Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy
○ Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Preprints posted in the last 90 days, ranked by how well they match Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy's content profile, based on 29 papers previously published here. The average preprint has a 0.05% match score for this journal, so anything above that is already an above-average fit.
Ohashi, H.; Kawamura, T.; Ohuchi, M.; Kurasaki, H.; Iwata-Yoshikawa, N.; Hirata, Y.; Moriyama, S.; Shionoya, K.; Nagatomo, K.; Nagasawa, T.; Yamamoto, J.; Sudo, K.; Nakamura, N.; Matsui, K.; Ogawa, H.; Yoshida, K.; Shimada, Y.; Maruyama, T.; Higuchi, T.; Ito, S.; Takahashi, Y.; Kawamura, N.; Reid, P. C.; Murakami, M.; Suzuki, T.; Nagata, N.; Kitamura, H.; Watashi, K.
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Continuous emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants carrying mutations in Spike presents a significant challenge for durable antiviral agents. Here we screen for random 13-amino acid non-mimetic macrocyclic peptides that bind to Spike and identify PA-001 that inhibits SARS-CoV-2 infection with high potency at 0.23-2.9 nM as 50% inhibitory concentration (IC50). PA-001 bound to Spike S2 subunit and inhibited the membrane fusion during virus entry. Through drug-resistant selection, we revealed that PA-001 targeted the fusion peptide proximal region (FPPR) in S2, which has not been recognized as a drug target to date. Consistent with its highly conserved amino acid sequences beyond strains, PA-001 exhibited broad antiviral activity against all tested SARS-CoV-2 variants, in contrast to clinically-approved S1-targeting antibodies that lost activity to Omicron variants. PA-001 suppressed SARS-CoV-2 propagation and disease progression in mouse- and hamster-infection models, both by administration prophylactically and therapeutically. Combination therapy with remdesivir further enhanced antiviral profiles. In clinical phase-I trial, PA-001 was well-tolerated and showed high systemic exposure, with 4,300-10,300-fold concentration of IC50 as maximum plasma concentration by single administration to healthy volunteers. These evidence propose FPPR as an unexpected antiviral drug target accessible by macrocyclic peptides and identify PA-001 as a potent anti-SARS-CoV-2 fusion inhibitor.
Zhang, J.; Lv, H.; Ding, J.; Sun, Z.; Chi, C.; Liu, S.; Jiang, S.; Chen, N.; Zheng, W.; Zhu, J.
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African swine fever (ASF) is a highly pathogenic disease caused by the African swine fever virus (ASFV) infection, which can affect pigs of all ages and breeds, posing significant threat to the global pig farming industry. The ASFV p30 protein is an early-expressed viral structural protein; however, its function is not fully understood. In this study, the interaction of viral p30 with host TRIM21 was identified. The ectopic TRIM21 inhibited ASFV replication, while knockdown or knockout of TRIM21 promoted ASFV replication. Further, p30 was found to interact with RIG-I-like receptor (RLR) signaling adaptor MAVS, and during ASFV infection, p30-TRIM21-MAVS interacted with each other. Mechanistically, TRIM21 activated the K27 polyubiquitination of MAVS to induce IRF3 mediated type I interferon (IFN) production, whereas p30 counteracted TRIM21 activated MAVS K27 polyubiquitination to evade RLR signaling mediated antiviral IFN induction. In summary, our study revealed a novel function of ASFV p30, and provided new insights into the immune evasion of ASFV.
Raavi, ; Chaudhry, I.; Sheehy, D. F.; Quinnell, S. P.; Ruping, C.; Lee, J.; Hu, S.; Hou, H.; Liu, P.; Vegas, A. J.
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Interleukin-4 (IL-4) is an important immunoregulatory cytokine involved in T-cell maturation, B-cell activation, and macrophage polarization. Dysregulated IL-4 signaling contributes to several immune-mediated diseases such as cancer, allergic inflammation, and autoimmunity. The clinical use and indication expansion of the anti-IL-4R antibody dupilumab has made IL-4 signaling an attractive target for therapeutic modulation. We previously discovered a first-in-class small molecule inhibitor to the soluble cytokine IL-4, which we named Nico-52, that inhibits the soluble IL-4 cytokine with single-digit micromolar potency. Here, we determined structure-activity relationships around the Nico-52 scaffold that impact potency and selectivity and evaluated the in vivo anti-tumor potential of small molecule IL-4 inhibition. Improved analogs featured structural changes to the p-fluorophenyl group ranging from submicromolar to double-digit nanomolar potency. Our two most potent analogs showed selective binding to IL-4 over other related cytokines in thermal shift assays and more potent inhibition of IL-4 over IL-13 in a HEK Blue IL-4/IL-13 reporter assay. We further established that our lead analogs inhibit both type I and type II IL-4 receptor signaling. Nico-52 and an optimized lead analog exhibited favorable in vitro ADME/T properties, such as high stability and low cytotoxicity. Furthermore, Nico-52 and a lead analog were investigated for their tumor suppressive effects in syngeneic murine tumor models, where small-molecule IL-4 inhibition yielded significant tumor inhibition, shifted macrophage polarization, and our optimized lead analog improved animal survival. These studies show the promise of small-molecule cytokine inhibitors for IL-4 mediated processes of disease.
Kusunoki, A.; Shionoya, K.; Stappenbeck, F.; Morita, T.; Ohashi, H.; Nagano, M.; Morishita, R.; Wang, F.; Katayama, K.; Parhami, F.; Watashi, K.
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Hepatitis B and D virus (HBV, HDV) enter hepatocytes through a coordinated process mediated by a receptor complex consisting of sodium taurocholate co transporting polypeptide (NTCP) and its entry cofactors, including epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). Here, we established an in vitro assay to evaluate the NTCP-EGFR interaction and identified Oxy229, an oxysterol-based compound that disrupted this molecular interaction. Oxy229 selectively inhibited HBV and HDV infection to HepG2-NTCP cells and primary human hepatocytes. Mechanistic analysis revealed that Oxy229 impaired the relocalization of the HBV-NTCP complex from plasma membrane to intracellular vesicles. Notably, Oxy229 did not compromise the physiological functions of NTCP and EGFR, i.e., bile acid transport and activation of downstream EGFR signaling pathways including Ras-MAPK and PI3K-Akt pathways, indicating selective inhibition of viral entry. Compound derivative analysis identified Oxy283, which acquired dual inhibitory activity against both NTCP-EGFR interaction and NTCP multimerization, resulting in enhanced anti-HBV potency. These findings establish the functional significance of the NTCP-receptor complex formation in HBV/HDV entry and highlight this machinery as a potential target for antiviral intervention.
Hou, G.; Xu, S.; Zhao, F.; Duan, L.; Yang, H.; Li, J.; Zhou, F.; Hu, Y.; Liu, S.
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Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is still lack of clinically molecular subtyping and effective therapeutic strategies. Herein, a total of 46 paired tissue samples of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) were collected and subjected to a systematic proteogenomic evaluation. Consensus assessment of the ESCC-related transcriptomes and TCGA dataset revealed several consensual modes of gene expression related to ESCC specificity, with 8 plasma-detectable hub proteins that could discriminate ESCC from others. Three ESCC molecular subtypes were defined and validated based on proteome data, including pCC1 with activated immune response and best survival outcome, pCC2 as cell cycle subtype with relative worse outcome, and pCC3 with worst outcome that expressed more cell adhesion related proteins. Furthermore, we proposed potential therapeutic strategies for improving survival outcomes in patients with different ESCC molecular subtypes. This integrative proteogenomic analysis provided a novel view of ESCC-dependent molecular information.
Yang, M.; Li, R.; Dong, Y.; Zhou, M.; Zhao, J.; Liu, M.; Tan, R.
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Bladder cancer (BC), particularly muscle-invasive and metastatic disease, remains a major clinical challenge despite recent advances in immunotherapy. In this study, we aimed to identify a promising antitumor compound from five candidate small molecules and to explore its potential roles in BC progression. Through antiproliferative screening, cryptotanshinone (CTS) was identified as the promising candidate. Using both two-dimensional BC cell lines and three-dimensional bladder tumor organoid models, we comprehensively evaluated the effects of CTS on cell proliferation, migration, apoptosis, and organoid growth. To further explore the underlying mechanisms, transcriptomic sequencing based on bladder cancer organoid models, protein-protein interaction network analysis, and public databases (TCGA-BLCA, TIMER, and TISIDB) were integrated to examine immune-related pathways and potential molecular targets associated with CTS. GeneMANIA network prediction and molecular docking analyses were subsequently performed to investigate upstream regulatory networks and the potential interactions between CTS and key components of the cGAS-STING-IFN-I-JAK-STAT signaling pathway. Integrative analyses suggested that IFIT1, IFIT2, and IFIT3 may function as immune-associated genes potentially linked to BC progression, patient prognosis, immune cell infiltration, and PD-1/PD-L1 expression. Molecular docking results suggested that CTS may interact with core regulatory proteins within the cGAS-STING-IFN-I-JAK-STAT pathway, potentially influencing IFIT transcriptional regulation. Collectively, these findings indicate that CTS exhibits measurable antitumor and immunomodulatory effects, which may be associated with modulation of the cGAS-STING-IFN-I-JAK-STAT-IFIT signaling axis, supporting its potential as a small-molecule candidate for bladder cancer.
Yasuda-Koiwa, M.; Shoda, T.; Nishimura, A.; Yasuda, T.; Yonemura, A.; Muraki, K.; Okamoto, Y.; Tajiri, T.; Wang, Y. A.; Ishimoto, T.
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Cachexia is a devastating and multifactorial syndrome characterized by progressive loss of body weight, skeletal muscle wasting, and systemic inflammation, frequently observed in patients with advanced gastric cancer (GC) with peritoneal dissemination. Despite its clinical significance, the molecular mechanisms underlying cancer-associated cachexia remain poorly understood. In this study, comparative transcriptomic analysis using the GEMINI database identified ATP as a novel candidate cachexia-inducing factor, along with the known cachexia mediators, growth differentiation factor 11 (GDF11) and growth differentiation factor 15 (GDF15). Functional studies demonstrated that BMP7 acts as an upstream regulator that drives cachectic phenotypes by inducing the expression of GDF11 and GDF15. Knockdown of BMP7, GDF11, or GDF15 in the cachexia-inducing GC cell line, MKN45 significantly attenuated weight loss and muscle wasting in vivo. Conversely, overexpression of BMP7 in the non-cachectic GC cell line, NUGC3 induced cachexia and upregulated GDF11 and GDF15 in tumor tissues. Furthermore, clinical analysis revealed that high BMP7 expression in tumor specimens from patients with advanced GC was associated with significantly poorer overall survival. These findings identify BMP7 as a master regulator of cancer-associated cachexia through the induction of GDF11 and GDF15 and suggest its potential as a promising therapeutic target for mitigating cachexia in GC.
Lee, E. Y.; Leboit, P.; Naik, H. B.; Tang, A. S.; Vallania, F.; Yates, A. E.; Klufas, D. M.; Hansen, S. L.; Rosenblum, M. D.; Lowe, M. M.; Sirota, M.
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Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is an underdiagnosed chronic, immune-mediated inflammatory skin disease that causes severe pain, drainage, and scarring, leading to significant physical and psychosocial burdens. HS is characterized by heterogenous molecular changes that are poorly understood, posing a significant challenge for drug development. Therapeutic options remain limited, and many patients experience disease relapse despite treatment. Therefore, precision medicine approaches are urgently needed to identify new therapies for HS. Here, we combine integrative transcriptomics, large-scale drug perturbational datasets, and translational immunology to identify sirolimus, pioglitazone, and fulvestrant as novel therapies for HS that can directly target and reverse the HS disease gene signature in immune cell types relevant to HS pathogenesis. Using a novel ex vivo HS skin model, sirolimus, pioglitazone, and fulvestrant inhibited T cell proliferation and activation, and suppressed the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines from HS skin. These results show that unbiased data-driven precision medicine approaches can identify novel therapies for HS and can serve more generally as a model approach for therapeutic discovery in other chronic inflammatory diseases. One Sentence SummaryData-driven precision medicine approach identifies sirolimus, pioglitazone, and fulvestrant as novel therapies for hidradenitis suppurativa
Mishra, L.; Kalia, M.
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The recurrent outbreaks and geographical expansion of mosquito-borne arboviruses pose a significant challenge to public health worldwide. The disease outcome for arboviral infections ranges from acute febrile illness to severe conditions such as encephalitis, hemorrhagic shock, and mortality. Current treatment options for these viruses are limited to supportive care, necessitating an urgent need for a safe and effective broad-spectrum antiviral. In this study, we have identified Trifluoperazine (TFP), an FDA-approved antipsychotic, as a potent broad-spectrum antiviral against Japanese encephalitis Virus (JEV), Dengue virus (DENV) and Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) infections. The antiviral effect of TFP was also seen in the animal models of JEV and CHIKV with significantly reduced disease severity. Mechanistically, TFP treatment increased the phosphorylation of eIF2a and induced an adaptive ER stress response in diverse cell types. Alleviation of TFP-induced ER stress by chemical chaperone 4PBA abolished the antiviral activity of the drug and rescued virus replication in cells. The robust in vitro and in vivo efficacy of the drug against arboviruses highlights the potential for repurposing TFP as a broad-spectrum antiviral candidate.
Xia, N.; Chang, Y.; Chi, C.; Sun, Z.; Liu, A.; Zheng, W.; Jiao, J.; Han, H.; He, J.; Zhang, J.; Chen, N.; Jiang, S.; Zheng, W.; Zhu, J.
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The cGAS-STING pathway has been widely recognized as a critical DNA-sensing pathway that plays a broad-spectrum antiviral role. Livestock, especially pigs, represents one of the most important meat sources. In this study, we identified a key lysine 61 (K61) of porcine STING (pSTING) that plays an essential role in its degradation and antiviral signaling in a species-specific manner, with K61 as the major lysine of pSTING for K48-linked ubiquitination. After virus infection, pSTING recruits the E3 ligase, RNF5, which specifically assembles a K48-linked ubiquitin chain at K61, thereby mediating pSTING proteasomal degradation and reducing its antiviral activity. Meanwhile, the deubiquitylation of K61 is mediated mainly by deubiquitinase USP20, which enhances the stability and antiviral activity of pSTING. Together, given the relatively few lysine numbers in livestock STINGs and species-specific K61 regulation of pSTING stability and antiviral function, the K61 and its specific regulatory enzymes of pSTING could serve as potential targets for breeding of antiviral pigs and design of antiviral drugs, respectively.
Zhao, Y.; Chen, X.; Xie, Y.; Liu, H.; Kang, B.; Zheng, S.; Ren, Y.; Wang, Q.; You, F.; Qi, H.
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BackgroundIdentifying safe and broad-spectrum antiviral and anti-inflammatory agents remains an urgent need in infectious and inflammatory diseases. Here, we demonstrated that MNS (NSC170724), a small-molecule nitrovinyl benzodioxole, enhanced antiviral defense while limiting excessive inflammation. MethodsThe antiviral activity of MNS was evaluated in multiple cell lines and mouse infection models across DNA and RNA viruses. Virus-induced and LPS-induced inflammatory responses were assessed using RT-qPCR, ELISA and western blotting. Bulk RNA-seq and ATAC-seq were performed to define transcriptional and epigenetic mechanisms. ResultsMNS significantly suppressed viral infection in vitro and improved survival in four lethal viral infection models, accompanied by reduced viral loads and attenuated tissue injury. MNS also diminished virus-triggered and LPS-triggered inflammatory cytokine production in macrophages and multiple mouse organs, and protected mice from LPS-induced endotoxic lethality. Multi-omics profiling showed that MNS broadly repressed LPS-induced inflammatory transcriptional programs and reversed chromatin accessibility gains across promoters and transcription start sites. Joint analysis of RNA-seq and ATAC-seq data demonstrated consistent downregulation of pivotal inflammatory pathways, such as NF-{kappa}B, Toll-like receptor, and TNF signaling. ConclusionsWith potent activity against viral replication and inflammation in cellular and animal models, MNS emerges as a promising candidate for the treatment of viral infections and hyperinflammatory conditions.
Kwon, Y.-C.; Hwang, W. Y.; Song, J.; Choe, J.; Ku, K. B.; Kim, H.-S.; Yoon, G. Y.; Kim, D. Y.; Choi, M.-R.; Kim, E.-J.; Lee, J. S.; Park, S.; Lee, S. K.; Ku, B.; Ahn, D.-G.; Kim, K.-D.; Kim, C.; Suh, H. N.; Lee, J.; Shin, H.-C.; Ko, J.
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Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) remains the leading cause of severe respiratory infections in infants, the elderly, and the immunocompromised. Although stabilized full-length pre-fusion (pre-F) protein vaccines are promising, enhanced respiratory disease (ERD) remains a critical safety concern. Here, we used artificial intelligence to design a de novo immuno-focused antigen that structurally preserves the RSV F head region containing critical neutralising epitopes-- site O, II and V-while replacing the non-neutralising stem with a computationally designed scaffold to minimise immunopathological risk. The lead candidate, aRF6, elicited robust protective immunity against RSV in mice and similar immunogenicity in non-human primates without detectable toxicity. Importantly, in stringent ERD-promoting models, aRF6 induced minimal pulmonary pathology and markedly attenuated Th2-biased cytokine responses, outperforming formalin-inactivated RSV and full-length-stabilized pre-F. The results of cryoelectron microscopy confirmed that the aRF6 structure precisely matched the computational predictions. These results demonstrated that computationally designed de novo immuno-focused antigens can yield safe and effective RSV vaccines, thereby providing a rational framework for next-generation vaccine development.
Vasudevan, K.; T, D.; Kumar Selvam, P.; Krishnan, A.; B G, S.; Mudipalli Elavarasu, S.; Mohan, S.; Karunakaran, R.
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Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a highly aggressive and heterogeneous subtype with limited therapeutic options. In this study, we performed an integrative analysis of TNBC genomics data, including gene expression, somatic mutations, copy number alterations, survival outcomes, immune profiling, and clustering, to identify potential neoantigens, patient populations suitable for vaccination, and biomarkers for evaluating vaccine efficacy. This Integrated analysis identified POSTN and CAP1 as tumor-specific antigens. Incorporation of TNBC-specific mutations into the screened wild-type antigens led to the identification of three neoantigenic peptides with high potential for vaccine development. Immune subtyping stratified TNBC patients into four distinct subtypes, among which IS1 and IS3 were characterized by poor immune infiltration, lower mutation burden, and unfavorable prognosis, whereas IS2 and IS4 exhibited enhanced immune activity and better clinical outcomes. A vaccine incorporating the identified neoantigen peptides may potentially remodel the immune landscape of immune-cold subtypes (IS1 and IS3), converting them into immune-enriched phenotypes through vaccine-induced immune stimulation. Furthermore, weighted gene co-expression network analysis identified ten immune-related biomarkers from the blue and gray modules that were significantly associated with improved survival in IS2 and IS4. Functional enrichment and protein-protein interaction analyses revealed that hub genes primarily involved in immunoglobulin kappa chains and cytokine/TNF signaling pathways may serve as valuable immune biomarkers for prognostic assessment and monitoring vaccine efficacy.
Makdissy, N.; Makdessi, E. W.; Fenianos, F.; Nasreddine, N.; Daher, W.; El Hamoui, S.
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COVID-19 has spread rapidly and caused a global pandemic making it one of the deadliest in history. Early identification of patients with coronavirus disease 2019 who may develop critical illness is of immense importance. Therefore, novel biomarkers were needed to identify patients who will suffer rapid disease progression to severe complications and death. Many treatments were adopted including the antiviral Remdesivir, the antiretroviral Lopinavir /Ritonavir and Tocilizumab. Our study aimed not only to specify high-risk factors and biomarkers of fatal outcome in hospitalized subjects with coronavirus but also to compare the efficacy of the three considered treatments to help clinicians better choose a therapeutic strategy and reduce mortality. We divided the population (n=711) into four main groups based according to the WHO ordinal severity scale. The percentage of mortality, in and out the hospital, the length of stay in the hospital, the pulmonary inflammatory lesion and its distribution, the SARS-CoV-2 IgM and IgG variations at admission, the inflammatory markers, the complete blood count, the coagulation factors and enzymes, proteins and electrolytes profile, glucose and lipid profile, and other relevant markers were measured. The significance of the observed variation was assessed by multivariate and ANOVA analyses. We succeeded to establish a novel predictive scoring model of disease progression based on a cohort of Lebanese hospitalized patients relying on the pulmonary inflammatory lesions, inflammation biomarkers such as LDH, D-Dimer, CRP, IL-6 and the lymphocyte count, the number of comorbidities and the age of the patient which all were significantly correlated with the illness severity showing best outcomes with immunomodulatory and anticoagulant treatments by the results. As top tier, Tocilizumab was more efficient than the two other treatments in non-severe cases but none of the used treatments was insanely effective alone to reduce mortality in severe cases.
Tong, Y.; Mu, F.; Wang, C.; Sang, T.; Sun, X.; Feng, Z.; Cai, G.; Chen, X.; Ouyang, Q.
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Maladaptive repair of acute kidney injury (AKI) may lead to the development of chronic kidney disease (CKD) characterized by renal fibrosis. Macrophages play roles in AKI-to-CKD progression; however, the interplay between inflammation and fibrosis after AKI remains controversial and the precise role of the distinct macrophage subsets remains elusive. In the present study we identified a unique population of Trem2hi macrophages derived from the bone marrow as a mediator bridging inflammation resolution and fibrosis establishment after kidney injury. Trem2 deficient mice exhibited mitigated renal fibrosis after ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI) while the renal injury and inflammation persisted. Mechanistically, Trem2 promoted renal inflammation resolution by facilitating macrophage efferocytosis to remove apoptotic tubule cells and reshaping the macrophage cytokine production profile. Loss of Trem2 expression led to excessive cholesterol accumulation in macrophages via Lxr-Abca1/Abcg1 axis and thus sustained pro-inflammatory cytokines production. Moreover, Trem2hi macrophages orchestrated the pro-fibrotic tubular epithelial cells and the activation of myofibroblasts through SPP1 to promote the establishment of renal fibrotic niche. Based on our findings, Trem2hi macrophages may serve as a potential therapeutic target for AKI-to-CKD in combination with anti-inflammatory remedies.
He, J.; Ma, J.; Park, Y.; Zhou, D.; Wang, X.; Fiches, G. N.; Shanaka, K. A.; Lepcha, T. T.; Liu, Y.; Eleya, S.; Santoso, N. G.; Ho, W.-Z.; Zhu, J.
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Despite of the highly potent antiretroviral therapies, HIV-1 establishes persistent infection and causes chronic inflammation in AIDS patients. Beyond CD4+ T cells, HIV-1 infects myeloid cells, including circulating monocytes and tissue-resident macrophages, and integrates with host genomes to form stable viral reservoirs. To achieve a functional HIV cure, latency-promoting agents (LPAs) have been developed for the "block-and-lock" strategy to reinforce deep HIV-1 latency and permanently silence proviruses. However, most LPAs have been tested mainly in CD4+ T cells, and their efficacy in myeloid cells remains unclear. In this study, we reported that levosimendan (LSM), a drug approved for clinic use to treat heart failures, is able to inhibit HIV lytic infection and reactivation in myeloid cells. LSM blocked viral lytic reactivation in HIV-1 latently infected monocytic cells (TH89GFP, U1) and microglial cells (HC69). LSM also inhibited HIV infection in human induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) derived microglia (iMG), primary human resident liver macrophages (Kupffer cells) as well as human monocyte-derived macrophages (MDMs). Furthermore, we demonstrated that overexpression of a predicted drug target of LSM, the conserved serine/threonine kinase RIOK1 (RIO kinase 1), overcomes LSMs anti-HIV effect. Overall, our studies concluded that LSM is a promising LPA to inhibit HIV-1 infection in myeloid cells in the RIOK1-dependent manner.
Chen, C.; Zhao, Y.; Du, F.; Liu, R.; Zheng, X.; Wu, S.; Wang, Y.; Qiu, F.; Chen, L.; Chen, R.; Li, F.; Gong, L.; Long, Y.
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Stimulator of interferon genes (STING) agonists and derivative molecules have been extensively developed for tumor immunotherapy. However, systemic exposure toxicity risks have constrained clinical trial progression and even threatened patient lives. Currently, systematic toxicity assessments for STING agonists remain lacking, with the mode of action for major organ injury yet to be elucidated. Here, we focused on STING agonist-induced lung injury, revealing that systemic administration of STING agonists caused pulmonary hemorrhage, inflammatory alterations, and respiratory dysfunction. Through single-cell RNA sequencing and immune deletion studies, we found that lung endothelial cells could be stimulated by STING agonists and then secreted chemokines and IL-15 to recruit and activate NK cells. NK cells could induce endothelial cell apoptosis via IFN-{gamma}. Tbx21+ NK subpopulations, which activated by endothelial cells, could produce chemokines to recruit neutrophils. Neutrophils secreted IL-1{beta} through positive feedback pathways and form neutrophil extracellular traps during lung injury. This study elucidates the critical role of the endothelial cell-NK cell-neutrophil axis in mediating STING agonist-associated pneumonia, offering insights for developing intervention strategies for STING agonist toxicity.
Cahoon, J. G.; Geng, T.; Yang, D.; Chiari, C.; Zielinski, C.; Wang, Y.; WANG, P.
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Inflammasomes lead to activation of inflammatory caspases, which induce pyroptosis and an inflammatory immune response to control microbial infections. Inflammasomes are tightly regulated to avoid lethal sepsis and chronic autoimmune conditions. However, posttranslational regulation of inflammatory caspases remains poorly defined. We constructed 375 individual ubiquitin ligase knockout lines by CRISPR-Cas9, performed an unbiased screening, and identified Muscle Excess 3B (MEX3B), an RNA-binding protein and ubiquitin ligase, as a positive regulator of the caspase-4 inflammasome. Genetic depletion of MEX3B inhibited not only the caspase-4 but also NLRP3 and NLRC4 inflammasomes, regarding caspase activation, pyroptosis, and secretion of inflammasome-dependent cytokines, in human cells and murine primary macrophages. This MEX3B function required its RNA-binding, but not ubiquitin ligase activity. These results suggest that MEX3B is a pan-inflammasome regulator and a potential therapeutic target for inflammation.
Zhou, S.; Liu, C.; Liu, W.; Cai, K.; Lan, K.; Zhu, C.; Wang, Q.; Liu, L.
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Prolonged circulation of SARS-CoV-2 may broaden population-level neutralizing antibody responses to diverse coronaviruses; however, the extent of this breadth remains unclear. To address this gap, we assessed serum neutralizing activity in 869 individuals from Wuhan, China, including 78 pre-pandemic samples collected in 2017 and 791 post-pandemic samples obtained in 2025. Specifically, using pseudovirus neutralization assays, sera were tested against a panel of coronaviruses, including circulating SARS-CoV-2 Omicron subvariants XFG and NB.1.8.1. Neutralization was measured at a fixed dilution for all samples and by determination of 50% inhibitory dilution (ID50) for selected sera. In parallel, antigenic cartography and genetic distance analyses were applied to relate functional antigenic relationships to spike protein divergence. Our results showed that, compared with pre-pandemic sera, post-pandemic sera exhibited enhanced neutralizing activity against multiple sarbecoviruses and the merbecovirus MjHKU4r-CoV-1, with mean inhibition increases ranging from 1.7% to 76.5% at a 1:20 dilution. Notably, the largest increases from 51.8% to 76.5% were observed against clade 1b sarbecoviruses. In contrast, neutralizing activity against human alphacoronaviruses and MERS-CoV showed no meaningful enhancement. Moreover, neutralizing titers in post-pandemic sera were strongly correlated across sarbecoviruses, particularly among clade 1b viruses. Antigenic mapping further revealed that several zoonotic sarbecoviruses were antigenically closer to ancestral SARS-CoV-2 than contemporary Omicron subvariants, despite substantially greater genetic divergence. Taken together, these findings demonstrate that cumulative SARS-CoV-2 exposure promotes broadly cross-neutralizing antibody responses within the sarbecovirus subgenus and provide a quantitative framework to inform the rational design of pan-sarbecovirus vaccines and antibody-based countermeasures for future coronavirus preparedness.
Bandi, D. S. R.; Nagaraju, P.; Sarvesh, S.; Foote, J. B.; Keeton, A. B.; Chen, X.; Ramirez-Alcantara, V.; Holmes, T.; Akce, M.; Singh, A.; Powell, C. M.; Behera, S.; Azmi, A. S.; Nurmemmedov, E.; Babic, I.; Gorman, G. S.; Coward, L.; Buchsbaum, D. J.; Maxuitenko, Y. Y.; Piazza, G. A.; El-Rayes, B.
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Phosphodiesterase 10 (PDE10) was previously reported to be overexpressed in various cancers and essential for cancer cell proliferation and survival. Here, we studied a novel PDE10 inhibitor, ADT-030, and found it to potently and selectively inhibit KRAS mutant PDAC cell proliferation and clonogenicity by inducing G2/M arrest and apoptosis. ADT-030 also inhibited motility of PDAC cells in vitro. These effects were mediated by increased cAMP/cGMP levels and activation of PKA/PKG. The growth inhibitory activity of ADT-030 was associated with reduced {beta}-catenin and RAS signaling. Notably, ADT-030 also inhibited the growth of KRASG12D and KRASG12C mutant PDAC cells resistant to allele-specific KRAS inhibitors. Oral administration of ADT-030 significantly suppressed tumor growth, reduced lung and liver metastasis, and increased survival without systemic toxicity in syngeneic and patient-derived xenograft (PDX) PDAC models. ADT-030 also increased chemotherapy response in orthotopic PDAC models. Immune phenotyping and single-cell RNA sequencing revealed remodeling of the tumor microenvironment by ADT-030 with a more favorable immune suppressive profile to activate anti-tumor immunity. These results show that ADT-030 is a promising drug development candidate for the treatment of KRAS-mutant PDAC capable of simultaneously targeting key oncogenic signaling pathways, resulting in tumor-intrinsic and immunomodulatory effects.