scholarly journals A novel blood brain barrier-permeable IRE1 kinase inhibitor sensitizes glioblastoma to chemotherapy in mice.

Author(s):  
Diana Pelizzari-Raymundo ◽  
Dimitrios Doultsinos ◽  
Raphael Pineau ◽  
Chloé Sauzay ◽  
Thodoris Koutsandreas ◽  
...  

Inositol Requiring Enzyme 1 (IRE1) is a bifunctional serine/threonine kinase and endoribonuclease. It is a major mediator of the Unfolded Protein Response (UPR), which is activated during endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress. Tumor cells experience ER stress due to adverse microenvironmental cues such as hypoxia or nutrient shortage and high metabolic/protein folding demand. To cope with those stresses, cancer cells utilize IRE1 signaling as an adaptive mechanism. Here we report the discovery of novel IRE1 inhibitors identified through a structural exploration of the IRE1 kinase domain. We first characterized these candidates in vitro and in cellular models. We showed that all molecules inhibit IRE1 signaling and sensitize glioblastoma cells to the standard chemotherapeutic temozolomide (TMZ). From these inhibitors, we retained a Blood-Brain Barrier (BBB) permeable molecule (Z4P) and demonstrated its ability to inhibit Glioblastoma (GB) growth and to prevent relapse in vivo when administered together with TMZ. These results support the attractiveness of IRE1 as an adjuvant therapeutic target in GB. We thus satisfy an unmet need for targeted, non-toxic, IRE1 inhibitors as adjuvant therapeutic agents against GB.

2022 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 83
Author(s):  
Bin Tang ◽  
Wu Zeng ◽  
Lin Lin Song ◽  
Hui Miao Wang ◽  
Li Qun Qu ◽  
...  

Exosomes are nano-extracellular vesicles with diameters ranging from 30 to 150 nm, which are secreted by the cell. With their role in drug cargo loading, exosomes have been applied to carry compounds across the blood–brain barrier in order to target the central nervous system (CNS). In this study, high-purity exosomes isolated by the ultra-high-speed separation method were applied as the natural compound carrier, with the loading efficiency confirmed by UHPLC-MS analysis. Through the optimization of various cargo loading methods using exosomes, this study compared the efficiency of different ways for the separation of exosomes and the exosome encapsulation of natural compounds with increasing molecular weights via extensive in vitro and in vivo efficacy studies. In a pharmacokinetic study, our data suggested that the efficiency of compound’s loading into exosomes is positively correlated to its molecular weight. However, with a molecular weight of greater than 1109 Da, the exosome-encapsulated natural compounds were not able to pass through the blood–brain barrier (BBB). In vitro cellular models confirmed that three of the selected exosome-encapsulated natural compounds—baicalin, hederagenin and neferine—could reduce the level of neurodegenerative disease mutant proteins—including huntingtin 74 (HTT74), P301L tau and A53T α-synuclein (A53T α-syn)—more effectively than the compounds alone. With the traditional pharmacological role of the herbal plant Nelumbo nucifera in mitigating anxiety, exosome-encapsulated-neferine was, for the first time, reported to improve the motor deficits of APP/PS1 (amyloid precursor protein/ presenilin1) double transgenic mice, and to reduce the level of β-amyloid (Aβ) in the brain when compared with the same concentration of neferine alone. With the current trend in advocating medicine–food homology and green healthcare, this study has provided a rationale from in vitro to in vivo for the encapsulation of natural compounds using exosomes for the targeting of BBB permeability and neurodegenerative diseases in the future.


2005 ◽  
Vol 289 (5) ◽  
pp. H2012-H2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melissa A. Fleegal ◽  
Sharon Hom ◽  
Lindsay K. Borg ◽  
Thomas P. Davis

The blood-brain barrier (BBB) is a metabolic and physiological barrier important for maintaining brain homeostasis. The aim of this study was to determine the role of PKC activation in BBB paracellular permeability changes induced by hypoxia and posthypoxic reoxygenation using in vitro and in vivo BBB models. In rat brain microvessel endothelial cells (RMECs) exposed to hypoxia (1% O2-99% N2; 24 h), a significant increase in total PKC activity was observed, and this was reduced by posthypoxic reoxygenation (95% room air-5% CO2) for 2 h. The expression of PKC-βII, PKC-γ, PKC-η, PKC-μ, and PKC-λ also increased following hypoxia (1% O2-99% N2; 24 h), and these protein levels remained elevated following posthypoxic reoxygenation (95% room air-5% CO2; 2 h). Increases in the expression of PKC-ε and PKC-ζ were also observed following posthypoxic reoxygenation (95% room air-5% CO2; 2 h). Moreover, inhibition of PKC with chelerythrine chloride (10 μM) attenuated the hypoxia-induced increases in [14C]sucrose permeability. Similar to what was observed in RMECs, total PKC activity was also stimulated in cerebral microvessels isolated from rats exposed to hypoxia (6% O2-94% N2; 1 h) and posthypoxic reoxygenation (room air; 10 min). In contrast, hypoxia (6% O2-94% N2; 1 h) and posthypoxic reoxygenation (room air; 10 min) significantly increased the expression levels of only PKC-γ and PKC-θ in the in vivo hypoxia model. These data demonstrate that hypoxia-induced BBB paracellular permeability changes occur via a PKC-dependent mechanism, possibly by differentially regulating the protein expression of the 11 PKC isozymes.


2003 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 273-276 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hanna Tähti ◽  
Heidi Nevala ◽  
Tarja Toimela

The purpose of this paper is to review the current state of development of advanced in vitro blood–brain barrier (BBB) models. The BBB is a special capillary bed that separates the blood from the central nervous system (CNS) parenchyma. Astrocytes maintain the integrity of the BBB, and, without astrocytic contacts, isolated brain capillary endothelial cells in culture lose their barrier characteristics. Therefore, when developing in vitro BBB models, it is important to add astrocytic factors into the culture system. Recently, novel filter techniques and co-culture methods have made it possible to develop models which resemble the in vivo functions of the BBB in an effective way. With a BBB model, kinetic factors can be added into the in vitro batteries used for evaluating the neurotoxic potential of chemicals. The in vitro BBB model also represents a useful tool for the in vitro prediction of the BBB permeability of drugs, and offers the possibility to scan a large number of drugs for their potential to enter the CNS. Cultured monolayers of brain endothelial cell lines or selected epithelial cell lines, combined with astrocyte and neuron cultures, form a novel three-dimensional technique for the screening of neurotoxic compounds.


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gwenaëlle Le Roux ◽  
Rafika Jarray ◽  
Anne-Cécile Guyot ◽  
Serena Pavoni ◽  
Narciso Costa ◽  
...  

Abstract The development of effective central nervous system (CNS) drugs has been hampered by the lack of robust strategies to mimic the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and cerebrovascular impairments in vitro. Recent technological advancements in BBB modeling using induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) allowed to overcome some of these obstacles, nonetheless the pertinence for their use in drug permeation study remains to be established. This mandatory information requires a cross comparison of in vitro and in vivo pharmacokinetic data in the same species to avoid failure in late clinical drug development. Here, we measured the BBB permeabilities of 8 clinical positron emission tomography (PET) radioligands with known pharmacokinetic parameters in human brain in vivo with a newly developed in vitro iPSC-based human BBB (iPSC-hBBB) model. Our findings showed a good correlation between in vitro and in vivo drug brain permeability (R2 = 0.83; P = 0.008) which contrasted with the limited correlation between in vitro apparent permeability for a set of 18 CNS/non-CNS compounds using the in vitro iPSCs-hBBB model and drug physicochemical properties. Our data suggest that the iPSC-hBBB model can be integrated in a flow scheme of CNS drug screening and potentially used to study species differences in BBB permeation.


Nutrients ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 2694 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jin Han ◽  
Yeongseon Ji ◽  
Kumju Youn ◽  
GyuTae Lim ◽  
Jinhyuk Lee ◽  
...  

One of the major neurodegenerative features of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the presence of neurotoxic amyloid plaques composed of amyloid beta peptide (Aβ). β-Secretase (BACE1) and acetylcholinesterase (AChE), which promote Aβ fibril formation, have become attractive therapeutic targets for AD. P-glycoprotein (P-gp), the major efflux pump of the blood-brain barrier (BBB), plays a critical role in limiting therapeutic molecules. In pursuit of discovering a natural anti-AD candidate, the bioactivity, physicochemical, drug-likeness, and molecular docking properties of baicalein, a major compound from Scutellaria baicalensis, was investigated. Baicalein exhibited strong BACE1 and AChE inhibitory properties (IC50 23.71 ± 1.91 µM and 45.95 ± 3.44 µM, respectively) and reacted in non-competitive and competitive manners with substrates, respectively. in Silico docking analysis was in full agreement with the in vitro results, demonstrating that the compound exhibited powerful binding interaction with target enzymes. Particularly, three continuous hydroxyl groups on the A ring demonstrated strong H-bond binding properties. It is also noteworthy that baicalein complied with all requirements of Lipinski’s rule of five by its optimal physicochemical properties for both oral bioavailability and blood–brain barrier permeability. Overall, the present study strongly demonstrated the possibility of baicalein having in vivo pharmacological efficacy for specific targets in the prevention and/or treatment of AD.


2019 ◽  
Vol 63 (12) ◽  
Author(s):  
Vidmantas Petraitis ◽  
Ruta Petraitiene ◽  
Jessica M. Valdez ◽  
Vasilios Pyrgos ◽  
Martin J. Lizak ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Hematogenous Candida meningoencephalitis (HCME) is a life-threatening complication of neonates and immunocompromised children. Amphotericin B (AmB) shows poor permeation and low cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) concentrations but is effective in the treatment of HCME. In order to better understand the mechanism of CNS penetration of AmB, we hypothesized that AmB may achieve focally higher concentrations in infected CNS lesions. An in vitro blood-brain barrier (BBB) model was serially infected with Candida albicans. Liposomal AmB (LAMB) or deoxycholate AmB (DAMB) at 5 μg/ml was then provided, and the vascular and CNS compartments were sampled 4 h later. For in vivo correlation, rabbits with experimental HCME received a single dose of DAMB at 1 mg/kg of body weight or LAMB at 5 mg/kg and were euthanized after 1, 3, 6, and 24 h. Evans blue dye solution (2%, 2 ml/kg) administered intravenously (i.v.) at 1 h prior to euthanasia stained infected regions of tissue but not histologically normal areas. AmB concentrations in stained and unstained tissue regions were measured using ultraperformance liquid chromatography. For selected rabbits, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans performed on days 1 to 7 postinoculation were acquired before and after i.v. bolus administration of gadolinium-diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid (Gd-DTPA) at 15-min intervals through 2 h postinjection. The greatest degree of penetration of DAMB and LAMB through the in vitro BBB occurred after 24 h of exposure (P = 0.0022). In vivo the concentrations of LAMB and DAMB in brain abscesses were 4.35 ± 0.59 and 3.14 ± 0.89 times higher, respectively, than those in normal tissue (P ≤ 0.019). MRI scans demonstrated that Gd-DTPA accumulated in infected areas with a disrupted BBB. Localized BBB disruption in HCME allows high concentrations of AmB within infected tissues, despite the presence of low cerebrospinal fluid concentrations.


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