NMR-Based Metabolomics to Analyze the Effects of a Series of Monoamine Oxidases-B Inhibitors on U251 Cells

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a typical progressive neurodegenerative disorder, and with multiple possible pathogenesis. Among them, coumarin derivatives could be used as potential drugs as monoamine oxidase-B (MAO-B) inhibitors. Our lab has designed and synthesized coumarin derivatives based on MAO-B. In this study, we used nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR)-based metabolomics to accelerate the pharmacodynamic evaluation of candidate drugs for coumarin derivative research and development. We detailed alterations in the metabolic profiles of nerve cells with various coumarin derivatives. In total, we identified 58 metabolites and calculated their relative concentrations in U251 cells. In the meantime, the outcomes of multivariate statistical analysis showed that when twelve coumarin compounds were treated with U251cells, the metabolic phenotypes were distinct. In the treatment of different coumarin derivatives, there several metabolic pathways changed, including aminoacyl-tRNA biosynthesis, D-glutamine and D-glutamate metabolism, glycine, serine and threonine metabolism, taurine and hypotaurine metabolism, arginine biosynthesis, alanine, aspartate and glutamate metabolism, phenylalanine, tyrosine and tryptophan biosynthesis, glutathione metabolism and valine, leucine and isoleucine biosynthesis. Our work documented how our coumarin derivatives affected the metabolic phenotype of nerve cells in vitro. We believe that these NMR-based metabolomics might accelerate the process of drug research in vitro and in vivo.

Propargylamine: an important moiety in drug discovery

Propargylamine is a chemical moiety whose properties have made it a widely distributed group within the fields of medicinal chemistry and chemical biology. Its particular reactivity has traditionally popularized the preparation of propargylamine derivatives using a large variety of synthetic strategies, which have facilitated the access to these compounds for the study of their biomedical potential. This review comprehensively covers and analyzes the applications that propargylamine-based derivatives have achieved in the drug discovery field, both from a medicinal chemistry perspective and from a chemical biology-oriented approach. The principal therapeutic fields where propargylamine-based compounds have made an impact are identified, and a discussion of their influence and growing potential is included.

Miro1 R272Q disrupts mitochondrial calcium handling and neurotransmitter uptake in dopaminergic neurons

The Rho GTPase Miro1, located at the mitochondrial outer membrane is known to properly distribute mitochondria to synapses, aid calcium buffering and initiate PINK1-Parkin mediated mitophagy. Several heterozygous RHOT1/Miro1 variants were identified in sporadic Parkinson's disease patients. Miro1 R272Q is located within a calcium binding domain, but the functional outcome of this point mutation and its contribution to the development of disease are unclear. To address this, we introduced a heterozygous RHOT1/Miro1 R272Q point mutation in healthy induced pluripotent stem cells. In dopaminergic neurons, Miro1 R272Q does not affect Miro1 protein levels, CCCP-induced mitophagy, nor mitochondrial movement yet causes the fragmentation of mitochondria with reduction of cristae and ATP5A. Inhibition of the mitochondrial calcium uniporter phenocopied Miro1 R272Q cytosolic calcium response to Thapsigargin in active neurons, a similar effect was observed during the calcium buffering phase in Miro1 knockdown neuroblastoma cells. Altered mitochondrial calcium regulation is associated with reduced mitochondrial respiration and reduced catecholamine neurotransmitter uptake. Synaptic changes are not coupled to dopamine distribution or dopamine transporters but are linked to Miro1 R272Q-related calcium handling via the mitochondria concomitant with defective dopamine regulation at the mitochondrial surface by monoamine oxidase. We conclude that the Miro1 R272Q heterozygous point mutation dampens mitochondrial-calcium regulation and mitochondrial capacity via events at the outer membrane that are sufficient to disrupt dopaminergic function.

Why Monoamine Oxidase B Preferably Metabolizes N-Methylhistamine over Histamine: Evidence from the Multiscale Simulation of the Rate-Limiting Step

Histamine levels in the human brain are controlled by rather peculiar metabolic pathways. In the first step, histamine is enzymatically methylated at its imidazole N^τ atom, and the produced N-methylhistamine undergoes an oxidative deamination catalyzed by monoamine oxidase B (MAO-B), as is common with other monoaminergic neurotransmitters and neuromodulators of the central nervous system. The fact that histamine requires such a conversion prior to oxidative deamination is intriguing since MAO-B is known to be relatively promiscuous towards monoaminergic substrates; its in-vitro oxidation of N-methylhistamine is about 10 times faster than that for histamine, yet this rather subtle difference appears to be governing the decomposition pathway. This work clarifies the MAO-B selectivity toward histamine and N-methylhistamine by multiscale simulations of the rate-limiting hydride abstraction step for both compounds in the gas phase, in aqueous solution, and in the enzyme, using the established empirical valence bond methodology, assisted by gas-phase density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The computed barriers are in very good agreement with experimental kinetic data, especially for relative trends among systems, thereby reproducing the observed MAO-B selectivity. Simulations clearly demonstrate that solvation effects govern the reactivity, both in aqueous solution as well as in the enzyme although with an opposing effect on the free energy barrier. In the aqueous solution, the transition-state structure involving histamine is better solvated than its methylated analog, leading to a lower barrier for histamine oxidation. In the enzyme, the higher hydrophobicity of N-methylhistamine results in a decreased number of water molecules at the active side, leading to decreased dielectric shielding of the preorganized catalytic electrostatic environment provided by the enzyme. This renders the catalytic environment more efficient for N-methylhistamine, giving rise to a lower barrier relative to histamine. In addition, the transition state involving N-methylhistamine appears to be stabilized by the surrounding nonpolar residues to a larger extent than with unsubstituted histamine, contributing to a lower barrier with the former.

COVID-19 infection and neurodegeneration: Computational evidence for interactions between the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein and monoamine oxidase enzymes

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WT and the South African SARS‐CoV‐2 variant show comparable ACE2 and MAO affinities.

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Identified MAO/spike protein complexes modify MAO affinity for its neurotransmitters.

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Such changes impact metabolic clearance of brain amines and misbalance their level.

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This links MAO interference with neurological illnesses following COVID‐19 infection.

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More contagious SA variant gives larger MAO disturbances, which should not be ignored.

Although COVID-19 has been primarily associated with pneumonia, recent data show that its causative agent, the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, can infect many vital organs beyond the lungs, including the heart, kidneys and the brain. The literature agrees that COVID-19 is likely to have long-term mental health effects on infected individuals, which signifies a need to understand the role of the virus in the pathophysiology of brain disorders that is currently unknown and widely debated. Our docking and molecular dynamics simulations show that the affinity of the spike protein from the wild type (WT) and the South African B.1.351 (SA) variant towards MAO enzymes is comparable to that for its ACE2 receptor. This allows for the WT/SA⋅⋅⋅MAO complex formation, which changes MAO affinities for their neurotransmitter substrates, thereby impacting their metabolic conversion and misbalancing their levels. Knowing that this fine regulation is strongly linked with the etiology of various brain pathologies, these results are the first to highlight the possibility that the interference with the brain MAO catalytic activity is responsible for the increased neurodegenerative illnesses following a COVID-19 infection, thus placing a neurobiological link between these two conditions in the spotlight. Since the obtained insight suggests that a more contagious SA variant causes even larger disturbances, and with new and more problematic strains likely emerging in the near future, we firmly advise that the presented prospect of the SARS-CoV-2 induced neurological complications should not be ignored, but rather requires further clinical investigations to achieve an early diagnosis and timely therapeutic interventions.