1
|
Romagnoli A, D'Agostino M, Pavoni E, Ardiccioni C, Motta S, Crippa P, Biagetti G, Notarstefano V, Rexha J, Perta N, Barocci S, Costabile BK, Colasurdo G, Caucci S, Mencarelli D, Turchetti C, Farina M, Pierantoni L, La Teana A, Al Hadi R, Cicconardi F, Chinappi M, Trucchi E, Mancia F, Menzo S, Morozzo Della Rocca B, D'Annessa I, Di Marino D. SARS-CoV-2 multi-variant rapid detector based on graphene transistor functionalized with an engineered dimeric ACE2 receptor. NANO TODAY 2023; 48:101729. [PMID: 36536857 PMCID: PMC9750890 DOI: 10.1016/j.nantod.2022.101729] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/15/2022] [Revised: 11/14/2022] [Accepted: 12/11/2022] [Indexed: 05/14/2023]
Abstract
Reliable point-of-care (POC) rapid tests are crucial to detect infection and contain the spread of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The emergence of several variants of concern (VOC) can reduce binding affinity to diagnostic antibodies, limiting the efficacy of the currently adopted tests, while showing unaltered or increased affinity for the host receptor, angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2). We present a graphene field-effect transistor (gFET) biosensor design, which exploits the Spike-ACE2 interaction, the crucial step for SARS-CoV-2 infection. Extensive computational analyses show that a chimeric ACE2-Fragment crystallizable (ACE2-Fc) construct mimics the native receptor dimeric conformation. ACE2-Fc functionalized gFET allows in vitro detection of the trimeric Spike protein, outperforming functionalization with a diagnostic antibody or with the soluble ACE2 portion, resulting in a sensitivity of 20 pg/mL. Our miniaturized POC biosensor successfully detects B.1.610 (pre-VOC), Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, Omicron (i.e., BA.1, BA.2, BA.4, BA.5, BA.2.75 and BQ.1) variants in isolated viruses and patient's clinical nasopharyngeal swabs. The biosensor reached a Limit Of Detection (LOD) of 65 cps/mL in swab specimens of Omicron BA.5. Our approach paves the way for a new and reusable class of highly sensitive, rapid and variant-robust SARS-CoV-2 detection systems.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Alice Romagnoli
- Department of Life and Environmental Sciences, Polytechnic University of Marche, Via Brecce Bianche, 60131 Ancona, Italy
- National Biodiversity Future Center (NBFC), Palermo, Italy
- New York-Marche Structural Biology Center (NY-MaSBiC), Polytechnic University of Marche, Via Brecce Bianche, 60131 Ancona, Italy
| | - Mattia D'Agostino
- Department of Life and Environmental Sciences, Polytechnic University of Marche, Via Brecce Bianche, 60131 Ancona, Italy
| | - Eleonora Pavoni
- Department of Information Engineering, Polytechnic University of Marche, Via Brecce Bianche, 60131 Ancona, Italy
| | - Chiara Ardiccioni
- Department of Life and Environmental Sciences, Polytechnic University of Marche, Via Brecce Bianche, 60131 Ancona, Italy
- New York-Marche Structural Biology Center (NY-MaSBiC), Polytechnic University of Marche, Via Brecce Bianche, 60131 Ancona, Italy
| | - Stefano Motta
- Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy
| | - Paolo Crippa
- Department of Information Engineering, Polytechnic University of Marche, Via Brecce Bianche, 60131 Ancona, Italy
| | - Giorgio Biagetti
- Department of Information Engineering, Polytechnic University of Marche, Via Brecce Bianche, 60131 Ancona, Italy
| | - Valentina Notarstefano
- Department of Life and Environmental Sciences, Polytechnic University of Marche, Via Brecce Bianche, 60131 Ancona, Italy
| | - Jesmina Rexha
- Department of Life and Environmental Sciences, Polytechnic University of Marche, Via Brecce Bianche, 60131 Ancona, Italy
- National Biodiversity Future Center (NBFC), Palermo, Italy
| | - Nunzio Perta
- Department of Life and Environmental Sciences, Polytechnic University of Marche, Via Brecce Bianche, 60131 Ancona, Italy
- National Biodiversity Future Center (NBFC), Palermo, Italy
| | - Simone Barocci
- Department of Clinical Pathology, ASUR Marche AV1, Urbino, PU, Italy
| | - Brianna K Costabile
- Department of Physiology and Cellular Biophysics, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, USA
| | | | - Sara Caucci
- Virology Unit, Department of Biomedical Sciences and Public Health, Polytechnic University of Marche, Torrette, 60126 Ancona, Italy
| | - Davide Mencarelli
- Department of Information Engineering, Polytechnic University of Marche, Via Brecce Bianche, 60131 Ancona, Italy
| | - Claudio Turchetti
- Department of Information Engineering, Polytechnic University of Marche, Via Brecce Bianche, 60131 Ancona, Italy
| | - Marco Farina
- Department of Information Engineering, Polytechnic University of Marche, Via Brecce Bianche, 60131 Ancona, Italy
| | - Luca Pierantoni
- Department of Information Engineering, Polytechnic University of Marche, Via Brecce Bianche, 60131 Ancona, Italy
| | - Anna La Teana
- Department of Life and Environmental Sciences, Polytechnic University of Marche, Via Brecce Bianche, 60131 Ancona, Italy
- National Biodiversity Future Center (NBFC), Palermo, Italy
- New York-Marche Structural Biology Center (NY-MaSBiC), Polytechnic University of Marche, Via Brecce Bianche, 60131 Ancona, Italy
| | - Richard Al Hadi
- Alcatera Inc., 1401 Westwood Blvd Suite 280, Los Angeles, CA 90024, USA
| | - Francesco Cicconardi
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Life Sciences Building, 24 Tyndall Ave, Bristol BS8 1TQ, UK
| | - Mauro Chinappi
- Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Via del Politecnico 1, 00133 Rome, Italy
| | - Emiliano Trucchi
- Department of Life and Environmental Sciences, Polytechnic University of Marche, Via Brecce Bianche, 60131 Ancona, Italy
| | - Filippo Mancia
- Department of Physiology and Cellular Biophysics, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, USA
| | - Stefano Menzo
- Virology Unit, Department of Biomedical Sciences and Public Health, Polytechnic University of Marche, Torrette, 60126 Ancona, Italy
| | - Blasco Morozzo Della Rocca
- Department of Biology, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Via della Ricerca Scientifica 1, 00133 Rome, Italy
| | - Ilda D'Annessa
- Institute of Chemical Science and Technologies, SCITEC-CNR, Via Mario Bianco 9, 20131 Milan, Italy
| | - Daniele Di Marino
- Department of Life and Environmental Sciences, Polytechnic University of Marche, Via Brecce Bianche, 60131 Ancona, Italy
- National Biodiversity Future Center (NBFC), Palermo, Italy
- New York-Marche Structural Biology Center (NY-MaSBiC), Polytechnic University of Marche, Via Brecce Bianche, 60131 Ancona, Italy
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Sfakianos AP, Raven RM, Willis AE. The pleiotropic roles of eIF5A in cellular life and its therapeutic potential in cancer. Biochem Soc Trans 2022; 50:1885-1895. [PMID: 36511302 PMCID: PMC9788402 DOI: 10.1042/bst20221035] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/28/2022] [Revised: 11/28/2022] [Accepted: 11/30/2022] [Indexed: 11/19/2023]
Abstract
Protein synthesis is dysregulated in the majority of cancers and this process therefore provides a good therapeutic target. Many novel anti-cancer agents are directed to target the initiation stage of translation, however, translation elongation also holds great potential as a therapeutic target. The elongation factor eIF5A that assists the formation of peptidyl bonds during the elongation process is of considerable interest in this regard. Overexpression of eIF5A has been linked with the development of a variety of cancers and inhibitors of the molecule have been proposed for anti-cancer clinical applications. eIF5A is the only protein in the cell that contains the post-translational modification hypusine. Hypusination is a two-step enzymatic process catalysed by the Deoxyhypusine Synthase (DHPS) and Deoxyhypusine Hydroxylase (DOHH). In addition, eIF5A can be acetylated by p300/CBP-associated factor (PCAF) which leads to translocation of the protein to the nucleus and its deactivation. In addition to the nucleus, eIF5A has been found in the mitochondria and the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) with eIF5A localisation related to function from regulation of mitochondrial activity and apoptosis to maintenance of ER integrity and control of the unfolded protein response (UPR). Given the pleiotropic functions of eIF5A and by extension the hypusination enzymes, this system is being considered as a target for a range of cancers including multiple myeloma, B-Cell lymphoma, and neuroblastoma. In this review, we explore the role of eIF5A and discuss the therapeutic strategies that are currently developing both in the pre- and the clinical stage.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - Rebecca Mallory Raven
- MRC Toxicology Unit, University of Cambridge, Gleeson Building, Tennis Court Rd, Cambridge, U.K
| | - Anne Elizabeth Willis
- MRC Toxicology Unit, University of Cambridge, Gleeson Building, Tennis Court Rd, Cambridge, U.K
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Motta S, Callea L, Bonati L, Pandini A. PathDetect-SOM: A Neural Network Approach for the Identification of Pathways in Ligand Binding Simulations. J Chem Theory Comput 2022; 18:1957-1968. [PMID: 35213804 PMCID: PMC8908765 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.1c01163] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
![]()
Understanding the
process of ligand–protein recognition
is important to unveil biological mechanisms and to guide drug discovery
and design. Enhanced-sampling molecular dynamics is now routinely
used to simulate the ligand binding process, resulting in the need
for suitable tools for the analysis of large data sets of binding
events. Here, we designed, implemented, and tested PathDetect-SOM,
a tool based on self-organizing maps to build concise visual models
of the ligand binding pathways sampled along single simulations or
replicas. The tool performs a geometric clustering of the trajectories
and traces the pathways over an easily interpretable 2D map and, using
an approximate transition matrix, it can build a graph model of concurrent
pathways. The tool was tested on three study cases representing different
types of problems and simulation techniques. A clear reconstruction
of the sampled pathways was derived in all cases, and useful information
on the energetic features of the processes was recovered. The tool
is available at https://github.com/MottaStefano/PathDetect-SOM.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Stefano Motta
- Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan 20126, Italy
| | - Lara Callea
- Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan 20126, Italy
| | - Laura Bonati
- Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan 20126, Italy
| | - Alessandro Pandini
- Department of Computer Science, Brunel University London, Uxbridge UB8 3PH, U.K.,The Thomas Young Centre for Theory and Simulation of Materials, London SW7 2AZ, U.K
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Liu KL, Li XY, Wang DP, Xue WH, Qian XH, Li YH, Lin QQ, Li S, Meng FH. Novel Allosteric Inhibitors of Deoxyhypusine Synthase against Malignant Melanoma: Design, Synthesis, and Biological Evaluation. J Med Chem 2021; 64:13356-13372. [PMID: 34473510 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.1c00582] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Based on the novel allosteric site of deoxyhypusine synthase (DHPS), two series of 30 novel 5-(2-methoxyphenoxy)-2-phenylpyrimidin-4-amine derivatives as DHPS inhibitors were designed and synthesized. Among them, compound 8m, with the best DHPS inhibitory potency (IC50 = 0.014 μM), exhibited excellent inhibition against melanoma cells, which was superior to that of GC7. Besides, molecular docking and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations further proved that compound 8m was tightly bound to the allosteric site of DHPS. Flow cytometric analysis and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) showed that compound 8m could inhibit the intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) level. Furthermore, by western blot analysis, compound 8m effectively activated caspase 3 and decreased the expressions of GP-100, tyrosinase, eIF5A2, MMP2, and MMP9. Moreover, both Transwell analysis and wound healing analysis showed that compound 8m could inhibit the invasion and migration of melanoma cells. In the in vivo study, the tumor xenograft model showed that compound 8m effectively inhibited melanoma development with low toxicity.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Kai-Li Liu
- School of Pharmacy, China Medical University, Shenyang 110122, P.R. China
| | - Xin-Yang Li
- School of Pharmacy, China Medical University, Shenyang 110122, P.R. China
- Department of Pharmacy, Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang 110004, P.R. China
| | - De-Pu Wang
- School of Pharmacy, China Medical University, Shenyang 110122, P.R. China
| | - Wen-Han Xue
- School of Pharmacy, China Medical University, Shenyang 110122, P.R. China
| | - Xin-Hua Qian
- School of Pharmacy, China Medical University, Shenyang 110122, P.R. China
| | - Yu-Heng Li
- School of Pharmacy, China Medical University, Shenyang 110122, P.R. China
| | - Qi-Qi Lin
- School of Pharmacy, China Medical University, Shenyang 110122, P.R. China
| | - Shuai Li
- School of Pharmacy, China Medical University, Shenyang 110122, P.R. China
| | - Fan-Hao Meng
- School of Pharmacy, China Medical University, Shenyang 110122, P.R. China
| |
Collapse
|