Use of 2,6-diaminopurine as a potent suppressor of UGA premature stop codons in cystic fibrosis

Nonsense mutations are responsible for around 10% of cases of genetic diseases, including cystic fibrosis. 2,6-diaminopurine (DAP) has recently been shown to promote efficient readthrough of UGA premature stop codons. In this study, we show that DAP can correct a nonsense mutation in the Cftr gene in vivo in a new CF mouse model, in utero, and through breastfeeding, thanks, notably, to adequate pharmacokinetic properties. DAP turns out to be very stable in plasma and is distributed throughout the body. The ability of DAP to correct various endogenous UGA nonsense mutations in the CFTR gene and to restore its function in mice, in organoids derived from murine or patient cells, and in cells from patients with cystic fibrosis reveals the potential of such readthrough-stimulating molecules in developing a therapeutic approach. The fact that correction by DAP of certain nonsense mutations reaches a clinically relevant level, as judged from previous studies, makes the use of this compound all the more attractive

Direct biosynthetic cyclization of a distorted paracyclophane highlighted by double isotopic labelling of L-tyrosine

International audienc

Optimized approach for the identification of highly efficient correctors of nonsense mutations in human diseases.

About 10% of patients with a genetic disease carry a nonsense mutation causing their pathology. A strategy for correcting nonsense mutations is premature termination codon (PTC) readthrough, i.e. incorporation of an amino acid at the PTC position during translation. PTC-readthrough-activating molecules appear as promising therapeutic tools for these patients. Unfortunately, the molecules shown to induce PTC readthrough show low efficacy, probably because the mRNAs carrying a nonsense mutation are scarce, as they are also substrates of the quality control mechanism called nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD). The screening systems previously developed to identify readthrough-promoting molecules used cDNA constructs encoding mRNAs immune to NMD. As the molecules identified were not selected for the ability to correct nonsense mutations on NMD-prone PTC-mRNAs, they could be unsuitable for the context of nonsense-mutation-linked human pathologies. Here, a screening system based on an NMD-prone mRNA is described. It should be suitable for identifying molecules capable of efficiently rescuing the expression of human genes harboring a nonsense mutation. This system should favor the discovery of candidate drugs for treating genetic diseases caused by nonsense mutations. One hit selected with this screening system is presented and validated on cells from three cystic fibrosis patients

Natural Aristolactams and Aporphine Alkaloids as Inhibitors of CDK1/Cyclin B and DYRK1A

In an effort to find potent inhibitors of the protein kinases DYRK1A and CDK1/Cyclin B, a systematic in vitro evaluation of 2,500 plant extracts from New Caledonia and French Guyana was performed. Some extracts were found to strongly inhibit the activity of these kinases. Four aristolactams and one lignan were purified from the ethyl acetate extracts of Oxandra asbeckii and Goniothalamus dumontetii, and eleven aporphine alkaloids were isolated from the alkaloid extracts of Siparuna pachyantha, S. decipiens, S. guianensis and S. poeppigii. Among these compounds, velutinam, aristolactam AIIIA and medioresinol showed submicromolar IC50 values on DYRK1A

Validation of the reporter genes used in the screen.

<p>(A) The Fluc-int-WT reporter RNA is spliced. PCR amplification was performed on the Fluc-WT or Fluc-int-WT construct (lanes 1 and 3, respectively), or on the reverse-transcription reaction (RT) performed with extracted RNAs from HeLa cells transfected with the Fluc-int-WT construct (lane 2) in the presence of radioactive dCTP(α³³P). The amplified fragments were electrophoresed through an acrylamide gel to demonstrate that the intron introduced in the firefly luciferase cDNA is efficiently spliced out. The position of each species is indicated on the right side of the gel and a quantification of the relative proportion of pre-mRNA (black box) and mRNA (spotted box) is shown on the right panel. (B) Luciferase expression associated with the constructs used in this study. Firefly luciferase activity normalized by renilla luciferase measured in wells of a 96-well plate containing untransfected HeLa cells, or HeLa cells transfected with pRluc and pFluc-WT, pFluc-int-WT, pFluc-int-UGA, pFluc-int-UAG, or pFluc-int-UAA constructs. (C) Measure of the firefly luciferase (Fluc) and renilla luciferase (Rluc) mRNAs by RT-PCR from HeLa cells transfected with pRluc and pFluc-WT, Fluc-int-WT, Fluc-int-UGA, Fluc-int-UAG, or Fluc-int-UAA constructs. (D) The extent of NMD is shown on a bar plot depicting levels of Fluc-int-PTC RNAs measured by quantitative RT-PCR in the absence and in the presence of cycloheximide (+CHX). The values shown are from two independent experiments. Error bar = S.D., Student t-test: **P<0.01; ***P<0.001.</p

H7 restores expression of the <i>TP53</i> gene harboring a UGA or UAA nonsense mutation but not of the <i>TP53</i> gene harboring a UAG mutation.

<p>(A) Calu-6 (UGA nonsense mutation at codon 196 of the <i>TP53</i> gene), (B) Caov-3 (UAA nonsense mutation at codon 136 of the <i>TP53</i> gene), or (C) Caco-2 (UAG nonsense mutation at the codon 204 of <i>TP53</i> gene) cells were incubated for 24 h with DMSO as control or with H7 in increasing amounts (from 0.2 to 125 ng/μl) or G418 (from 25 to 1000 ng/μl for (A) and (B) or from 25 to 2000 ng/μl for (C)) before protein extraction and analysis. Western blotting with anti-p53 antibody raised against the N-terminal part of the protein or with anti-CBP80 antibody as a loading control. Truncated (p53 TR) and full-length p53 (p53 FL) are indicated on the right side of each gel and the molecular weight (MW) is shown on the left side of each gel. The three leftmost lanes show twofold serial dilutions of untreated HeLa cell extract. The results presented in Figure are representative of three independent experiments.</p

H7 is not an NMD inhibitor.

<p>Calu-6 (A), Caov-3 (B) cells and HeLa cells transfected with pFluc-int-PTC and pIE-MUP (C) were incubated with DMSO, H7 extract at 25 ng/μl, or G418 at 1000 ng/μl for 24 h before RNA extraction and RT-qPCR. Quantification based on two independent experiments is shown. Error bar = S.D., Student t-test: *P<0.05.</p

Identification of the H7 extract by screening.

<p>Fungal and marine invertebrate extracts at 10 ng/μl (A) or at 100 ng/μl (B) were tested for their capacity to induce luciferase activity from constructs Fluc-int-UGA (upper panels), Fluc-int-UAA (middle panels), and Fluc-int-UAG (lower panels). (A) The extract in well H7 promoted high luciferase activity reflecting good correction of the UGA or UAA nonsense mutation. G418 at 1000 ng/μl in wells B1, C1, and D1 was used as positive control and served to distinguish strong nonsense mutation correctors (luciferase activity higher than that induced by G418) from weaker ones (luciferase activity equal to or lower than that induced by G418). (B) H7 at 100 ng/μl was introduced in well G1 and G418 at 1000 ng/μl in wells C1 and D1. (C) Western-blot analysis to detect the presence of the firefly luciferase (F-Luc) protein after transfection of HeLa cells with pFluc-int-UGA (lanes 1–4), pFluc-int-UAA (lanes 5–8), pFluc-int-UAG (lanes 9–12), pFluc-int-WT (lane 13) or pFluc-WT (lane 14). CBP80 was used as a loading control.</p

Cell toxicity in the presence of DMSO, H7, or G418.

<p>Cell proliferation was measured in the presence of DMSO, H7 extract, or G418. Calu-6 cells were counted and treated with DMSO (dashed line), H7 extract (H7) at 25 ng/μl (black line) or G418 at 1000 ng/μl (dotted line) every two days from day 0 (D0) to day 10 (D10). Error bars represent standard deviations. The results presented in the figure are based on two independent experiments.</p

Schematic representation of constructs.

<p>(A) Coding sequence of firefly luciferase, used in this study. The initiation codon is underlined. The codon used to generate a nonsense mutation is framed. The intron sequence is in small letters and highlighted in gray. (B) Schematic representation of the firefly luciferase (Fluc) constructs: Fluc-WT is the original cDNA encoding the firefly luciferase; Fluc-int is the same cDNA with an added intron (horizontal thick black line), giving rise to a splicing-prone RNA with a wild-type open reading frame. Fluc-int-UGA, Fluc-int-UAG, and Fluc-int-UAA were derived from Fluc-int by introducing the DNA sequences corresponding to the premature termination codons UGA, UAG, and UAA, respectively.</p