Protease-activated receptor-2 (PAR₂) is a G-protein coupled receptor (GPCR) associated with a variety of pathologies. However, the therapeutic potential of PAR₂ is limited by a lack of potent and specific ligands. Following proteolytic cleavage, PAR₂ is activated through a tethered ligand. Hence, we reasoned that lipidation of peptidomimetic ligands could promote membrane targeting and thus significantly improve potency and constructed a series of synthetic tethered ligands (STLs). STLs contained a peptidomimetic PAR₂ agonist (2-aminothiazol-4-yl-LIGRL-NH₂) bound to a palmitoyl group (Pam) via polyethylene glycol (PEG) linkers. In a high-throughput physiological assay, these STL agonists displayed EC₅₀ values as low as 1.47 nM, representing a ∼200 fold improvement over the untethered parent ligand. Similarly, these STL agonists were potent activators of signaling pathways associated with PAR₂: EC₅₀ for Ca(2+) response as low as 3.95 nM; EC₅₀ for MAPK response as low as 9.49 nM. Moreover, STLs demonstrated significant improvement in potency in vivo, evoking mechanical allodynia with an EC₅₀ of 14.4 pmol. STLs failed to elicit responses in PAR2(-/-) cells at agonist concentrations of >300-fold their EC₅₀ values. Our results demonstrate that the STL approach is a powerful tool for increasing ligand potency at PAR₂ and represent opportunities for drug development at other protease activated receptors and across GPCRs.
Protease activated receptor-2 (PAR2) is one of four G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) that can be activated by exogenous or endogenous proteases, which cleave the extracellular amino-terminus to expose a tethered ligand and subsequent G-protein signaling. Alternatively, PAR2 can be activated by peptide or peptidomimetic ligands derived from the sequence of the natural tethered ligand. Screening of novel ligands that directly bind to PAR2 to agonize or antagonize the receptor has been hindered by the lack of a sensitive, high-throughput, affinity binding assay. In this report we describe the synthesis and use of a modified PAR2 peptidomimetic agonist, 2-furoyl-LIGRLO-(diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid)-NH2 (2-f-LIGRLO-dtpa), designed for lanthanide-based time resolved fluorescence screening. We first demonstrate that 2-f-LIGRLO-dtpa is a potent and specific PAR2 agonist across a full spectrum of in vitro assays. We then show that 2-f-LIGRLO-dtpa can be utilized in an affinity binding assay to evaluate the ligand-receptor interactions between known high potency peptidomimetic agonists (2-furoyl-LIGRLO-NH2, 2-f-LIGRLO; 2-aminothiazol-4-yl-LIGRL-NH2, 2-at-LIGRL and; 6-aminonicotinyl-LIGRL-NH2, 6-an-LIGRL) and PAR2. A separate N-terminal peptidomimetic modification (3-indoleacetyl-LIGRL-NH2, 3-ia-LIGRL) that does not activate PAR2 signaling was used as a negative control. All three peptidomimetic agonists demonstrated sigmoidal competitive binding curves, with the more potent agonists (2-f-LIGRLO and 2-at-LIGRL) displaying increased competition. In contrast, the control peptide (3-ia-LIGRL) displayed limited competition for PAR2 binding. In summary, we have developed a Europium-containing PAR2 agonist that can be used in a highly sensitive affinity binding assay to screen novel PAR2 ligands in a high-throughput format. This ligand can serve as a critical tool in the screening and development of PAR2 ligands.
In the United States, lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths and ranks second in the number of new cases annually among all types of cancers. Better methods or tools for diagnosing and treating this disease are needed to improve patient outcomes. The delta opioid receptor (δOR) is reported to be overexpressed in lung cancers and not expressed in normal lung. Thus, we decided to develop a lung cancer-specific imaging agent targeting this receptor. We have previously developed a δOR–targeted fluorescent imaging agent based on a synthetic peptide antagonist (Dmt-Tic) conjugated to a Cy5 fluorescent dye. In this work, we describe the synthesis of Dmt-Tic conjugated to a longer wavelength near-infrared fluorescent (NIRF) dye, Li-cor IR800CW. Binding affinity of Dmt-Tic-IR800 for the δOR was studied using lanthanide time-resolved fluorescence (LTRF) competitive binding assays in cells engineered to overexpress the δOR. In addition, we identified lung cancer cell lines with high- and low-endogenous expression of the δOR. We confirmed protein expression in these cell lines using confocal fluorescence microscopy imaging and used this technique to estimate the cell-surface receptor number in the endogenously expressing lung cancer cell lines. The selectivity of Dmt-Tic-IR800 for imaging of the δOR in vivo was shown using both engineered cell lines and endogenously expressing lung cancer cells in subcutaneous xenograft models in mice. In conclusion, the δOR–specific fluorescent probe developed in this study displays excellent potential for imaging of lung cancer.
Guanine nucleotide (G)-protein coupled receptor (GPCR) linked cell signaling cascades are initiated upon binding of a specific agonist ligand to its cell surface receptor. Linking multiple heterologous ligands that simultaneously bind and potentially cross-link different receptors on the cell surface is a unique approach to modulate cell responses. Moreover, if the target receptors are pre-selected, based on analysis of cell specific expression of a receptor combination, then the linked binding elements may provide enhanced specificity of targeting to the cell type of interest; i.e., only to cells that express the complementary receptors. Two receptors whose expression is relatively specific, as a combination, to the insulin secreting β-cell of the pancreas, are the sulfonylurea-1 (SUR1) and the glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptors. A heterobivalent ligand was assembled of the active fragment of GLP-1 ([Phe12, Arg36] 7-36 GLP-1) and glibenclamide,a small organic ligand to the SUR1. The synthetic construct was labelled with Cy5 or Europium chelated in DTPA to evaluate binding to β-cell lines using fluorescence microscopy or time-resolved saturation and competition binding assays, respectively. Once the ligand binds to β-cells, it is rapidly capped and presumably removed from the cell surface via endocytosis. The bivalent ligand had an affinity ~3 fold higher than monomeric Europium labelled GLP-1, likely due to cooperative binding to the complimentary receptors on the βTC3 cells. The high affinity binding was lost in the presence of either unlabelled monomer demonstrating that interaction with both receptors is required for the enhanced binding at low concentrations. Importantly, bivalent enhancement was accomplished in a cell system with physiological levels of expression of the complementary receptors, indicating that this approach may be applicable for β-cell targeting in vivo.
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