Development of novel NEMO-binding domain mimetics for inhibiting IKK/NF-κB activation

  • PLoS Biol. 2018 Jun 11;16(6):e2004663. doi: 10.1371/journal.pbio.2004663.
Jing Zhao  1  2 Lei Zhang  1 Xiaodong Mu  3 Christelle Doebelin  1 William Nguyen  1 Callen Wallace  4 Daniel P Reay  5 Sara J McGowan  1 Lana Corbo  1 Paula R Clemens  5 Gabriela Mustata Wilson  6 Simon C Watkins  4 Laura A Solt  7 Michael D Cameron  1 Johnny Huard  3 Laura J Niedernhofer  1 Theodore M Kamenecka  1 Paul D Robbins  1
Affiliations
  • 1. Department of Molecular Medicine and the TSRI Center on Aging, The Scripps Research Institute, Jupiter, Florida, United States of America.
  • 2. Department of Immunology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States of America.
  • 3. Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, McGovern Medical School, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, Texas, United States of America.
  • 4. Department of Cell Biology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States of America.
  • 5. Department of Neurology, University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States of America.
  • 6. Department of Health Informatics and Information Management, College of Nursing and Health Professions, University of Southern Indiana, Evansville, Indiana, United States of America.
  • 7. Department of Immunology and Microbiology, The Scripps Research Institute, Jupiter, Florida, United States of America.
Abstract

Nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) is a transcription factor important for regulating innate and adaptive immunity, cellular proliferation, Apoptosis, and senescence. Dysregulation of NF-κB and its upstream regulator IκB kinase (IKK) contributes to the pathogenesis of multiple inflammatory and degenerative diseases as well as Cancer. An 11-amino acid peptide containing the NF-κB essential modulator (NEMO)-binding domain (NBD) derived from the C-terminus of β subunit of IKK, functions as a highly selective inhibitor of the IKK complex by disrupting the association of IKKβ and the IKKγ subunit NEMO. A structure-based pharmacophore model was developed to identify NBD mimetics by in silico screening. Two optimized lead NBD mimetics, SR12343 and SR12460, inhibited tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α)- and lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced NF-κB activation by blocking the interaction between IKKβ and NEMO and suppressed LPS-induced acute pulmonary inflammation in mice. Chronic treatment of a mouse model of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) with SR12343 and SR12460 attenuated inflammatory infiltration, necrosis and muscle degeneration, demonstrating that these small-molecule NBD mimetics are potential therapeutics for inflammatory and degenerative diseases.

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