Biomedical subjects

Sean O'Malley

Publications and source records attributed to Sean O'Malley.

9 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Synthetic small molecule furin inhibitors derived from 2,5-dideoxystreptamine.

Furin plays a crucial role in embryogenesis and homeostasis and in diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, cancer, and viral and bacterial infections. Thus, inhibition of furin may provide a feasible and promising approach for therapeutic intervention of furin-mediated disease mechanisms. Here, we report on a class of small molecule furin inhibitors based on 2,5-dideoxystreptamine. Derivatization of 2,5-dideoxystreptamine by the addition of guanidinylated aryl groups yielded a set of furin inhibitors with nanomolar range potency against furin when assayed in a biochemical cleavage assay. Moreover, a subset of these furin inhibitors protected RAW 264.7 macrophage cells from toxicity caused by furin-dependent processing of anthrax protective antigen. These inhibitors were found to behave as competitive inhibitors of furin and to be relatively specific for furin. Molecular modeling revealed that these inhibitors may target the active site of furin as they showed site occupancy similar to the alkylating inhibitor decanoyl-Arg-Val-Lys-Arg-CH(2)Cl. The compounds presented here are bona fide synthetic small molecule furin inhibitors that exhibit potency in the nanomolar range, suggesting that they may serve as valuable tools for studying furin action and potential therapeutics agents for furin-dependent diseases.

Animals↗

PubMed2006

Selectively guanidinylated derivatives of neamine. Syntheses and inhibition of anthrax lethal factor protease.

A series of mono-, di-, and tri-guanidinylated derivatives of neamine were prepared via selective guanidinylation of neamine. These molecules represent a novel scaffold as inhibitors of anthrax lethal factor zinc metalloprotease. Methods for the synthesis of these compounds are described, and structure-activity relationships among the series are analyzed. In addition, initial findings regarding the mechanism of LF inhibition for these molecules are presented.

Aminoglycosides↗

PubMed2006

Cationic polyamines inhibit anthrax lethal factor protease.

BACKGROUND: Anthrax is a human disease that results from infection by the bacteria, Bacillus anthracis and has recently been used as a bioterrorist agent. Historically, this disease was associated with Bacillus spore exposure from wool or animal carcasses. While current vaccine approaches (targeted against the protective antigen) are effective for prophylaxis, multiple doses must be injected. Common antibiotics that block the germination process are effective but must be administered early in the infection cycle. In addition, new therapeutics are needed to specifically target the proteolytic activity of lethal factor (LF) associated with this bacterial infection. RESULTS: Using a fluorescence-based assay to identify and characterize inhibitors of anthrax lethal factor protease activity, we identified several chemically-distinct classes of inhibitory molecules including polyamines, aminoglycosides and cationic peptides. In these studies, spermine was demonstrated for the first time to inhibit anthrax LF with a Ki value of 0.9 +/- 0.09 microM (mean +/- SEM; n = 3). Additional linear polyamines were also active as LF inhibitors with lower potencies. CONCLUSION: Based upon the studies reported herein, we chose linear polyamines related to spermine as potential lead optimization candidates and additional testing in cell-based models where cell penetration could be studied. During our screening process, we reproducibly demonstrated that the potencies of certain compounds, including neomycin but not neamine or spermine, were different depending upon the presence or absence of nucleic acids. Differential sensitivity to the presence/absence of nucleic acids may be an additional point to consider when comparing various classes of active compounds for lead optimization.

Aminoglycosides↗

PubMed2005

Genetically engineered elastin-protein A fusion as a universal platform for homogeneous, phase-separation immunoassay.

A simple and universal platform for competitive phase-separation immunoassay is reported based on a fusion protein composed of a temperature-responsive elastin-like polypeptide (ELP) and the antibody-binding staphylococcal protein A (SpA). The basic principle is to take advantage of the ability of SpA to bind a variety of antibodies with high affinity, allowing simple separation of antigen-antibody complex by thermal precipitation. The resulting ELP-SpA fusion was shown to preserve the ability to reversibly precipitate as well as its high affinity toward different IgGs and IgMs. As a model system, a competitive phase-separation immunoassay based on the ELP-SpA format was established for paclitaxel (taxol) with IC(50) (20.18 nM) and the lower detection limit (2.94 nM) very similar to those reported for the ELISA format. Unlike the heterogeneous interaction in ELISA, which decreases the antibody-binding activity, the reported homogeneous immunoassay not only alleviates this problem but also enables the potential for high-throughput automation. We believe that the reported ELP-SpA fusion will find applications not only as a powerful diagnostic tool for diverse analytes but also a potential useful tool for purification and immobilization of antibody.

Elastin↗

PubMed2005

Hydrophilic carotenoids: surface properties and aqueous aggregation of a rigid, long-chain, highly unsaturated dianionic bolaamphiphile with a carotenoid spacer.

The water dispersibility of astaxanthin was greatly enhanced by converting it to a disodium disuccinate salt. This carotenoid salt behaved as a bolaamphiphile in water; dynamic light scattering (DLS) revealed the formation of stable aggregates with an average hydrodynamic radius close to 1 microm. Larger aggregates were observed in solutions of increased osmolarity. Absorption spectra demonstrated that the aggregates could withstand the addition of 20% acetonitrile before disintegrating to monomers. The physicochemical properties of this astaxanthin derivative in solution were comprehensively studied by measuring surface tension, critical aggregate concentration, surface concentration, molecule area, free energy of adsorption and micellation, adsorption-aggregate energy relationship, and equilibrium constants, and then compared with similar compounds reported previously in the literature.

Carotenoids↗

PubMed2003

A tubulin-based fluorescent polarization assay for paclitaxel.

This paper reports the development, characterization, and application of a separation-free, homogeneous, and simple to perform fluorescence polarization bioassay for paclitaxel. The bioassay is based on the binding interaction of paclitaxel to tubulin, the receptor protein on which this drug acts. The bioassay was carried out in a competitive format where the paclitaxel and a synthetic fluorescent-labeled paclitaxel (Rh-Tx) competed for tubulin binding, causing a change in fluorescence polarization, which was an inverse function of the paclitaxel concentration. The bioassay had a dynamic range from 0.03 to 0.35 microM, which falls in the therapeutic range (0.01-10 microM), and a limit of detection of 23 nM. The bioassay was selective against other naturally occurring taxanes such as baccatin III and 10-deacetylbaccatin III. However, there was interference from cephalomannine. The excellent sensitivity, accuracy, reproducibility, and simplicity make this analytical technique suitable for routine and high-throughput analyses and might be helpful in providing better care for patients. The bioassay was successfully applied to the determination of paclitaxel in human plasma.

Animals↗

PubMed2003

Improved aqueous solubility of crystalline astaxanthin (3,3'-dihydroxy-beta, beta-carotene-4,4'-dione) by Captisol (sulfobutyl ether beta-cyclodextrin).

Carotenoids are the most widely distributed natural pigments, with over 600 individual compounds identified and characterized from natural sources. A few are commercially important molecules, having found utility as additions to animal feed in the aquaculture, poultry, and swine feed industries. The majority are lipophilic molecules with near zero inherent aqueous solubility. Many different methods have been developed to make the carotenoids "water dispersible," as true water solubility has not been described. Astaxanthin (3,3'-dihydroxy-beta, beta-carotene-4,4'-dione) is a commercially important oxygenated carotenoid that has gained wide acceptance as a feed additive in the $50 billion salmon and trout aquaculture industry. Recently, interest in the human health applications of astaxanthin has increased, with astaxanthin receiving approval as a dietary supplement in several countries, including the United States. Moving astaxanthin into a pharmaceutical application will require a chemical delivery system that overcomes the problems with parenteral administration of a highly lipophilic, low molecular weight compound. In the current study, the ability of sulfobutyl ether beta-cyclodextrin (sodium), as the Captisol(R) brand, to increase the aqueous water solubility of crystalline astaxanthin was evaluated. Complexation of crystalline astaxanthin with Captisol increased the apparent water solubility of crystalline astaxanthin approximately 71-fold, to a concentration in the 2 microg/mL range. It is unlikely that this increase in solubility will result in a pharmaceutically acceptable chemical delivery system for humans. However, the increased aqueous solubility of crystalline astaxanthin to the range achieved in the current study will likely find utility in the introduction of crystalline astaxanthin into mammalian cell culture systems that have previously been dependent upon liposomes, or toxic organic solvents, for the introduction of carotenoids into aqueous solution.

Adjuvants, Immunologic↗

PubMed2002

m-Bop, a repressor protein essential for cardiogenesis, interacts with skNAC, a heart- and muscle-specific transcription factor.

The m-Bop protein encoded by the mouse Bop gene is strongly expressed in heart and skeletal muscle, and recent studies with Bop knockout mice have demonstrated that m-Bop is essential for cardiogenesis in vivo and can act as a HDAC-dependent repressor in vitro. In the present studies, m-Bop was observed to interact with skNAC, a reported transcriptional activator specific to heart and skeletal muscle. The amino-terminal S region of the split S-ET domain of m-Bop as well as the MYND domain were required for interaction with skNAC in both the two-hybrid system and in coimmunoprecipitation experiments from cultured mammalian cells. As shown previously for interaction of the MYND domain-containing transcriptional corepressor, BS69, with several viral and cellular oncoproteins, a PXLXP motif in skNAC was required for interaction with m-Bop. Similar kinetics of induction and localization of m-Bop and skNAC during the induction of myogenesis in cultured C2C12 cells suggests a possible associated role for these proteins during this process.

Animals↗

PubMed2002

Dietary polyunsaturated fats regulate rat liver sterol regulatory element binding proteins-1 and -2 in three distinct stages and by different mechanisms.

Male Sprague-Dawley rats, trained to consume their daily energy needs in a single 3-h meal (0900-1200 h), were used to examine the hypothesis that polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) lowered the nuclear content of sterol regulatory element binding protein (SREBP)-1 and/or -2 by suppressing the proteolytic release of mature SREBP from the membrane-anchored precursor pool. The nuclear concentrations of hepatic SREBP-1 and -2 were 50 and 42% lower (P < 0.05) in rats that consumed a single PUFA-supplemented meal (i.e., 10 g fish oil/100 g fat-free diet) than in rats fed the fat-free diet alone. This was paralleled by 63 and 52% reductions in the expression of the SREBP-1 and -2 target genes, fatty acid synthase and HMG-CoA synthase, respectively; but the marked increase in the amount of precursor SREBP-1 and -2 resulting from meal ingestion was unaffected. After the consumption of a second meal of fish oil, the nuclear level of mature SREBP-1 was only 16% of that in rats fed the fat-free diet, but the amount of nuclear SREBP-2 was not different from the level in rats fed the fat-free diet. Again, the sizes of the SREBP-1 and -2 precursor pools were not reduced. A decrease in the hepatic concentration of precursor SREBP-1 did not occur until rats had consumed 5 meals of fish oil. At this point, the nuclear content of SREBP-2 was actually twofold higher (P < 0.05) in rats fed fish oil or safflower oil, but the amount of precursor SREBP-2 was unaffected. These data indicate that PUFA suppress the in vivo proteolytic release of SREBP-1 and -2, but the effect on SREBP-2 is transitory, possibly reflecting the ability of PUFA to enhance cholesterol losses via bile acid synthesis.

Animals↗