- Hartz, RA; Ahuja, VT; Nara, SJ; Kumar, CMV; Manepalli, RKVLP; Sarvasiddhi, SK; Honkhambe, S; Patankar, V; Dasgupta, B; Rajamani, R; Muckelbauer, JK; Camac, DM; Ghosh, K; Pokross, M; Kiefer, SE; Brown, JM; Hunihan, L; Gulianello, M; Lewis, M; Lippy, JS; Surti, N; Hamman, BD; Allen, J; Kostich, WA; Bronson, JJ; Macor, JE; Dzierba, CD J Med Chem 65: 4121-4155 (2022)
- ChEBML_43065 Inhibitory activity against cytomegalovirus protease (CMV)
- ChEBML_43071 Inhibitory activity against cytomegalovirus (CMV) protease was determined using quenched fluorescence assay
- ChEMBL_2329556 Antagonist activity at CMV-tagged full length wild type human AR expressed in HEK293 cells co-transfected with GRE-LUC and CMV-renilla LUC assessed as inhibition of R1881-induced receptor transactivation measured after 24 hrs by luciferase reporter gene assay
- ChEMBL_1750162 (CHEMBL4184922) Transactivation of CMV-fused PPARdelta-LBD-GAL4-DBD (unknown origin) expressed in HEK293T cells by luciferase reporter gene assay
- ChEMBL_1768131 (CHEMBL4220243) Inhibition of p21 (unknown origin)-induced transcription in human HT1080 p21-9-CMV-GFP cells after 3 days by fluorescence assay
- ChEMBL_2349113 Inhibition of PAX3-FOXO1 (unknown origin) fusion protein expressed human Rh4 cells cotransfected with CMV-Luc incubated for 24 hrs by Steady-Glo luciferase assay
- ChEMBL_1750161 (CHEMBL4184921) Antagonist activity at CMV-fused VDR (unknown origin) expressed in HEK293T cells assessed as reduction in 24-hydroxylase promoter mediated transcriptional activity by luciferase reporter gene assay
- ChEMBL_834839 (CHEMBL2073156) Inhibition of CMV-VDR expressed in human HEK293T cells assessed as inhibition of 1,25-(OH)2D3-induced CYP24A1 promoter transcription after 16 hrs by luciferase reporter assay
- ChEMBL_1875090 (CHEMBL4376379) Transactivation of Gal4-fused human PPARgamma transfected in COS7 cells co-transfected with pGAL5-TK-pGL3 and pRennilla-CMV incubated for 39 hrs by dual luciferase reporter assay
- ChEMBL_2085052 (CHEMBL4766315) Agonist activity at human CMV-fused PPARgamma LBD/RXRalpha (unknown origin) expressed in African green monkey CV1 cells transfected with luciferase plasmid measured after 24 hrs by luciferase reporter gene assay
- ChEMBL_1750170 (CHEMBL4184930) Antagonist activity at CMV-fused PPARalpha-LBD-GAL4-DBD (unknown origin) expressed in HEK293T cells assessed as inhibition of GW7647-induced receptor transactivation after 16 hrs by bright-Glo luciferase reporter gene assay
- ChEMBL_1750171 (CHEMBL4184931) Antagonist activity at CMV-fused PPARgamma-LBD-GAL4-DBD (unknown origin) expressed in HEK293T cells assessed as inhibition of rosiglitazone-induced receptor transactivation after 16 hrs by bright-Glo luciferase reporter gene assay
- ChEMBL_1750172 (CHEMBL4184932) Antagonist activity at CMV-fused PPARdelta-LBD-GAL4-DBD (unknown origin) expressed in HEK293T cells assessed as inhibition of GW0742-induced receptor transactivation after 16 hrs by bright-Glo luciferase reporter gene assay
- ChEMBL_1750173 (CHEMBL4184933) Antagonist activity at CMV-fused RXRalpha-LBD-GAL4-DBD (unknown origin) expressed in HEK293T cells assessed as inhibition of bexarotene-induced receptor transactivation after 16 hrs by bright-Glo luciferase reporter gene assay
- ChEMBL_1750174 (CHEMBL4184934) Antagonist activity at CMV-fused TRalpha-LBD-GAL4-DBD (unknown origin) expressed in HEK293T cells assessed as inhibition of T3-induced receptor transactivation after 16 hrs by bright-Glo luciferase reporter gene assay
- ChEMBL_1750175 (CHEMBL4184935) Antagonist activity at CMV-fused TRbeta-LBD-GAL4-DBD (unknown origin) expressed in HEK293T cells assessed as inhibition of T3-induced receptor transactivation after 16 hrs by bright-Glo luciferase reporter gene assay
- ChEMBL_1750176 (CHEMBL4184936) Antagonist activity at CMV-fused ERalpha-LBD-GAL4-DBD (unknown origin) expressed in HEK293T cells assessed as inhibition of estradiol-induced receptor transactivation after 16 hrs by bright-Glo luciferase reporter gene assay
- ChEMBL_1750177 (CHEMBL4184937) Antagonist activity at CMV-fused ERbeta-LBD-GAL4-DBD (unknown origin) expressed in HEK293T cells assessed as inhibition of estradiol-induced receptor transactivation after 16 hrs by bright-Glo luciferase reporter gene assay
- ChEMBL_2087572 (CHEMBL4768835) Agonist activity at human PPARgammaDEF receptor expressed in african green monkey COS7 cells transfected with pGal5-TK-pGL3/pRenilla-CMV assessed as intrinsic activity measured after 39 hrs by dual luciferase reporter assay
- ChEMBL_1911364 (CHEMBL4413810) Inverse agonist activity at CMX-gal4-fused ERRgamma (unknown origin) transfected in human AD293 cells co-expressing CMV-beta galactosidase assessed as effect on beta-galactosidase activity after 24 hrs by luciferase reporter gene assay
- ChEMBL_1995677 (CHEMBL4629572) Agonist activity at recombinant human pFA-CMV fused PPARgamma expressed in HEK293T cells transfected with pFR-luciferase plasmid and pRL-SV40 plasmid incubated for 14 to 16 hrs by dual glo luciferase reporter gene assay
- ChEMBL_2101892 (CHEMBL4810288) Antagonist activity at human androgen receptor expressed in HEK-293 cells harboring GRE-LUC and CMV-renilla luciferase assessed as inhibition of transactivation incubated for 24 hrs in presence of R1881 by dual luciferase assay
- ChEMBL_1895070 (CHEMBL4397105) Activation of Tat-mediated HIV1 transcription in J-Lat 10.6 cells harboring LTR driven GFP reporter co-expressing CMV driven RFP reporter assessed as LTR-driven gene expression incubated for 48 hr by FACSCalibur flow cytometry
- ChEMBL_1995681 (CHEMBL4629576) Agonist activity at recombinant human pFA-CMV fused RXRalpha LBD expressed in HEK293T cells transfected with pFR-luciferase plasmid and pRL-SV40 plasmid incubated for 14 to 16 hrs by dual glo luciferase reporter gene assay
- ChEMBL_2329563 Antagonist activity at AR F876L mutant (unknown origin) expressed in COS cells co-transfected with GRE-LUC and CMV-renilla LUC assessed as inhibition of R1881-induced receptor transactivation measured after 24 hrs by luciferase reporter gene assay
- ChEMBL_2333160 Agonist activity at human Nurr1 transfected in HEK293T cells co-transfected with pFR-Luc/pRL-SV40/pFA-CMV-hNurr1-LBD assessed as luciferase activity incubated for 16 hrs by Gal4 hybrid reporter gene based dual-glo luciferase assay
- ChEMBL_1895052 (CHEMBL4397087) Activation of Tat-mediated HIV1 transcription in HEK293-FlpIn.RV cells harboring LTR driven CBG reporter co-expressing CMV driven CBR reporter assessed as LTR-driven gene expression incubated for 48 hr using Chroma-Glo substrate by luciferase dual reporter cellular assay
- ChEMBL_1895051 (CHEMBL4397086) Activation of Tat-mediated HIV1 transcription in HEK293- FlpIn-FM cells harboring LTR driven CBR reporter co-expressing CMV driven CBG reporter assessed as LTR-driven gene expression incubated for 48 hr using Chroma-Glo substrate by luciferase dual reporter cellular assay
- ChEMBL_2200701 (CHEMBL5113217) Agonist activity at human MT1 receptor transfected in HEK293T cells co-transfected with tet-inducible luciferase reporter plasmid, pCDNA3.1(+)-CMV-betaArrestin2-tev plasmid and TANGO plasmid assessed as tango arrestin recruitment incubated for 24 hrs by TANGO-GPCR assay based luminescence plate reader analysis
- ChEMBL_2200705 (CHEMBL5113221) Agonist activity at human MT2 receptor transfected in HEK293T cells co-transfected with tet-inducible luciferase reporter plasmid, pCDNA3.1(+)-CMV-betaArrestin2-tev plasmid and TANGO plasmid assessed as relative luminescence unit incubated for 24 hrs by TANGO-GPCR assay based luminescence plate reader analysis
- ChEMBL_2050089 (CHEMBL4704788) Inhibition of hypoxia-induced HIF1alpha transcriptional activity in human Hep3B cells co-transfected with luciferase reporter plasmid containing six copies of HREs and pRL-CMV vector assessed as reduction in luciferase activity incubated for 24 hrs under hypoxic condition by HRE-dependent dual luciferase reporter gene assay
- ChEMBL_2128544 (CHEMBL4837973) Inhibition of hypoxia-induced HIF1alpha transcriptional activity in human Hep3B cells co-transfected with luciferase reporter plasmid containing six copies of HREs and pRL-CMV vector assessed as reduction in luciferase activity incubated for 24 hrs under hypoxic condition by HRE-dependent dual luciferase reporter gene assay
- CMV and HSV Polymerase Biochemical Assay DNA polymerase activity was measured using a molecular beacon-based assay, as described in Ma et. al. 100 pM CMV polymerase or 625 pM HSV polymerase was added to a buffer containing 20 mM Tris, pH=7.5, 100 mM NaCl, 10 mM MgCl2, 0.01% Tween-20, 0.5 mM EDTA, 10% Sucrose and 1 mM DTT. The inhibitor was pre-incubated with the polymerase for 30 minutes at room temperature. Reactions were initiated by the addition of a mixture containing 1.25 uM dATP, 1.25 uM dCTP, 1.25 uM dTTP, 1.25 uM dGTP, 200 nM Primer B (5′-GAC GGG AAG-3′5′-GAC GGG AAG-3′) and 100 nM molecular beacon (5′-5,6-FAM-CCT CTC CGT GTC TTG TAC TTC CCG TCA GAG AGG-BHQ1-3′) (SEQ ID NO: 16). For human CMV polymerase the reactions were incubated for 60 minutes at room temperature. For HSV polymerase the reactions were incubated for 20 minutes at room temperature. The reactions were then read on a Perkin-Elmer EnVision 2101 reader (fluorescence) using an excitation of 480 nm and emission of 535 nm. IC50s were determined using an internal Novartis software (Helios).
- AR Agonist Assay Human AR cDNA cloned into pCMV vector, GRE-LUC, and CMV-renilla-LUC were used to transfect cells. HEK-293 cells (ATCC) were plated at 120,000 cells per well of a 24 well plate in DME+5% csFBS (Fisher Scientific, Waltham, Mass.). The cells were transfected using Lipofectamine (Life Technologies, Carlsbad, Calif.) with 0.25 μg GRE-LUC, 0.010 μg CMV-LUC (renilla luciferase) and 25 ng of the AR. The cells were treated 24 hrs after transfection with test articles (9-concentration for IC50/EC50 calculations or 1 single concentration at 1 μM). Luciferase assay was performed 48 hrs after transfection. Firefly luciferase assay values were normalized to renilla luciferase values and were graphed using graphpad prism software (La Jolla, Calif.). R1881 was used as the positive control.
- AR Antagonist Assay Human AR cDNA cloned into pCMV vector, GRE-LUC, and CMV-renilla-LUC were used to transfect cells. HEK-293 cells (ATCC) were plated at 120,000 cells per well of a 24 well plate in DME+5% csFBS (Fisher Scientific, Waltham, Mass.). The cells were transfected using Lipofectamine (Life Technologies, Carlsbad, Calif.) with 0.25 μg GRE-LUC, 0.010 μg CMV-LUC (renilla luciferase) and 25 ng of the AR. The cells were treated 24 hrs after transfection with test articles (9-concentration for IC50/EC50 calculations or 1 single concentration at 1 μM) in combination with 0.1 nM R1881. Luciferase assay was performed 48 hrs after transfection. Firefly luciferase assay values were normalized to renilla luciferase values and were graphed using graphpad prism software (La Jolla, Calif.). Enzalutamide was used as the positive control.
- RORgammat (full-length human) Reporter Assay A Cells used in this assay were transiently co-transfected with three different plasmids, one expressing the GAL4-DNA binding domain (DBD)-RORγt fusion protein under control of a CMV promoter (NH2-Gal4-DBD:RORC COOH in pCMV-BD, Stratagene #211342), and two reporter plasmids the firefly luciferase reporter under control of a GAL4 promoter (pFR-Luc 2× GAL4) and Renilla luciferase reporter under control of CMV promoter (pRL-CMV, Promega #E2261). The full-length coding sequence was used for human RORγt, i.e., nucleotides 142-1635 of human RORγt, transcript variant 2, NCBI Accession: NM_001001523.1 (SEQ ID NO: 1). HEK293T cells were plated at 35000 per well in 96-well plate in medium of MEM with 8.6% FBS. After 18-22 hours incubation, the transfection was carried out by using a PEI solution with 170.5 ng total DNA/well (50 ng pCMV-BD-ROR plus 20 ng of pFR-Luc reporter and 0.5 ng of pRL-CMV reporter plus 100 ng Carrier DNA (Clontech #630440) for each well). 4-6 hours after transfection, cells were treated with compounds for overnight in the medium with final concentration of FBS 1.1% and DMSO 0.1%. After overnight (16 to 20 hours) incubation, media were removed and cells were lysed with 20 μL 1× Passive Lysis Buffer (Promega) for 10-15 minutes. Luminescence was measured using a BMG LUMIstar OPTIMA plate reader, after addition of 75 μL/well firefly luciferase buffer, followed by 75 μL/well Renilla luciferase buffer. To calculate the effect of compounds on RORγt activity, firefly values were normalized against values of DMSO only and values of reference compound at saturating concentration, then further normalized against Renilla signals. IC50s were generated by plotting final Renilla normalized data against compound concentration and percent inhibition was calculated against DMSO control.
- RORgammat (full-length human) Reporter Assay A Cells used in this assay were transiently co-transfected with three different plasmids, one expressing the GAL4-DNA binding domain (DBD)-RORγt fusion protein under control of a CMV promoter (NH2-Gal4-DBD:RORC COOH in pCMV-BD, Stratagene #211342), and two reporter plasmids the firefly luciferase reporter under control of a GAL4 promoter (pFR-Luc 2×GAL4) and Renilla luciferase reporter under control of CMV promoter (pRL-CMV, Promega #E2261). The full-length coding sequence was used for human RORγt, i.e., nucleotides 142-1635 of human RORγt, transcript variant 2, NCBI Accession: NM_001001523.1 (SEQ ID NO:1). HEK293T cells were plated at 35000 per well in 96-well plate in medium of MEM with 8.6% FBS. After 18-22 hours incubation, the transfection was carried out by using a PEI solution with 170.5 ng total DNA/well (50 ng pCMV-BD-ROR plus 20 ng of pFR-Luc reporter and 0.5 ng of pRL-CMV reporter plus 100 ng Carrier DNA (Clontech #630440) for each well). 4-6 hours after transfection, cells were treated with compounds for overnight in the medium with final concentration of FBS 1.1% and DMSO 0.1%. After overnight (16 to 20 hours) incubation, media were removed and cells were lysed with 20 μL 1× Passive Lysis Buffer (Promega) for 10-15 minutes. Luminescence was measured using a BMG LUMIstar OPTIMA plate reader, after addition of 75 μL/well firefly luciferase buffer, followed by 75 μL/well Renilla luciferase buffer. To calculate the effect of compounds on RORγt activity, firefly values were normalized against values of DMSO only and values of reference compound at saturating concentration, then further normalized against Renilla signals. IC50s were generated by plotting final Renilla normalized data against compound concentration and percent inhibition was calculated against DMSO control.Conditions B
- RORgammat (full-length human) Reporter Assay B Cells used in this assay were transiently co-transfected with three different plasmids, one expressing the GAL4-DNA binding domain (DBD)-RORγt fusion protein under control of a CMV promoter (NH2-Gal4-DBD:RORC COOH in pCMV-BD, Stratagene #211342), and two reporter plasmids the firefly luciferase reporter under control of a GAL4 promoter (pFR-Luc 2×GAL4) and Renilla luciferase reporter under control of CMV promoter (pRL-CMV, Promega #E2261). The full-length coding sequence was used for human RORγt, i.e., nucleotides 142-1635 of human RORγt, transcript variant 2, NCBI Accession: NM_001001523.1 (SEQ ID NO:1). HEK293T cells were plated at 35,000 per well in 96-well plate in medium of DMEM with 10% FBS. After 18-22 hours incubation, the transfection was carried out by using a PEI solution with 170.5 ng total DNA/well (50 ng pCMV-BD-ROR plus 20 ng of pFR-Luc reporter and 0.5 ng of pRL-CMV reporter plus 100 ng Carrier DNA (Clontech #630440) for each well). 4-6 hours after transfection, cells were treated with compounds for overnight in the medium with final concentration of FBS 1.3% and DMSO 0.1%. After overnight (16 to 20 hours) incubation, media were removed and cells were lysed with 50 μL Glo Lysis Buffer (Promega) for 10-15 minutes followed by 10 minute incubation with 50 μL Dual Glo reagent (Promega) at room temperature. Firefly luciferase luminescence was measured using a BMG Pherastar plate reader. To each well, 50 μL Stop and Glo reagent was added and incubated for 10 minutes at room temperature. Renilla luminescence was measured using a BMG Pherastar plate reader. To calculate the effect of compounds on RORγt activity, firefly values were normalized against values of DMSO only and values of reference compound at saturating concentration, then further normalized against Renilla signals. IC50s were generated by plotting final Renilla normalized data against compound concentration and percent inhibition was calculated against DMSO control.
- RORgammat (full-length human) Reporter Assay B or C Cells used in this assay were transiently co-transfected with three different plasmids, one expressing the GAL4-DNA binding domain (DBD)-RORγt fusion protein under control of a CMV promoter (NH2-Gal4-DBD:RORC COOH in pCMV-BD, Stratagene #211342), and two reporter plasmids the firefly luciferase reporter under control of a GAL4 promoter (pFR-Luc 2× GAL4) and Renilla luciferase reporter under control of CMV promoter (pRL-CMV, Promega #E2261). The full-length coding sequence was used for human RORγt, i.e., nucleotides 142-1635 of human RORγt, transcript variant 2, NCBI Accession: NM_001001523.1 (SEQ ID NO: 1). HEK293T cells were plated at 35,000 per well in 96-well plate in medium of DMEM with 10% FBS. After 18-22 hours incubation, the transfection was carried out by using a PEI solution with 170.5 ng total DNA/well (50 ng pCMV-BD-ROR plus 20 ng of pFR-Luc reporter and 0.5 ng of pRL-CMV reporter plus 100 ng Carrier DNA (Clontech #630440) for each well). 4-6 hours after transfection, cells were treated with compounds for overnight in the medium with final concentration of FBS 1.3% and DMSO 0.1%. After overnight (16 to 20 hours) incubation, media were removed and cells were lysed with 50 μL Glo Lysis Buffer (Promega) for 10-15 minutes followed by 10 minute incubation with 50 μL Dual Glo reagent (Promega) at room temperature. Firefly luciferase luminescence was measured using a BMG Pherastar plate reader. To each well, 50 μL Stop and Glo reagent was added and incubated for 10 minutes at room temperature. Renilla luminescence was measured using a BMG Pherastar plate reader. To calculate the effect of compounds on RORγt activity, firefly values were normalized against values of DMSO only and values of reference compound at saturating concentration, then further normalized against Renilla signals. IC50s were generated by plotting final Renilla normalized data against compound concentration and percent inhibition was calculated against DMSO control.
- Mammalian One Hybrid (M111) Assay Determination of a ligand mediated Gal4 promoter driven transactivation to quantify ligand binding mediated activation of FXR was performed as follows.The cDNA part encoding the FXR ligand binding domain was cloned into vector pCMV-BD (Stratagene) as a fusion to the yeast GAL4 DNA binding domain under the control of the CMV promoter. The amino acid boundaries of the ligand binding domain were amino acids 187-472 of Database entry NM 005123 (RefSeq). The plasmid pFR-Luc (Stratagene) was used as the reporter plasmid, containing a synthetic promoter with five tandem repeats of the yeast GAL4 binding sites, driving the expression of the Photinus pyralis (American firefly) luciferase gene as the reporter gene. In order to improve experimental accuracy the plasmid pRL-CMV (Promega) was cotransfected. pRL-CMV contains the constitutive CMV promoter, controlling the expression of the Renilla reniformis luciferase. All Gal4 reporter gene assays were done in HEK293 cells (obtained from DSMZ, Braunschweig, Germany) grown in MEM with L-Glutamine and Earle's BSS supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum, 0.1 mM nonessential amino acids, 1 mM sodium pyruvate, and 100 units Penicilin/Streptavidin per mL at 37° C. in 5% CO2. Medium and supplements were obtained from Invitrogen. For the assay, 5×105 cells were plated per well in 96 well plates in 100 μL per well MEM without Phenol Red and L-Glutamine and with Earle's BSS supplemented with 10% charcoal/dextran treated FBS (HyClone, South Logan, Utah), 0.1 mM nonessential amino acids, 2 mM glutamine, 1 mM sodium pyruvate, and 100 units Penicilin/Streptavidin per mL, incubated at 37° C. in 5% CO2. The following day the cells were >90% confluence. Medium was removed and cells were transiently transfected using 20 μL per well of an OptiMEM-polyethylene-imine-based transfection-reagent (OptiMEM, Invitrogen; Polyethyleneimine, Aldrich Cat No. 40,827-7) including the three plasmids described above. MEM with the same composition as used for plating cells was added 2-4 h after addition of transfection mixture. Then compound stocks, prediluted in MEM were added (final vehicle concentration not exceeding 0.1%). Cells were incubated for additional 16 h before firefly and renilla luciferase activities were measured sequentially in the same cell extract using a Dual-Light-Luciferase-Assay system (Dyer et al., Anal. Biochem. 2000, 282, 158-161). All experiments were done in triplicates.
- Mammalian One Hybrid (M1H) Assay Determination of a ligand mediated Gal4 promoter driven transactivation to quantify ligand binding mediated activation of FXR was performed as follows.The cDNA part encoding the FXR ligand binding domain was cloned into vector pCMV-BD (Stratagene) as a fusion to the yeast GAL4 DNA binding domain under the control of the CMV promoter. The amino acid boundaries of the ligand binding domain were amino acids 187-472 of Database entry NM_005123 (RefSeq). The plasmid pFR-Luc (Stratagene) was used as the reporter plasmid, containing a synthetic promoter with five tandem repeats of the yeast GAL4 binding sites, driving the expression of the Photinus pyralis (American firefly) luciferase gene as the reporter gene. In order to improve experimental accuracy the plasmid pRL-CMV (Promega) was cotransfected. pRL-CMV contains the constitutive CMV promoter, controlling the expression of the Renilla reniformis luciferase. All Gal4 reporter gene assays were done in HEK293 cells (obtained from DSMZ, Braunschweig, Germany) grown in MEM with L-Glutamine and Earle's BSS supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum, 0.1 mM nonessential amino acids, 1 mM sodium pyruvate, and 100 units Penicilin/Streptavidin per mL at 37° C. in 5% CO2. Medium and supplements were obtained from Invitrogen. For the assay, 5×105 cells were plated per well in 96 well plates in 100 μL per well MEM without Phenol Red and L-Glutamine and with Earle's BSS supplemented with 10% charcoal/dextran treated FBS (HyClone, South Logan, Utah), 0.1 mM nonessential amino acids, 2 mM glutamine, 1 mM sodium pyruvate, and 100 units Penicilin/Streptavidin per mL, incubated at 37° C. in 5% CO2. The following day the cells were >90% confluence. Medium was removed and cells were transiently transfected using 20 μL per well of a OptiMEM-polyethylene-imine-based transfection-reagent (OptiMEM, Invitrogen; Polyethyleneimine, Aldrich Cat No. 40,827-7) including the three plasmids described above. MEM with the same composition as used for plating cells was added 2-4 h after addition of transfection mixture. Then compound stocks, prediluted in MEM were added (final vehicle concentration not exceeding 0.1%). Cells were incubated for additional 16 h before firefly and renilla luciferase activities were measured sequentially in the same cell extract using a Dual-Light-Luciferase-Assay system (Dyer et al., Anal. Biochem. 2000, 282, 158-161). All experiments were done in triplicates.
- Mammalian One Hybrid (M1H) Assay The cDNA part encoding the FXR ligand binding domain was cloned into vector pCMV-BD (Stratagene) as a fusion to the yeast GAL4 DNA binding domain under the control of the CMV promoter. The amino acid boundaries of the ligand binding domain were amino acids 187-472 of Database entry NM_005123 (RefSeq). The plasmid pFR-Luc (Stratagene) was used as the reporter plasmid, containing a synthetic promoter with five tandem repeats of the yeast GAL4 binding sites, driving the expression of the Photinus pyralis (American firefly) luciferase gene as the reporter gene. In order to improve experimental accuracy the plasmid pRL-CMV (Promega) was cotransfected. pRL-CMV contains the constitutive CMV promoter, controlling the expression of the Renilla reniformis luciferase. All Gal4 reporter gene assays were done in HEK293 cells (obtained from DSMZ, Braunschweig, Germany) grown in MEM with L-Glutamine and Earle's BSS supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum, 0.1 mM nonessential amino acids, 1 mM sodium pyruvate, and 100 units Penicilin/Streptavidin per mL at 37° C. in 5% CO2. Medium and supplements were obtained from Invitrogen. For the assay, 5×105 cells were plated per well in 96 well plates in 100 μL per well MEM without Phenol Red and L-Glutamine and with Earle's BSS supplemented with 10% charcoal/dextran treated FBS (HyClone, South Logan, Utah), 0.1 mM nonessential amino acids, 2 mM glutamine, 1 mM sodium pyruvate, and 100 units Penicilin/Streptavidin per mL, incubated at 37° C. in 5% CO2. The following day the cells were >90% confluence. Medium was removed and cells were transiently transfected using 20 μL per well of an OptiMEM-polyethylene-imine-based transfection-reagent (OptiMEM, Invitrogen; Polyethyleneimine, Aldrich Cat No. 40, 827-7) including the three plasmids described above. MEM with the same composition as used for plating cells was added 2-4 h after addition of transfection mixture. Then compound stocks, prediluted in MEM were added (final vehicle concentration not exceeding 0.1%). Cells were incubated for additional 16 h before firefly and renilla luciferase activities were measured sequentially in the same cell extract using a Dual-Light-Luciferase-Assay system (Dyer et al., Anal. Biochem. 2000, 282, 158-161). All experiments were done in triplicates.
- FLIPR Assays In vitro assays were performed in a recombinant cell line expressing cDNA encoding the alpha subunit (Nav1.7, SCN9a, PN1, NE) of human Nav1.7 (Accession No. NM_002977).For dominant selection of the Nav1.7-expressing clones, the expression plasmid co-expressed the neomycin resistance gene. The cell line was constructed in the human embryonic kidney cell line, HEK293, under the influence of the CMV major late promoter, and stable clones were selected using limiting dilution cloning and antibiotic selection using the neomycin analogue, G418. Recombinant beta and gamma subunits were not introduced into this cell line. Additional cell lines expressing recombinant Nav1.7 cloned from other species can also be used, alone or in combination with various beta subunits, gamma subunits or chaperones.
- Luciferase Assay Estrogen receptor-negative CV-1 kidney cells are maintained in Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium with 4.5 g/L glucose supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum and 100 units/ml penicillin-streptomycin at 37° C. in a humidified 5% CO2 atmosphere. The cells are then plated in 6-well dishes at a density of 2×10^5 cells per well in phenol-red free Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium containing 10% charcoal-dextran-stripped fetal bovine serum. CV-1 cells are transfected using LipofectAMINE reagent according to the manufacturer's protocol. Transfections containing 1.5 μg of reporter plasmid (containing ERE-tk-luciferase containing a single ERE cloned upstream of the thymidine kinase promoter and luciferase gene) and 0.5 μg of either ERα or ERβ expression vector (containing CMV-ERα or CMV-ERβ full length coding sequence respectively). The next day, cells receive no treatment (controls) or are treated with estradiol alone (1 nM) or estradiol plus a compound of the invention (at varying concentrations). After 16-24 hours, cells are harvested and assayed for luciferase activity. At the outset, cell monolayers are washed twice with ice-cold phosphate-buffered saline and incubated for 15 minutes in 250 μl of 1× cell culture lysis reagent (Promega, Madison, Wis.). Cell extracts are transferred to a fresh tube and assayed using the luciferase assay system (Promega). For each assay, 10 μl of extract is diluted with 90 μl of 1× cell culture lysis reagent. Luminescence is read using an AutoLumat LB953 luminometer.
- RORgamma Gal4 Reporter Gene Assay (FRET) Determination of a ligand mediated Gal4 promoter driven transactivation to quantify ligand binding to RORγ was performed as follows: DNA encoding three different RORγ protein fragments was cloned into vector pCMV-BD (Stratagene). Expression was under control of a CMV promoter and as fusion to the DNA-binding domain of the yeast protein GAL4. The amino acid boundaries of the three proteins and the respective database entries are listed in Table 2. Other vectors used were pFR-Luc (Stratagene) as regulated reporter plasmid. pFR-Luc contains a synthetic promoter with five tandem repeats of the yeast GAL4 binding sites that control expression of the Photinus pyralis (American firefly) luciferase gene. In order to improve experimental accuracy the plasmid pRL-CMV was cotransfected. pRL-CMV contains the constitutive CMV promoter, controlling the expression of the Renilla reniformis luciferase. All Gal4 reporter gene assays were done in 293T cells (DSMZ (German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures), Braunschweig, Germany, ACC635) grown in Minimum Essential Medium (MEM) with Phenol Red. The medium is supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum, 0.1 mM nonessential amino acids, 1 mM sodium pyruvate, 1% Glutamax and 100 units Penicilin/Streptavidin per mL at 37° C. in 5% CO2.For the assay, 5×105 cells were plated per well in 96 well plates in 100 μL per well, incubated over night at 37° C. in 5% CO2. The following day, medium was discarded and the cells were transiently transfected using 20 μL per well of a OptiMEM PEI-based transfection-reagent (Sigma-Aldrich, 408727) including the three plasmids described above. About 4 h after addition of the transfection solution, fresh Minimal Essential Medium (MEM, same composition as used for plating cells, but without serum) was added. Then compound stocks, prediluted in MEM (same composition as used for plating cells) were added (final vehicle concentration not exceeding 0.1%).Cells were incubated for additional 16 h before firefly (FF) and renilla (REN) luciferase activities were measured sequentially in the same cell extract using a Dual-Light-Luciferase-Assay system (Dyer et al., Anal. Biochem. 2000, 282:158). All experiments were done at least in triplicates.Applying the Gal4 reporter gene assay as described above, the Examples of the present invention usually have an inhibition activity (IC50 FF resp. IC50 RENnorm) ranging from below 10 nM to about 20 μM, and typically, from about 10 nM to about 1 μM. The RORγ modulating compounds of the invention desirably have an inhibition in the Gal4 reporter gene assay ranging from below 10 nM to about 1 μM. Table 3 list the pIC50-value of typical examples of compounds of the invention that have an RORγ activity in the Gal4 reporter gene assay for firefly (FF) and renilla normalised (RENnorm) luciferase measurements (nt=not tested). It is understood that the data illustrated below may have reasonable variation depending on the specific conditions and procedures used by the person conducting the test. The efficacy was determined in comparison to the RORγt inhibitor T0901317 (equals 100%) and the pIC50-value is underlined, when the efficacy of the compound is below 50% of the reference.
- FLIPR Assay In vitro assays were performed in a recombinant cell line expressing cDNA encoding the alpha subunit (Nav1.7, SCN9a, PN1, NE) of human Nav1.7 (Accession No. NM002977). The cell line was provided by investigators at Yale University (Cummins et al, J. Neurosci. 18(23): 9607-9619 (1998)). For dominant selection of the Nav1.7-expressing clones, the expression plasmid co-expressed the neomycin resistance gene. The cell line was constructed in the human embryonic kidney cell line, HEK293, under the influence of the CMV major late promoter, and stable clones were selected using limiting dilution cloning and antibiotic selection using the neomycin analogue, G418. Recombinant beta and gamma subunits were not introduced into this cell line. Additional cell lines expressing recombinant Nav1.7 cloned from other species can also be used, alone or in combination with various beta subunits, gamma subunits or chaperones.
- FLIPR Assay In vitro assays were performed in a recombinant cell line expressing cDNA encoding the alpha subunit (Nav1.7, SCN9a, PN1, NE) of human Nav1.7 (Accession No. NM_002977). The cell line was provided by investigators at Yale University (Cummins et al, J. Neurosci. 18(23): 9607-9619 (1998)). For dominant selection of the Nav1.7-expressing clones, the expression plasmid co-expressed the neomycin resistance gene. The cell line was constructed in the human embryonic kidney cell line, HEK293, under the influence of the CMV major late promoter, and stable clones were selected using limiting dilution cloning and antibiotic selection using the neomycin analogue, G418. Recombinant beta and gamma subunits were not introduced into this cell line. Additional cell lines expressing recombinant Nav1.7 cloned from other species can also be used, alone or in combination with various beta subunits, gamma subunits or chaperones
- FLIPR Assay In vitro assays were performed in a recombinant cell line expressing cDNA encoding the alpha subunit (Nav1.7, SCN9a, PN1, NE) of human Nav1.7 (Accession No. NM_002977). The cell line was provided by investigators at Yale University (Cummins et al, J. Neurosci. 18(23): 9607-9619 (1998)). For dominant selection of the Nav1.7-expressing clones, the expression plasmid co-expressed the neomycin resistance gene. The cell line was constructed in the human embryonic kidney cell line, HEK293, under the influence of the CMV major late promoter, and stable clones were selected using limiting dilution cloning and antibiotic selection using the neomycin analogue, G418. Recombinant beta and gamma subunits were not introduced into this cell line. Additional cell lines expressing recombinant Nav1.7 cloned from other species can also be used, alone or in combination with various beta subunits, gamma subunits or chaperones.
- FLIPR Assays In vitro assays were performed in a recombinant cell line expressing cDNA encoding the alpha subunit (Nav1.7, SCN9a, PN1, NE) of human Nav1.7 (Accession No. NM_002977). The cell line was provided by investigators at Yale University (Cummins et al, J. Neurosci. 18(23): 9607-9619 (1998)). For dominant selection of the Nav1.7-expressing clones, the expression plasmid co-expressed the neomycin resistance gene. The cell line was constructed in the human embryonic kidney cell line, HEK293, under the influence of the CMV major late promoter, and stable clones were selected using limiting dilution cloning and antibiotic selection using the neomycin analogue, G418. Recombinant beta and gamma subunits were not introduced into this cell line. Additional cell lines expressing recombinant Nav1.7 cloned from other species can also be used, alone or in combination with various beta subunits, gamma subunits or chaperones.
- FLIPR Assay Recombinant Nav1.7 Cell Line: In vitro assays were performed in a recombinant cell line expressing cDNA encoding the alpha subunit (Nav1.7, SCN9a, PN1, NE) of human Nav1.7 (Accession No. NM_002977). The cell line was provided by investigators at Yale University (Cummins et al, J. Neurosci. 18(23): 9607-9619 (1998)). For dominant selection of the Nav1.7-expressing clones, the expression plasmid co-expressed the neomycin resistance gene. The cell line was constructed in the human embryonic kidney cell line, HEK293, under the influence of the CMV major late promoter, and stable clones were selected using limiting dilution cloning and antibiotic selection using the neomycin analogue, G418. Recombinant beta and gamma subunits were not introduced into this cell line. Additional cell lines expressing recombinant Nav1.7 cloned from other species can also be used, alone or in combination with various beta subunits, gamma subunits or chaperones.
- FLIPR Assays Recombinant Nav1.7 Cell Line: In vitro assays were performed in a recombinant cell line expressing cDNA encoding the alpha subunit (Nav1.7, SCN9a, PN1, NE) of human Nav1.7 (Accession No. NM_002977). The cell line was provided by investigators at Yale University (Cummins et al, J. Neurosci. 18(23): 9607-9619 (1998)). For dominant selection of the Nav1.7-expressing clones, the expression plasmid co-expressed the neomycin resistance gene. The cell line was constructed in the human embryonic kidney cell line, HEK293, under the influence of the CMV major late promoter, and stable clones were selected using limiting dilution cloning and antibiotic selection using the neomycin analogue, G418. Recombinant beta and gamma subunits were not introduced into this cell line. Additional cell lines expressing recombinant Nav1.7 cloned from other species can also be used, alone or in combination with various beta subunits, gamma subunits or chaperones.
- GR Antagonist Assay COS-7 cells (ATCC, Manassas, Va.) were plated in 24 well plates in DME+5% csFBS without phenol red at 70,000 cells/well. Once the cells attached to the plates (typically after overnight incubation after plating), they were transfected in OPTIMEM medium (Life Technologies) using lipofectamine reagent (Life Technologies) with 0.25 μg GRE-LUC, 25 ng pCR3.1 GR, and 10 ng CMV-renilla LUC per well. Twenty-four hours after transfection, the cells were fed with DME+5% csFBS without phenol red (Fisher Scientific, Waltham, Mass.) and treated with the test compounds (1 pM to 10 μM dose range) in the presence of 0.1 nM dexamethasone (Sigma, St. Louis, Mo.). Sixteen to twenty-four hours after treatment, a luciferase assay was performed using the Dual Luciferase assay kit (Promega, Madison, Wis.). Firefly luciferase values were normalized to Renilla luciferase numbers.
- FLIPR Assay Recombinant Nav1.7 Cell Line: In vitro assays were performed in a recombinant cell line expressing cDNA encoding the alpha subunit (Nav1.7, SCN9a, PN1, NE) of human Nav1.7 (Accession No. NM__002977). The cell line was provided by investigators at Yale University (Cummins et al, J. Neurosci. 18(23): 9607-9619 (1998)). For dominant selection of the Nav1.7-expressing clones, the expression plasmid co-expressed the neomycin resistance gene. The cell line was constructed in the human embryonic kidney cell line, HEK293, under the influence of the CMV major late promoter, and stable clones were selected using limiting dilution cloning and antibiotic selection using the neomycin analogue, G418. Recombinant beta and gamma subunits were not introduced into this cell line. Additional cell lines expressing recombinant Nav1.7 cloned from other species can also be used, alone or in combination with various beta subunits, gamma subunits or chaperones.Non-Recombinant Cell Lines Expressing Native Nav1.
- GTPγS Binding The human APJ receptor was cloned by polymerase chain reaction and the gene encoding the receptor was subcloned in pFLAG-CMV-3 expression vector (Sigma, Saint Louis, Mo. USA) in-house at Amgen. A GTPγS binding assay was performed on membranes prepared from CHO cells stably expressing human APJ receptor. The optimum experimental conditions for the concentrations of GDP, MgCl2, and NaCl in the assay buffer were initially determined. The assay was performed in assay buffer [20 mM HEPES, pH 7.5, 5 mM MgCl2, and 0.1% (w/v) BSA with 200 mM NaCl, 3 μM GDP] and membranes expressing human APJ receptor/well along with WGA PS beads. The reaction was initiated by addition of 0.2 nM [35S]GTPγS in the absence or presence of various ligands and incubated at RT for 90 min. Nonspecific binding was determined in the presence of 100 μM GTPγS and was always less than 0.2% of total binding.
- Inhibition Assay CHO-K1 cell lines stably expressing human Kv1.5 channels were prepared in the following manner.Full-length human Kv1.5 cDNA was cloned from a human heart cDNA library (produced by Stratagene). The obtained human Kv1.5 sequence corresponds to the sequence described in FASEB J. 5, 331-337 (1991).The obtained human Kv1.5 cDNA was inserted into a plasmid encoding a CMV promoter and a G418 resistance marker to produce a Kv1.5 expression vector. The human Kv1.5 expression vector was transfected into CHO-K1 cells by the lipofectamine method. After culturing the cells in an F-12 medium (produced by Invitrogen Corp.) containing 10% FBS (produced by Invitrogen Corp.) for 3 or 4 days, the medium was replaced with a FBS-containing F-12 medium that included 1,000 ug/ml of G418 (produced by Invitrogen Corp.), and single colonies were isolated. The amount of Kv1.5 channel expression in the single colonies was quantified at the mRNA level by RT-PCR and then quantified at the protein level.
- [35S]GTPgammaS Binding The human APJ receptor was cloned by polymerase chain reaction and the gene encoding the receptor was subcloned in pFLAG-CMV-3 expression vector (Sigma, Saint Louis, Mo. USA) in-house at Amgen. A GTPγS binding assay was performed on membranes prepared from CHO cells stably expressing human APJ receptor. The optimum experimental conditions for the concentrations of GDP, MgCl2, and NaCl in the assay buffer were initially determined. The assay was performed in assay buffer [20 mM HEPES, pH 7.5, 5 mM MgCl2, and 0.1% (w/v) BSA with 200 mM NaCl, 3 μM GDP] and membranes expressing human APJ receptor/well along with WGA PS beads. The reaction was initiated by addition of 0.2 nM [35S]GTPγS (Perkin Elmer Life and Analytical Sciences, Waltham USA) in the absence or presence of various ligands and incubated at RT for 90 min. Nonspecific binding was determined in the presence of 100 μM GTPγS and was always less than 0.2% of total binding. All the results presented are means of several independent experiments and analyzed by non-linear regression methods using commercially available program Prism (GraphPad, San Diego, Calif.).
- Cellular Enzyme Assay The expression plasmids contains the ORF for either human/cyno CYP11B1 or CYP11B2 under the control of a suitable promoter (CMV-promoter) and a suitable resistance marker (neomycin). Using standard techniques the expression plasmid is transfected into G-402 cells and these cells are then selected for expressing the given resistance markers. Individual cell-clones are then selected and assessed for displaying the desired enzymatic activity using 11-Deoxycorticosterone (Cyp11B2) or 11-Deoxycortisol (Cyp11B1) as a substrate. G-402 cells expressing CYP11 constructs were established as described above and maintained in McCoy's 5a Medium Modified, ATCC Catalog No. 30-2007 containing 10% FCS and 400 μg/ml G418 (Geneticin) at 37° C. under an atmosphere of 5% CO2/95% air. Cellular enzyme assays were performed in DMEM/F12 medium containing 2.5% charcoal treated FCS and appropriate concentration of substrate (0.3-10 μM 11-Deoxycorticosterone, 11-Deoxycortisol or Corticosterone). For assaying enzymatic activity, cells were plated onto 96 well plates and incubated for 16 h. An aliquot of the supernatant is then transferred and analyzed for the concentration of the expected product (Aldosterone for CYP11B2; Cortisol for CYP11B1). The concentrations of these steroids can be determined using HTRF assays from CisBio analyzing either Aldosterone or Cortisol.
- Enzymatic Activity Assay The expression plasmids contains the ORF for either human/cyno CYP11B1 or CYP11B2 under the control of a suitable promoter (CMV-promoter) and a suitable resistance marker (neomycin). Using standard techniques the expression plasmid is transfected into G-402 cells and these cells are then selected for expressing the given resistance markers. Individual cell-clones are then selected and assessed for displaying the desired enzymatic activity using 11-Deoxycorticosterone (Cyp11B2) or 11-Deoxycortisol (Cyp11B1) as a substrate.G-402 cells expressing CYP11 constructs were established as described above and maintained in McCoy's 5a Medium Modified, ATCC Catalog No. 30-2007 containing 10% FCS and 400 μg/ml G418 (Geneticin) at 37° C. under an atmosphere of 5% CO2/95% air. Cellular enzyme assays were performed in DMEM/F12 medium containing 2.5% charcoal treated FCS and appropriate concentration of substrate (0.3-10 uM 11-Deoxycorticosterone, 11-Deoxycortisol or Corticosterone). For assaying enzymatic activity, cells were plated onto 96 well plates and incubated for 16 h. An aliquot of the supernatant is then transferred and analyzed for the concentration of the expected product (Aldosterone for CYP11B2; Cortisol for CYP11B1). The concentrations of these steroids can be determined using HTRF assays from CisBio analyzing either Aldosterone or Cortisol.
- HCMV antiviral assay Antiviral assays for HCMV DNA were carried out by DNA hybridization as reported by Dankner, W. M., Scholl, D., Stanat, S. C., Martin, M., Souke, R. L. and Spector, S. A., J. Virol. Methods 21:293-298, 1990. Briefly, subconfluent MRC-5 cells in 24-well culture dishes were pretreated for 24 h with various concentrations of drug in Eagle s minimum essential medium (E-MEM) containing 2% FBS and antibiotics. The medium was removed and HCMV strains added aba dilution that will result in a 3-4+ cytopathic effect (CPE) in the no-drug wells in 5 days. The virus was absorbed for 1′ h at 37° C., aspirated and replaced with the drug dilutions. After 5 days of incubation HCMV DNA was quantified in triplicate by nucleic acid hybridization using a CMV Antiviral Susceptibility Test Kit from Diagnostic Hybrids, Inc. (Athens, Ohio). The medium was removed and cells lysed according to the manufacturer s instructions. After absorption of the lysate, the Hybriwix filters were hybridized overnight at 60° C. The Hybriwix were washed for 30 min at 73° C. and counted in a gamma counter. The results are expressed as EC50 (the 50% inhibitory concentration).
- Inhibition Assay The expression plasmids contains the ORF for either human/cyno CYP11B1 or CYP11B2 under the control of a suitable promoter (CMV-promoter) and a suitable resistance marker (neomycin). Using standard techniques the expression plasmid is transfected into G-402 cells and these cells are then selected for expressing the given resistance markers. Individual cell-clones are then selected and assessed for displaying the desired enzymatic activity using 11-Deoxycorticosterone (Cyp11B2) or 11-Deoxycortisol (Cyp11B1) as a substrate.G-402 cells expressing CYP11 constructs were established as described above and maintained in McCoy's 5a Medium Modified, ATCC Catalog No. 30-2007 containing 10% FCS and 400 μg/ml G418 (Geneticin) at 37° C. under an atmosphere of 5% CO2/95% air. Cellular enzyme assays were performed in DMEM/F12 medium containing 2.5% charcoal treated FCS and appropriate concentration of substrate (0.3-10 uM 11-Deoxycorticosterone, 11-Deoxycortisol or Corticosterone). For assaying enzymatic activity, cells were plated onto 96 well plates and incubated for 16 h. An aliquot of the supernatant is then transferred and analyzed for the concentration of the expected product (Aldosterone for CYP11B2; Cortisol for CYP11B1). The concentrations of these steroids can be determined using HTRF assays from CisBio analyzing either Aldosterone or Cortisol.
- Prolabel Quantification of IKZF1, IKZF2, or GSPT1 Protein Levels in 293GT Cells The Prolabel system from DiscoverX was used to develop high-throughput and quantitative assays to measure changes in IKZF1, IKZF2, and GSPT1 protein levels in response to compounds. The prolabel tag is derived from the alpha fragment of beta galactosidase and has the following protein sequence: mssnslavvlqrrdwenpgvtqlnrlaahppfaswrnseeartdrpsqqlrslnge. The complementary fragment of beta-galactosidase (from DiscoverX), is added to the prolabel tag to form an active beta galactosidase enzyme whose activity can be precisely measured. In this way, the levels of a fusion protein with the prolabel tag can be quantified in cell lysates.Lentiviral vectors, based on the Invitrogen pLenti6.2/V5 DEST backbone, were constructed that placed the prolabel tag upstream of IKZF1, IKZF2, or GSPT1 and expressed the fusion protein from a CMV promoter.To ensure moderate and consistent expression of the prolabel fusion proteins across all cells in the population, stable cell lines were constructed from cells expressing a single copy of the construct. Lentivirus packaged with the constructs was made using the Virapower kit from Invitrogen. Strongly adherent 293GT cell, GripTite 293 MSR cells from Thermo Fisher Scientific (Catalog number: R79507), were infected with the virus at low multiplicity of infection and selected by 5 μg/mL blasticidin for 2 weeks.
- WNT pathway reporter gene assay NIH3T3 mouse fibroblast cells (American Type Culture Collection, Manassas, Va.) were transfected with a plasmid containing a luciferase gene driven by 5 copies of TCF elements. Stale cells selected with 1 μg/mL of Zeocin (Gibco/Invitrogen, Carlsbad, Calif.) are cultured in Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium (Invitrogen, Carlsbad, Calif.) supplemented with 10% FBS (Invitrogen), 50 unit/mL penicillin and 50 μg/mL of streptomycin (Invitrogen) at 37° C. with 5% CO2 in air atmosphere. Suspension HEK293 cells (ATCC) were transfected with a plasmid containing full-length human WNT-3a cDNA sequence driven by a CMV promoter, and stable cells were selected in FreeStyle 293 medium (Invitrogen) supplemented with 100 ug/mL G418.The NIH3T3 TCF-Luc cells and 293 WNT3a cells were co-cultured in a 96-well plate with DMEM medium supplemented with 0.5% FBS. After 16 hours, the firefly luciferase activities are measured with the Steady-Glo Luciferase Assay System (Promega). The cells were treated with different concentrations of compounds of this invention during the co-culture. The IC50s were defined as the concentration when the compounds reduce the luminescence intensity by 50%. To normalize for cell quantity and viability, CellTiter Glo assay is next performed in a duplicate plate.
- [35S]GTPγS Binding The human APJ receptor was cloned by polymerase chain reaction and the gene encoding the receptor was subcloned in pFLAG-CMV-3 expression vector (Sigma, Saint Louis, Mo. USA) in-house at Amgen. A GTPγS binding assay was performed on membranes prepared from CHO cells stably expressing human APJ receptor. The optimum experimental conditions for the concentrations of GDP, MgCl2, and NaCl in the assay buffer were initially determined. The assay was performed in assay buffer [20 mM HEPES, pH 7.5, 5 mM MgCl2, and 0.1% (w/v) BSA with 200 mM NaCl, 3 M GDP] and membranes expressing human APJ receptor/well along with WGA PS beads. The reaction was initiated by addition of 0.2 nM [35S]GTPγS (Perkin Elmer Life and Analytical Sciences, Waltham USA) in the absence or presence of various ligands and incubated at RT for 90 min. Nonspecific binding was determined in the presence of 100 M GTPγS and was always less than 0.2% of total binding. All the results presented are means of several independent experiments and analyzed by non-linear regression methods using commercially available program Prism (GraphPad, San Diego, Calif.) to obtain EC50.
- [35S]GTPgammaS Binding Assay The human APJ receptor was cloned by polymerase chain reaction and the gene encoding the receptor was subcloned in pFLAG-CMV -3 expression vector (Sigma, Saint Louis, Mo. USA) in-house at Amgen. A GTPγS binding assay was performed on membranes prepared from CHO cells stably expressing human APJ receptor. The optimum experimental conditions for the concentrations of GDP, MgCl2, and NaCl in the assay buffer were initially determined. The assay was performed in assay buffer [20 mM HEPES, pH 7.5, 5 mM MgCl2, and 0.1% (w/v) BSA with 200 mM NaCl, 3 μM GDP] and membranes expressing human APJ receptor/well along with WGA PS beads. The reaction was initiated by addition of 0.2 nM [35S]GTPγS (Perkin Elmer Life and Analytical Sciences, Waltham USA) in the absence or presence of various ligands and incubated at RT for 90 min. Nonspecific binding was determined in the presence of 100 μM GTPγS and was always less than 0.2% of total binding. All the results presented are means of several independent experiments and analyzed by non-linear regression methods using commercially available program Prism (GraphPad, San Diego, Calif.)
- [35S]GTPgammaS Binding Assay The human APJ receptor was cloned by polymerase chain reaction and the gene encoding the receptor was subcloned in pFLAG-CMV -3 expression vector (Sigma, Saint Louis, Mo. USA) in-house at Amgen. A GTPγS binding assay was performed on membranes prepared from CHO cells stably expressing human APJ receptor. The optimum experimental conditions for the concentrations of GDP, MgCl2, and NaCl in the assay buffer were initially determined. The assay was performed in assay buffer [20 mM HEPES, pH 7.5, 5 mM MgCl2, and 0.1% (w/v) BSA with 200 mM NaCl, 3 μM GDP] and membranes expressing human APJ receptor/well along with WGA PS beads. The reaction was initiated by addition of 0.2 nM [35S]GTPγS (Perkin Elmer Life and Analytical Sciences, Waltham USA) in the absence or presence of various ligands and incubated at RT for 90 min. Nonspecific binding was determined in the presence of 100 μM GTPγS and was always less than 0.2% of total binding. All the results presented are means of several independent experiments and analyzed by non-linear regression methods using commercially available program Prism (GraphPad, San Diego, Calif.) to obtain EC50.
- transactivation assay Human epithelial kidney cells (HEK 293) were grown to 80% confluency in Dubelcco's modified Eagles 4.5 g/L glucose medium (high glucose DMEM) containing 10% fetal bovine serum, 50 units/mL penicillin and 50 μg/mL streptomycin. The cells were trypsinized with 0.25% trypsin, then diluted to 5×105 cells/mL with high glucose DMEM. Cells were added to Costar 3917 96-well plates at 5×104 cells/well, then incubated at 37° C. for 24 hours. 1.5 μg of TR expression vector (full length TRα-CMV or TRβ-CMV), 1.5 μg of a reporter plasmid containing a DR4 thyroid hormone response element (TRE) direct repeat spaced by four nucleotides (AGGTCAcaggAGGTCA) cloned upstream of a minimal thymidine kinase promoter linked to a firefly luciferase coding sequence, and 0.75 μg of a pRL-SV40 constitutive Renilla luciferase reporter plasmid were diluted into 540 μl of OptiMEM. 27 μL of lipofectamine reagent was diluted into 540 μL of OptiMEM. The plasmid and lipofectamine dilutions were combined then incubated at RT for 10 min. The mixture was then diluted into 4.29 mL of OptiMEM. Plates were washed with 100 μL of phosphate buffered saline (PBS) at pH 7.2 without magnesium or calcium chloride per well. Transfection mixtures were added at 50 μL per well, then incubated at 37° C. for 4 hours. Modified DME/F-12 Ham's medium without phenol red containing 15 mM HEPES and bicarbonate, 5 mM L-glutamine, charcoal-stripped FBS, 50 units/mL penicillin and 50 μg/mL streptomycin was added at 50 μL per well, then the plates were incubated at 37° C. for 20 hours. Drug stocks were made at 10 mM in DMSO, then serially diluted to 1× concentrations in DME/F-12 Ham's. Plates were washed with 100 μL of PBS (pH 7.2) per well. 100 μL of each drug stock was added to the wells in triplicate, and then the plates were incubated at 37° C. for 24 hours.Cells were assayed for luciferase activity using the Promega DualGlo kit. 50 μl of Luciferase Reagent were added per well, the plate was rocked for 15 min at RT, and then the plate was read for firefly luciferase activity. A 50 μl volume of Stop & Glo Reagent was added per well, then the plate was read for Renilla luciferase activity. Data normalized to Renilla internal control were analyzed with GraphPad Prism v.4a using the sigmoid dose response model to generate EC50 values±SEM.
- Inhibition Assay G-402 cells can be obtained from ATCC (CRL-1440) and were originally derived from a renal leiomyoblastoma.The expression plasmids contains the ORF for either human/cyno CYP11B1 or CYP11B2 under the control of a suitable promoter (CMV-promoter) and a suitable resistance marker (neomycin). Using standard techniques the expression plasmid is transfected into G-402 cells and these cells are then selected for expressing the given resistance markers. Individual cell-clones are then selected and assessed for displaying the desired enzymatic activity using 11-Deoxycorticosterone (Cyp11B2) or 11-Deoxycortisol (Cyp11B1) as a substrate.G-402 cells expressing CYP11 constructs were established as described above and maintained in McCoy's 5a Medium Modified, ATCC Catalog No. 30-2007 containing 10% FCS and 400 μg/ml G418 (Geneticin) at 37° C. under an atmosphere of 5% CO2/95% air. Cellular enzyme assays were performed in DMEM/F12 medium containing 2.5% charcoal treated FCS and appropriate concentration of substrate (0.3-10 uM 11-Deoxycorticosterone, 11-Deoxycortisol or Corticosterone). For assaying enzymatic activity, cells were plated onto 96 well plates and incubated for 16 h. An aliquot of the supernatant is then transferred and analyzed for the concentration of the expected product (Aldosterone for CYP11B2; Cortisol for CYP11B1). The concentrations of these steroids can be determined using HTRF assays from CisBio analyzing either Aldosterone or Cortisol.
- Scintillation Proximity Assay (IC50) and PPAR gamma Transactivation Assay (EC50) Human 6His-PPAR gamma ligand-binding domain was added to the mixture containing radioligand and test compound, followed by yttrium silicate polylysine SPA beads (Amersham). The plates were sealed with press-on adhesive sealer and covered with aluminum foil. The plates were incubated at room temperature while shaking at 700 rpm on an IKA-Schuttler MST 4 titer plate shaker for one hour. After 30 min of settling, radioligand displacement was measured using a Wallac scintillation counter (Wallac Trilux 1450 Microbeta Liquid Scintillation and Luminescence counter). Ligand binding was calculated as percent displacement of total radioligand binding (DMSO control). The binding signal (cpm) in duplicates was plotted as a function of compound concentrations (M) and the plot was fitted to an equation by non-linear regression and IC50 derived from those plots using Spotfire. All experiments were repeated twice and the geometric mean was calculated for each IC50. HepG2 cells were transfected under standard conditions with Gal4RE-luciferase, Gal4:PPAR LBD and CMV beta-gal using Fugene 6. Transfected cells were treated with compounds for 18-24 h, lysed and luciferase and beta-gal assays performed (Promega) using a Dynex luminometer and Molecular Devices Plate reader. Luciferase values were corrected for transfection efficiency using beta-gal. Normalized luciferase values were plotted against dose and EC50 values were determined using GraphPad Prism.
- Scintillation Proximity Assay (IC50) and PPAR gamma Transactivation Assay (EC50) Human 6His-PPAR ligand-binding domain was added to the mixture containing radioligand and test compound, followed by yttrium silicate polylysine SPA beads (Amersham). The plates were sealed with press-on adhesive sealer and covered with aluminum foil. The plates were incubated at room temperature while shaking at 700 rpm on an IKA-Schuttler MST 4 titer plate shaker for one hour. After 30 min of settling, radioligand displacement was measured using a Wallac scintillation counter (Wallac Trilux 1450 Microbeta Liquid Scintillation and Luminescence counter). Ligand binding was calculated as percent displacement of total radioligand binding (DMSO control). The binding signal (cpm) in duplicates was plotted as a function of compound concentrations (M) and the plot was fitted to an equation by non-linear regression and IC50 derived from those plots using Spotfire. All experiments were repeated twice and the geometric mean was calculated for each IC50. HepG2 cells were transfected under standard conditions with Gal4RE-luciferase, Gal4:PPAR LBD and CMV beta-gal using Fugene 6. Transfected cells were treated with compounds for 18-24 h, lysed and luciferase and beta-gal assays performed (Promega) using a Dynex luminometer and Molecular Devices Plate reader. Luciferase values were corrected for transfection efficiency using beta-gal. Normalized luciferase values were plotted against dose and EC50 values were determined using GraphPad Prism.
- WNT Pathway Reporter Gene Assay Materials and Methods: NIH3T3 mouse fibroblast cells (American Type Culture Collection, Manassas, Va.) were transfected with a plasmid containing a luciferase gene driven by 5 copies of TCF elements. Stale cells selected with 1 μg/mL of Zeocin (Gibco/Invitrogen, Carlsbad, Calif.) are cultured in Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium (Invitrogen, Carlsbad, Calif.) supplemented with 10% FBS (Invitrogen), 50 unit/mL penicillin and 50 μg/mL of streptomycin (Invitrogen) at 37° C. with 5% CO2 in air atmosphere. Suspension HEK293 cells (ATCC) were transfected with a plasmid containing full-length human WNT-3a cDNA sequence driven by a CMV promoter, and stable cells were selected in FreeStyle 293 medium (Invitrogen) supplemented with 100 ug/mL G418. The NIH3T3 TCF-Luc cells and 293 WNT3a cells were co-cultured in a 96-well plate with DMEM medium supplemented with 0.5% FBS. After 16 hours, the firefly luciferase activities are measured with the Steady-Glo Luciferase Assay System (Promega). The cells were treated with different concentrations of compounds of this invention during the co-culture. The IC50s were defined as the concentration when the compounds reduce the luminescence intensity by 50%. To normalize for cell quantity and viability, CellTiter Glo assay is next performed in a duplicate plate.
- WNT Pathway Reporter Gene Assay Materials and Methods: NIH3T3 mouse fibroblast cells (American Type Culture Collection, Manassas, Va.) were transfected with a plasmid containing a luciferase gene driven by 5 copies of TCF elements. Stale cells selected with 1 μg/mL of Zeocin (Gibco/Invitrogen, Carlsbad, Calif.) are cultured in Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium (Invitrogen, Carlsbad, Calif.) supplemented with 10% FBS (Invitrogen), 50 unit/mL penicillin and 50 μg/mL of streptomycin (Invitrogen) at 37° C. with 5% CO2 in air atmosphere. Suspension HEK293 cells (ATCC) were transfected with a plasmid containing full-length human WNT-3a cDNA sequence driven by a CMV promoter, and stable cells were selected in FreeStyle 293 medium (Invitrogen) supplemented with 100 ug/mL G418.The NIH3T3 TCF-Luc cells and 293 WNT3a cells were co-cultured in a 96-well plate with DMEM medium supplemented with 0.5% FBS. After 16 hours, the firefly luciferase activities are measured with the Steady-Glo Luciferase Assay System (Promega). The cells were treated with different concentrations of compounds of this invention during the co-culture. The IC50s were defined as the concentration when the compounds reduce the luminescence intensity by 50%. To normalize for cell quantity and viability, CellTiter Glo assay is next performed in a duplicate plate.
- mmTV-luciferase reporter assay An AR-response element is contained within the mmTV sequence and drives the expression of luciferase. The effect of antiandrogens (competitive antagonists) on this process is measured by quantifying the amount of luciferase activity after 24 hours in the presence of varying concentrations of antiandrogens. From these values, an IC50 for each antagonist is calculated. Experimentally, HeLa cells were maintained in Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium H-21 4.5 g/L glucose, containing 10% steroid depleted fetal bovine serum, 50 units/mL penicillin. For transfection, (1×105) cells per well were plated and incubated overnight. A mixture of typically 200 ng of mmTV responsive luciferase reporter plasmid, 10 ng of β-actin-β-galactosidase internal control, 10 ng of AR full length CMV expression vector or empty vector control, and 10-100 ng of β-catenin or empty vector control were mixed with 0.5 μL of transfection reagent from BioRad and incubated for 20 min and then plated in 24 well plate triplicates. Cells were induced with 1 nM DHT and 0.1 nM-30 uM compounds after 3 hrs and then incubated overnight. Cells were collected, and pellets were lysed in 100 μL of 100 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.5) containing 0.1% Triton X-100. Luciferase and β-galactosidase activities were measured using the Luciferase Assay System (Promega) and Galacto-Light Plus-galactosidase reporter gene assay system (Applied Biosystems), according to the manufacturer's instructions.
- Antagonist Activity for AR Antagonist activity for AR was evaluated according to the following method. COS-7 cells (ATCC) were transfected with pMMTV-luc vector (reporter plasmid having, as an androgen response element, murine mouse mammary virus long terminal repeat) and pEX-hAR vector (human androgen receptor expression vector: which expresses human AR gene under control of CMV promoter) by using Nucleofector (registered trademark) Kit R (Lonza) as a transfection reagent and Amaxa (Lonza). The COS-7 cells obtained after transfection were seeded in a clear bottom 96 well microplate (BD) at 1.5×104/well with phenol red free RPMI1640 containing 10% charcoal-treated fetal bovine serum (hereinbelow, DCC-FBS) (hereinbelow, the medium is referred to as an evaluation medium), and then cultured overnight. The culture was added with the evaluation medium containing dihydrotestosterone (DHT) (final concentration of DHT: 1 nmol/L) or the evaluation medium containing the compound of Examples or the compound of Comparative Examples (final concentration of the compound of Examples or the compound of Comparative Examples: 5, 14, 41, 123, 370, 1111, 3333, or 10000 nmol/L), followed by culture for 24 hours. Then, the transcription activity value was measured. The transcription activity was measured by using Bright-Glo Luciferase Assay System (Promega). From the measured transcription activity, 50% transcription activity inhibition concentration (IC50 value) was calculated by logistic regression when the transcription activity value obtained by using 1 nmol/L DHT was 100% and the transcription activity value obtained by using the evaluation medium only was 0%.
- GTPγS Binding The human APJ receptor was cloned by polymerase chain reaction and the gene encoding the receptor was subcloned in pFLAG-CMV -3 expression vector (Sigma, Saint Louis, Mo. USA) in-house at Amgen. A GTPγS binding assay was performed on membranes prepared from CHO cells stably expressing human APJ receptor. The optimum experimental conditions for the concentrations of GDP, MgCl2, and NaCl in the assay buffer were initially determined. The assay was performed in 9 μL assay buffer [20 mM HEPES, pH 7.5, 5 mM MgCl2, 100 mM NaCl and 0.1% (w/v) BSA], 1 μL of diluted test compound (starting with 0.75 mM, 2-fold serial dilution with DMSO, total 22 points), 10 μL of 18 μM GDP (final concentration of 3 μM GDP), 20 μL of 0.25 μg/mL membrane protein expressing human APJ receptor captured with WGA PS beads (final concentration of 5 μg per well), and 20 μL of 0.3 nM [35S]GTPγS (final concentration is 0.1 nM [35S]GTPγS)(Perkin Elmer Life and Analytical Sciences, Waltham USA). One column of the plate was 1 μL of DMSO as background and another column of the plate was 1 μL of 180 μM Pyr-Apelin-13 which was used as control at a final concentration of 3 μM. Incubation was at RT for 90 min and the microplate was read using a ViewLux ultra HTS Microplate Imager.
- In Vitro Assay In vitro assays were performed in a recombinant cell line expressing cDNA encoding the alpha subunit (Nav1.7, SCN9a, PN1, NE) of human Nav1.7 (Accession No. NM_002977). The cell line was provided by investigators at Yale University (Cummins et al, J. Neurosci. 18(23): 9607-9619 (1998)). For dominant selection of the Nav1.7-expressing clones, the expression plasmid co-expressed the neomycin resistance gene. The cell line was constructed in the human embryonic kidney cell line, HEK293, under the influence of the CMV major late promoter, and stable clones were selected using limiting dilution cloning and antibiotic selection using the neomycin analogue, G418. Recombinant beta and gamma subunits were not introduced into this cell line. Additional cell lines expressing recombinant Nav1.7 cloned from other species can also be used, alone or in combination with various beta subunits, gamma subunits or chaperones.The assay buffer was formulated by removing 120 mL from a 1 L bottle of fresh, sterile dH2O (Mediatech, Herndon, Va.) and adding 100 mL of 10×HBSS that does not contain Ca++ or Mg++ (Gibco, Invitrogen, Grand Island, N.Y.) followed by 20 mL of 1.0 M Hepes, pH 7.3 (Fisher Scientific, BP299-100). The final buffer consisted of 20 mM Hepes, pH 7.3, 1.261 mM CaCl2, 0.493 mM MgCl2, 0.407 mM Mg(SO)4, 5.33 mM KCl, 0.441 mM KH2PO4, 137 mM NaCl, 0.336 mM Na2HPO4 and 0.556 mM D-glucose (Hanks et al., Proc. Soc. Exp. Biol. Med. 71:196 (1949)), and the simple formulation was typically the basic buffer throughout the assay (i.e., all wash and addition steps).
- Inhibit Human Recombinant Assay SSAO/VAP-1: Human recombinant SSAO/VAP-1 amine oxidase activity was determined using the coupled colorimetric method as described for monoamine oxidase, copper-containing amine oxidases and related enzymes (Holt A. and Palcic M., A peroxidase-coupled continuous absorbance plate-reader assay for flavin monoamine oxidases, copper-containing amine oxidases and related enzymes. Nat Protoc 2006; 1: 2498-2505). Briefly, a cloned cDNA template corresponding to residues 34-763 of human SSAO/VAP-1, and incorporating a mouse Ig kappa (κ) signal sequence, N-terminal flag epitope tag and tobacco etch virus (TEV) cleavage site, was assembled in a mammalian expression vector (pLO-CMV) by Geneart AG. This vector containing human SSAO/VAP-1 residues was transfected into CHO-K1 glycosylation mutant cell line, Lec 8. A clone stably expressing human SSAO/VAP-1 was isolated and cultured in large scale. Active human SSAO/VAP-1 was purified and recovered using immunoaffinity chromatography. This was used as the source for SSAO/VAP-1 activity. A high-throughput colorimetric assay was developed using either 96 or 384 well format. Briefly, in a standard 96 well plate assay 50 μL of purified human SSAO/VAP-1 (0.25 μg/mL) in 0.1 M sodium phosphate buffer (pH 7.4) was added into each well. Test compounds were dissolved in DMSO and tested in a Concentration Response Curve (CRC) with 4-11 data points, typically in the micromolar or nanomolar range after incubation with human SSAO/VAP-1 for 30 min at 37° C.
- [35S]GTPγS Binding Assay The human APJ receptor was cloned by polymerase chain reaction and the gene encoding the receptor was subcloned in pFLAG-CMV -3 expression vector (Sigma, Saint Louis, Mo. USA) in-house at Amgen. A GTPγS binding assay was performed on membranes prepared from CHO cells stably expressing human APJ receptor. The optimum experimental conditions for the concentrations of GDP, MgCl2, and NaCl in the assay buffer were initially determined. The assay was performed in 9 μL assay buffer [20 mM HEPES, pH 7.5, 5 mM MgCl2, 100 mM NaCl and 0.1% (w/v) BSA], 1 μL of diluted test compound (starting with 0.75 mM, 2-fold serial dilution with DMSO, total 22 points), 10 μL of 18 μM GDP (final concentration of 3 μM GDP), 20 μL of 0.25 μg/mL membrane protein expressing human APJ receptor captured with WGA PS beads (final concentration of 5 μg per well), and 20 μL of 0.3 nM [35S]GTPγS (final concentration is 0.1 nM [35S]GTPγS)(Perkin Elmer Life and Analytical Sciences, Waltham USA). One column of the plate was 1 μL of DMSO as background and another column of the plate was 1 μL of 180 μM Pyr-Apelin-13 which was used as control at a final concentration of 3 μM. Incubation was at RT for 90 min and the microplate was read using a ViewLux ultra HTS Microplate Imager (PerkinElmer, Inc.).
- [35S]GTPγS Binding The human APJ receptor was cloned by polymerase chain reaction and the gene encoding the receptor was subcloned in pFLAG-CMV -3 expression vector (Sigma, Saint Louis, Mo. USA) in-house at Amgen. A GTPγS binding assay was performed on membranes prepared from CHO cells stably expressing human APJ receptor. The optimum experimental conditions for the concentrations of GDP, MgCl2, and NaCl in the assay buffer were initially determined. The assay was performed in 9 μL assay buffer [20 mM HEPES, pH 7.5, 5 mM MgCl2, 100 mM NaCl and 0.1% (w/v) BSA], 1 μL of diluted test compound (starting with 0.75 mM, 2-fold serial dilution with DMSO, total 22 points), 10 μL of 18 M GDP (final concentration of 3 μM GDP), 20 μL of 0.25 μg/mL membrane protein expressing human APJ receptor captured with WGA PS beads (final concentration of 5 μg per well), and 20 μL of 0.3 nM [35S]GTPγS (final concentration is 0.1 nM [35S]GTPγS)(Perkin Elmer Life and Analytical Sciences, Waltham USA). One column of the plate was 1 μL of DMSO as background and another column of the plate was 1 μL of 180 M Pyr-Apelin-13 which was used as control at a final concentration of 3 M. Incubation was at RT for 90 min and the microplate was read using a ViewLux ultra HTS Microplate Imager (PerkinElmer, Inc.).
- SSAO/VAP-1 Amine Oxidase Activity Assay Briefly, a cloned cDNA template corresponding to residues 34-763 of human SSAO/VAP-1, and incorporating a mouse Ig kappa (κ) signal sequence, N-terminal flag epitope tag and tobacco etch virus (TEV) cleavage site, was assembled in a mammalian expression vector (pLO-CMV) by Geneart AG. This vector containing human SSAO/VAP-1 residues was transfected into CHO-Kl glycosylation mutant cell line, Lec 8. A clone stably expressing human SSAO/VAP-1 was isolated and cultured in large scale. Active human SSAO/VAP-1 was purified and recovered using immunoaffinity chromatography. This was used as the source for SSAO/VAP-1 activity. A high-throughput colorimetric assay was developed using either 96 or 384 well format. Briefly, in a standard 96 well plate assay 50 μL of purified human SSAO/VAP-1 (0.25 μg/mL) in 0.1 M sodium phosphate buffer (pH 7.4) was added into each well. Test compounds were dissolved in DMSO and tested in a Concentration Response Curve (CRC) with 4-11 data points, typically in the micromolar or nanomolar range after incubation with human SSAO/VAP-1 for 30 min at 37° C. After 30 min incubation, 50 μL of the reaction mixture containing 600 μM benzylamine (Sigma Aldrich), 120 μM Amplex Red (Sigma Aldrich) and 1.5 U/mL horseradish peroxidase (Sigma Aldrich) prepared in 0.1 M sodium phosphate buffer (pH 7.4) were added to the corresponding well. The fluorescence unit (RFU) was read every 2.5 min for 30 min at 37° C. excitation 565 nm and emission 590 (Optima; BMG labtech).
- [35S]GTPγS Binding The human APJ receptor was cloned by polymerase chain reaction and the gene encoding the receptor was subcloned in pFLAG-CMV -3 expression vector (Sigma, Saint Louis, Mo. USA) in-house at Amgen. A GTPγS binding assay was performed on membranes prepared from CHO cells stably expressing human APJ receptor. The optimum experimental conditions for the concentrations of GDP, MgCl2, and NaCl in the assay buffer were initially determined. The assay was performed in 9 μL assay buffer [20 mM HEPES, pH 7.5, 5 mM MgCl2, 100 mM NaCl and 0.1% (w/v) BSA], 1 μL of diluted test compound (starting with 0.75 mM, 2-fold serial dilution with DMSO, total 22 points), 10 μL of 18 μM GDP (final concentration of 3 μM GDP), 20 μL of 0.25 μg/m L membrane protein expressing human APJ receptor captured with WGA PS beads (final concentration of 5 μg per well), and 20 μL of 0.3 nM [35S]GTPγS (final concentration is 0.1 nM [35S]GTPγS)(Perkin Elmer Life and Analytical Sciences, Waltham USA). One column of the plate was 1 μL of DMSO as background and another column of the plate was 1 μL of 180 μM Pyr-Apelin-13 which was used as control at a final concentration of 3 μM. Incubation was at RT for 90 min and the microplate was read using a ViewLux ultra HTS Microplate Imager (PerkinElmer, Inc.). All the results presented are means of several independent experiments and analyzed by non-linear regression methods using the commercially available program Prism (GraphPad, San Diego, Calif.) providing the EC50 values detailed in Table 3.
- [35S]GTPgammaS Binding The human APJ receptor was cloned by polymerase chain reaction and the gene encoding the receptor was subcloned in pFLAG-CMV -3 expression vector (Sigma, Saint Louis, Mo. USA) in-house at Amgen. A GTPγS binding assay was performed on membranes prepared from CHO cells stably expressing human APJ receptor. The optimum experimental conditions for the concentrations of GDP, MgCl2, and NaCl in the assay buffer were initially determined. The assay was performed in 9 μL assay buffer [20 mM HEPES, pH 7.5, 5 mM MgCl2, 100 mM NaCl and 0.1% (w/v) BSA], 1 μL of diluted test compound (starting with 0.75 mM, 2-fold serial dilution with DMSO, total 22 points), 10 μL of 18 μM GDP (final concentration of 3 μM GDP), 20 μL of 0.25 μg/mL membrane protein expressing human APJ receptor captured with WGA PS beads (final concentration of 5 μg per well), and 20 μL of 0.3 nM [35S]GTPγS (final concentration is 0.1 nM [35S]GTPγS)(Perkin Elmer Life and Analytical Sciences, Waltham USA). One column of the plate was 1 μL of DMSO as background and another column of the plate was 1 μL of 180 μM Pyr-Apelin-13 which was used as control at a final concentration of 3 μM. Incubation was at RT for 90 min and the microplate was read using a ViewLux ultra HTS Microplate Imager (PerkinElmer, Inc.). All the results presented are means of several independent experiments and analyzed by non-linear regression methods using the commercially available program Prism (GraphPad, San Diego, Calif.) providing the EC50 values detailed in Table 13.
- [35S]GTPgammaS Binding The human APJ receptor was cloned by polymerase chain reaction and the gene encoding the receptor was subcloned in pFLAG-CMV -3 expression vector (Sigma, Saint Louis, Mo. USA) in-house at Amgen. A GTPγS binding assay was performed on membranes prepared from CHO cells stably expressing human APJ receptor. The optimum experimental conditions for the concentrations of GDP, MgCl2, and NaCl in the assay buffer were initially determined. The assay was performed in 9 μL assay buffer [20 mM HEPES, pH 7.5, 5 mM MgCl2, 100 mM NaCl and 0.1% (w/v) BSA], 1 μL of diluted test compound (starting with 0.75 mM, 2-fold serial dilution with DMSO, total 22 points), 10 μL of 18 μM GDP (final concentration of 3 μM GDP), 20 μL of 0.25 μg/mL membrane protein expressing human APJ receptor captured with WGA PS beads (final concentration of 5 μg per well), and 20 μL of 0.3 nM [35S]GTPγS (final concentration is 0.1 nM [35S]GTPγS)(Perkin Elmer Life and Analytical Sciences, Waltham USA). One column of the plate was 1 μL of DMSO as background and another column of the plate was 1 μL of 180 μM Pyr-Apelin-13 which was used as control at a final concentration of 3 μM. Incubation was at RT for 90 min and the microplate was read using a ViewLux ultra HTS Microplate Imager (PerkinElmer, Inc.). All the results presented are means of several independent experiments and analyzed by non-linear regression methods using the commercially available program Prism (GraphPad, San Diego, Calif.) providing the EC50 values detailed in Table 40.
- [35S]GTPgammaS Binding The human APJ receptor was cloned by polymerase chain reaction and the gene encoding the receptor was subcloned in pFLAG-CMV -3 expression vector (Sigma, Saint Louis, Mo. USA) in-house at Amgen. A GTPγS binding assay was performed on membranes prepared from CHO cells stably expressing human APJ receptor. The optimum experimental conditions for the concentrations of GDP, MgCl2, and NaCl in the assay buffer were initially determined. The assay was performed in 9 μL assay buffer [20 mM HEPES, pH 7.5, 5 mM MgCl2, 100 mM NaCl and 0.1% (w/v) BSA], 1 μL of diluted test compound (starting with 0.75 mM, 2-fold serial dilution with DMSO, total 22 points), 10 μL of 18 μM GDP (final concentration of 3 μM GDP), 20 μL of 0.25 μg/mL membrane protein expressing human APJ receptor captured with WGA PS beads (final concentration of 5 μg per well), and 20 μL of 0.3 nM [35S]GTPγS (final concentration is 0.1 nM [35S]GTPγS)(Perkin Elmer Life and Analytical Sciences, Waltham USA). One column of the plate was 1 μL of DMSO as background and another column of the plate was 1 μL of 180 μM Pyr-Apelin-13 which was used as control at a final concentration of 3 μM. Incubation was at RT for 90 min and the microplate was read using a ViewLux ultra HTS Microplate Imager (PerkinElmer, Inc.). All the results presented are means of several independent experiments and analyzed by non-linear regression methods using the commercially available program Prism (GraphPad, San Diego, Calif.) providing the EC50 values.
- Inhibit Human Recombinant Assay Human recombinant SSAO/VAP-1 amine oxidase activity was determined using the coupled colorimetric method as described for monoamine oxidase, copper-containing amine oxidases and related enzymes (Holt A. and Palcic M., A peroxidase-coupled continuous absorbance plate-reader assay for flavin monoamine oxidases, copper-containing amine oxidases and related enzymes. Nat Protoc 2006; 1: 2498-2505). Briefly, a cloned cDNA template corresponding to residues 34-763 of human SSAO/VAP-1, and incorporating a mouse Ig kappa (κ) signal sequence, N-terminal flag epitope tag and tobacco etch virus (TEV) cleavage site, was assembled in a mammalian expression vector (pLO-CMV) by Geneart AG. This vector containing human SSAO/VAP-1 residues was transfected into CHO-K1 glycosylation mutant cell line, Lec 8. A clone stably expressing human SSAO/VAP-1 was isolated and cultured in large scale. Active human SSAO/VAP-1 was purified and recovered using immunoaffinity chromatography. This was used as the source for SSAO/VAP-1 activity. A high-throughput colorimetric assay was developed using either 96 or 384 well format. Briefly, in a standard 96 well plate assay 50 μL of purified human SSAO/VAP-1 (0.25 μg/mL) in 0.1 M sodium phosphate buffer (pH 7.4) was added into each well. Test compounds were dissolved in DMSO and tested in a Concentration Response Curve (CRC) with 4-11 data points, typically in the micromolar or nanomolar range after incubation with human SSAO/VAP-1 for 30 min at 37° C. After 30 min incubation, 50 μL of the reaction mixture containing 600 μM benzylamine (Sigma Aldrich), 120 μM Amplex Red (Sigma Aldrich) and 1.5 U/mL horseradish peroxidase (Sigma Aldrich) prepared in 0.1 M sodium phosphate buffer (pH 7.4) were added to the corresponding well. The fluorescence unit (RFU) was read every 2.5 min for 30 min at 37° C. excitation 565 nm and emission 590 (Optima; BMG labtech).
- Inhibition Assay Human recombinant SSAO/VAP-1 amine oxidase activity was determined using the coupled colorimetric method as described for monoamine oxidase, copper-containing amine oxidases and related enzymes (Holt A. and Palcic M., A peroxidase-coupled continuous absorbance plate-reader assay for flavin monoamine oxidases, copper-containing amine oxidases and related enzymes. Nat Protoc 2006; 1: 2498-2505). Briefly, a cloned cDNA template corresponding to residues 34-763 of human SSAO/VAP-1, and incorporating a mouse Ig kappa (κ) signal sequence, N-terminal flag epitope tag and tobacco etch virus (TEV) cleavage site, was assembled in a mammalian expression vector (pLO-CMV) by Geneart AG. This vector containing human SSAO/VAP-1 residues was transfected into CHO-K1 glycosylation mutant cell line, Lee 8. A clone stably expressing human SSAO/VAP-1 was isolated and cultured in large scale. Active human SSAO/VAP-1 was purified and recovered using immunoaffinity chromatography. This was used as the source for SSAO/VAP-1 activity. A high-throughput colorimetric assay was developed using either 96 or 384 well format. Briefly, in a standard 96 well plate assay 50 μL of purified human SSAO/VAP-1 (0.25 μg/mL) in 0.1 M sodium phosphate buffer (pH 7.4) was added into each well. Test compounds were dissolved in DMSO and tested in a Concentration Response Curve (CRC) with 4-11 data points, typically in the micromolar or nanomolar range after incubation with human SSAO/VAP-1 for 30 min at 37° C. After 30 min incubation, 50 L of the reaction mixture containing 600 μM benzylamine (Sigma Aldrich), 120 M Amplex Red (Sigma Aldrich) and 1.5 U/mL horseradish peroxidase (Sigma Aldrich) prepared in 0.1 M sodium phosphate buffer (pH 7.4) were added to the corresponding well. The fluorescence unit (RFU) was read every 2.5 min for 30 min at 37° C. excitation 565 nm and emission 590
- G-402 cell line assay Herein we identified the use of the G-402 cell line as a host cell to ectopically express (transiently or stably) enzymes of the CYP11 family. Specifically we developed stable G-402 cells expressing ectopically human CYP11B1, human CYP11B2, human CYP11A1, cynmolgus CYP11B1 or cynomolgus CYP11B2 enzyme activity. Importantly the identified cell line G-402 expresses co-factors (adrenodoxin and adrenodoxin reductase) important for the activity of the CYP11 family and no relevant enzyme activity of the CYP11 family (in comparison to H295R cells) was detected in these cells. Therefore the G-402 cell line is uniquely suited as a host cell for the ectopic expression of enzymes from the CYP11 family.G-402 cells can be obtained from ATCC (CRL-1440) and were originally derived from a renal leiomyoblastoma.The expression plasmids contains the ORF for either human/cyno CYP11B1 or CYP11B2 under the control of a suitable promoter (CMV-promoter) and a suitable resistance marker (neomycin). Using standard techniques the expression plasmid is transfected into G-402 cells and these cells are then selected for expressing the given resistance markers. Individual cell-clones are then selected and assessed for displaying the desired enzymatic activity using 11-Deoxycorticosterone (Cyp11B2) or 11-Deoxycortisol (Cyp11B1) as a substrate.G-402 cells expressing CYP11 constructs were established as described above and maintained in McCoy's 5a Medium Modified, ATCC Catalog No. 30-2007 containing 10% FCS and 400 μg/ml G418 (Geneticin) at 37° C. under an atmosphere of 5% CO2/95% air. Cellular enzyme assays were performed in DMEM/F12 medium containing 2.5% charcoal treated FCS and appropriate concentration of substrate (0.3-10 uM 11-Deoxycorticosterone, 11-Deoxycortisol or Corticosterone). For assaying enzymatic activity, cells were plated onto 96 well plates and incubated for 16 h. An aliquot of the supernatant is then transferred and analyzed for the concentration of the expected product (Aldosterone for CYP11B2; Cortisol for CYP11B1). The concentrations of these steroids can be determined using HTRF assays from CisBio analyzing either Aldosterone or Cortisol.Inhibition of the release of produced steroids can be used as a measure of the respective enzyme inhibition by test compounds added during the cellular enzyme assay. The dose dependent inhibition of enzymatic activity by a compound is calculated by means of plotting added inhibitor concentrations (x-axes) vs. measured steroid/product level (y-axes). The inhibition is then calculated by fitting the following 4-parameter sigmoidal function (Morgan-Mercer-Flodin (MMF) model) to the raw data points using the least squares method:y = AB + Cx D B + x D wherein, A is the maximum y value, B is the EC50 factor determined using XLFit, C is the minimum y value and D is the slope value.
- Determining Endocannabinoid Hydrolase Activity In the Experimental example, endocannabinoid hydrolases used were Fatty Acid Amide Hydrolase (FAAH) and N-acylethanolamide hydrolyzing acid amidase (NAAA), which were prepared by the method described in the document (PMCID: PMC3423427, PMC3723234, PMC2692831, PMC3382457). The preparation method was as followed: a plasmid (pCDNA3.1/NAAA or pCDNA3.1/FAAH) carrying a whole NAAA/FAAH gene was constructed, wherein the plasmid carried Cytomegalovirus (CMV) promoter and Neomycin selectable gene; the plasmid was transformed into HEK-293 cell via lipid medium, stable cell lines expressing NAAA/FAAH at a high level were obtained by G418 screening and Western-blot method. HEK-293 recombinant cells were cultured and collected, washed with PBS for 2-3 times, and ultrasonically treated in 20 mM Tris-HCl containing 0.32 M sucrose, then repeatedly frozen and thawed twice, and then centrifuged at 4° C., 800 g for 15 min. The supernatant (i.e., the desired protein) was collected, the protein concentration was determined by BCA method, and the protein was diluted to a concentration of 1 mg/mL, and sub-packaged and stored in a refrigerator at −80° C. for further use.In the Experimental example, PBS solution used was prepared as followed: 8 g NaCl, 0.2 g KCl, 1.44 g Na2HPO4, and 0.24 g KH2PO4 were dissolved in 1 L ultrapure water, and the resultant solution was subjected to moist heat sterilization and stored at 4° C.30 μL (1 mg/mL) endocannabinoid hydrolase was added to a sample vial, and 2 μL DMSO (Blank control group) or a different concentration of a test compound (Compounds 1-46 prepared in the Examples according to the invention) was further added. The reaction was carried out at 37° C. for 10 min. 170 μL buffer (the buffer consisted of 50 mM disodium Hydrogen Phosphate, 0.1% Triton X-100, 3 mM DTT, 150 μL) containing enzymatic hydrolysis substrate (the substrate was a heptadecenoyl ethanolamine containing a double bond and 17 carbon atoms, abbreviated as 17:1 FAE) was further added, wherein the concentration of 17:1 FAE was 5 μM. The reaction was carried out at 37° C. for 30 min, and 200 μL methanol solution containing internal standard (the internal standard was margaric acid, at a concentration of 1 nmol) was then added to stop the reaction. LC-MS was used to determine the yield of the hydrolysate 17:1 FA (i.e., a heptadecenoic acid containing a double bond) of 17:1 FAE, then a graph was plotted with Graphpad Prism 5. Thereby, the IC50 of the test compound on endocannabinoid hydrolase was determined.By the method above, the inhibitory effects of the Compounds 1-46 prepared in the invention on NAAA and FAAH were determined. The results were shown in Table 1, wherein IC50 (NAAA) represents a concentration that inhibits NAAA activity to 50% of the activity prior to inhibition, IC50 (FAAH) represents a concentration that inhibits FAAH activity to 50% of the activity prior to inhibition, and >100 μM represents that IC50 of a compound on a corresponding enzyme is above 100 μM, indicating that the compound has no inhibitory effect on the enzyme.