PDGFD. When DDI1 was overexpressed, the PDGFD expression also increased, whereas DDI1 knockdown showed the opposite results. This is the first study to reveal the biological mechanisms by which oar-miR-432 inhibits preadipocytes through DDI1 and provides insight into the molecular regulatory mechanisms of DDI1 in ovine preadipocytes. These results have important applications in animal breeding and obesity-related human diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Meilin Jin
- Institute of Animal Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100193, China; (M.J.); (T.L.)
- College of Animal Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China
| | - Zehu Yuan
- College of Animal Science and Technology, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225009, China;
| | - Taotao Li
- Institute of Animal Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100193, China; (M.J.); (T.L.)
| | - Huihua Wang
- Institute of Animal Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100193, China; (M.J.); (T.L.)
| | - Caihong Wei
- Institute of Animal Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100193, China; (M.J.); (T.L.)
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Thibonnier M, Ghosh S. Strategy for Pre-Clinical Development of Active Targeting MicroRNA Oligonucleotide Therapeutics for Unmet Medical Needs. Int J Mol Sci 2023; 24:ijms24087126. [PMID: 37108289 PMCID: PMC10138879 DOI: 10.3390/ijms24087126] [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: 02/16/2023] [Revised: 03/27/2023] [Accepted: 03/29/2023] [Indexed: 04/29/2023] Open
Abstract
We present here an innovative modular and outsourced model of drug research and development for microRNA oligonucleotide therapeutics (miRNA ONTs). This model is being implemented by a biotechnology company, namely AptamiR Therapeutics, in collaboration with Centers of Excellence in Academic Institutions. Our aim is to develop safe, effective and convenient active targeting miRNA ONT agents for the metabolic pandemic of obesity and metabolic-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD), as well as deadly ovarian cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Sujoy Ghosh
- Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore and Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70808, USA
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Pradeep SP, Malik S, Slack FJ, Bahal R. Unlocking the potential of chemically modified peptide nucleic acids for RNA-based therapeutics. RNA (NEW YORK, N.Y.) 2023; 29:434-445. [PMID: 36653113 PMCID: PMC10019372 DOI: 10.1261/rna.079498.122] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/31/2022] [Accepted: 01/12/2023] [Indexed: 05/27/2023]
Abstract
RNA therapeutics have emerged as next-generation therapy for the treatment of many diseases. Unlike small molecules, RNA targeted drugs are not limited by the availability of binding pockets on the protein, but rather utilize Watson-Crick (WC) base-pairing rules to recognize the target RNA and modulate gene expression. Antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs) present a powerful therapeutic approach to treat disorders triggered by genetic alterations. ASOs recognize the cognate site on the target RNA to alter gene expression. Nine single-stranded ASOs have been approved for clinical use and several candidates are in late-stage clinical trials for both rare and common diseases. Several chemical modifications, including phosphorothioates, locked nucleic acid, phosphorodiamidate, morpholino, and peptide nucleic acids (PNAs), have been investigated for efficient RNA targeting. PNAs are synthetic DNA mimics where the deoxyribose phosphate backbone is replaced by N-(2-aminoethyl)-glycine units. The neutral pseudopeptide backbone of PNAs contributes to enhanced binding affinity and high biological stability. PNAs hybridize with the complementary site in the target RNA and act by a steric hindrance--based mechanism. In the last three decades, various PNA designs, chemical modifications, and delivery strategies have been explored to demonstrate their potential as an effective and safe RNA-targeting platform. This review covers the advances in PNA-mediated targeting of coding and noncoding RNAs for a myriad of therapeutic applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sai Pallavi Pradeep
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut 06269, USA
| | - Shipra Malik
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut 06269, USA
| | - Frank J Slack
- HMS Initiative for RNA Medicine, Department of Pathology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA
| | - Raman Bahal
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut 06269, USA
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Chen Y, Wang L, Huang ZS, Feng JX, Li SX, Du ZJ, Zhang ZB, Liu J, Yang J, Hu ZM, Wang ZL, Chen J. Cytoskeletal protein SPTA1 mediating the decrease in erectile function induced by high-fat diet via Hippo signaling pathway. Andrology 2023; 11:591-610. [PMID: 36374586 DOI: 10.1111/andr.13338] [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: 06/29/2022] [Revised: 11/01/2022] [Accepted: 11/09/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The mechanism of high-fat diet (HFD)-induced decrease in erectile function has not been elucidated, and in previous studies, spectrin alpha, erythrocytic 1 (SPTA1) is a cytoskeletal protein that regulates cellular function, which belongs to a family of proteins that can affect cell and tissue growth and development by regulating YAP, an effector on the Hippo signaling pathway, but its particular role has not been elucidated. OBJECTIVE To explore the role of SPTA1 in the abnormality of erectile function induced by HFD. METHODS We analyzed the penile tissues of mice on normal diet and HFD by transcriptomics and screened for differentially expressed genes, further identified closely related target genes in rat penile tissues, and verified target gene expression in in vitro construction of high-glucose (HG)-treated corpus cavernosum endothelial cells (CCECs) and corpus cavernosum smooth muscle cells (CCSMCs) models. The distribution of target genes in various cell populations in penile tissues was retrieved by single-cell sequencing Male Health Atlas database. Moreover, interfering with target genes was further applied to explore the mechanisms involved in erectile function decline. RESULTS Transcriptomic analysis screened out down-regulated differential gene SPTA1; Western blot and immunohistochemistry results showed that SPTA1 expression significantly decreased in the penile tissues of Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats in the HFD group. Immunofluorescence staining showed a positive expression of CD31 and VWF in CCECs and a positive expression of α-SMA in CCSMCs. The expression level of SPTA1 protein significantly decreased in the HG group of CCECs and CCSMCs. The expression of SPTA1 mRNA significantly decreased in CCSMCs while significantly increased in CCECs. SPTA1 may have various expression patterns and biological functions in different cell populations. Real-time quantitative PCR results showed that the siSPTA1 transfected in CCSMCs had a significant interference effect compared with the control siNC. Transfection of siSPTA1 into CCSMCs resulted in the significant down-regulation of mRNA and protein expression of eNOS, and significant up-regulation of YAP, Caspase-1, GSDMD, GSDMD-N IL-18, and IL-1β protein expression levels. The expression level of CCSMCs contractile-type protein α-SMA was significantly down-regulated. CONCLUSIONS The down-regulation of SPTA1 in SD rats fed with HFD may induce cell pyroptosis and lead to the decrease of erectile function by activating the Hippo pathway; these findings may provide new therapeutic targets for improving erectile function.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ying Chen
- Department of Infertility and Sexual Medicine, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China.,Graduate School, Guangxi University of Chinese Medicine, Nanning, China
| | - Lei Wang
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory for Crop Germplasm Resources Preservation and Utilization, Agro-biological Gene Research Center, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Guangzhou, China
| | - Zhan-Sen Huang
- Department of Infertility and Sexual Medicine, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Jia-Xin Feng
- Department of Urinary Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China
| | - Shi-Xiong Li
- Department of Infertility and Sexual Medicine, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Zi-Jun Du
- Graduate School, Guangxi University of Chinese Medicine, Nanning, China
| | - Ze-Bo Zhang
- Department of Infertility and Sexual Medicine, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Jing Liu
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory for Crop Germplasm Resources Preservation and Utilization, Agro-biological Gene Research Center, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Guangzhou, China
| | - Jian Yang
- Department of Veterinary Teaching Hospital, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wu han, China
| | - Zhi-Ming Hu
- Department of Urinary Surgery, Meizhou People's Hospital (Huangtang Hospital), Meizhou, Guangdong, China
| | - Zhi-Lin Wang
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory for Crop Germplasm Resources Preservation and Utilization, Agro-biological Gene Research Center, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Guangzhou, China
| | - Jun Chen
- Department of Infertility and Sexual Medicine, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
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Pal CK, Jena AK. Ce-catalyzed regioselective synthesis of pyrazoles from 1,2-diols via tandem oxidation and C-C/C-N bond formation. Org Biomol Chem 2022; 21:59-64. [PMID: 36441186 DOI: 10.1039/d2ob01996e] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
A novel and efficient cerium-catalyzed tandem oxidation and intermolecular ring cyclization of vicinal diols with hydrazones has been achieved for the regioselective synthesis of pyrazole derivatives. The corresponding 1,3-di- and 1,3,5-trisubstituted pyrazoles were obtained in moderate to excellent yields. The reaction has the advantages of mild conditions, easily available starting materials, broad substrate scope and good functional group tolerance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chandan Kumar Pal
- Department of Chemistry, Maharaja Sriram Chandra Bhanja Deo University (Erstwhile North Orissa University), Baripada - 757 003, Odisha, India.
| | - Ashis Kumar Jena
- Department of Chemistry, Maharaja Sriram Chandra Bhanja Deo University (Erstwhile North Orissa University), Baripada - 757 003, Odisha, India.
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Gajecki D, Gawryś J, Szahidewicz-Krupska E, Doroszko A. Role of Erythrocytes in Nitric Oxide Metabolism and Paracrine Regulation of Endothelial Function. Antioxidants (Basel) 2022; 11:antiox11050943. [PMID: 35624807 PMCID: PMC9137828 DOI: 10.3390/antiox11050943] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/11/2022] [Revised: 05/05/2022] [Accepted: 05/08/2022] [Indexed: 01/27/2023] Open
Abstract
Emerging studies provide new data shedding some light on the complex and pivotal role of red blood cells (RBCs) in nitric oxide (NO) metabolism and paracrine regulation of endothelial function. NO is involved in the regulation of vasodilatation, platelet aggregation, inflammation, hypoxic adaptation, and oxidative stress. Even though tremendous knowledge about NO metabolism has been collected, the exact RBCs’ status still requires evaluation. This paper summarizes the actual knowledge regarding the role of erythrocytes as a mobile depot of amino acids necessary for NO biotransformation. Moreover, the complex regulation of RBCs’ translocases is presented with a particular focus on cationic amino acid transporters (CATs) responsible for the NO substrates and derivatives transport. The main part demonstrates the intraerythrocytic metabolism of L-arginine with its regulation by reactive oxygen species and arginase activity. Additionally, the process of nitrite and nitrate turnover was demonstrated to be another stable source of NO, with its reduction by xanthine oxidoreductase or hemoglobin. Additional function of hemoglobin in NO synthesis and its subsequent stabilization in steady intermediates is also discussed. Furthermore, RBCs regulate the vascular tone by releasing ATP, inducing smooth muscle cell relaxation, and decreasing platelet aggregation. Erythrocytes and intraerythrocytic NO metabolism are also responsible for the maintenance of normotension. Hence, RBCs became a promising new therapeutic target in restoring NO homeostasis in cardiovascular disorders.
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