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Haque A, Trager NNM, Butler JT, Das A, Zaman V, Banik NL. A novel combination approach to effectively reduce inflammation and neurodegeneration in multiple sclerosis models. Neurochem Int 2024; 175:105697. [PMID: 38364938 PMCID: PMC10994736 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuint.2024.105697] [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: 10/05/2023] [Revised: 02/10/2024] [Accepted: 02/12/2024] [Indexed: 02/18/2024]
Abstract
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease characterized by immune-mediated attacks on the central nervous system (CNS), resulting in demyelination and recurring T-cell responses. Unfortunately, there is no cure for it. Current therapies that target immunomodulation and/or immunosuppression show only modest beneficial effects, have many side effects, and do not block neurodegeneration or progression of the disease. Since neurodegeneration and in particular axonal degeneration is implicated in disability in progressive MS, development of novel therapeutic strategies to attenuate the neurodegenerative processes is imperative. This study aims to develop new safe and efficacious treatments that address both the inflammatory and neurodegenerative aspects of MS using its animal model, experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (EAE). In EAE, the cysteine protease calpain is upregulated in CNS tissue, and its activity correlates with neurodegeneration. Our immunologic studies on MS have indicated that increased calpain activity promotes pro-inflammatory T helper (Th)1 cells and the severity of the disease in EAE, suggesting that calpain inhibition could be a novel target to combat neurodegeneration in MS/EAE. While calpain inhibition by SNJ1945 reduced disease severity, treatment of EAE animals with a novel protease-resistant altered small peptide ligand (3aza-APL) that mimic myelin basic protein (MBP), also decreased the incidence of EAE, disease severity, infiltration of inflammatory cells, and protected myelin. A reduction in inflammatory T-cells with an increase in Tregs and myeloid suppressor cells is also found in EAE mice treated with SNJ1945 and 3aza-APL. Thus, a novel combination strategy was tested in chronic EAE mouse model in B10 mice which showed multiple pathological mechanisms could be addressed by simultaneous treatment with calpain inhibitor SNJ1945 and protease-resistant 3aza-APL to achieve a stronger therapeutic effect.
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Affiliation(s)
- Azizul Haque
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, 29425, USA; Department of Neurosurgery, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, 29425, USA; Ralph H. Johnson Veterans Administration Medical Center, Charleston, SC, 29401, USA.
| | - Nicole N M Trager
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, 29425, USA; Department of Neurosurgery, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, 29425, USA
| | - Jonathan T Butler
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, 29425, USA
| | - Arabinda Das
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, 29425, USA
| | - Vandana Zaman
- Department of Neurosurgery, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, 29425, USA; Ralph H. Johnson Veterans Administration Medical Center, Charleston, SC, 29401, USA
| | - Naren L Banik
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, 29425, USA; Department of Neurosurgery, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, 29425, USA; Ralph H. Johnson Veterans Administration Medical Center, Charleston, SC, 29401, USA.
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Triantafyllakou I, Clemente N, Khetavat RK, Dianzani U, Tselios T. Development of PLGA Nanoparticles with a Glycosylated Myelin Oligodendrocyte Glycoprotein Epitope (MOG 35-55) against Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis (EAE). Mol Pharm 2022; 19:3795-3805. [PMID: 36098508 DOI: 10.1021/acs.molpharmaceut.2c00277] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is one of the most common neurodegenerative diseases in young adults, with early clinical symptoms seen in the central nervous system (CNS) myelin sheaths due to an attack caused by the patient's immune system. Activation of the immune system is mediated by the induction of an antigen-specific immune response involving the interaction of multiple T-cell types with antigen-presenting cells (APCs), such as dendritic cells (DCs). Antigen-specific therapeutic approaches focus on immune cells and autoantigens involved in the onset of disease symptoms, which are the main components of myelin proteins. The ability of such therapeutics to bind strongly to DCs could lead to immune system tolerance to the disease. Many modern approaches are based on peptide-based research, as, in recent years, they have been of particular interest in the development of new pharmaceuticals. The characteristics of peptides, such as short lifespan in the body and rapid hydrolysis, can be overcome by their entrapment in nanospheres, providing better pharmacokinetics and bioavailability. The present study describes the development of polymeric nanoparticles with encapsulated myelin peptide analogues involved in the development of MS, along with their biological evaluation as inhibitors of MS development and progression. In particular, particles of poly(lactic-co-glycolic) acid (PLGA) loaded with peptides based on mouse/rat (rMOG) epitope 35-55 of myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) conjugated with saccharide residues were developed. More specifically, the MOG35-55 peptide was conjugated with glucosamine to promote the interaction with mannose receptors (MRs) expressed by DCs. In addition, a study of slow release (dissolution) and quantification on both initially encapsulated peptide and daily release in saline in vitro was performed, followed by an evaluation of in vivo activity of the formulation on mouse experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), an animal model of MS, using both prophylactic and therapeutic protocols. Our results showed that the therapeutic protocol was effective in reducing EAE clinical scores and inflammation of the central nervous system and could be an alternative and promising approach against MS inducing tolerance against the disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Iro Triantafyllakou
- Department of Chemistry, University of Patras, 26504 Rion Patras, Greece.,Department of Health Sciences, University of Piemonte Orientale, 28100 Novara, Italy
| | - Nausicaa Clemente
- Department of Health Sciences, University of Piemonte Orientale, 28100 Novara, Italy
| | - Ravi Kumar Khetavat
- Department of Health Sciences, University of Piemonte Orientale, 28100 Novara, Italy
| | - Umberto Dianzani
- Department of Health Sciences, University of Piemonte Orientale, 28100 Novara, Italy
| | - Theodore Tselios
- Department of Chemistry, University of Patras, 26504 Rion Patras, Greece
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An Overview of Peptide-Based Molecules as Potential Drug Candidates for Multiple Sclerosis. Molecules 2021; 26:molecules26175227. [PMID: 34500662 PMCID: PMC8434400 DOI: 10.3390/molecules26175227] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/05/2021] [Revised: 07/27/2021] [Accepted: 08/04/2021] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Multiple sclerosis (MS) belongs to demyelinating diseases, which are progressive and highly debilitating pathologies that imply a high burden both on individual patients and on society. Currently, several treatment strategies differ in the route of administration, adverse events, and possible risks. Side effects associated with multiple sclerosis medications range from mild symptoms, such as flu-like or irritation at the injection site, to serious ones, such as progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy and other life-threatening events. Moreover, the agents so far available have proved incapable of fully preventing disease progression, mostly during the phases that consist of continuous, accumulating disability. Thus, new treatment strategies, able to halt or even reverse disease progression and specific for targeting solely the pathways that contribute to the disease pathogenesis, are highly desirable. Here, we provide an overview of the recent literature about peptide-based systems tested on experimental autoimmune encephalitis (EAE) models. Since peptides are considered a unique therapeutic niche and important elements in the pharmaceutical landscape, they could open up new therapeutic opportunities for the treatment of MS.
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Androutsou ME, Nteli A, Gkika A, Avloniti M, Dagkonaki A, Probert L, Tselios T, Golič Grdadolnik S. Characterization of Asparagine Deamidation in Immunodominant Myelin Oligodendrocyte Glycoprotein Peptide Potential Immunotherapy for the Treatment of Multiple Sclerosis. Int J Mol Sci 2020; 21:E7566. [PMID: 33066323 PMCID: PMC7593956 DOI: 10.3390/ijms21207566] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/07/2020] [Revised: 09/28/2020] [Accepted: 10/06/2020] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Mannan (polysaccharide) conjugated with a myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) peptide, namely (KG)5MOG35-55, represents a potent and promising new approach for the immunotherapy of Multiple Sclerosis (MS). The MOG35-55 epitope conjugated with the oxidized form of mannan (poly-mannose) via a (KG)5 linker was found to inhibit the symptoms of MOG35-55-induced experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) in mice using prophylactic and therapeutic vaccinated protocols. Deamidation is a common modification in peptide and protein sequences, especially for Gln and Asn residues. In this study, the structural solution motif of deaminated peptides and their functional effects in an animal model for MS were explored. Several peptides based on the MOG35-55 epitope have been synthesized in which the Asn53 was replaced with Ala, Asp, or isoAsp. Our results demonstrate that the synthesized MOG peptides were formed to the deaminated products in basic conditions, and the Asn53 was mainly modified to Asp. Moreover, both peptides (wild type and deaminated derivative) conjugated with mannan (from Saccharomyces cerevisiae) independently inhibited the development of neurological symptoms and inflammatory demyelinating spinal cord lesions in MOG35-55-induced EAE. To conclude, mannan conjugated with a deamidated product did not affect the efficacy of the parent peptide.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Agathi Nteli
- Department of Chemistry, University of Patras, 26504 Patras, Greece; (A.N.); (A.G.)
| | - Areti Gkika
- Department of Chemistry, University of Patras, 26504 Patras, Greece; (A.N.); (A.G.)
| | - Maria Avloniti
- Laboratory of Molecular Genetics, Hellenic Pasteur Institute, 127 Vasilissis Sophias Ave., 11521 Athens, Greece; (M.A.); (A.D.); (L.P.)
| | - Anastasia Dagkonaki
- Laboratory of Molecular Genetics, Hellenic Pasteur Institute, 127 Vasilissis Sophias Ave., 11521 Athens, Greece; (M.A.); (A.D.); (L.P.)
| | - Lesley Probert
- Laboratory of Molecular Genetics, Hellenic Pasteur Institute, 127 Vasilissis Sophias Ave., 11521 Athens, Greece; (M.A.); (A.D.); (L.P.)
| | - Theodore Tselios
- Department of Chemistry, University of Patras, 26504 Patras, Greece; (A.N.); (A.G.)
| | - Simona Golič Grdadolnik
- Laboratory for Molecular Structural Dynamics, National Institute of Chemistry, Hajdrihova 19, 1001 Ljubljana, Slovenia
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A Journey to the Conformational Analysis of T-Cell Epitope Peptides Involved in Multiple Sclerosis. Brain Sci 2020; 10:brainsci10060356. [PMID: 32521758 PMCID: PMC7349157 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci10060356] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/13/2020] [Revised: 06/01/2020] [Accepted: 06/02/2020] [Indexed: 01/22/2023] Open
Abstract
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a serious central nervous system (CNS) disease responsible for disability problems and deterioration of the quality of life. Several approaches have been applied to medications entering the market to treat this disease. However, no effective therapy currently exists, and the available drugs simply ameliorate the destructive disability effects of the disease. In this review article, we report on the efforts that have been conducted towards establishing the conformational properties of wild-type myelin basic protein (MBP), myelin proteolipid protein (PLP), myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) epitopes or altered peptide ligands (ALPs). These efforts have led to the aim of discovering some non-peptide mimetics possessing considerable activity against the disease. These efforts have contributed also to unveiling the molecular basis of the molecular interactions implicated in the trimolecular complex, T-cell receptor (TCR)–peptide–major histocompatibility complex (MHC) or human leucocyte antigen (HLA).
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Konstantinidi A, Chountoulesi M, Naziris N, Sartori B, Amenitsch H, Mali G, Čendak T, Plakantonaki M, Triantafyllakou I, Tselios T, Demetzos C, Busath DD, Mavromoustakos T, Kolocouris A. The boundary lipid around DMPC-spanning influenza A M2 transmembrane domain channels: Its structure and potential for drug accommodation. BIOCHIMICA ET BIOPHYSICA ACTA-BIOMEMBRANES 2019; 1862:183156. [PMID: 31846647 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbamem.2019.183156] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/13/2019] [Revised: 12/11/2019] [Accepted: 12/12/2019] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Abstract
We have investigated the perturbation of influenza A M2TM in DMPC bilayers. We have shown that (a) DSC and SAXS detect changes in membrane organization caused by small changes (micromolar) in M2TM or aminoadamantane concentration and aminoadamantane structure, by comparison of amantadine and spiro[pyrrolidine-2,2'-adamantane] (AK13), (b) that WAXS and MD can suggest details of ligand topology. DSC and SAXS show that at a low M2TM micromolar concentration in DPMC bilayers, two lipid domains are observed, which likely correspond to M2TM boundary lipids and bulk-like lipids. At higher M2TM concentrations, one domain only is identified, which constitutes essentially all of the lipid molecules behaving as boundary lipids. According to SAXS, WAXS, and DSC in the absence of M2TM, both aminoadamantane drugs exert a similar perturbing effect on the bilayer at low concentrations. At the same concentrations of the drug when M2TM is present, amantadine and, to a lesser extent, AK13 cause, according to WAXS, a significant disordering of chain-stacking, which also leads to the formation of two lipid domains. This effect is likely due, according to MD simulations, to the preference of the more lipophilic AK13 to locate closer to the lateral surfaces of M2TM when compared to amantadine, which forms stronger ionic interactions with phosphate groups. The preference of AK13 to concentrate inside the lipid bilayer close to the exterior of the hydrophobic M2TM helices may contribute to its higher binding affinity compared to amantadine.
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Affiliation(s)
- Athina Konstantinidi
- Section of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Department of Pharmacy, School of Health Sciences, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens 15771, Greece
| | - Maria Chountoulesi
- Section of Pharmaceutical Technology, Department of Pharmacy, School of Health Sciences, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens 15771, Greece
| | - Nikolaos Naziris
- Section of Pharmaceutical Technology, Department of Pharmacy, School of Health Sciences, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens 15771, Greece
| | - Barbara Sartori
- Institute of Inorganic Chemistry, Graz University of Technology, Stremayrgasse 9/IV, A-8010 Graz, Austria
| | - Heinz Amenitsch
- Institute of Inorganic Chemistry, Graz University of Technology, Stremayrgasse 9/IV, A-8010 Graz, Austria
| | - Gregor Mali
- Department of Inorganic Chemistry and Technology, National Institute of Chemistry, Ljubljana SI-1001, Slovenia
| | - Tomaž Čendak
- Department of Inorganic Chemistry and Technology, National Institute of Chemistry, Ljubljana SI-1001, Slovenia
| | - Maria Plakantonaki
- Department of Chemistry, School of Natural Sciences, University of Patras, Rion, Patras 26500, Greece
| | - Iro Triantafyllakou
- Department of Chemistry, School of Natural Sciences, University of Patras, Rion, Patras 26500, Greece
| | - Theodore Tselios
- Department of Chemistry, School of Natural Sciences, University of Patras, Rion, Patras 26500, Greece
| | - Costas Demetzos
- Section of Pharmaceutical Technology, Department of Pharmacy, School of Health Sciences, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens 15771, Greece
| | - David D Busath
- Department of Physiology and Developmental Biology, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84602, USA
| | - Thomas Mavromoustakos
- Section of Organic Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens 15771, Greece.
| | - Antonios Kolocouris
- Section of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Department of Pharmacy, School of Health Sciences, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens 15771, Greece.
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