ABSTRACT
Rapid development of antisense therapies can enable on-demand responses to new viral pathogens and make personalized medicine for genetic diseases practical. Antisense phosphorodiamidate morpholino oligomers (PMOs) are promising candidates to fill such a role, but their challenging synthesis limits their widespread application. To rapidly prototype potential PMO drug candidates, we report a fully automated flow-based oligonucleotide synthesizer. Our optimized synthesis platform reduces coupling times by up to 22-fold compared to previously reported methods. We demonstrate the power of our automated technology with the synthesis of milligram quantities of three candidate therapeutic PMO sequences for an unserved class of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). To further test our platform, we synthesize a PMO that targets the genomic mRNA of SARS-CoV-2 and demonstrate its antiviral effects. This platform could find broad application not only in designing new SARS-CoV-2 and DMD antisense therapeutics, but also for rapid development of PMO candidates to treat new and emerging diseases.
Subject(s)
Chemistry Techniques, Synthetic/instrumentation , Chemistry, Pharmaceutical/instrumentation , High-Throughput Screening Assays/instrumentation , Morpholinos/chemical synthesis , Oligonucleotides, Antisense/chemical synthesis , Animals , COVID-19/virology , Chlorocebus aethiops , Communicable Diseases, Emerging/drug therapy , Communicable Diseases, Emerging/microbiology , Disease Models, Animal , High-Throughput Screening Assays/methods , Humans , Morpholinos/pharmacology , Morpholinos/therapeutic use , Muscular Dystrophy, Duchenne/drug therapy , Muscular Dystrophy, Duchenne/genetics , Oligonucleotides, Antisense/pharmacology , Oligonucleotides, Antisense/therapeutic use , Precision Medicine/methods , RNA, Messenger/antagonists & inhibitors , RNA, Viral/antagonists & inhibitors , SARS-CoV-2/genetics , Time Factors , Vero Cells , COVID-19 Drug TreatmentABSTRACT
Triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells-2 (TREM2) is a cell surface receptor on macrophages and microglia that senses and responds to disease-associated signals to regulate the phenotype of these innate immune cells. The TREM2 signaling pathway has been implicated in a variety of diseases ranging from neurodegeneration in the central nervous system to metabolic disease in the periphery. Here, we report that TREM2 is a thyroid hormone-regulated gene and its expression in macrophages and microglia is stimulated by thyroid hormone and synthetic thyroid hormone agonists (thyromimetics). Our findings report the endocrine regulation of TREM2 by thyroid hormone, and provide a unique opportunity to drug the TREM2 signaling pathway with orally active small-molecule therapeutic agents.
Subject(s)
Acetates/pharmacology , Encephalomyelitis, Autoimmune, Experimental/drug therapy , Membrane Glycoproteins/genetics , Microglia/drug effects , Phenols/pharmacology , Receptors, Immunologic/genetics , Retinoid X Receptors/genetics , Thyroid Hormones/pharmacology , Acetates/chemical synthesis , Animals , Binding Sites , Brain/drug effects , Brain/immunology , Brain/pathology , Encephalomyelitis, Autoimmune, Experimental/genetics , Encephalomyelitis, Autoimmune, Experimental/immunology , Encephalomyelitis, Autoimmune, Experimental/pathology , Gene Expression Regulation , Humans , Immunity, Innate , Macrophages/drug effects , Macrophages/immunology , Macrophages/pathology , Membrane Glycoproteins/antagonists & inhibitors , Membrane Glycoproteins/immunology , Mice , Mice, Inbred C57BL , Microglia/immunology , Microglia/pathology , Models, Molecular , Phenols/chemical synthesis , Phenoxyacetates/pharmacology , Promoter Regions, Genetic , Protein Binding , Protein Conformation, alpha-Helical , Protein Conformation, beta-Strand , Protein Interaction Domains and Motifs , RNA, Messenger/antagonists & inhibitors , RNA, Messenger/genetics , RNA, Messenger/immunology , Receptors, Immunologic/antagonists & inhibitors , Receptors, Immunologic/immunology , Response Elements , Retinoid X Receptors/chemistry , Retinoid X Receptors/metabolism , Signal TransductionABSTRACT
COVID-19 is characterized by two major clinical phases, the SARS-CoV-2 infection of target cells and tissues, and a deep inflammatory state, known as "cytokine storm", caused by activation of pro-inflammatory genes, such as NF-kB, STAT-3, IL-6, IL-8, IL-1ß. Among possible anti-inflammatory agents, the "microRNA targeting" should be carefully considered, since it is well known that microRNAs are deeply involved in the expression of cytokines, chemokines and growth factors. The working general hypothesis is that targeting the microRNA network might be important for the development of therapeutic approaches to counteract the COVID-19 induction of inflammatory response. This hypothesis is based on several publications demonstrating the use of miRNA mimics for inhibitory effects on the production of proteins characterizing the COVID-19 "cytokine storm".
Subject(s)
COVID-19/therapy , Cytokine Release Syndrome/therapy , MicroRNAs/genetics , Models, Biological , 3' Untranslated Regions/genetics , Anti-Inflammatory Agents/pharmacology , COVID-19/genetics , COVID-19/immunology , Cytokine Release Syndrome/genetics , Cytokine Release Syndrome/immunology , Humans , Inflammation/genetics , Inflammation/immunology , Inflammation/therapy , MicroRNAs/therapeutic use , Molecular Mimicry , RNA, Messenger/antagonists & inhibitors , RNA, Messenger/genetics , SARS-CoV-2ABSTRACT
An outbreak, caused by an RNA virus, SARS-CoV-2 named COVID-19 has become pandemic with a magnitude which is daunting to all public health institutions in the absence of specific antiviral treatment. Surface glycoprotein and nucleocapsid phosphoprotein are two important proteins of this virus facilitating its entry into host cell and genome replication. Small interfering RNA (siRNA) is a prospective tool of the RNA interference (RNAi) pathway for the control of human viral infections by suppressing viral gene expression through hybridization and neutralization of target complementary mRNA. So, in this study, the power of RNA interference technology was harnessed to develop siRNA molecules against specific target genes namely, nucleocapsid phosphoprotein gene and surface glycoprotein gene. Conserved sequence from 139 SARS-CoV-2 strains from around the globe was collected to construct 78 siRNA that can inactivate nucleocapsid phosphoprotein and surface glycoprotein genes. Finally, based on GC content, free energy of folding, free energy of binding, melting temperature, efficacy prediction and molecular docking analysis, 8 siRNA molecules were selected which are proposed to exert the best action. These predicted siRNAs should effectively silence the genes of SARS-CoV-2 during siRNA mediated treatment assisting in the response against SARS-CoV-2.