Chemokine receptor CCR7 regulates the intestinal TH1/TH17/Treg balance during Crohn's-like murine ileitis.

The regulation of T cell and DC retention and lymphatic egress within and from the intestine is critical for intestinal immunosurveillance; however, the cellular processes that orchestrate this balance during IBD remain poorly defined. With the use of a mouse model of TNF-driven Crohn's-like ileitis (TNF(Δ) (ARE)), we examined the role of CCR7 in the control of intestinal T cell and DC retention/egress during experimental CD. We observed that the frequency of CCR7-expressing TH1/TH17 effector lymphocytes increased during active disease in TNF(Δ) (ARE) mice and that ΔARE/CCR7(-/-) mice developed exacerbated ileitis and multiorgan inflammation, with a marked polarization and ileal retention of TH1 effector CD4(+) T cells. Furthermore, adoptive transfer of ΔARE/CCR7(-/-) effector CD4(+) into lymphopenic hosts resulted in ileo-colitis, whereas those transferred with ΔARE/CCR7(+/+) CD4(+) T cells developed ileitis. ΔARE/CCR7(-/-) mice had an acellular draining MLN, decreased CD103(+) DC, and decreased expression of RALDH enzymes and of CD4(+)CD25(+)FoxP3(+) Tregs. Lastly, a mAb against CCR7 exacerbated ileitis in TNF(Δ) (ARE) mice, phenocopying the effects of congenital CCR7 deficiency. Our data underscore a critical role for the lymphoid chemokine receptor CCR7 in orchestrating immune cell traffic and TH1 versus TH17 bias during chronic murine ileitis.

Improving biophysical properties of a bispecific antibody scaffold to aid developability: quality by molecular design.

While the concept of Quality-by-Design is addressed at the upstream and downstream process development stages, we questioned whether there are advantages to addressing the issues of biologics quality early in the design of the molecule based on fundamental biophysical characterization, and thereby reduce complexities in the product development stages. Although limited number of bispecific therapeutics are in clinic, these developments have been plagued with difficulty in producing materials of sufficient quality and quantity for both preclinical and clinical studies. The engineered heterodimeric Fc is an industry-wide favorite scaffold for the design of bispecific protein therapeutics because of its structural, and potentially pharmacokinetic, similarity to the natural antibody. Development of molecules based on this concept, however, is challenged by the presence of potential homodimer contamination and stability loss relative to the natural Fc. We engineered a heterodimeric Fc with high heterodimeric specificity that also retains natural Fc-like biophysical properties, and demonstrate here that use of engineered Fc domains that mirror the natural system translates into an efficient and robust upstream stable cell line selection process as a first step toward a more developable therapeutic.

LC-MS characterization and purity assessment of a prototype bispecific antibody.

Bispecific IgG asymmetric (heterodimeric) antibodies offer enhanced therapeutic efficacy, but present unique challenges for drug development. These challenges are related to the proper assembly of heavy and light chains. Impurities such as symmetric (homodimeric) antibodies can arise with improper assembly. A new method to assess heterodimer purity of such bispecific antibody products is needed because traditional separation-based purity assays are unable to separate or quantify homodimer impurities. This paper presents a liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS)-based method for evaluating heterodimeric purity of a prototype asymmetric antibody containing two different heavy chains and two identical light chains. The heterodimer and independently expressed homodimeric standards were characterized by two complementary LC-MS techniques: Intact protein mass measurement of deglycosylated antibody and peptide map analyses. Intact protein mass analysis was used to check molecular integrity and composition. LC-MS(E) peptide mapping of Lys-C digests was used to verify protein sequences and characterize post-translational modifications, including C-terminal truncation species. Guided by the characterization results, a heterodimer purity assay was demonstrated by intact protein mass analysis of pure deglycosylated heterodimer spiked with each deglycosylated homodimeric standard. The assay was capable of detecting low levels (2%) of spiked homodimers in conjunction with co-eluting half antibodies and multiple mass species present in the homodimer standards and providing relative purity differences between samples. Detection of minor homodimer and half-antibody C-terminal truncation species at levels as low as 0.6% demonstrates the sensitivity of the method. This method is suitable for purity assessment of heterodimer samples during process and purification development of bispecific antibodies, e.g., clone selection.

A review of current animal models of osteoarthritis pain.

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a complex disease plagued by a significant unmet need for treatment. To date, no disease- modifying OA drugs (DMOADs) exist and the available symptom-modifying OA drugs (SMOADs) have limitations. Although a complete understanding of the mechanisms of OA pain in humans is lacking, animal models have helped provide insight into the multifaceted origin and manifestation of OA pain. Success in discovering new therapeutics will likely require reliance on good animal models. This review summarizes the animal models available for studying pain associated with OA.

Aryl sulfonamides containing tetralin allylic amines as potent and selective bradykinin B1 receptor antagonists.

The bradykinin B1 receptor has been shown to mediate pain response and is rapidly induced upon injury. Blocking this receptor may provide a promising treatment for inflammation and pain. We previously reported tetralin benzyl amines as potent B1 antagonists. Here we describe the synthesis and SAR of B1 receptor antagonists with homobenzylic amines. The SAR of different linkers led to the discovery of tetralin allylic amines as potent and selective B1 receptor antagonists (hB1 IC(50)=1.3 nM for compound 16). Some of these compounds showed modest oral bioavailability in rats.

Agonists of the orphan human G2A receptor identified from inducible G2A expression and beta-lactamase reporter screen.

The G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) G2A (for G2 accumulation) was identified as a stress-inducible antiproliferative cell cycle regulator. Targeted G2A gene deletion in mice resulted in systemic lupus erythematosus-like and atherosclerotic lesion phenotypes. These findings suggested that G2A may be a therapeutic target for cancers and autoimmune and cardiovascular diseases. The G2A receptor is cytotoxic upon ectopic expression, and its cognate ligand has not been identified, making it difficult to generate a cell line for screening using a conventional approach. The function of human G2A remains obscure. Here we show that by using an inducible T-REx (Invitrogen, Carlsbad, CA) expression system an inducible G2A functional cell-based beta-lactamase reporter assay could be developed using the constitutive activity of the receptor. Furthermore, G2A expression levels can be controlled under this inducible system to avoid the expression artifacts of conventional approaches using constitutive expression vectors. This stable cell line expressing the human G2A receptor was screened against a chemical library containing 740,000 compounds, and small molecules showing selective agonistic activity on G2A were identified. We believe the strategy employed here for G2A should be applicable to other "intractable" GPCRs where target gene expression results in cytotoxic and/or high constitutive activities.

Antagonists of CD117 (cKit) signaling inhibit mast cell accumulation in healing skin wounds.

Mast cells (MCs) have important functional roles in leukocyte recruitment, pain, and wound healing, and increased tissue resident MC function has been associated with several fibrotic diseases. Consequently, the study of MCs in situ can be a direct approach to studying the pharmacodynamic impact of MC-directed therapeutics in tissues. Here we describe an automated laser scanning cytometry assay that was used to characterize the kinetics of MC accumulation in healing skin wounds and to study the effect of inhibiting CD117 (cKit) signaling. The number of tryptase-positive MCs approximately doubled 14 days after cutaneous injury in nonhuman primates. Treatment of animals with anti-CD117 or imatinib mesylate (Gleevec) reduced MC accumulation at the edge of healing wounds in mice and nonhuman primates, respectively. In translating this MC assay to become a biomarker for human studies, no differences in dermal MC numbers were evident between genders, ages or body mass index from 20 healthy donors. These data suggest that skin is a practical and useful tissue for tracking pharmacodynamic effects of MC-directed therapies.

Discovery of amido-benzisoxazoles as potent c-Kit inhibitors.

Deregulation of the receptor tyrosine kinase c-Kit is associated with an increasing number of human diseases, including certain cancers and mast cell diseases. Interference of c-Kit signaling with multi-kinase inhibitors has been shown clinically to successfully treat gastrointestinal stromal tumors and mastocytosis. Targeted therapy of c-Kit activity may provide therapeutic advantages against off-target effects for non-oncology applications. A new structural class of c-Kit inhibitors is described, including in vitro c-Kit potency, kinase selectivity, and the observed binding mode.

Discovery of a potent and selective c-Kit inhibitor for the treatment of inflammatory diseases.

A potent and selective c-Kit inhibitor 20 was identified through a structure-activity relationship study. In an in vivo mouse model of mast cell activation, 20 blocked the SCF-induced histamine release with an EC(50) of 26 nM.

Discovery of aryl aminoquinazoline pyridones as potent, selective, and orally efficacious inhibitors of receptor tyrosine kinase c-Kit.

Inhibition of c-Kit has the potential to treat mast cell associated fibrotic diseases. We report the discovery of several aminoquinazoline pyridones that are potent inhibitors of c-Kit with greater than 200-fold selectivity against KDR, p38, Lck, and Src. In vivo efficacy of pyridone 16 by dose-dependent inhibition of histamine release was demonstrated in a rodent pharmacodynamic model of mast cell activation.

Potent nonpeptide antagonists of the bradykinin B1 receptor: structure-activity relationship studies with novel diaminochroman carboxamides.

The bradykinin B1 receptor is induced following tissue injury and/or inflammation. Antagonists of this receptor have been studied as promising candidates for treatment of chronic pain. We have identified aryl sulfonamides containing a chiral chroman diamine moiety that are potent antagonists of the human B1 receptor. Our previously communicated lead, compound 2, served as a proof-of-concept molecule, but suffered from poor pharmacokinetic properties. With guidance from metabolic profiling, we performed structure-activity relationship studies and have identified potent analogs of 2. Variation of the sulfonamide moiety revealed a preference for 3- and 3,4-disubstituted aryl sulfonamides, while bulky secondary and tertiary amines were preferred at the benzylic amine position for potency at the B1 receptor. Modifying the beta-amino acid core of the molecule lead to the discovery of highly potent compounds with improved in vitro pharmacokinetic properties. The most potent analog at the human receptor, compound 38, was also active in a rabbit B1 receptor cellular assay. Furthermore, compound 38 displayed in vivo activity in two rabbit models, a pharmacodynamic model with a blood pressure readout and an efficacy model of inflammatory pain.

Neuroprotective effects of M826, a reversible caspase-3 inhibitor, in the rat malonate model of Huntington's disease.

1. Caspases, key enzymes in the apoptosis pathway, have been detected in the brain of HD patients and in animal models of the disease. In the present study, we investigated the neuroprotective properties of a new, reversible, caspase-3-specific inhibitor, M826 (3-([(2S)-2-[5-tert-butyl-3-[[(4-methyl-1,2,5-oxadiazol-3-yl)methyl]amino]-2-oxopyrazin-1(2H)-yl]butanoyl]amino)-5-[hexyl(methyl)amino]-4-oxopentanoic acid), in a rat malonate model of HD. 2. Pharmacokinetic and autoradiography studies after intrastriatal (i.str.) injection of 1.5 nmol of M826 or its tritiated analogue [(3)H]M826 indicated that the compound diffused within the entire striatum. The elimination half-life (T(1/2)) of M826 in the rat striatum was 3 h. 3. I.str. injection of 1.5 nmol of M826 10 min after malonate infusion induced a significant reduction (66%) in the number of neurones expressing active caspase-3 in the ipsilateral striatum. 4. Inhibition of active caspase-3 translated into a significant but moderate reduction (39%) of the lesion volume, and of cell death (24%), 24 h after injury. The efficacy of M826 at inhibiting cell death was comparable to that of the noncompetitive NMDA receptor antagonist MK801. 5. These data provide in vivo proof-of-concept of the neuroprotective effects of reversible caspase-3 inhibitors in a model of malonate-induced striatal injury in the adult rat.

Blockade of G protein-coupled receptors and the dopamine transporter by a transmembrane domain peptide: novel strategy for functional inhibition of membrane proteins in vivo.

G protein-coupled receptors have a core consisting of seven transmembrane alpha-helices that is important in maintaining the structure of the receptor. We postulated that disruption of the transmembrane core may interfere with receptor function. In this study, the function of integral membrane proteins was disrupted in vivo using peptides mimicking their transmembrane domains. A peptide derived from transmembrane 7 of the D2 dopamine receptor injected unilaterally into caudate nucleus of rats challenged with apomorphine resulted in rotational behavior, indicating D2 receptor blockade. No rotational behavior was seen with a similar peptide based on the beta2 adrenergic receptor and the D2 transmembrane peptide did not affect the D1 dopamine receptor, indicating that the D2 receptor-derived peptide had a specific effect. The intravenous administration of a transmembrane peptide derived from the alpha1-adrenergic receptor resulted in lowered arterial blood pressure and injection of a beta1-adrenergic receptor peptide resulted in decreased heart rate. Injection of a V2 vasopressin receptor-derived transmembrane peptide resulted in increased urine output, suggesting antagonism of the effects of vasopressin. Finally, dopamine release in rat brain after cocaine administration was blocked by a transmembrane peptide based on the dopamine transporter. Circular dichroism spectroscopy of the peptides revealed alpha-helical structure similar to that of native transmembrane domains. Thus, transmembrane peptides can disrupt membrane proteins in vivo likely by competing with native transmembrane domains. The disruption of the hydrophobic core architecture of membrane proteins represents a novel mechanism of achieving functional inhibition that may be possible to exploit in developing novel therapeutics.

Automated analysis of global ischemia-induced CA1 neuronal death using terminal UTP nick end labeling (TUNEL).

In the brain, DNA fragmentation is associated with apoptotic cell death following ischemic/excitotoxic damage. Fragmented DNA can be detected in situ by labeling the 3'OH termini of the internucleosomal generated fragments with deoxynucleotides, through a process known as terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (TdT) dUTP nick end labeling, or TUNEL. TUNEL is frequently being used to assess neuronal death following cerebral ischemia in a number of animal models. However, conventional techniques for TUNEL can be time consuming, and are often subjective and thus can lead to inconsistencies among investigators. Moreover, the lack of tools for its quantification and standardization limits the use of this technique in assessing the magnitude of cell death. In the present report, we describe an improved higher throughput technique for TUNEL staining at room temperature on a BioGenex automated stainer, and its subsequent quantitative analysis using NORTHERN ECLIPSE, an imaging analysis program. Its implementation allows us to effectively quantify TUNEL positive cells in the CA1 region of the hippocampus following global forebrain ischemia in rats. We conclude that this general histological technique can be applied to the study of cell death in numerous other experimental models.