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Schiffer V, Santiago-Mujika E, Flunkert S, Schmidt S, Farcher M, Loeffler T, Schilcher I, Posch M, Neddens J, Sun Y, Kehr J, Hutter-Paier B. Characterization of the visceral and neuronal phenotype of 4L/PS-NA mice modeling Gaucher disease. PLoS One 2020; 15:e0227077. [PMID: 31929594 PMCID: PMC6957154 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0227077] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/04/2019] [Accepted: 12/10/2019] [Indexed: 01/28/2023] Open
Abstract
Gaucher disease is caused by a deficiency in glucocerebrosidase that can result in non-neuronal as well as neuronal symptoms. Common visceral symptoms are an increased organ size, specifically of the spleen, and glucosylceramide as well as glucosylsphingosine substrate accumulations as a direct result of the glucocerebrosidase deficiency. Neuronal symptoms include motor deficits and strong alterations in the cerebellum. To evaluate the effect of new compounds for the treatment of this devastating disease, animal models are needed that closely mimic the human phenotype. The 4L/PS-NA mouse as model of Gaucher disease is shown to present reduced glucocerebrosidase activity similar to human cases but an in-depth characterization of the model was still not performed. We therefore analyzed 4L/PS-NA mice for visceral alterations, motor deficits and also neuronal changes like glucocerebrosidase activity, substrate levels and neuroinflammation. A special focus was set at pathological changes of the cerebellum. Our results show that 4L/PS-NA mice have strongly enlarged visceral organs that are infiltrated by enlarged leukocytes and macrophages. Furthermore, animals present strong motor deficits that are accompanied by increased glucosylceramide and glucosylsphingosine levels in the brain, astrocytosis and activated microglia in the cortex and hippocampus as well as reduced calbindin levels in the cerebellum. The latter was directly related to a strong Purkinje cell loss. Our results thus provide a detailed characterization of the 4L/PS-NA mouse model over age showing the translational value of the model and validating its usefulness for preclinical efficiency studies to evaluate new compounds against Gaucher disease.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | | | - Tina Loeffler
- QPS Austria GmbH, Neuropharmacology, Grambach, Austria
| | | | - Maria Posch
- QPS Austria GmbH, Neuropharmacology, Grambach, Austria
| | - Joerg Neddens
- QPS Austria GmbH, Neuropharmacology, Grambach, Austria
| | - Ying Sun
- Division of Human Genetics, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio, United States of America
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, Ohio, United States of America
| | - Jan Kehr
- Pronexus Analytical AB, Bromma, Sweden
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Hoffmann T, Meyer A, Heiser U, Kurat S, Böhme L, Kleinschmidt M, Bühring KU, Hutter-Paier B, Farcher M, Demuth HU, Lues I, Schilling S. Glutaminyl Cyclase Inhibitor PQ912 Improves Cognition in Mouse Models of Alzheimer's Disease-Studies on Relation to Effective Target Occupancy. J Pharmacol Exp Ther 2017; 362:119-130. [PMID: 28446518 DOI: 10.1124/jpet.117.240614] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/07/2017] [Accepted: 04/24/2017] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Numerous studies suggest that the majority of amyloid-β (Aβ) peptides deposited in Alzheimer's disease (AD) are truncated and post-translationally modified at the N terminus. Among these modified species, pyroglutamyl-Aβ (pE-Aβ, including N3pE-Aβ40/42 and N11pE-Aβ40/42) has been identified as particularly neurotoxic. The N-terminal modification renders the peptide hydrophobic, accelerates formation of oligomers, and reduces degradation by peptidases, leading ultimately to the accumulation of the peptide and progression of AD. It has been shown that the formation of pyroglutamyl residues is catalyzed by glutaminyl cyclase (QC). Here, we present data about the pharmacological in vitro and in vivo efficacy of the QC inhibitor (S)-1-(1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)-5-(4-propoxyphenyl)imidazolidin-2-one (PQ912), the first-in-class compound that is in clinical development. PQ912 inhibits human, rat, and mouse QC activity, with Ki values ranging between 20 and 65 nM. Chronic oral treatment of hAPPSLxhQC double-transgenic mice with approximately 200 mg/kg/day via chow shows a significant reduction of pE-Aβ levels and concomitant improvement of spatial learning in a Morris water maze test paradigm. This dose results in a brain and cerebrospinal fluid concentration of PQ912 which relates to a QC target occupancy of about 60%. Thus, we conclude that >50% inhibition of QC activity in the brain leads to robust treatment effects. Secondary pharmacology experiments in mice indicate a fairly large potency difference for Aβ cyclization compared with cyclization of physiologic substrates, suggesting a robust therapeutic window in humans. This information constitutes an important translational guidance for predicting the therapeutic dose range in clinical studies with PQ912.
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Affiliation(s)
- Torsten Hoffmann
- Probiodrug AG, Halle, Germany (T.H., A.M., U.H., L.B., K.-U.B., I.L.); QPS Austria, Grambach, Austria (S.K., B.H.-P., M.F.); and Fraunhofer Institute for Cell Therapy and Immunology, Department for Drug Design and Target Validation, Halle, Germany (M.K., H.-U.D., S.S.)
| | - Antje Meyer
- Probiodrug AG, Halle, Germany (T.H., A.M., U.H., L.B., K.-U.B., I.L.); QPS Austria, Grambach, Austria (S.K., B.H.-P., M.F.); and Fraunhofer Institute for Cell Therapy and Immunology, Department for Drug Design and Target Validation, Halle, Germany (M.K., H.-U.D., S.S.)
| | - Ulrich Heiser
- Probiodrug AG, Halle, Germany (T.H., A.M., U.H., L.B., K.-U.B., I.L.); QPS Austria, Grambach, Austria (S.K., B.H.-P., M.F.); and Fraunhofer Institute for Cell Therapy and Immunology, Department for Drug Design and Target Validation, Halle, Germany (M.K., H.-U.D., S.S.)
| | - Stephan Kurat
- Probiodrug AG, Halle, Germany (T.H., A.M., U.H., L.B., K.-U.B., I.L.); QPS Austria, Grambach, Austria (S.K., B.H.-P., M.F.); and Fraunhofer Institute for Cell Therapy and Immunology, Department for Drug Design and Target Validation, Halle, Germany (M.K., H.-U.D., S.S.)
| | - Livia Böhme
- Probiodrug AG, Halle, Germany (T.H., A.M., U.H., L.B., K.-U.B., I.L.); QPS Austria, Grambach, Austria (S.K., B.H.-P., M.F.); and Fraunhofer Institute for Cell Therapy and Immunology, Department for Drug Design and Target Validation, Halle, Germany (M.K., H.-U.D., S.S.)
| | - Martin Kleinschmidt
- Probiodrug AG, Halle, Germany (T.H., A.M., U.H., L.B., K.-U.B., I.L.); QPS Austria, Grambach, Austria (S.K., B.H.-P., M.F.); and Fraunhofer Institute for Cell Therapy and Immunology, Department for Drug Design and Target Validation, Halle, Germany (M.K., H.-U.D., S.S.)
| | - Karl-Ulrich Bühring
- Probiodrug AG, Halle, Germany (T.H., A.M., U.H., L.B., K.-U.B., I.L.); QPS Austria, Grambach, Austria (S.K., B.H.-P., M.F.); and Fraunhofer Institute for Cell Therapy and Immunology, Department for Drug Design and Target Validation, Halle, Germany (M.K., H.-U.D., S.S.)
| | - Birgit Hutter-Paier
- Probiodrug AG, Halle, Germany (T.H., A.M., U.H., L.B., K.-U.B., I.L.); QPS Austria, Grambach, Austria (S.K., B.H.-P., M.F.); and Fraunhofer Institute for Cell Therapy and Immunology, Department for Drug Design and Target Validation, Halle, Germany (M.K., H.-U.D., S.S.)
| | - Martina Farcher
- Probiodrug AG, Halle, Germany (T.H., A.M., U.H., L.B., K.-U.B., I.L.); QPS Austria, Grambach, Austria (S.K., B.H.-P., M.F.); and Fraunhofer Institute for Cell Therapy and Immunology, Department for Drug Design and Target Validation, Halle, Germany (M.K., H.-U.D., S.S.)
| | - Hans-Ulrich Demuth
- Probiodrug AG, Halle, Germany (T.H., A.M., U.H., L.B., K.-U.B., I.L.); QPS Austria, Grambach, Austria (S.K., B.H.-P., M.F.); and Fraunhofer Institute for Cell Therapy and Immunology, Department for Drug Design and Target Validation, Halle, Germany (M.K., H.-U.D., S.S.)
| | - Inge Lues
- Probiodrug AG, Halle, Germany (T.H., A.M., U.H., L.B., K.-U.B., I.L.); QPS Austria, Grambach, Austria (S.K., B.H.-P., M.F.); and Fraunhofer Institute for Cell Therapy and Immunology, Department for Drug Design and Target Validation, Halle, Germany (M.K., H.-U.D., S.S.)
| | - Stephan Schilling
- Probiodrug AG, Halle, Germany (T.H., A.M., U.H., L.B., K.-U.B., I.L.); QPS Austria, Grambach, Austria (S.K., B.H.-P., M.F.); and Fraunhofer Institute for Cell Therapy and Immunology, Department for Drug Design and Target Validation, Halle, Germany (M.K., H.-U.D., S.S.)
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