Lysosomal β-galactosidase (β-Gal) deficiency causes a group of disorders that include neuronopathic GM1 gangliosidosis and non-neuronopathic Morquio B disease. We have previously proposed the use of small molecule ligands of β-Gal as pharmacological chaperones (PCs) for the treatment of GM1 gangliosidosis brain pathology. Although it is still under development, PC therapy has yielded promising preclinical results in several lysosomal diseases. In this study, we evaluated the effect of bicyclic 1-deoxygalactonojirimycin (DGJ) derivative of the sp(2)-iminosugar type, namely 5N,6S-(N'-butyliminomethylidene)-6-thio-1- deoxygalactonojirimycin (6S-NBI-DGJ), as a novel PC for human mutant β-Gal. In vitro, 6S-NBI-DGJ had the ability to inhibit the activity of human β-Gal in a competitive manner and was able to protect this enzyme from heat-induced degradation. Computational analysis supported that the rigid glycone bicyclic core of 6S-NBI-DGJ binds to the active site of the enzyme, with the aglycone N'-butyl substituent, in a precise E-orientation, located at a hydrophobic region nearby. Chaperone potential profiling indicated significant increases of enzyme activity in 24 of 88 β-Gal mutants, including four common mutations. Finally, oral administration of 6S-NBI-DGJ ameliorated the brain pathology of GM1 gangliosidosis model mice. These results suggest that 6S-NBI-DGJ is a novel PC that may be effective on a broad range of β-Gal mutants.

Biomimetic nanoparticles prepared by self-assembly of iminosugar-based glycopolypeptides evidenced remarkable multivalency properties when inhibiting α-mannosidase activity. This approach paves the way to obtain biologically active drug delivery systems having glycosidase inhibition potency.

A general approach is reported for the design of small-molecule competitive inhibitors of lysosomal glycosidases programmed to 1) promote correct folding of mutant enzymes at the endoplasmic reticulum, 2) facilitate trafficking, and 3) undergo dissociation and self-inactivation at the lysosome. The strategy is based on the incorporation of an orthoester segment into iminosugar conjugates to switch the nature of the aglycone moiety from hydrophobic to hydrophilic in the pH 7 to pH 5 window, which has a dramatic effect on the enzyme binding affinity. As a proof of concept, new highly pH-responsive glycomimetics targeting human glucocerebrosidase or α-galactosidase with strong potential as pharmacological chaperones for Gaucher or Fabry disease, respectively, were developed.

Competitive inhibitors of either α-galactosidase (α-Gal) or β-galactosidase (β-Gal) with high affinity and selectivity have been accessed by exploiting aglycone interactions with conformationally locked sp(2)-iminosugars. Selected compounds were profiled as potent pharmacological chaperones for mutant lysosomal α- and β-Gal associated with Fabry disease and GM(1) gangliosidosis.

Background: Pharmacological chaperone (PC) therapy has been proposed for lysosomal storage diseases. Results: Wild type and mutant ␤-galactosidases exhibit similar enzymological properties. The recognition mechanism of glycomimetic PC candidates involves both sugar-like and substituent moieties. Conclusion: Crystal structures reveal the molecular basis for high binding potency of PC compounds. Significance: Enzymological properties, binding affinities, and recognition modes are biophysically and structurally characterized.

Fabry disease (FD) is an X-linked lysosomal storage disorder caused by mutations in the GLA gene often leading to missense α-galactosidase A (α-Gal A) variants that undergo premature endoplasmic reticulum-associated degradation due to folding defects. We have synthesized and characterized a new family of neutral amphiphilic pharmacological chaperones, namely 1-deoxygalactonojirimycin-arylthioureas (DGJ-ArTs), capable of stabilizing α-Gal A and restoring trafficking. Binding to the enzyme is reinforced by a strong hydrogen bond involving the aryl-N′H thiourea proton and the catalytic aspartic acid acid D231 of α-Gal A, as confirmed by a 2.55 Å resolution cocrystal structure. Selected candidates enhanced α-Gal A activity and ameliorate globotriaosylceramide (Gb3) accumulation and autophagy impairments in FD cell cultures. Moreover, they acted synergistically with the proteostasis regulator 4-phenylbutyric acid, appearing to be promising leads as pharmacological chaperones for FD.

We report herein the unprecedented finding that a-O-glucosides and also a-O-mannosides, when conjugated on nanodiamond particles (ND), are not only stable towards the hydrolytic action of the corresponding matching glycosidases, but are also endowed with the ability to inhibit them. Moreover, conjugation of the O-glycosides to ND (glyco-ND) sees them transformed into inhibitors of mismatching enzymes (for which they do not serve as substrates even when in their monovalent, free form). The effects of the glyco-NDs have been demonstrated on a panel of commercial glycosidases and the inhibition found to be competitive and reversible and not to be related to any denaturation of enzymes by the ND-conjugates. Values for K i in the low micromolar range have been measured for certain glyco-ND (for example, a K i value of 5.5 AE 0.2 mM was measured for the glucopyranosyl-coated NDs against the a-glucosidase from baker's yeast) andfound to depend on both the identity of the enzyme and the glyco-ND. The latter K i value compares well with that obtained for the natural glucosidase inhibitor, 1-deoxynojirimycin (K i of 25 mM against the aglucosidase from baker's yeast under identical assay conditions). The monovalent control O-glycosides was hydrolysed efficiently by the appropriate glycosidase. Glyco-ND bearing 50% loading of O-glycoside as well ND conjugated with both O-glucosides and O-mannosides (mixed) have also been assayed and shown also to inhibit the panel of glycosidases with potencies and selectivities different from those recorded for the 100% loaded ND and also from one another. The impact on factors such as glycotope density and heteromultivalency on inhibition is reminiscent of that typically encountered in carbohydrate-lectin recognition events. The abilities of the glyco-ND to bind, cross-link and aggregate concanavalin A, a lectin known to recognize both a-O-D-mannosides and a-O-D-glucosides, was assessed by a range of methods including an enzyme-linked lectin assay (ELLA), a two-site sandwich ELLA and a turbidimetry assay, respectively and indeed seen to reflect their expected per glycotope affinity enhancements as compared to monovalent controls: the high avidity of the lectin for each respective glycosylated ND particle was consistent with the manifestation of potent multivalent effects driving lectin recognition and binding.

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