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Craig E, Calarco A, Conte R, Ambrogi V, d'Ayala GG, Alabi P, Sello JK, Cerruti P, Kima PE. Thermoresponsive Copolymer Nanovectors Improve the Bioavailability of Retrograde Inhibitors in the Treatment of Leishmania Infections. Front Cell Infect Microbiol 2021; 11:702676. [PMID: 34490142 PMCID: PMC8417477 DOI: 10.3389/fcimb.2021.702676] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/29/2021] [Accepted: 07/09/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Clinical manifestations of leishmaniasis range from self-healing, cutaneous lesions to fatal infections of the viscera. With no preventative Leishmania vaccine available, the frontline option against leishmaniasis is chemotherapy. Unfortunately, currently available anti-Leishmania drugs face several obstacles, including toxicity that limits dosing and emergent drug resistant strains in endemic regions. It is, therefore, imperative that more effective drug formulations with decreased toxicity profiles are developed. Previous studies had shown that 2-(((5-Methyl-2-thienyl)methylene)amino)-N-phenylbenzamide (also called Retro-2) has efficacy against Leishmania infections. Structure–activity relationship (SAR) analogs of Retro-2, using the dihydroquinazolinone (DHQZ) base structure, were subsequently described that are more efficacious than Retro-2. However, considering the hydrophobic nature of these compounds that limits their solubility and uptake, the current studies were initiated to determine whether the solubility of Retro-2 and its SAR analogs could be enhanced through encapsulation in amphiphilic polymer nanoparticles. We evaluated encapsulation of these compounds in the amphiphilic, thermoresponsive oligo(ethylene glycol) methacrylate-co-pentafluorostyrene (PFG30) copolymer that forms nanoparticle aggregates upon heating past temperatures of 30°C. The hydrophobic tracer, coumarin 6, was used to evaluate uptake of a hydrophobic molecule into PFG30 aggregates. Mass spectrometry analysis showed considerably greater delivery of encapsulated DHQZ analogs into infected cells and more rapid shrinkage of L. amazonensis communal vacuoles. Moreover, encapsulation in PFG30 augmented the efficacy of Retro-2 and its SAR analogs to clear both L. amazonensis and L. donovani infections. These studies demonstrate that encapsulation of compounds in PFG30 is a viable approach to dramatically increase bioavailability and efficacy of anti-Leishmania compounds.
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Affiliation(s)
- Evan Craig
- Department of Microbiology and Cell Science, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United States
| | - Anna Calarco
- Research Institute on Terrestrial Ecosystems (IRET-CNR), Napoli, Italy
| | - Raffaele Conte
- Research Institute on Terrestrial Ecosystems (IRET-CNR), Napoli, Italy
| | - Veronica Ambrogi
- Department of Chemical, Materials and Production Engineering (DICMaPI) - University of Naples Federico II, Napoli, Italy
| | | | - Philip Alabi
- Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, United States
| | - Jason K Sello
- Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, United States
| | | | - Peter E Kima
- Department of Microbiology and Cell Science, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United States
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2
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Treasure T, Nelson CDS. Inhibition of JC polyomavirus infectivity by the retrograde transport inhibitor Retro-2.1. Microbiol Immunol 2020; 64:783-791. [PMID: 32965709 DOI: 10.1111/1348-0421.12851] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/20/2020] [Revised: 09/02/2020] [Accepted: 09/16/2020] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
JC polyomavirus (JCPyV) is a common human pathogen that results in a chronic asymptomatic infection in healthy adults. Under conditions of immunosuppression, JCPyV spreads to the central nervous system and can cause the fatal demyelinating disease progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML), a disease for which there are no vaccines or antiviral therapies. Retro-2 is a previously identified small molecule inhibitor that was originally shown to block retrograde transport of toxins such as ricin toxin from endosomes to the Golgi apparatus and endoplasmic reticulum (ER), and Retro-2.1 is a chemical analog of Retro-2 that has been shown to inhibit ricin intoxication of cells at low nanomolar concentrations. Retro-2 has previously been shown to prevent retrograde transport of JCPyV virions to the ER, but the effect of Retro-2.1 on JCPyV infectivity is unknown. Here it is shown that Retro-2.1 inhibits JCPyV with an EC50 of 3.9 μM. This molecule inhibits JCPyV infection at dosages that are not toxic to human tissue culture cells. Retro-2.1 was also tested against two other polyomaviruses, the human BK polyomavirus and simian virus 40, and was also shown to inhibit infection at similar concentrations. Viral uncoating studies demonstrate that Retro-2.1 inhibits BKPyV infectivity in a manner similar to Retro-2. These studies demonstrate that improved analogs of Retro-2 can inhibit infection at lower dosages than Retro-2 and further optimization of these compounds may lead to effective treatment options for those suffering from JCPyV infection and PML.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tashania Treasure
- Department of Biological Sciences, State University of New York, Cortland, Cortland, New York
| | - Christian D S Nelson
- Department of Biological Sciences, State University of New York, Cortland, Cortland, New York
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Jiao Z, Ke Y, Li S, Su D, Gan C, Hu L, Zhao X, Gao B, Song Y, Zhou D, Qiu Y, Yang H. Pretreatment with Retro-2 protects cells from death caused by ricin toxin by retaining the capacity of protein synthesis. J Appl Toxicol 2020; 40:1440-1450. [PMID: 32474962 DOI: 10.1002/jat.3997] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/19/2019] [Revised: 04/14/2020] [Accepted: 04/19/2020] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
The current study explores the detoxification effect of Retro-2 on ricin toxin (RT) cytotoxicity, as well as the mechanisms underlying such effects, to provide a basis for follow-up clinical applications of Retro-2. The mouse-derived mononuclear/macrophage cell line, RAW264.7, was used to evaluate the detoxification effect of Retro-2 on RT by detecting cell viability, capacity for protein synthesis and the expression of cytokines, as well as endoplasmic reticulum stress (ERS)-related mRNA. The results indicated that many cells died when challenged with concentrations of RT ≥50ng/mL. The protein synthesis capacity of cells decreased when challenged with 200ng/mL RT for 2hours. Furthermore, the synthesis and release of many cytokines decreased, while the expression of cytokines or ERS-related mRNA increased when challenged with 200ng/mL of RT for 12 or more hours. However, cell viability, capacity for protein synthesis and release levels of many cytokines were higher, while the expression levels of cytokine, or ERS-related mRNA, were lower in cells pretreated with 20μm Retro-2 and challenged with RT, compared with those that had not been pretreated with Retro-2. In conclusion, Retro-2 retained the capacity for protein synthesis inhibited by RT, alleviated ERS induced by RT and increased the viability of cells challenged with RT. Retro-2 shows the potential for clinical applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhouguang Jiao
- State Key Laboratory of Pathogen and Biosecurity, Beijing Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology, Beijing, China
| | - Yuehua Ke
- Center for Disease Control and Prevention of Chinese People's Liberation Army, Beijing, China
| | - Sha Li
- State Key Laboratory of Pathogen and Biosecurity, Beijing Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology, Beijing, China
| | - Duo Su
- State Key Laboratory of Pathogen and Biosecurity, Beijing Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology, Beijing, China
| | - Changjiao Gan
- State Key Laboratory of Pathogen and Biosecurity, Beijing Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology, Beijing, China
| | - Lingfei Hu
- State Key Laboratory of Pathogen and Biosecurity, Beijing Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology, Beijing, China
| | - Xiaodong Zhao
- State Key Laboratory of Pathogen and Biosecurity, Beijing Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology, Beijing, China
| | - Bo Gao
- State Key Laboratory of Pathogen and Biosecurity, Beijing Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology, Beijing, China
| | - Yajun Song
- State Key Laboratory of Pathogen and Biosecurity, Beijing Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology, Beijing, China
| | - Dongsheng Zhou
- State Key Laboratory of Pathogen and Biosecurity, Beijing Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology, Beijing, China
| | - Yefeng Qiu
- Laboratory Animal Center, Academy of Military Medical Science, Beijing, China
| | - Huiying Yang
- State Key Laboratory of Pathogen and Biosecurity, Beijing Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology, Beijing, China
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Cojean S, Nicolas V, Lievin-Le Moal V. Key role of the macrophage microtubule network in the intracellular lifestyle of Leishmania amazonensis. Cell Microbiol 2020; 22:e13218. [PMID: 32406568 DOI: 10.1111/cmi.13218] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/28/2020] [Revised: 04/11/2020] [Accepted: 04/28/2020] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
We conducted a study to decipher the mechanism of the formation of the large communal Leishmania amazonensis-containing parasitophorous vacuole (PV) and found that the macrophage microtubule (MT) network dynamically orchestrates the intracellular lifestyle of this intracellular parasite. Physical disassembly of the MT network of macrophage-like RAW 264.7 cells or silencing of the dynein gene, encoding the MT-associated molecular motor that powers MT-dependent vacuolar movement, by siRNA resulted in most of the infected cells hosting only tight parasite-containing phagosome-like vacuoles randomly distributed throughout the cytoplasm, each insulating a single parasite. Only a minority of the infected cells hosted both isolated parasite-containing phagosome-like vacuoles and a small communal PV, insulating a maximum of two to three parasites. The tight parasite-containing phagosome-like vacuoles never matured, whereas the small PVs only matured to a small degree, shown by the absence or faint acquisition of host-cell endolysosomal characteristics. As a consequence, the parasites were unable to successfully complete promastigote-to-amastigote differentiation and died, regardless of the type of insulation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sandrine Cojean
- CNRS, UMR 8076 BioCis, University Paris-Saclay, Châtenay-Malabry, France
| | - Valérie Nicolas
- Institut Paris-Saclay d'Innovation Thérapeutique (IPSIT), UMS -US31 -UMS3679, Microscopy facility (MIPSIT), University Paris-Saclay, Châtenay-Malabry, France
| | - Vanessa Lievin-Le Moal
- Inserm, UMR-S 996 Inflammation, Microbiome and Immunosurveillance, University Paris-Saclay, Clamart, France
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Morgens DW, Chan C, Kane AJ, Weir NR, Li A, Dubreuil MM, Tsui CK, Hess GT, Lavertu A, Han K, Polyakov N, Zhou J, Handy EL, Alabi P, Dombroski A, Yao D, Altman RB, Sello JK, Denic V, Bassik MC. Retro-2 protects cells from ricin toxicity by inhibiting ASNA1-mediated ER targeting and insertion of tail-anchored proteins. eLife 2019; 8:48434. [PMID: 31674906 PMCID: PMC6858068 DOI: 10.7554/elife.48434] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/13/2019] [Accepted: 10/28/2019] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
The small molecule Retro-2 prevents ricin toxicity through a poorly-defined mechanism of action (MOA), which involves halting retrograde vesicle transport to the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). CRISPRi genetic interaction analysis revealed Retro-2 activity resembles disruption of the transmembrane domain recognition complex (TRC) pathway, which mediates post-translational ER-targeting and insertion of tail-anchored (TA) proteins, including SNAREs required for retrograde transport. Cell-based and in vitro assays show that Retro-2 blocks delivery of newly-synthesized TA-proteins to the ER-targeting factor ASNA1 (TRC40). An ASNA1 point mutant identified using CRISPR-mediated mutagenesis abolishes both the cytoprotective effect of Retro-2 against ricin and its inhibitory effect on ASNA1-mediated ER-targeting. Together, our work explains how Retro-2 prevents retrograde trafficking of toxins by inhibiting TA-protein targeting, describes a general CRISPR strategy for predicting the MOA of small molecules, and paves the way for drugging the TRC pathway to treat broad classes of viruses known to be inhibited by Retro-2.
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Affiliation(s)
- David W Morgens
- Department of Genetics, Stanford University, Stanford, United States
| | - Charlene Chan
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Northwest Labs, Harvard University, Cambridge, United States
| | - Andrew J Kane
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Northwest Labs, Harvard University, Cambridge, United States
| | - Nicholas R Weir
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Northwest Labs, Harvard University, Cambridge, United States
| | - Amy Li
- Department of Genetics, Stanford University, Stanford, United States
| | | | - C Kimberly Tsui
- Department of Genetics, Stanford University, Stanford, United States
| | - Gaelen T Hess
- Department of Genetics, Stanford University, Stanford, United States
| | - Adam Lavertu
- Biomedical Informatics Training Program, Stanford University, Stanford, United States
| | - Kyuho Han
- Department of Genetics, Stanford University, Stanford, United States
| | - Nicole Polyakov
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Northwest Labs, Harvard University, Cambridge, United States
| | - Jing Zhou
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Northwest Labs, Harvard University, Cambridge, United States
| | - Emma L Handy
- Department of Chemistry, Brown University, Providence, United States
| | - Philip Alabi
- Department of Chemistry, Brown University, Providence, United States
| | - Amanda Dombroski
- Department of Chemistry, Brown University, Providence, United States
| | - David Yao
- Department of Genetics, Stanford University, Stanford, United States
| | - Russ B Altman
- Department of Genetics, Stanford University, Stanford, United States.,Bioengineering, Stanford University, Stanford, United States
| | - Jason K Sello
- Department of Chemistry, Brown University, Providence, United States
| | - Vladimir Denic
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Northwest Labs, Harvard University, Cambridge, United States
| | - Michael C Bassik
- Department of Genetics, Stanford University, Stanford, United States.,Program in Cancer Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, United States.,Stanford University Chemistry, Engineering, and Medicine for Human Health (ChEM-H), Stanford, United States
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Gandhi T, Patki M, Kong J, Koya J, Yoganathan S, Reznik S, Patel K. Development of an Arginine Anchored Nanoglobule with Retrograde Trafficking Inhibitor ( Retro-2) for the Treatment of an Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli Outbreak. Mol Pharm 2019; 16:4405-4415. [PMID: 31454253 DOI: 10.1021/acs.molpharmaceut.9b00727] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli O157:H7 (EHEC) or Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) is known to cause sporadic and epidemic gastrointestinal infections with several incidences of outbreaks. Antibiotic-based therapy further worsens the condition by facilitating the release of Shiga toxins (Stx) and lipopolysaccharides (LPS). Hence, there is an urgent need to develop an antibiotic-free, safe, and effective therapeutic intervention for the treatment of EHEC infections. We proposed a novel therapeutic strategy to address this clinical problem-kill, capture, and inhibit. We aimed to formulate and characterize lauroyl arginate ethyl ester (LAE) and Retro-2 loaded self-nano emulsifying drug delivery systems (SNEDDS). Retro-2 is a recently developed novel class of molecule, which can selectively inhibit retrograde transport of Stx. In this paper, we first carried out preformulation studies of Retro-2, followed by the development of SNEDDS forming arginine anchored nanoglobules (AR-NG), characterization of LPS binding to AR-NG, and finally evaluation of activity against EHEC. Retro-2 showed extremely poor solubility at all gastrointestinal pH values, susceptibility to acidic environments, and good permeability. The positively charged AR-NG spontaneously formed a globule size of 102.8 ± 1.9 nm with a surface charge of +52.15 ± 3 mV and increased the solubility of Retro-2. Further, binding and aggregation of LPS and AR-NG were confirmed by particle size, polydispersity index, zeta potential, fluorescent intensity, turbidity analysis, and a limulus amebocyte lysate (LAL) test. Additionally, a significant reduction in LPS induced TNF-α was observed in AR-NG treated macrophages. Thus, in this paper, we demonstrate a very promising and innovative therapeutic approach based on the "kill (E. Coli), capture (released LPS), and inhibit (transport of Stx)" concept.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tasneem Gandhi
- College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences , St. John's University , Queens , New York 11439 , United States
| | - Manali Patki
- College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences , St. John's University , Queens , New York 11439 , United States
| | - Jing Kong
- College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences , St. John's University , Queens , New York 11439 , United States
| | - Jagadish Koya
- College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences , St. John's University , Queens , New York 11439 , United States
| | - Sabesan Yoganathan
- College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences , St. John's University , Queens , New York 11439 , United States
| | - Sandra Reznik
- College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences , St. John's University , Queens , New York 11439 , United States
| | - Ketankumar Patel
- College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences , St. John's University , Queens , New York 11439 , United States
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