Drug Targets: Screening for Small Molecules that Inhibit Fasciola hepatica Enzymes

2020 ◽  
pp. 221-231
Author(s):  
Florencia Ferraro ◽  
Mauricio A. Cabrera ◽  
Guzmán I. Álvarez ◽  
Ileana Corvo
Keyword(s):  
Small Molecules ◽  
Drug Targets ◽  
Fasciola Hepatica

scholarly journals Network Analysis Identifies Drug Targets and Small Molecules to Modulate Apoptosis Resistant Cancers

Cancers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 851
Author(s):  
Samreen Fathima ◽  
Swati Sinha ◽  
Sainitin Donakonda
Keyword(s):  
Cell Death ◽  
Small Molecules ◽  
Drug Targets ◽  
Apoptotic Cell ◽  
Colon Adenocarcinoma ◽  
Interaction Networks ◽  
Small Cell Lung ◽  
Protein Protein Interaction ◽  
Cell Death Genes ◽  
Death Genes

Programed cell death or apoptosis fails to induce cell death in many recalcitrant cancers. Thus, there is an emerging need to activate the alternate cell death pathways in such cancers. In this study, we analyzed the apoptosis-resistant colon adenocarcinoma, glioblastoma multiforme, and small cell lung cancers transcriptome profiles. We extracted clusters of non-apoptotic cell death genes from each cancer to understand functional networks affected by these genes and their role in the induction of cell death when apoptosis fails. We identified transcription factors regulating cell death genes and protein–protein interaction networks to understand their role in regulating cell death mechanisms. Topological analysis of networks yielded FANCD2 (ferroptosis, negative regulator, down), NCOA4 (ferroptosis, up), IKBKB (alkaliptosis, down), and RHOA (entotic cell death, down) as potential drug targets in colon adenocarcinoma, glioblastoma multiforme, small cell lung cancer phenotypes respectively. We also assessed the miRNA association with the drug targets. We identified tumor growth-related interacting partners based on the pathway information of drug-target interaction networks. The protein–protein interaction binding site between the drug targets and their interacting proteins provided an opportunity to identify small molecules that can modulate the activity of functional cell death interactions in each cancer. Overall, our systematic screening of non-apoptotic cell death-related genes uncovered targets helpful for cancer therapy.

scholarly journals Causal role of L-glutamine in sickle cell disease painful crises: a Mendelian randomization analysis

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yann Iboudo ◽  
Melanie E. Garrett ◽  
Pablo Bartolucci ◽  
Carlo Brugnara ◽  
Clary B. Clish ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sickle Cell Disease ◽  
Small Molecules ◽  
Causal Relationship ◽  
Sickle Cell ◽  
Drug Targets ◽  
Mendelian Randomization ◽  
Cell Disease ◽  
Aseptic Necrosis ◽  
Randomization Analysis

ABSTRACTIn a recent clinical trial, the metabolite L-glutamine was shown to reduce painful crises in sickle cell disease (SCD) patients. To confirm this observation and identify other metabolites implicated in SCD clinical heterogeneity, we profiled 129 metabolites in the plasma of 705 SCD patients. We tested correlations between metabolite levels and six SCD-related complications (painful crises, cholecystectomy, retinopathy, leg ulcer, priapism, aseptic necrosis) or estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), and used Mendelian randomization (MR) to assess causality. We found a causal relationship between L-glutamine levels and painful crises (N=1,278, odds ratio (OR) [95% confidence interval] = 0.68 [0.52 – 0.89], P=0.0048). In two smaller SCD cohorts (N=299 and 406), the protective effect of L-glutamine was observed (OR=0.82 [0.50-1.34]), although the MR result was not significant (P=0.44). We identified 66 significant correlations between the levels of other metabolites and SCD-related complications or eGFR. We tested these correlations for causality using MR analyses and found no significant causal relationship. The baseline levels of quinolinic acid was associated with prospectively ascertained survival in SCD patients, and this effect was dependent on eGFR. Metabolomics provide a promising approach to prioritize small molecules that may serve as biomarkers or drug targets in SCD.

scholarly journals A Systematic Review of Recently Reported Marine Derived Natural Product Kinase Inhibitors

Marine Drugs ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (9) ◽  
pp. 493 ◽  
Author(s):  
Li ◽  
Wang ◽  
Zhang ◽  
Zhang ◽  
Sajeevan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Small Molecules ◽  
Natural Product ◽  
Drug Targets ◽  
Kinase Inhibitors ◽  
Protein Kinase Inhibitors ◽  
Disease States ◽  
Clinical Drugs ◽  
Kinase Inhibitory Activity ◽  
New Compounds ◽  
Further Development

Protein kinases are validated drug targets for a number of therapeutic areas, as kinase deregulation is known to play an essential role in many disease states. Many investigated protein kinase inhibitors are natural product small molecules or their derivatives. Many marine-derived natural products from various marine sources, such as bacteria and cyanobacteria, fungi, animals, algae, soft corals, sponges, etc. have been found to have potent kinase inhibitory activity, or desirable pharmacophores for further development. This review covers the new compounds reported from the beginning of 2014 through the middle of 2019 as having been isolated from marine organisms and having potential therapeutic applications due to kinase inhibitory and associated bioactivities. Moreover, some existing clinical drugs based on marine-derived natural product scaffolds are also discussed.

scholarly journals Improving Precise CRISPR Genome Editing by Small Molecules: Is there a Magic Potion?

Cells ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 1318 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nadja Bischoff ◽  
Sandra Wimberger ◽  
Marcello Maresca ◽  
Cord Brakebusch
Keyword(s):  
Gene Therapy ◽  
Dna Repair ◽  
Animal Models ◽  
Molecular Biology ◽  
Small Molecules ◽  
Genome Editing ◽  
Drug Targets ◽  
Targeted Mutagenesis ◽  
Dna Repair Mechanisms ◽  
Repair Mechanisms

Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR) genome editing has become a standard method in molecular biology, for the establishment of genetically modified cellular and animal models, for the identification and validation of drug targets in animals, and is heavily tested for use in gene therapy of humans. While the efficiency of CRISPR mediated gene targeting is much higher than of classical targeted mutagenesis, the efficiency of CRISPR genome editing to introduce defined changes into the genome is still low. Overcoming this problem will have a great impact on the use of CRISPR genome editing in academic and industrial research and the clinic. This review will present efforts to achieve this goal by small molecules, which modify the DNA repair mechanisms to facilitate the precise alteration of the genome.

scholarly journals Accelerating Drug Discovery by Early Protein Drug Target Prediction Based on a Multi-Fingerprint Similarity Search †

Molecules ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (12) ◽  
pp. 2233 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michele Montaruli ◽  
Domenico Alberga ◽  
Fulvio Ciriaco ◽  
Daniela Trisciuzzi ◽  
Anna Rita Tondo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Drug Discovery ◽  
Small Molecules ◽  
Similarity Search ◽  
Drug Targets ◽  
Search Algorithm ◽  
Confidence Score ◽  
Database Management System ◽  
Therapeutic Drug ◽  
Protein Drug ◽  
Early Protein

In this continuing work, we have updated our recently proposed Multi-fingerprint Similarity Search algorithm (MuSSel) by enabling the generation of dominant ionized species at a physiological pH and the exploration of a larger data domain, which included more than half a million high-quality small molecules extracted from the latest release of ChEMBL (version 24.1, at the time of writing). Provided with a high biological assay confidence score, these selected compounds explored up to 2822 protein drug targets. To improve the data accuracy, samples marked as prodrugs or with equivocal biological annotations were not considered. Notably, MuSSel performances were overall improved by using an object-relational database management system based on PostgreSQL. In order to challenge the real effectiveness of MuSSel in predicting relevant therapeutic drug targets, we analyzed a pool of 36 external bioactive compounds published in the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry from October to December 2018. This study demonstrates that the use of highly curated chemical and biological experimental data on one side, and a powerful multi-fingerprint search algorithm on the other, can be of the utmost importance in addressing the fate of newly conceived small molecules, by strongly reducing the attrition of early phases of drug discovery programs.

Selective modulation of plasmodial Hsp70s by small molecules with antimalarial activity

2014 ◽  
Vol 395 (11) ◽  
pp. 1353-1362 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ingrid L. Cockburn ◽  
Aileen Boshoff ◽  
Eva-Rachele Pesce ◽  
Gregory L. Blatch
Keyword(s):  
Heat Shock ◽  
Heat Shock Protein ◽  
Small Molecules ◽  
Drug Targets ◽  
Antimalarial Activity ◽  
New Class ◽  
Mammalian Cell Lines ◽  
Marine Alkaloid ◽  
Selective Modulation ◽  
Human Hsp70

Abstract Plasmodial heat shock protein 70 (Hsp70) chaperones represent a promising new class of antimalarial drug targets because of the important roles they play in the survival and pathogenesis of the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum. This study assessed a set of small molecules (lapachol, bromo-β-lapachona and malonganenones A, B and C) as potential modulators of two biologically important plasmodial Hsp70s, the parasite-resident PfHsp70-1 and the exported PfHsp70-x. Compounds of interest were assessed for modulatory effects on the steady-state basal and heat shock protein 40 (Hsp40)-stimulated ATPase activities of PfHsp70-1, PfHsp70-x and human Hsp70, as well as on the protein aggregation suppression activity of PfHsp70-x. The antimalarial marine alkaloid malonganenone A was of particular interest, as it was found to have limited cytotoxicity to mammalian cell lines and exhibited the desired properties of an effective plasmodial Hsp70 modulator. This compound was found to inhibit plasmodial and not human Hsp70 ATPase activity (Hsp40-stimulated), and hindered the aggregation suppression activity of PfHsp70-x. Furthermore, malonganenone A was shown to disrupt the interaction between PfHsp70-x and Hsp40. This is the first report to show that PfHsp70-x has chaperone activity, is stimulated by Hsp40 and can be specifically modulated by small molecule compounds.

scholarly journals Multiplexed screening of thousands of natural products for protein-ligand binding in native mass spectrometry

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giang Nguyen ◽  
Jack Bennett ◽  
Sherrie Liu ◽  
Sarah Hancock ◽  
Daniel Winter ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mass Spectrometry ◽  
Natural Products ◽  
Drug Discovery ◽  
Small Molecules ◽  
Natural Product ◽  
Drug Targets ◽  
Structural Diversity ◽  
Native Mass Spectrometry ◽  
Protein Targets ◽  
Rapid Measurement

The structural diversity of natural products offers unique opportunities for drug discovery, but challenges associated with their isolation and screening can hinder the identification of drug-like molecules from complex natural product extracts. Here we introduce a mass spectrometry-based approach that integrates untargeted metabolomics with multistage, high-resolution native mass spectrometry to rapidly identify natural products that bind to therapeutically relevant protein targets. By directly screening crude natural product extracts containing thousands of drug-like small molecules using a single, rapid measurement, novel natural product ligands of human drug targets could be identified without fractionation. This method should significantly increase the efficiency of target-based natural product drug discovery workflows.

scholarly journals Reference gene analysis and its use for kinase expression profiling in Fasciola hepatica

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hicham Houhou ◽  
Oliver Puckelwaldt ◽  
Christina Strube ◽  
Simone Haeberlein
Keyword(s):  
Reference Genes ◽  
Drug Targets ◽  
Fasciola Hepatica ◽  
Expression Patterns ◽  
Housekeeping Gene ◽  
Trna Synthetase ◽  
Parasite Development ◽  
Mammalian Host ◽  
Life Stages

Abstract The liver fluke Fasciola hepatica causes fasciolosis, a foodborne zoonosis affecting humans and livestock worldwide. A reliable quantification of gene expression in all parasite life stages relevant for targeting by anthelmintics in the mammalian host is fundamental. The aim of this study was to define a set of stably expressed reference genes for qRT-PCR in Fasciola studies. We determined the expression stabilities of eight candidate reference genes by the algorithms NormFinder, geNorm, BestKeeper, and comparative ΔCT method. The most stably expressed reference genes for the comparison of intra-mammalian life stages were glutamyl-prolyl-tRNA synthetase (Fheprs) and tubulin-specific chaperone D (Fhtbcd). The two best reference genes for analysis of in vitro-cultured juveniles were Fhtbcd and proteasome subunit beta type-7 (Fhpsmb7). These genes should replace the housekeeping gene gapdh which is used in most Fasciola studies to date, but in fact was differentially expressed in our analysis. Based on the new reference genes, we quantified expression of five kinases (Abl1, Abl2, PKC, Akt1, Plk1) discussed as targets in other parasitic flatworms. Distinct expression patterns throughout development were revealed and point to interesting biological functions. We like to motivate using this set of validated reference genes for future F. hepatica research, such as studies on drug targets or parasite development.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document