Androgen receptor (AR) mediates the growth of prostate cancer (PCa) throughout its course of development, including in abnormal splice variants (AR-SV)-driven advanced stage castration-resistant disease. AR stabilization by androgens makes it distinct from other steroid receptors, which are typically ubiquitinated and degraded by proteasomes after ligand binding. Thus, targeting AR in advanced PCa requires the development of agents that can sustainably degrade variant isoforms for effective therapy. Here we report the discovery and characterization of potent selective AR degraders (SARDs) that markedly reduce the activity of wildtype and splice variant isoforms of AR at sub-micromolar doses. Three SARDs (UT-69, UT-155, and (R)-UT-155) bind the amino-terminal transcriptional activation domain AF-1, which has not been targeted for degradation previously, with two of these SARD (UT-69 and UT-155) also binding the carboxy-terminal ligand binding domain. Despite different mechanisms of action, all three SARDs degraded wild-type AR and inhibited AR function, exhibiting greater inhibitory potency than the approved AR antagonists. Collectively, our results introduce a new candidate class of next-generation therapeutics to manage advanced PCa.

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AimTo determine whether Compound 49b, a novel beta-adrenergic receptor agonist, can prevent increased inflammation and apoptosis in mice after exposure to ocular blast.MethodsEyes of C57/BL6 mice were exposed to a blast of air from a paintball gun at 26 psi (≈0.18 MPa). Eyes were collected 4 hours, 24 hours, and 72 hours after blast exposure. In a subset of mice, Compound 49b eyedrops (1 mM) were applied within 4 hours, 24 hours, or 72 hours of the blast. Three days after blast exposure, all mice were sacrificed. One eye was used to measure levels of retinal proteins (TNFα, IL-1β, Bax, BcL-xL, caspase 3, and cytochrome C). The other eye was used for TUNEL labeling of apoptotic cells, which were co-labeled with NeuN to stain for retinal ganglion cells.ResultsWe found that ocular exposure to 26 psi air pressure led to a significant increase in levels of apoptotic and inflammatory mediators within 4 hours, which lasted throughout the period investigated. When Compound 49b was applied within 4 hours or 24 hours of blast injury, levels of apoptotic and inflammatory mediators were significantly reduced. Application of Compound 49b within 72 hours of blast injury reduced levels of inflammatory mediators, but not to untreated levels.ConclusionsOcular blast injury produces a significant increase in levels of key inflammatory and apoptotic markers in the retina as early as 4 hours after blast exposure. These levels are significantly reduced if a beta-adrenergic receptor agonist is applied within 24 hours of blast exposure. Data suggest that local application of beta-adrenergic receptor agonists may be beneficial to reduce inflammation and apoptosis.

Mycophenolic acid (MPA) is a commonly used immunosuppressive drug for human islet transplantation. However, it is toxic to transplanted islets, causing primary nonfunction. We recently synthesized a quinic acid derivative, 1,3,4,5-tetrahydroxy-N-propylcyclohexanecarboxamide (KZ41), which hold anti-inflammatory and antiapoptotic effects. We hypothesized that the conjugate (E)-2,3,5-trihydroxy-5-(propylcarbamoyl) cyclohexyl 6-(4-ethoxy-6-methoxy-7-methyl-3-oxo-1,3-dihydroisobenzofuran-5-yl)-4-methylhex-4-enoate (JP-3-110), which is composed of KZ41 and MPA through esterification, can suppress the immune rejection while inducing less toxicity. Early characterization showed that the solubility of JP-3-110 was significantly higher than MPA though JP-3-110 was still poorly water soluble. The ester bond connecting KZ41 and MPA is stable for a limited duration (<4 weeks). Pharmacological studies demonstrated that JP-3-110 induced significantly less activated caspase 3 and apoptotic cell death of human islets than MPA, while maintaining equally potent immunosuppressive effect. Similar immunosuppressive effect of JP-3-110 and MPA in humanized NOD.Cg-PrkdcscidIl2rgtm1Wjl/SzJ (NOD scid gamma, NSG) mice with adoptively transferred human immunity was observed. Taken together, our results demonstrated that JP-3-110 can be a safer immunosuppressive agent for human islet transplantation.

Retinal microaneurysms, an early disease manifestation of diabetic retinopathy, are associated with retinal endothelial cell (REC) death and macular edema. We previously demonstrated that a quinic acid (QA) analog, KZ-41, promoted REC survival by blunting stress-induced p38 MAPK activation. Herein, we sought to expand our understanding of the pro-survival signal transduction pathways actuated by KZ-41. Using human RECs exposed to high glucose (25 mM, 72 hours), we demonstrated that KZ-41 blocks caspase-3 activation by triggering phosphorylation of the PI3K regulatory subunit (p85; Tyr458) and its downstream target Akt (Ser473). Akt signal transduction was accompanied by autophosphorylation of the receptor tyrosine kinase, insulin growth factor-1 receptor (IGF-1R). IGF-1R knockdown using either the tyrosine kinase inhibitor AG1024 or silencing RNA abolished KZ-41’s pro-survival effect. Under high glucose stress, caspase-3 activation correlated with elevated ERK1/2 phosphorylation and decreased insulin receptor substrate-1 (IRS-1) levels. KZ-41 decreased ERK1/2 phosphorylation and reversed the glucose-dependent reduction in IRS-1. To gain insight into the mechanistic basis for IGF-1R activation by KZ-41, we used molecular modeling and docking simulations to explore a possible protein:ligand interaction between the IGF-1R kinase domain and KZ-41. Computational investigations suggest two possible KZ-41 binding sites within the kinase domain: a region with high homology to the insulin receptor contains one potential allosteric binding site, and another potential site on the other side of the kinase domain, near the hinge domain. These data, together with previous proof-of-concept efficacy studies demonstrating KZ-41 mitigates pathologic retinal neovascularization in the murine oxygen-induced retinopathy model, suggests that QA derivatives may offer therapeutic benefit in ischemic retinopathies.