Toxicity of teriflunomide in aryl hydrocarbon receptor deficient mice.

The intracellular transcription factor aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) is bound and activated by xenobiotics, thereby promoting their catabolism by inducing expression of cytochrome P450 oxidase (CYP) genes through binding xenobiotic response elements (XRE) in their promoter region. In addition, it is involved in several cellular pathways like cell proliferation, differentiation, regeneration, tumor invasiveness and immune responses. Several pharmaceutical compounds like benzimidazoles activate the AHR and induce their own metabolic degradation. Using newly generated XRE-reporter mice, which allow in vivo bioluminescence imaging of AHR activation, we show here that the AHR is activated in vivo by teriflunomide (TER), which has recently been approved for the treatment of multiple sclerosis. While we did not find any evidence that the AHR mediates the immunomodulatory effects of TER, AHR activation led to metabolism and detoxification of teriflunomide, most likely via CYP. Mice deficient for the AHR show higher blood levels of teriflunomide, suffer from enhanced thrombo- and leukopenia and elevated liver enzymes as well as from severe gastrointestinal ulcers and bleeding which are lethal after 8-11 days of treatment. Leukopenia, acute liver damage and diarrhea have also been described as common side effects in human trials with TER. These data suggest that the AHR is relevant for detoxification not only of environmental toxins but also of drugs in clinical use, with potential implications for the application of AHR-modifying therapies in conjunction to TER in humans. The XRE-reporter mouse is a useful novel tool for monitoring AHR activation using in vivo imaging.

Unravelling RNA-substrate interactions in a ribozyme-catalysed reaction using fluorescent turn-on probes.

The Diels-Alder reaction is one of the most important C-C bond-forming reactions in organic chemistry, and much effort has been devoted to controlling its enantio- and diastereoselectivity. The Diels-Alderase ribozyme (DAse) catalyses the reaction between anthracene dienes and maleimide dienophiles with multiple-turnover, stereoselectivity, and up to 1100-fold rate acceleration. Here, a new generation of anthracene-BODIPY-based fluorescent probes was developed to monitor catalysis by the DAse. The brightness of these probes increases up to 93-fold upon reaction with N-pentylmaleimide (NPM), making these useful tools for investigating the stereochemistry of the ribozyme-catalysed reaction. With these probes, we observed that the DAse catalyses the reaction with >91% de and >99% ee. The stereochemistry of the major product was determined unambiguously by rotating-frame nuclear Overhauser NMR spectroscopy (ROESY-NMR) and is in agreement with crystallographic structure information. The pronounced fluorescence change of the probes furthermore allowed a complete kinetic analysis, which revealed an ordered bi uni type reaction mechanism, with the dienophile binding first.

Microscale thermophoresis provides insights into mechanism and thermodynamics of ribozyme catalysis.

The analysis of binding interactions between small molecules and biopolymers is important for understanding biological processes. While fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS) requires fluorescence labeling on the small molecule, which often interferes with binding, in microscale thermophoresis (MST) the label can be placed on the biopolymer. Ribozymes have not been analyzed by MST so far. The Diels-Alderase ribozyme (DAse) is a true catalyst, facilitating the Diels-Alder reaction between two free small substrates, anthracene dienes, and maleimide dienophiles. Despite high efforts, the determination of the dissociation constant (KD) of maleimide dienophiles to the DAse by FCS has been unsuccessful. Here, we determined the binding interactions of the DAse to its substrates and the Diels-Alder product using MST. The results supported a positive cooperativity for substrate binding to the DAse. By varying the temperature, we furthermore studied the thermodynamics of dienophile dissociation. The entropic contribution was found to be the energetic driving force for the binding of the dienophile to the DAse.