Scaffold compound L971 exhibits anti-inflammatory activities through inhibition of JAK/STAT and NFκB signalling pathways

Genetic Diseases and Invasive Infections in Infants 100 Days or Younger

BACKGROUND

Understanding the association of genetic diseases with invasive infections in neonates or infants is important, given the clinical and public health implications of genetic diseases.

METHODS

We conducted a retrospective case-control study over a 5-year period to investigate the association between genetic diseases and invasive infections in neonates or infants. The case group included 56 patients with laboratory-confirmed invasive infections and a genetic etiology identified by exome sequencing. Another 155 patients without a genetic etiology were selected as controls from the same pool of patients.

RESULTS

An overview of genetic diseases that predispose patients to develop invasive infections were outlined. We identified 7 independent predictors for genetic conditions, including prenatal findings [adjusted odds ratio (aOR), 38.44; 95% confidence interval (CI): 3.94-374.92], neonatal intensive care unit admission (aOR, 46.87; 95% CI: 6.30-348.93), invasive ventilation (aOR, 6.66; 95% CI: 3.07-14.46), bacterial infections (aOR, 0.21; 95% CI: 0.06-0.69), fever (aOR, 0.15; 95% CI: 0.08-0.30), anemia (aOR, 6.64; 95% CI: 3.02-14.59) and neutrophilia (aOR, 0.98; 95% CI: 0.96-0.99). The area under the curve for the predictive model was 0.921 (95% CI: 0.876-0.954). We also found that a genetic etiology [hazard ratio (HR), 7.25; 95% CI: 1.71-30.81], neurological manifestations (HR, 3.56; 95% CI: 1.29-9.88) and septic shock (HR, 13.83; 95% CI: 3.18-60.10) were associated with severe outcomes.

CONCLUSIONS

Our study established predictive variables and risk factors for an underlying genetic etiology and its mortality in neonates or infants with invasive infections. These findings could lead to risk-directed screening and treatment strategies, which may improve patient outcomes.

A Novel Aldisine Derivative Exhibits Potential Antitumor Effects by Targeting JAK/STAT3 Signaling

The JAK/STAT3 signaling pathway is aberrantly hyperactivated in many cancers, promoting cell proliferation, survival, invasiveness, and metastasis. Thus, inhibitors targeting JAK/STAT3 have enormous potential for cancer treatment. Herein, we modified aldisine derivatives by introducing the isothiouronium group, which can improve the antitumor activity of the compounds. We performed a high-throughput screen of 3157 compounds and identified compounds 11a, 11b, and 11c, which contain a pyrrole [2,3-c] azepine structure linked to an isothiouronium group through different lengths of carbon alkyl chains and significantly inhibited JAK/STAT3 activities. Further results showed that compound 11c exhibited the optimal antiproliferative activity and was a pan-JAKs inhibitor capable of inhibiting constitutive and IL-6-induced STAT3 activation. In addition, compound 11c influenced STAT3 downstream gene expression (Bcl-xl, C-Myc, and Cyclin D1) and induced the apoptosis of A549 and DU145 cells in a dose-dependent manner. The antitumor effects of 11c were further demonstrated in an in vivo subcutaneous tumor xenograft experiment with DU145 cells. Taken together, we designed and synthesized a novel small molecule JAKs inhibitor targeting the JAK/STAT3 signaling pathway, which has predicted therapeutic potential for JAK/STAT3 overactivated cancer treatment.

Bioactive compound C498-0670 alleviates LPS-induced sepsis via JAK/STAT and NFκB signaling pathways

The JAK/STAT and NFκB signaling pathways are two major inflammatory signaling pathways that are usually activated simultaneously in the body's inflammatory response to bacterial or viral infections. Hyperactivation of these two prominent signaling pathways is associated with various immune-related diseases and mortality, pointing to an urgent need for drug development targeting JAK/STAT and/or NFκB signaling. In this study, we screened 18,840 compounds using our well-established dual STAT-NFκB driven luciferase reporter based high-throughput screening system and identified a bioactive compound C498-0670, which inhibits both JAK/STAT and NFκB signaling. C498-0670 inhibits the activation of STATs and p-IKKα/β in both the immortalized cell lines and primary peritoneal macrophages, while suppressing the expression of LPS-induced inflammatory mediators in vitro. In addition, the overall anti-inflammatory effects of C498-0670 were investigated using transcriptome sequencing and bioinformatics approaches. C498-0670 was predicted to alleviate sepsis/septic shock by disease/function analysis using IPA software, which was further verified in the LPS-induced mouse sepsis model in vivo. C498 reduced LPS-induced liver and kidney damage, myeloid cell infiltration, and pro-inflammatory cytokine and chemokine production in vivo. Furthermore, the SPR-HPLC-MS-based target fishing approach was used to identify the putative drug targets, and the high affinities of JAK2 (JAK/STAT signaling), NFKBIA (NFκB signaling), and IL-1β, NLRP1b (inflammasome signaling) for C498-0670 were verified by molecular docking approach. These results suggest that C498-0670 can be used as a dual-target inhibitor of JAK/STAT and NFκB signaling pathways for the treatment of various inflammatory diseases, especially septic shock.

Visible light-initiated radical 1,3-difunctionalization of β,γ-unsaturated ketones

Radical-mediated 1,2-difunctionalization of olefins is a well-established synthetic technique widely used in the rapid construction of structurally diverse molecular entities. However, radical-mediated 1,3-difunctionalization reactions are rare, and the substrates are generally limited to strained skeletons. Here, we report a practical approach for 1,3-difunctionalization of available β,γ-unsaturated ketones via a radical cascade process including visible light-irradiated radical addition, thermodynamic stability-driven 1,2-carbonyl migration from unactivated all-carbon quaternary center, and terminal C-radical varied transformations. Various highly functionalized alkyl skeletons with different valuable functional groups at positions 1 and 3 and the carbonyl group at position 2 have been synthesized through a radical chain pathway or Cu-catalyzed Ritter-type reaction. Moreover, this protocol provides a real case of diversity-oriented radical rearrangement for drug discovery. We identified a previously unknown chemotype of dual inhibitors for hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF) and WNT signaling pathways from products. These small-molecule inhibitors could suppress HIF and WNT signaling-dependent HCT116 cell growth in 2D and 3D culture systems.

Predicting for anti-(mutant) SARS-CoV-2 and anti-inflammation compounds of Lianhua Qingwen Capsules in treating COVID-19

BACKGROUND

Lianhua Qingwen Capsules (LHQW) is a traditional Chinese medicine prescription commonly used to treat viral influenza in China. There has been sufficient evidence that LHQW could effectively treat COVID-19. Nevertheless, the potential anti-(mutant) SARS-CoV-2 and anti-inflammation compounds in LHQW are still vague.

METHODS

The compounds of LHQW and targets were collected from TCMSP, TCMID, Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry of CAS database, and relevant literature. Autodock Vina was used to carry out molecular docking. The pkCSM platform to predict the relevant parameters of compound absorption in vivo. The protein-protein interaction (PPI) network was constructed by the STRING database. The Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analysis was carried out by Database for Annotation, Visualization, and Integrated Discovery (DAVID). The anti-(mutant) SARS-CoV-2 and anti-inflammation networks were constructed on the Cytoscape platform.

RESULTS

280 compounds, 16 targets related to SARS-CoV-2, and 54 targets related to cytokine storm were obtained by screening. The key pathways Toll-like receptor signaling, NOD-like receptor signal pathway, and Jak-STAT signaling pathway, and the core targets IL6 were obtained by PPI network and KEGG pathway enrichment analysis. The network analysis predicted and discussed the 16 main anti-SARS-CoV-2 active compounds and 12 main anti-inflammation active compounds. Ochnaflavone and Hypericin are potential anti-mutant virus compounds in LHQW.

CONCLUSIONS

In summary, this study explored the potential anti-(mutant) SARS-CoV-2 and anti-inflammation compounds of LHQW against COVID-19, which can provide new ideas and valuable references for discovering active compounds in the treatment of COVID-19.

FABP4 activates the JAK2/STAT2 pathway via Rap1a in the homocysteine-induced macrophage inflammatory response in ApoE-/- mice atherosclerosis

Atherosclerosis is a chronic inflammatory vascular disease, and inflammation plays a critical role in its formation and progression. Elevated serum homocysteine (Hcy) is an independent risk factor for atherosclerosis. Previous studies have shown that fatty acid binding protein 4 (FABP4) plays an important role in macrophage inflammation and lipid metabolism in atherosclerosis induced by Hcy. However, the underlying molecular mechanism of FABP4 in Hcy-induced macrophage inflammation remains unknown. In this study, we found that FABP4 activated the Janus kinase 2/signal transducer and activator of transcription 2 (JAK2/STAT2) pathway in macrophage inflammation induced by Hcy. Of note, we further observed that ras-related protein Rap-1a (Rap1a) induced the Tyr416 phosphorylation and membrane translocation of non-receptor tyrosine kinase (c-Src) to activate the JAK2/STAT2 pathway. In addition, the suppressor of cytokine signaling 1 (SOCS1)-a transcriptional target of signal transducer and activator of transcription (STATs) inhibited the JAK2/STAT2 pathway and Rap1a expression via a negative feedback loop. In summary, these results demonstrated that FABP4 promotes c-Src phosphorylation and membrane translocation via Rap1a to activate the JAK2/STAT2 pathway, contributing to Hcy-accelerated macrophage inflammation in ApoE-/- mice.

C644-0303, a small-molecule inhibitor of the Wnt/β-catenin pathway, suppresses colorectal cancer growth

The Wnt/β‐catenin signaling pathway plays an important role in tissue homeostasis, and its malignant activation is closely related to the occurrence and development of many cancers, especially colorectal cancer with adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) and CTNNB1 mutations. By applying a TCF/lymphoid‐enhancing factor (LEF) luciferase reporter system, the high‐throughput screening of 18 840 small‐molecule compounds was performed. A novel scaffold compound, C644‐0303, was identified as a Wnt/β‐catenin signaling inhibitor and exhibited antitumor efficacy. It inhibited both constitutive and ligand activated Wnt signals and its downstream gene expression. Functional studies showed that C644‐0303 causes cell cycle arrest, induces apoptosis, and inhibits cancer cell migration. Moreover, transcription factor array indicated that C644‐0303 could suppress various tumor‐promoting transcription factor activities in addition to Wnt/β‐catenin. Finally, C644‐0303 suppressed tumor spheroidization in a 3‐dimensional cell culture model and inhibited xenograft tumor growth in mice. In conclusion, we report a novel structural small molecular inhibitor targeting the Wnt/β‐catenin signaling pathway that has therapeutic potential for colorectal cancer treatment.

Scaffold compound L971 exhibits anti-inflammatory activities through inhibition of JAK/STAT and NFκB signalling pathways

JAK/STAT and NFκB signalling pathways play essential roles in regulating inflammatory responses, which are important pathogenic factors of various serious immune-related diseases, and function individually or synergistically. To find prodrugs that can treat inflammation, we performed a preliminary high-throughput screening of 18 840 small molecular compounds and identified scaffold compound L971 which significantly inhibited JAK/STAT and NFκB driven luciferase activities. L971 could inhibit the constitutive and stimuli-dependent activation of STAT1, STAT3 and IκBα and could significantly down-regulate the proinflammatory gene expression in mouse peritoneal macrophages stimulated by LPS. Gene expression profiles upon L971 treatment were determined using high-throughput RNA sequencing, and significant differentially up-regulated and down-regulated genes were identified by DESeq analysis. The bioinformatic studies confirmed the anti-inflammatory effects of L971. Finally, L971 anti-inflammatory character was further verified in LPS-induced sepsis shock mouse model in vivo. Taken together, these data indicated that L971 could down-regulate both JAK/STAT and NFκB signalling activities and has the potential to treat inflammatory diseases such as sepsis shock.