We have synthesized iodinated resiniferatoxin bearing a 4-hydroxy-5-iodo-3-methoxyphenylacetate ester (I-RTX) and have characterized its activity on rat and human TRPV1 (VR1) receptors, as well as in behavioral assays of nociception. In whole cell patch-clamp recordings from transfected cells the functional activity of I-RTX was determined. Currents activated by capsaicin exhibited characteristic outward rectification and were antagonized by capsazepine and I-RTX. On rat TRPV1 the affinity of I-RTX was 800-fold higher than that of capsazepine (IC 50 ϭ 0.7 and 562 nM, respectively) and 10-fold higher on rat versus human receptors (IC 50 ϭ 0.7 and 5.4 nM, respectively). The same difference was observed when comparing the inhibition of [ 3 H]RTX binding to rat and human TRPV1 membranes for both RTX and I-RTX. Additional pharmacological differences were revealed using protons as the stimulus. Under these conditions capsazepine only partly blocked currents through rat TRPV1 receptors (by 70 to 80% block), yet was a full antagonist on human receptors. In contrast, I-RTX completely blocked proton-induced currents in both species and that activated by noxious heat. I-RTX also blocked capsaicin-induced firing of C-fibers in a rat in vitro skin-nerve assay. Despite this activity and the high affinity of I-RTX for rat TRPV1, only capsazepine proved to be an effective antagonist of capsaicin-induced paw flinching in rats. Thus, although I-RTX has limited utility for in vivo behavioral studies it is a high-affinity TRPV1 receptor antagonist that will be useful to characterize the functional properties of cloned and native vanilloid receptor subtypes in vitro.The transient receptor potential TRPV1 vanilloid receptor (also known as VR1; see revised TRP channel nomenclature Montell et al., 2002) gates a nonselective cation channel that is expressed by sensory neurons and that can be activated by protons, heat, and capsaicin, the pungent ingredient of chili peppers (Caterina et al., 1997;Tominaga et al., 1998). Ligands acting at the TRPV1 vanilloid receptor subtype have the potential therapeutic utility to treat thermal hyperalgesia-related pain and some inflammatory conditions (for review, see Szallasi and Blumberg, 1999;Caterina and Julius, 2001). One of the first antagonists described for the capsaicin receptor was capsazepine (Bevan et al., 1992). This ligand has been used widely to explore the functional significance of TRPV1 receptors in pain. However it has relatively low micromolar affinity for TRPV1 receptors and because it also blocks voltage-gated calcium channels, this has made interpretation of functional data with this compound less straightforward (Docherty et al., 1997).To date, one of the highest affinity ligands reported for the TRPV1 receptor is the natural plant product resiniferatoxin (RTX), which was first isolated from Euphorbia resinifera (Szallasi and Blumberg, 1989). Interestingly, it has been shown recently that iodination of this agonist RTX confers antagonist-like properties to the ligand wit...

Selective G‐quadruplex ligands offer great promise for the development of anti‐cancer therapies. A novel series of divalent cationic naphthalene diimide ligands that selectively bind to the hybrid form of the human telomeric G‐quadruplex in K+ buffer are described herein. We demonstrate that an imidazolium‐bearing mannoside‐conjugate is the most selective ligand to date for this quadruplex against several other quadruplex and duplex structures. We also show that a similarly selective methylpiperazine‐bearing ligand was more toxic to HeLa cancer cells than doxorubicin, whilst exhibiting three times less toxicity towards fetal lung fibroblasts WI‐38.

Inhibition of the lipid kinase PI3Kδ is a promising principle to treat B and T cell driven inflammatory diseases. Using a scaffold deconstruction−reconstruction strategy, we identified 4-aryl quinazolines that were optimized into potent PI3Kδ isoform selective analogues with good pharmacokinetic properties. With compound 11, we illustrate that biochemical PI3Kδ inhibition translates into modulation of isoform-dependent immune cell function (human, rat, and mouse). After oral administration of compound 11 to rats, proximal PD markers are inhibited, and dose-dependent efficacy in a mechanistic plaque forming cell assay could be demonstrated.

The genes encoding RAS family members are frequently mutated in juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia (JMML) and acute myeloid leukemia (AML). RAS proteins are difficult to target pharmacologically; therefore, targeting the downstream PI3K and RAF/MEK/ERK pathways represents a promising approach to treat RAS-addicted tumors. The p110α isoform of PI3K (encoded by Pik3ca) is an essential effector of oncogenic KRAS in murine lung tumors, but it is unknown whether p110α contributes to leukemia. To specifically examine the role of p110α in murine hematopoiesis and in leukemia, we conditionally deleted p110α in HSCs using the Cre-loxP system. Postnatal deletion of p110α resulted in mild anemia without affecting HSC self-renewal; however, deletion of p110α in mice with KRAS G12D -associated JMML markedly delayed their death. Furthermore, the p110α-selective inhibitor BYL719 inhibited growth factor-independent KRAS G12D BM colony formation and sensitized cells to a low dose of the MEK inhibitor MEK162. Furthermore, combined inhibition of p110α and MEK effectively reduced proliferation of RAS-mutated AML cell lines and disease in an AML murine xenograft model. Together, our data indicate that RAS-mutated myeloid leukemias are dependent on the PI3K isoform p110α, and combined pharmacologic inhibition of p110α and MEK could be an effective therapeutic strategy for JMML and AML.

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