A therapeutic approach that holds the potential to treat all Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) patient populations is utrophin modulation. Ezutromid, a first generation utrophin modulator which was later found to act via antagonism of the arylhydrocarbon receptor, progressed to Phase 2 clinical trials. Although interim data showed target engagement and functional improvements, ezutromid ultimately failed to meet its clinical endpoints. We recently described the identification of a new class of hydrazide utrophin modulators which has a different mechanism of action to ezutromid. In this study we report our early optimisation studies on this hydrazide series. The new analogues had significantly improved potency in cell-based assays, increased sp character and reduced lipophilicity, which also improved their physicochemical properties. A representative new analogue combining these attributes increased utrophin protein in dystrophic mouse cells showing it can be used as a chemical tool to reveal new insights regarding utrophin upregulation as a strategy for DMD therapeutic intervention.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bmc.2022.116812 | DOI Listing |
Front Physiol
December 2024
Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, National Research Council (CNR), Monterotondo (RM), Italy.
Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is caused by mutations in the gene encoding dystrophin, a subsarcolemmal protein whose absence results in increased susceptibility of the muscle fiber membrane to contraction-induced injury. This results in increased calcium influx, oxidative stress, and mitochondrial dysfunction, leading to chronic inflammation, myofiber degeneration, and reduced muscle regenerative capacity. Fast glycolytic muscle fibers have been shown to be more vulnerable to mechanical stress than slow oxidative fibers in both DMD patients and DMD mouse models.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNeurol Int
July 2024
Department of Biochemistry, JSS Medical College, JSS Academy of Higher Education & Research, Mysuru 570015, Karnataka, India.
Significant progress has been achieved in understanding Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) mechanisms and developing treatments to slow disease progression. This review article thoroughly assesses primary and secondary DMD therapies, focusing on innovative modalities. The primary therapy addresses the genetic abnormality causing DMD, specifically the absence or reduced expression of dystrophin.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFmBio
July 2024
Department of Infectious Disease, Centre for Bacterial Resistance Biology, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom.
Unlabelled: The injectisome encoded by pathogenicity island 2 (SPI-2) had been thought to translocate 28 effectors. Here, we used a proteomic approach to characterize the secretome of a clinical strain of invasive non-typhoidal serovar Enteritidis that had been mutated to cause hyper-secretion of the SPI-2 injectisome effectors. Along with many known effectors, we discovered the novel SseM protein.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFACS Omega
June 2024
Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Mohaghegh Ardabili, P.O. Box 179, Ardabil 56199-11367, Iran.
The 3D-QSAR models were developed using CoMFA and CoMSIA techniques to investigate essential molecular fields, optimization strategies, and structure-activity relationships for utrophin-modulating compounds. The data set (71 molecules) was divided into two training and test sets using the hierarchical clustering approach. The training set was aligned based on the most active compound.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Med Chem
June 2024
Smart Healthcare Department, Interdisciplinary Research Platform, Indian Institute of Technology, Jodhpur, Rajasthan 342030, India.
Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a fatal muscle-wasting disease caused by the absence of a dystrophin protein. Elevating utrophin, a dystrophin paralogue, offers an alternative therapeutic strategy for treating DMD, irrespective of the mutation type. Herein, we report the design and synthesis of novel quinazoline and quinoline-based small molecules as potent utrophin modulators screened via high throughput In-Cell ELISA in C2C12 cells.
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