Design and evaluation of EphrinA1 mutants with cerebral protective effect.

The activation of EphA2 receptor by its natural ligand EphrinA1 causes blood brain barrier dysfunction, and inactivation of EphA2 reduces BBB damage in ischemic stroke. Thus, EphA2 targeted antagonists may serve as neuroprotective agents. We engineered four mutants of EphrinA1, EM1, EM2, EM3 and EM4, respectively. The computational analysis showed that these four mutants were capable of interacting with EphA2. Their potential neuroprotective effects were examined in mouse focal ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) model. EM2 exhibited strong neuroprotective effects, including reduced brain infarct volume, neuronal apoptosis, cerebral edema, and improved neurological scores. The EM2-mediated protection was associated with a comparative decrease in BBB leakage, inflammatory infiltration, and higher expression levels of tight junction proteins, such as zonula occludens-1 and Occludin. I/R-induced high expression of Rho-associated protein kinase 2 (ROCK2) was down-regulated after EM2 treatment. Moreover, EM2 reduced agonist doxazosin-induced EphA2 phosphorylation and cells rounding in PC3 cells, indicating EphA2-antagonizing activity of EM2. These finding provided evidences of the neuroprotection of EphA2 antagonist and a novel approach for ischemic stroke treatment. These results also suggested that a receptor agonist can be switched to an antagonist by substituting one or more relevant residues.

Increased autophagic degradation contributes to the neuroprotection of hydrogen sulfide against cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury.

Hydrogen sulfide (H2S), an endogenous gaseous signal molecule, exhibits protective effect against ischemic injury. However, its underlying mechanism is not fully understood. We have recently reported that exogenous H2S decreases the accumulation of autophagic vacuoles in mouse brain with ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury. To further investigate whether this H2S-induced reduction of autophagic vacuoles is caused by the decreased autophagosome synthesis and/or the increased autophagic degradation inautophagic flux, we performed in vitro and in vivo studies using SH-SY5Y cells for the oxygen and glucose deprivation/reoxygenation (OGD/R) and mice for the cerebral I/R, respectively. NaHS (a donor of H2S) treatment significantly increased cell viability and reduced cerebral infarct volume. NaHS treatment reduced the OGD/R-induced elevation in LC3-II (an autophagic marker), which was completely reversed by co-treatment with an autophagic flux inhibitor bafilomycin A1 (BafA1). However, H2S did not affect the OGD/R-induced increase of the ULK1 self-association and decrease of the ATG13 phosphorylation, which are the critical steps for the initiation of autophagosome formation. Cerebral I/R injury caused an increase in LC3-II, a decrease in p62 and the accumulation of autophagosomes in the cortex and the hippocampus, which were inhibited by NaHS treatment. This H2S-induced decline of LC3-II in ischemic brain was reversed by BafA1. Moreover, BafA1 treatment abolished the protection of H2S on the cerebral infarction. Collectively, the neuroprotection of exogenous H2S against ischemia/hypoxia and reperfusion/reoxygenation injury is mediated by the enhancement of autophagic degradation.

Exogenous hydrogen sulfide attenuates cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury by inhibiting autophagy in mice.

Hydrogen sulfide (H2S), the third gas transmitter, has been proven to be neuroprotective in cerebral ischemic injury, but whether its effect is mediated by regulating autophagy is not yet clear. The present study was undertaken to explore the underlying mechanisms of exogenous H2S on autophagy regulation in cerebral ischemia. The effects and its connection with autophagy of NaHS, a H2S donor, were observed through neurological deficits and cerebral infarct volume in middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) mice; autophagy-related proteins and autophagy complex levels in the ischemic hemisphere were detected with Western blot assay. Compared with the model group, NaHS significantly decreased infarct volume and improved neurological deficits; rapamycin, an autophagy activator, abolished the effect of NaHS; NaHS decreased the expression of LC3-II and up-regulated p62 expression in the ischemic cortex 24 h after ischemia. However, NaHS did not significantly influence Beclin-1 expression. H2S has a neuroprotective effect on ischemic injury in MCAO mice; this effect is associated with its influence in down-regulating autophagosome accumulation.

Engineering Factor Xa Inhibitor with Multiple Platelet-Binding Sites Facilitates its Platelet Targeting.

Targeted delivery of antithrombotic drugs centralizes the effects in the thrombosis site and reduces the hemorrhage side effects in uninjured vessels. We have recently reported that the platelet-targeting factor Xa (FXa) inhibitors, constructed by engineering one Arg-Gly-Asp (RGD) motif into Ancylostoma caninum anticoagulant peptide 5 (AcAP5), can reduce the risk of systemic bleeding than non-targeted AcAP5 in mouse arterial injury model. Increasing the number of platelet-binding sites of FXa inhibitors may facilitate their adhesion to activated platelets, and further lower the bleeding risks. For this purpose, we introduced three RGD motifs into AcAP5 to generate a variant NR4 containing three platelet-binding sites. NR4 reserved its inherent anti-FXa activity. Protein-protein docking showed that all three RGD motifs were capable of binding to platelet receptor αIIbß3. Molecular dynamics simulation demonstrated that NR4 has more opportunities to interact with αIIbß3 than single-RGD-containing NR3. Flow cytometry analysis and rat arterial thrombosis model further confirmed that NR4 possesses enhanced platelet targeting activity. Moreover, NR4-treated mice showed a trend toward less tail bleeding time than NR3-treated mice in carotid artery endothelium injury model. Therefore, our data suggest that engineering multiple binding sites in one recombinant protein is a useful tool to improve its platelet-targeting efficiency.

Rational Design of Fluorescent Phthalazinone Derivatives for One- and Two-Photon Imaging.

Phthalazinone derivatives were designed as optical probes for one- and two-photon fluorescence microscopy imaging. The design strategy involves stepwise extension and modification of pyridazinone by 1) expansion of pyridazinone to phthalazinone, a larger conjugated system, as the electron acceptor, 2) coupling of electron-donating aromatic groups such as N,N-diethylaminophenyl, thienyl, naphthyl, and quinolyl to the phthalazinone, and 3) anchoring of an alkyl chain to the phthalazinone with various terminal substituents such as triphenylphosphonio, morpholino, triethylammonio, N-methylimidazolio, pyrrolidino, and piperidino. Theoretical calculations were utilized to verify the initial design. The desired fluorescent probes were synthesized by two different routes in considerable yields. Twenty-two phthalazinone derivatives were synthesized and their photophysical properties were measured. Selected compounds were applied in cell imaging, and valuable information was obtained. Furthermore, the designed compounds showed excellent performance in two-photon microscopic imaging of mouse brain slices.

Structure-guided creation of AcAP5-derived and platelet targeted factor Xa inhibitors.

Anticoagulants and anti-platelet agents are simultaneously administrated in clinical practice (i.e. percutaneous coronary intervention), which cause significant risk of systemic bleeding. Targeted delivery of anticoagulants to the activated platelets at sites of vascular injuries may condense the site-specific anticoagulant effect and reduce the hemorrhage side effects in uninjured vessels. To this end, we prepared three ancylostoma caninum anticoagulant peptide 5 (AcAP5) variants NR1, NR2 and NR3 engineered with a platelet-binding Arg-Gly-Asp (RGD) motif and evaluated their anti-Factor Xa (FXa) and platelet-binding effects. These RGD-containing AcAP5 variants were capable of interacting with platelet receptor αIIbß3 as shown in computational analysis. All variants, especially NR2 and NR3, retained entirely the anti-FXa function of parent AcAP5. Moreover, they prevented the formation of occlusive thrombi in rat carotid artery injury model, suggesting that they inhibit platelet aggregation in vivo. Further functional investigation of NR3 demonstrated that NR3 inhibited platelet aggregation in vitro and FXa activity in vivo, and prolonged the coagulation time, all in a dose-dependent manner. Through flow cytometry assay, we confirmed the binding of NR3 to αIIbß3 receptor. In mouse model of carotid artery endothelium injury, NR3-treated mice showed less tail bleeding time than AcAP5-treated mice, and aspirin plus NR3 treatment exhibited moderate reduction of blood loss compared with aspirin plus AcAP5 treatment. These results indicate the feasibility to engineer a novel FXa inhibitor specifically targeting the activated platelets, which centralizes its anticoagulation efficacy in the injured vascular endothelium and reduces the risk of systemic bleeding.