Highly solvatochromic and tunable fluorophores based on a 4,5-quinolimide scaffold: Novel CDK5 probes

Novel 4,5-quinolimide-based fluorophores are more solvatochromic and red-shifted than known naphthalimide analogues. Conjugation of one of these fluorophores to a peptide derived from CDK5 kinase demonstrated its sensitivity for monitoring the interaction with its regulatory partner p25. Introduction of the quinolimide-labelled peptide into living glioblastoma cells probed the interaction with endogenous p25.The work was supported by the Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competividad grant SAF2012-32209 and the CSIC grant 2012280E096. J. A. G.-V. held a JAEdoc research contract from the CSIC and now is supported by a Marie-Curie fellowship EC-FP7 Framework (PIEF-GA-2013-623151). The work was also supported by the CNRS and a grant from Canceropole GSO 2015-E03 to MCM and has benefited from the facilities and expertise of the Montpellier RIO imaging facility (www.mri.cnrs.fr) at the Centre de Recherches en Biochimie Macromoléculaire, MontpellierPeer Reviewe

Développement de biosenseurs fluorescents et d’inhibiteurs pour suivre et cibler CDK5/p25 dans le glioblastome

CDK5 is a protein kinase ubiquitously expressed but mainly activated in the central nervous system, where it plays an important role in neuronal functions such as synaptic transmission, axonal guidance and migration, synaptic plasticity and neuronal development. CDK5 is associated with p35 protein at the cell membrane, then activated by calpain-mediated cleavage of p35 into p25, which promotes relocalization of CDK5/p25 into the cytoplasm. CDK5/p25 phosphorylates a wide variety of substrates including Tau, thereby contributing to appearance of neurofibrillary plaques responsable for neurodegenerative pathologies such as comme Alzheimer’s et Parkinson’s, when hyperactivated. More recent studies suggest that CDK5 expression and hyperactivation are involved in glioblastoma during cell invasion and CDK5 expression has been reported to be correlated with the pathological grade of gliomas. However there are currently no tools available to monitor CDK5/p25 activity in its native cellular environment, in tissues or in tumours, due to an overall lack of reliable tools to quantify dynamic changes in its kinase activity in a sensitive and continuous fashion. Furthermore, few inhibitors are currently available to target CDK5/p25 in a specific fashion and most of them are ATP competitive inhibitors.The first goal of my thesis was to develop a fluorescent peptide biosensor named CDKACT5, that specifically reports on recombinant CDK5/p25 and on endogenous CDK5 activity in cell extracts in a dynamic and reversible fashion following stimulation or inhibition of this kinase. Once validated in vitro, this biosensor was applied to detect alterations in CDK5/p25 activity in different glioblastoma cell lines in fluorescent kinase activity assays. Finally CDKACT5 was introduced into cultured neuronal cells to monitor dynamic changes in CDK5/p25 activity by fluorescence imaging and time-lapse microscopy.The second goal of my thesis project consisted in developing a conformational fluorescent biosensor to identify non-ATP competitive inhibitors targeting the activation loop of CDK5. CDKCONF5 was implemented to perform a high throughput screen of three small molecule libraries. The hits identified were validated and characterized to determine their inhibitory potential in kinase activity and proliferation assays, as well as their mechanism of action. These compounds constitute promising for selective chemotherapy in glioblastoma.CDK5 est une protéine kinase exprimée de façon ubiquitaire et activée principalement dans le système nerveux central, ou elle joue un rôle important dans la transmission synaptique, la guidance axonale et la migration cellulaire, la plasticité synaptique et le développement neuronal. CDK5 est associée à la protéine p35 au niveau de la membrane cellulaire, et activée par clivage calpaine-dépendant de cette dernière en p25, ce qui conduit à la relocalisation de CDK5/p25 dans le cytoplasme cellulaire. CDK5/p25 phosphoryle de nombreux substrats dont la protéine Tau, contribuant ainsi à l’apparition de plaques neurofibrillaires responsable des pathologies neurodégénératives comme Alzheimer et Parkinson, lorsqu’elle est hyperactivée. Plus récemment, l’expression et l’hyperactivation de CDK5 a été décrite comme impliquée dans le développement de cancers et en particulier de tumeurs cérébrales. Toutefois aucune approche ne permet actuellement de détecter et de mesurer l’activité de CDK5/p25 directement dans des cellules vivantes, au sein des tissus et des tumeurs concernées, dû à un manque d’outils fiables et sensibles pour quantifier les changements dynamiques de son activité kinase. Par ailleurs, peu d’inhibiteurs sont actuellement disponibles pour inhiber CDK5/p25, de manière spécifique, la plupart ciblant la poche de fixation de l’ATP.Le premier objectif de ma thèse a consisté à développer un biosenseur d’activité fluorescent de nature peptidique appelé CDKACT5 qui rapporte l’activité kinase de CDK5/p25 recombinante et dans des extraits cellulaires de manière dynamique et réversible suivant stimulation ou inhibition de cette kinase. Une fois caractérisé et validé in vitro, le biosenseur a été appliqué à la détection d’altérations de CDK5/p25 dans différentes lignées cellulaires de glioblastome dans des essais fluorescents d’activité kinase. Enfin CDKACT5 a été introduit dans des cellules neuronales vivantes afin de suivre les changements dynamiques d’activité de CDK5/p25 par microscopie de fluorescence et vidéo microscopie.Le deuxième objectif de ma thèse a consisté à développer un biosenseur fluorescent conformationnel dans le but d’identifier des inhibiteurs non compétitifs de l’ATP ciblant la boucle d’activation de CDK5. Le biosenseur CDKCONF5 a été exploité pour réaliser un criblage haut débit de trois chimiothèques de petites molécules. Les touches identifiées ont été validées et caractérisées in vitro, pour déterminer leur potentiel inhibiteur dans des tests d’activité kinase et de prolifération cellulaire, ainsi que leur mécanisme d’action. Ces molécules constituent des candidats prometteurs pour une chimiothérapie sélective du glioblastome

Development of fluorescent biosensors and inhibitors to probe and target CDK5/p25 in glioblastoma

CDK5 est une protéine kinase exprimée de façon ubiquitaire et activée principalement dans le système nerveux central, ou elle joue un rôle important dans la transmission synaptique, la guidance axonale et la migration cellulaire, la plasticité synaptique et le développement neuronal. CDK5 est associée à la protéine p35 au niveau de la membrane cellulaire, et activée par clivage calpaine-dépendant de cette dernière en p25, ce qui conduit à la relocalisation de CDK5/p25 dans le cytoplasme cellulaire. CDK5/p25 phosphoryle de nombreux substrats dont la protéine Tau, contribuant ainsi à l’apparition de plaques neurofibrillaires responsable des pathologies neurodégénératives comme Alzheimer et Parkinson, lorsqu’elle est hyperactivée. Plus récemment, l’expression et l’hyperactivation de CDK5 a été décrite comme impliquée dans le développement de cancers et en particulier de tumeurs cérébrales. Toutefois aucune approche ne permet actuellement de détecter et de mesurer l’activité de CDK5/p25 directement dans des cellules vivantes, au sein des tissus et des tumeurs concernées, dû à un manque d’outils fiables et sensibles pour quantifier les changements dynamiques de son activité kinase. Par ailleurs, peu d’inhibiteurs sont actuellement disponibles pour inhiber CDK5/p25, de manière spécifique, la plupart ciblant la poche de fixation de l’ATP.Le premier objectif de ma thèse a consisté à développer un biosenseur d’activité fluorescent de nature peptidique appelé CDKACT5 qui rapporte l’activité kinase de CDK5/p25 recombinante et dans des extraits cellulaires de manière dynamique et réversible suivant stimulation ou inhibition de cette kinase. Une fois caractérisé et validé in vitro, le biosenseur a été appliqué à la détection d’altérations de CDK5/p25 dans différentes lignées cellulaires de glioblastome dans des essais fluorescents d’activité kinase. Enfin CDKACT5 a été introduit dans des cellules neuronales vivantes afin de suivre les changements dynamiques d’activité de CDK5/p25 par microscopie de fluorescence et vidéo microscopie.Le deuxième objectif de ma thèse a consisté à développer un biosenseur fluorescent conformationnel dans le but d’identifier des inhibiteurs non compétitifs de l’ATP ciblant la boucle d’activation de CDK5. Le biosenseur CDKCONF5 a été exploité pour réaliser un criblage haut débit de trois chimiothèques de petites molécules. Les touches identifiées ont été validées et caractérisées in vitro, pour déterminer leur potentiel inhibiteur dans des tests d’activité kinase et de prolifération cellulaire, ainsi que leur mécanisme d’action. Ces molécules constituent des candidats prometteurs pour une chimiothérapie sélective du glioblastome.CDK5 is a protein kinase ubiquitously expressed but mainly activated in the central nervous system, where it plays an important role in neuronal functions such as synaptic transmission, axonal guidance and migration, synaptic plasticity and neuronal development. CDK5 is associated with p35 protein at the cell membrane, then activated by calpain-mediated cleavage of p35 into p25, which promotes relocalization of CDK5/p25 into the cytoplasm. CDK5/p25 phosphorylates a wide variety of substrates including Tau, thereby contributing to appearance of neurofibrillary plaques responsable for neurodegenerative pathologies such as comme Alzheimer’s et Parkinson’s, when hyperactivated. More recent studies suggest that CDK5 expression and hyperactivation are involved in glioblastoma during cell invasion and CDK5 expression has been reported to be correlated with the pathological grade of gliomas. However there are currently no tools available to monitor CDK5/p25 activity in its native cellular environment, in tissues or in tumours, due to an overall lack of reliable tools to quantify dynamic changes in its kinase activity in a sensitive and continuous fashion. Furthermore, few inhibitors are currently available to target CDK5/p25 in a specific fashion and most of them are ATP competitive inhibitors.The first goal of my thesis was to develop a fluorescent peptide biosensor named CDKACT5, that specifically reports on recombinant CDK5/p25 and on endogenous CDK5 activity in cell extracts in a dynamic and reversible fashion following stimulation or inhibition of this kinase. Once validated in vitro, this biosensor was applied to detect alterations in CDK5/p25 activity in different glioblastoma cell lines in fluorescent kinase activity assays. Finally CDKACT5 was introduced into cultured neuronal cells to monitor dynamic changes in CDK5/p25 activity by fluorescence imaging and time-lapse microscopy.The second goal of my thesis project consisted in developing a conformational fluorescent biosensor to identify non-ATP competitive inhibitors targeting the activation loop of CDK5. CDKCONF5 was implemented to perform a high throughput screen of three small molecule libraries. The hits identified were validated and characterized to determine their inhibitory potential in kinase activity and proliferation assays, as well as their mechanism of action. These compounds constitute promising for selective chemotherapy in glioblastoma

Targeting Cyclin-Dependent Kinases in Human Cancers: From Small Molecules to Peptide Inhibitors

Cyclin-dependent kinases (CDK/Cyclins) form a family of heterodimeric kinases that play central roles in regulation of cell cycle progression, transcription and other major biological processes including neuronal differentiation and metabolism. Constitutive or deregulated hyperactivity of these kinases due to amplification, overexpression or mutation of cyclins or CDK, contributes to proliferation of cancer cells, and aberrant activity of these kinases has been reported in a wide variety of human cancers. These kinases therefore constitute biomarkers of proliferation and attractive pharmacological targets for development of anticancer therapeutics. The structural features of several of these kinases have been elucidated and their molecular mechanisms of regulation characterized in depth, providing clues for development of drugs and inhibitors to disrupt their function. However, like most other kinases, they constitute a challenging class of therapeutic targets due to their highly conserved structural features and ATP-binding pocket. Notwithstanding, several classes of inhibitors have been discovered from natural sources, and small molecule derivatives have been synthesized through rational, structure-guided approaches or identified in high throughput screens. The larger part of these inhibitors target ATP pockets, but a growing number of peptides targeting protein/protein interfaces are being proposed, and a small number of compounds targeting allosteric sites have been reported

Fluorescent Biosensor of CDK5 Kinase Activity in Glioblastoma Cell Extracts and Living Cells

International audienceCDK5 plays a major role in neuronal functions, and is hyperactivated inneurodegenerative pathologies as well as in glioblastoma and neuroblastoma.Although this kinase constitutes an established biomarker andpharmacological target, there are few means of probing its activity in cellextracts or in living cells. To this aim a fluorescent peptide reporter of CDK5kinase activity, derived from a library of CDK5-specific substrates, isengineered and its ability to respond to recombinant CDK5/p25 is establishedand CDK5 activity in glioblastoma cell extracts is reported on throughsensitive changes in fluorescence intensity. A cell-penetrating variant of thisbiosensor which can be implemented to image CDK5 activation dynamics inspace and in time is further implemented. This original biosensor constitutesa potent tool for quantifying differences in CDK5 activity following treatmentwith selective inhibitors and for monitoring CDK5 activation, followinginhibition or stimulation, in a physiologically relevant environment. As such itoffers attractive opportunities to develop a diagnostic assay for neuronalpathologies associated with hyperactivated CDK5, as well as a companionassay to evaluate response to new therapies targeting this kinase

TP-2Rho Is a Sensitive Solvatochromic Red-Shifted Probe for Monitoring the Interactions between CDK4 and Cyclin D

International audienc

Rational design of Nanobody80 loop peptidomimetics : towards biased β2 adrenergic receptor ligands

G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) play an important role in many cellular responses; as such, their mechanism of action is of utmost interest. To gain insight into the active conformation of GPCRs, the X-ray crystal structures of nanobody (Nb)-stabilized beta(2)-adrenergic receptor (beta(2)AR) have been reported. Nb80, in particular, is able to bind the intracellular G protein binding site of beta(2)AR and stabilize the receptor in an active conformation. Within Nb80, the complementarity-determining region 3 (CDR3) is responsible for most of the binding interactions. Hence, we hypothesized that peptidomimetics of the CDR3 loop might be sufficient for binding to the receptor, inhibiting the interaction of beta(2)AR with intracellular GPCR interacting proteins (e. g., G proteins). Based on previous crystallographic data, a set of peptidomimetics were synthesized that, similar to the Nb80 CDR3 loop, adopt a beta-hairpin conformation. Syntheses, conformational analysis, binding and functional in vitro assays, as well as internalization experiments, were performed. We demonstrate that peptidomimetics can structurally mimic the CDR3 loop of a nanobody and its function by inhibiting G protein coupling as measured by partial inhibition of cAMP production