Creation of a Peptide Antagonist of the GFRAL-RET Receptor Complex for the Treatment of GDF15-Induced Malaise.

Growth differentiation factor 15 (GDF15) is a contributor to nausea, emesis, and anorexia following chemotherapy via binding to the GFRAL-RET receptor complex expressed in hindbrain neurons. Therefore, GDF15-mediated GFRAL-RET signaling is a promising target for improving treatment outcomes for chemotherapy patients. We developed peptide-based antagonists of GFRAL that block GDF15-mediated RET recruitment. Our initial library screen led to five novel peptides. Surface plasmon resonance and flow cytometric analyses of the most efficacious of this group, termed GRASP, revealed its capacity to bind to GFRAL. In vivo studies in rats revealed that GRASP could attenuate GDF15-induced nausea and anorexia resulting from cisplatin. Combined with Ondansetron, GRASP led to an even greater attenuation of the anorectic effects of cisplatin compared to either agent alone. Our results highlight the beneficial effects of GRASP as an agent to combat chemotherapy-induced malaise. GRASP may also be effective in other conditions associated with elevated levels of GDF15.

Solution Structure and Constrained Molecular Dynamics Study of Vitamin B12 Conjugates of the Anorectic Peptide PYY(3-36).

Vitamin B12 -peptide conjugates have considerable therapeutic potential through improved pharmacokinetic and/or pharmacodynamic properties imparted on the peptide upon covalent attachment to vitamin B12 (B12 ). There remains a lack of structural studies investigating the effects of B12 conjugation on peptide secondary structure. Determining the solution structure of a B12 -peptide conjugate or conjugates and measuring functions of the conjugate(s) at the target peptide receptor may offer considerable insight concerning the future design of fully optimized conjugates. This methodology is especially useful in tandem with constrained molecular dynamics (MD) studies, such that predictions may be made about conjugates not yet synthesized. Focusing on two B12 conjugates of the anorectic peptide PYY(3-36), one of which was previously demonstrated to have improved food intake reduction compared with PYY(3-36), we performed NMR structural analyses and used the information to conduct MD simulations. The study provides rare structural insight into vitamin B12 conjugates and validates the fact that B12 can be conjugated to a peptide without markedly affecting peptide secondary structure.

Stereochemical control of nonamphiphilic lyotropic liquid crystals: chiral nematic phase of assemblies separated by six nanometers of aqueous solvents.

Unlike conventional thermotropic and lyotropic liquid crystals, nonamphiphilic lyotropic liquid crystals consist of hydrated assemblies of nonamphiphilic molecules that are aligned with a separation of about 6 nm between assemblies in an aqueous environment. This separation raises the question of how chirality, either from chiral mesogens or chiral dopants, would impact the phase as the assemblies that need to interact with each other are about 6 nm apart. Here, we report the synthesis of three stereoisomers of disodium chromonyl carboxylate, 5'DSCG-diviol, and the correlation between the molecular structure, bulk assembly, and liquid crystal formation. We observed that the chiral isomers (enantiomers 5'DSCG-(R,R)-diviol and 5'DSCG-(S,S)-diviol) formed liquid crystals while the achiral isomer 5'DSCG-meso-diviol did not. Circular dichroism indicated a chiral conformation with bisignate cotton effect. The nuclear Overhauser effect in proton NMR spectroscopy revealed conformations that are responsible for liquid crystal formation. Cryogenic transmission electron microscopy showed that chiral 5'DSCG-diviols form assemblies with crossings. Interestingly, only planar alignment of the chiral nematic phase was observed in liquid crystal cells with thin spacers. The homeotropic alignment that permitted a fingerprint texture was obtained only when the thickness of the liquid crystal cell was increase to above ~500 µm. These studies suggest that hydrated assemblies of chiral 5'DSCG-diviol can interact with each other across a 6 nm separation in an aqueous environment by having a twist angle of about 0.22° throughout the sample between the neighboring assemblies.

Pt(IV) complexes as prodrugs for cisplatin.

The antitumor effects of platinum(IV) complexes, considered prodrugs for cisplatin, are believed to be due to biological reduction of Pt(IV) to Pt(II), with the reduction products binding to DNA and other cellular targets. In this work we used pBR322 DNA to capture the products of reduction of oxoplatin, c,t,c-[PtCl(2)(OH)(2)(NH(3))(2)], 3, and a carboxylate-modified analog, c,t,c-[PtCl(2)(OH)(O(2)CCH(2)CH(2)CO(2)H)(NH(3))(2)], 4, by ascorbic acid (AsA) or glutathione (GSH). Since carbonate plays a significant role in the speciation of platinum complexes in solution, we also investigated the effects of carbonate on the reduction/DNA-binding process. In pH 7.4 buffer in the absence of carbonate, both 3 and 4 are reduced by AsA to cisplatin (confirmed using ((195))Pt NMR), which binds to and unwinds closed circular DNA in a manner consistent with the formation of the well-known 1, 2 intrastrand DNA crosslink. However, when GSH is used as the reducing agent for 3 and 4, ((195))Pt NMR shows that cisplatin is not produced in the reaction medium. Although the Pt(II) products bind to closed circular DNA, their effect on the mobility of Form I DNA is different from that produced by cisplatin. When physiological carbonate is present in the reduction medium, ((13))C NMR shows that Pt(II) carbonato complexes form which block or impede platinum binding to DNA. The results of the study vis-à-vis the ability of the Pt(IV) complexes to act as prodrugs for cisplatin are discussed.

Stability of carboplatin and oxaliplatin in their infusion solutions is due to self-association.

Carboplatin and oxaliplatin are commonly used platinum anticancer agents that are sold as ready-to-use aqueous infusion solutions with shelf lives of 2 and 3 years, respectively. The observed rate constants for the hydrolysis of these drugs, however, are too large to account for their long shelf lives. We here use electrospray-trap mass spectrometry to show that carboplatin and oxaliplatin are self-associated at concentrations in their ready-to-use infusion solutions (~27 mM and 13 mM, respectively) and, as expected, when the drug concentration is reduced to more physiologically relevant concentrations (100 µM and 5 µM, respectively) the association equilibrium is shifted in favor of the monomeric forms of these drugs. Using (1)H NMR we measure the intensity of the NH resonance of the two symmetry-equivalent NH(3) molecules of carboplatin, relative to the intensity of the γ-methylene CH resonance, as a function of total drug concentration. Then, by fitting the data to models of different molecularity, we show that the association complex is a dimer with a monomer-dimer association constant of K (M(-1)) = 391 ± 127. The work presented here shows that carboplatin and oxaliplatin mainly exist as association complexes in concentrated aqueous solution, a property that accounts for the long term stability of their ready-to-use infusion solutions, and that these association complexes may exist, to some extent, in the blood after injection.

Adsorption of the Pt(II) anticancer drug carboplatin by mesoporous silica.

MCM-41, a mesoporous silica nanomaterial with a high surface area for adsorption of small molecules, is a potential new type of delivery vehicle for therapeutic and diagnostic agents. In this report, we show that MCM-41 adsorbs the front-line anticancer drug carboplatin, [Pt(CBDCA-O,O')(NH3)2] (CBDCA=cyclobutane-1,1-dicarboxylate; 1), which is used to treat ovarian, lung, and other types of cancer. UV/Visible difference absorption spectroscopy shows that MCM-41 adsorbs 1.8+/-0.2% of its own weight of carboplatin after a 24 h exposure to 26.9 mM drug in H2O. The pseudo-first-order rate constant for adsorption of carboplatin by MCM-41, measured using [1H,15N] heteronuclear single quantum coherence (HSQC) NMR, and 15N-labeled carboplatin is k(1)=2.92+/-2.17 x 10(-6) s(-1) at ca. 25 degrees.

Induced folding by chiral nonplanar aromatics.

We report a structural motif based on a C(3)-symmetric bowl-shaped core, on which three substituted amino acids on the periphery adopt either a folded or a spread-out conformation. This class of chiral folded structures is achieved by controlling the reactivity of the stereogenic protons on the nonplanar aromatic rings of trioxatricornan to afford predominantly C(3)-symmetric isomers. Bromination of trioxatricornan afforded a C(1)-symmetric and a C(3)-symmetric trisubstituted isomer, with the former being the major product as a statistical consequence during the reaction cascade. To obtain the C(3) symmetric isomer as the major product, C-H activation by means of ortho-lithiation with the bulky tert-butyl lithium and tetramethylethylenediamine was followed by a nucleophilic substitution that successfully reversed the statistically controlled regioselectivity. Further derivatization of the trioxatricornan with amino acids or menthol afforded diastereomers that were resolved by preparative chromatography. The absolute configurations of the diastereomers were determined by vibrational circular dichroism (VCD) in combination with density functional theory (DFT) and electronic circular dichroism (ECD). The folding structure of cysteine-derivatized trioxatricornan diastereomers was determined by two-dimensional NMR spectroscopy and molecular dynamics calculation, which revealed that one diastereomer has the amino acids folded toward the cavity of trioxatricornan and the other has a "spread-out" structure.

Formation of carbonato and hydroxo complexes in the reaction of platinum anticancer drugs with carbonate.

The second-generation Pt(II) anticancer drug carboplatin is here shown to react with carbonate, which is present in blood, interstitial fluid, cytosol, and culture medium, to produce platinum-carbonato and -hydroxo complexes. Using [(1)H-(15)N] HSQC NMR and (15)N-labeled carboplatin, we observe that cis-[Pt(CBDCA-O)(OH)(NH(3))(2)](-), cis-[Pt(OH)(2)(NH(3))(2)], cis-[Pt(CO(3))(OH)(NH(3))(2)](-), and what may be cis-[Pt(CO(3))(NH(3))(2)] are produced when 1 is allowed to react in 23.8 mM carbonate buffer. When (15)N-labeled carboplatin is allowed to react in 0.5 M carbonate buffer, these platinum species, as well as other hydroxo and carbonato species, some of which may be dinuclear complexes, are produced. Furthermore, we show that the carbonato species cis-[Pt(CO(3))(OH)(NH(3))(2)](-) is also produced when cisplatin is allowed to react in carbonate buffer. The study outlines the conditions under which carboplatin and cisplatin form carbonato and aqua/hydroxo species in carbonate media.

New extracellular resistance mechanism for cisplatin.

The HSQC NMR spectrum of 15N-cisplatin in cell growth media shows resonances corresponding to the monocarbonato complex, cis-[Pt(NH3)2(CO3)Cl](-), 4, and the dicarbonato complex, cis-[Pt(NH3)2(CO3)2](-2), 5, in addition to cisplatin itself, cis-[Pt(NH3)2Cl2], 1. The presence of Jurkat cells reduces the amount of detectable carbonato species by (2.8+/-0.7) fmol per cell and has little effect on species 1. Jurkat cells made resistant to cisplatin reduce the amount of detectable carbonato species by (7.9+/-5.6) fmol per cell and also reduce the amount of 1 by (3.4+/-0.9) fmol per cell. The amount of detectable carbonato species is also reduced by addition of the drug to medium that has previously been in contact with normal Jurkat cells (cells removed); the reduction is greater when drug is added to medium previously in contact with resistant Jurkat cells (cells removed). This shows that the platinum species are modified by a cell-produced substance that is released to the medium. Since the modified species have been shown not to enter or bind to cells, and since resistant cells modify more than non-resistant cells, the modification constitutes a new extracellular mechanism for cisplatin resistance which merits further attention.

Modification of carboplatin by Jurkat cells.

Using [(1)H,(15)N] heteronuclear single quantum coherance (HSQC) NMR and (15)N-labeled carboplatin, 1, we show that Jurkat cells affect the rate of disappearance of the HSQC NMR peak in culture medium for this Pt(2+) anticancer drug. The decay or disappearance rate constant for 1 in culture medium containing cells is k(1)=k(c)[CO(3)(2-)]+k(m)+k(u)N, where k(c) is the rate constant for reaction of 1 with carbonate in the medium, k(m) is the rate constant for reaction of 1 with all other components of the medium, and k(u) is the rate constant for reaction of 1 with cells having a number density N in the medium. Since Jurkat cells only take up a small amount of the platinum present in the medium (<1%), the observed disappearance of the HSQC NMR peak for 1 cannot be due to uptake of carboplatin by the cells.

Role of carbonate in the cytotoxicity of carboplatin.

Carboplatin, [Pt(NH3)2(CBDCA-O,O')], 1, where CBDCA is cyclobutane-1,1-dicarboxylate, is used against ovarian, lung, and other types of cancer. We recently showed (Di Pasqua et al. (2006) Chem. Res. Toxicol. 19, 139-149) that carboplatin reacts with carbonate under conditions that simulate therapy to produce carbonato carboplatin, cis-[Pt(NH3)2(O-CBDCA)(CO3)]2-, 2. We use 13C and 1H NMR and UV-visible absorption spectroscopy to show that solutions containing carboplatin that have been aged in carbonate buffer under various conditions contain 1, 2, and other compounds. We then show that aging carboplatin in carbonate produces compounds that are more toxic to human neuroblastoma (SK-N-SH), proximal renal tubule (HK-2) and Namalwa-luc Burkitt's lymphoma (BL) cells than carboplatin alone. Moreover, increasing the aging time increases the cytotoxicity of the platinum solutions as measured by the increase in cell death. Although HK-2 cells experience a large loss in survival upon exposure to carbonato forms of the drug, they have the highest values of IC50 of the three cell lines studied, so that HK-2 cells remain the most resistant to the toxic effects of the carbonato forms in the culture medium. This is consistent with the well-known low renal toxicity observed for carboplatin in therapy. The uptake rates for normal Jurkat cells (NJ) and cisplatin-resistant Jurkat cells (RJ), measured by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), are 16.6 +/- 4.2 and 12.3 +/- 4.8 amol of Pt h-1 cell-1, respectively, when exposed to carboplatin alone. However, when these cells are exposed to carboplatin that has been aged in carbonate media, normal Jurkat cells strongly bind/take up Pt at a rate of 14.5 +/- 4.1 amol of Pt h-1 cell-1, while resistant cells strongly bind/take up 5.1 +/- 3.3 amol of Pt h-1 cell-1. Collectively, these studies show that carboplatin carbonato species may play a major role in the cytotoxicity and uptake of carboplatin by cells.

Modification and uptake of a cisplatin carbonato complex by Jurkat cells.

The interactions of Jurkat cells with cisplatin, cis-[Pt(15NH3)2Cl2]1, are studied using 1H-15N heteronuclear single quantum coherence (HSQC) NMR and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. We show that Jurkat cells in culture rapidly modify the monocarbonato complex cis-[Pt(15NH3)2(CO3)Cl]- (4), a cisplatin species that forms in culture media and probably also in blood. Analysis of the HSQC NMR peak intensity for 4 in the presence of different numbers of Jurkat cells reveals that each cell is capable of modifying 0.0028 pmol of 4 within approximately 0.6 h. The amounts of platinum taken up by the cell, weakly bound to the cell surface, remaining in the culture medium, and bound to genomic DNA were measured as functions of time of exposure to different concentrations of drug. The results show that most of the 4 that has been modified by the cells remains in the culture medium as a substance of molecular mass <3 kDa, which is HSQC NMR silent, and is not taken up by the cell. These results are consistent with a hitherto undocumented extracellular detoxification mechanism in which the cells rapidly modify 4, which is present in the culture medium, so it cannot bind to the cell. Because there is only a slow decrease in the amount of unmodified 4 remaining in the culture medium after 1 h, -1.1 +/- 0.4 microM h(-1), the cells subsequently lose their ability to modify 4. These observations have important implications for the mechanism of action of cisplatin.

Activation of carboplatin by carbonate.

Carboplatin, [Pt(NH3)2(CBDCA-O,O')], 1, where CBDCA is cyclobutane-1,1-dicarboxylate, is in wide clinical use for the treatment of ovarian, lung, and other types of cancer. Because carboplatin is relatively unreactive toward nucleophiles, an important question concerning the drug is the mechanism by which it is activated in vivo. Using [1H,15N] heteronuclear single quantum coherance spectroscopy (HSQC) NMR and 15N-labeled carboplatin, we show that carboplatin reacts with carbonate ion in carbonate buffer to produce ring-opened products, the nature of which depends on the pH of the medium. The assignment of HSQC NMR resonances was facilitated by studying the reaction of carboplatin in strong acid, which also produces a ring-opened product. The HSQC NMR spectra and UV-visible difference spectra show that reaction of carboplatin with carbonate at pH > 8.6 produces mainly cis-[Pt(NH3)2(CO3(-2))(CBDCA-O)]-2, 5, which contains the mono-dentate CBDCA ligand and mono-dentate carbonate. At pH 6.7, the primary product is the corresponding bicarbonato complex, which may be in equilibrium with its decarboxylated hydroxo analogue. The UV-visible absorption data indicate that the pKb for the protonation of 5 is approximately 8.6. Thus, the reaction of carboplatin with carbonate produces a mixture of ring-opened species that are anions at physiological pH. HSQC NMR studies on 15N-labeled carboplatin in RPMI culture media containing 10% fetal bovine serum with and without added carbonate suggest that carbonate is the attacking nucleophile in culture media. However, because the rate of reaction of carbonate with carboplatin at physiological pH is small, NMR peaks for ring-opened carboplatin were not detected with HSQC NMR. The rate of disappearance of carboplatin in culture medium containing 9 x 10(8) Jurkat cells is essentially the same as that in carbonate buffer, indicating that the ring-opening reaction is not affected by the presence of cells. This work shows that carbonate at concentrations found in culture media, blood, and the cytosol readily displaces one arm of the CBDCA ligand of carboplatin to give a ring-opened product, which at physiological pH is a mixture of anions. These ring-opened species may be important in the uptake, antitumor properties, and toxicity of carboplatin.

Cisplatin carbonato complexes. Implications for uptake, antitumor properties, and toxicity.

The reaction of aquated cisplatin with carbonate which is present in culture media and blood is described. The first formed complex is a monochloro monocarbonato species, which upon continued exposure to carbonate slowly forms a biscarbonato complex. The formation of carbonato species under conditions that simulate therapy may have important implications for uptake, antitumor properties, and toxicity of cisplatin.

Stem of SL1 RNA in HIV-1: structure and nucleocapsid protein binding for a 1 x 3 internal loop.

The 5'-leader of HIV-1 RNA controls many viral functions. Nucleocapsid (NC) domains of gag-precursor proteins select genomic RNA for packaging by binding several sites in the leader. One is likely to be a stem defect in SL1 that can adopt either a 1 x 3 internal loop, SL1i (including G247, A271, G272, G273) or a 1 x 1 internal loop (G247 x G273) near a two-base bulge (A269-G270). It is likely that these two conformations are both present and exchange readily. A 23mer RNA construct described here models SL1i and cannot slip into the alternate form. It forms a 1:1 complex with NCp7, which interacts most strongly at G247 and G272 (K(d) = 140 nM). This demonstrates that a linear G-X-G sequence is unnecessary for high-affinity binding. The NMR-based structure shows an easily broken G247:A271 base pair. G247 stacks on both of its immediate neighbors and A271 on its 5'-neighbor; G272 and G273 are partially ordered. A bend in the helix axis between the SL1 stems on either side of the internal loop is probable. An important step in maturation of the virus is the transition from an apical loop-loop interaction to a dimer involving intermolecular interactions along the full length of SL1. A bend in the stem may be important in relieving strain and ensuring that the strands do not become entangled during the transition. A stem defect with special affinity for NCp7 may accelerate the rate of the dimer transformation. This complex could become an important target for anti-HIV drug development, where a drug could exert its action near a high-energy intermediate on the pathway for maturation of the dimer.