The effects of sarcolipin over-expression in mouse skeletal muscle on metabolic activity

Studies in sarcolipin knockout mice have led to the suggestion that skeletal muscle sarcolipin plays a role in thermogenesis. The mechanism proposed is uncoupling of the sarcoplasmic reticulum calcium pump. However, in other work sarcolipin was not detected in mouse skeletal tissue. We have therefore measured sarcolipin levels in mouse skeletal muscle using semi-quantitative western blotting and synthetic mouse sarcolipin. Sarcolipin levels were so low that it is unlikely that knocking out sarcolipin would have a measurable effect on thermogenesis by SERCA. In addition, overexpression of neither wild type nor FLAG-tagged variants of mouse sarcolipin in transgenic mice had any major significant effects on body mass, energy expenditure, even when mice were fed on a high fat diet

A structural study of norovirus 3C protease specificity: Binding of a designed active site-directed peptide inhibitor

Noroviruses are the major cause of human epidemic nonbacterial gastroenteritis. Viral replication requires a 3C cysteine protease that cleaves a 200 kDa viral polyprotein into its constituent functional proteins. Here we describe the X-ray structure of the Southampton norovirus 3C protease (SV3CP) bound to an active site-directed peptide inhibitor (MAPI) which has been refined at 1.7 Å resolution. The inhibitor, acetyl-Glu-Phe-Gln-Leu-Gln-X, which is based on the most rapidly cleaved recognition sequence in the 200 kDa polyprotein substrate, reacts covalently through its propenyl ethyl ester group (X) with the active site nucleophile, Cys 139. The structure permits, for the first time, the identification of substrate recognition and binding groups in a noroviral 3C protease and thus provides important new information for the development of antiviral prophylactics

Bifunctional crosslinking ligands for transthyretin

Wild-type and variant forms of transthyretin (TTR), a normal plasma protein, are amyloidogenic and can be deposited in the tissues as amyloid fibrils causing acquired and hereditary systemic TTR amyloidosis, a debilitating and usually fatal disease. Reduction in the abundance of amyloid fibril precursor proteins arrests amyloid deposition and halts disease progression in all forms of amyloidosis including TTR type. Our previous demonstration that circulating serum amyloid P component (SAP) is efficiently depleted by administration of a specific small molecule ligand compound, that non-covalently crosslinks pairs of SAP molecules, suggested that TTR may be also amenable to this approach. We first confirmed that chemically crosslinked human TTR is rapidly cleared from the circulation in mice. In order to crosslink pairs of TTR molecules, promote their accelerated clearance and thus therapeutically deplete plasma TTR, we prepared a range of bivalent specific ligands for the thyroxine binding sites of TTR. Non-covalently bound human TTR-ligand complexes were formed that were stable in vitro and in vivo, but they were not cleared from the plasma of mice in vivo more rapidly than native uncomplexed TTR. Therapeutic depletion of circulating TTR will require additional mechanisms

A Structural Study of Norovirus 3C Protease Specificity: Binding of a Designed Active Site-Directed Peptide Inhibitor

Noroviruses are the major cause of human epidemic nonbacterial gastroenteritis. Viral replication requires a 3C cysteine protease that cleaves a 200 kDa viral polyprotein into its constituent functional proteins. Here we describe the X-ray structure of the Southampton norovirus 3C protease (SV3CP) bound to an active site-directed peptide inhibitor (MAPI) which has been refined at 1.7 Å resolution. The inhibitor, acetyl-Glu-Phe-Gln-Leu-Gln-X, which is based on the most rapidly cleaved recognition sequence in the 200 kDa polyprotein substrate, reacts covalently through its propenyl ethyl ester group (X) with the active site nucleophile, Cys 139. The structure permits, for the first time, the identification of substrate recognition and binding groups in a noroviral 3C protease and thus provides important new information for the development of antiviral prophylactics

Bifunctional crosslinking ligands for transthyretin

Wild-type and variant forms of transthyretin (TTR), a normal plasma protein, are amyloidogenic and can be deposited in the tissues as amyloid fibrils causing acquired and hereditary systemic TTR amyloidosis, a debilitating and usually fatal disease. Reduction in the abundance of amyloid fibril precursor proteins arrests amyloid deposition and halts disease progression in all forms of amyloidosis including TTR type. Our previous demonstration that circulating serum amyloid P component (SAP) is efficiently depleted by administration of a specific small molecule ligand compound, that non-covalently crosslinks pairs of SAP molecules, suggested that TTR may be also amenable to this approach. We first confirmed that chemically crosslinked human TTR is rapidly cleared from the circulation in mice. In order to crosslink pairs of TTR molecules, promote their accelerated clearance and thus therapeutically deplete plasma TTR, we prepared a range of bivalent specific ligands for the thyroxine binding sites of TTR. Non-covalently bound human TTR-ligand complexes were formed that were stable in vitro and in vivo, but they were not cleared from the plasma of mice in vivo more rapidly than native uncomplexed TTR. Therapeutic depletion of circulating TTR will require additional mechanisms.SCOPUS: ar.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

Bifunctional crosslinking ligands for transthyretin.

Wild-type and variant forms of transthyretin (TTR), a normal plasma protein, are amyloidogenic and can be deposited in the tissues as amyloid fibrils causing acquired and hereditary systemic TTR amyloidosis, a debilitating and usually fatal disease. Reduction in the abundance of amyloid fibril precursor proteins arrests amyloid deposition and halts disease progression in all forms of amyloidosis including TTR type. Our previous demonstration that circulating serum amyloid P component (SAP) is efficiently depleted by administration of a specific small molecule ligand compound, that non-covalently crosslinks pairs of SAP molecules, suggested that TTR may be also amenable to this approach. We first confirmed that chemically crosslinked human TTR is rapidly cleared from the circulation in mice. In order to crosslink pairs of TTR molecules, promote their accelerated clearance and thus therapeutically deplete plasma TTR, we prepared a range of bivalent specific ligands for the thyroxine binding sites of TTR. Non-covalently bound human TTR–ligand complexes were formed that were stable in vitro and in vivo, but they were not cleared from the plasma of mice in vivo more rapidly than native uncomplexed TTR. Therapeutic depletion of circulating TTR will require additional mechanisms

The Chemical Synthesis of Knob Domain Antibody Fragments

Cysteine-rich knob domains found in the ultralong complementarity determining regions of a subset of bovine antibodies are capable of functioning autonomously as 3-6 kDa peptides. While they can be expressed recombinantly in cellular systems, in this paper we show that knob domains are also readily amenable to a chemical synthesis, with a co-crystal structure of a chemically synthesized knob domain in complex with an antigen showing structural equivalence to the biological product. For drug discovery, following the immunization of cattle, knob domain peptides can be synthesized directly from antibody sequence data, combining the power and diversity of the bovine immune repertoire with the ability to rapidly incorporate nonbiological modifications. We demonstrate that, through rational design with non-natural amino acids, a paratope diversity can be massively expanded, in this case improving the efficacy of an allosteric peptide. As a potential route to further improve stability, we also performed head-to-tail cyclizations, exploiting the proximity of the N and C termini to synthesize functional, fully cyclic antibody fragments. Lastly, we highlight the stability of knob domains in plasma and, through pharmacokinetic studies, use palmitoylation as a route to extend the plasma half-life of knob domains in vivo. This study presents an antibody-derived medicinal chemistry platform, with protocols for solid-phase synthesis of knob domains, together with the characterization of their molecular structures, in vitro pharmacology, and pharmacokinetics.</p