Transcriptomic profiling of human hippocampal progenitor cells treated with antidepressants and its application in drug repositioning.

J Psychopharmacol. 2017 Jan 01;:269881117691467

Authors: Powell TR, Murphy T, Lee SH, Price J, Thuret S, Breen G

Abstract
Current pharmacological treatments for major depressive disorder (MDD) are ineffective in a significant proportion of patients, and the identification of new antidepressant compounds has been difficult. 'Connectivity mapping' is a method that can be used to identify drugs that elicit similar downstream effects on mRNA levels when compared to current treatments, and thus may point towards possible repositioning opportunities. We investigated genome-wide transcriptomic changes to human hippocampal progenitor cells treated with therapeutically relevant concentrations of a tricyclic antidepressant (nortriptyline) and a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (escitalopram). We identified mRNA changes common to both drugs to create an 'antidepressant mRNA signature'. We used this signature to probe the Library of Integrated Network-based Cellular Signatures (LINCS) and to identify other compounds that elicit similar changes to mRNA in neural progenitor cells. Results from LINCS revealed that the tricyclic antidepressant clomipramine elicited mRNA changes most similar to our mRNA signature, and we identified W-7 and vorinostat as functionally relevant drug candidates, which may have repositioning potential. Our results are encouraging and represent the first attempt to use connectivity mapping for drug repositioning in MDD.

PMID: 28208023 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

Systematic analyses of drugs and disease indications in RepurposeDB reveal pharmacological, biological and epidemiological factors influencing drug repositioning.

Brief Bioinform. 2017 Feb 15;:

Authors: Shameer K, Glicksberg BS, Hodos R, Johnson KW, Badgeley MA, Readhead B, Tomlinson MS, O'Connor T, Miotto R, Kidd BA, Chen R, Ma'ayan A, Dudley JT

PMID: 28200013 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

DeSigN: connecting gene expression with therapeutics for drug repurposing and development.

BMC Genomics. 2017 Jan 25;18(Suppl 1):934

Authors: Lee BK, Tiong KH, Chang JK, Liew CS, Abdul Rahman ZA, Tan AC, Khang TF, Cheong SC

Abstract
BACKGROUND: The drug discovery and development pipeline is a long and arduous process that inevitably hampers rapid drug development. Therefore, strategies to improve the efficiency of drug development are urgently needed to enable effective drugs to enter the clinic. Precision medicine has demonstrated that genetic features of cancer cells can be used for predicting drug response, and emerging evidence suggest that gene-drug connections could be predicted more accurately by exploring the cumulative effects of many genes simultaneously.
RESULTS: We developed DeSigN, a web-based tool for predicting drug efficacy against cancer cell lines using gene expression patterns. The algorithm correlates phenotype-specific gene signatures derived from differentially expressed genes with pre-defined gene expression profiles associated with drug response data (IC50) from 140 drugs. DeSigN successfully predicted the right drug sensitivity outcome in four published GEO studies. Additionally, it predicted bosutinib, a Src/Abl kinase inhibitor, as a sensitive inhibitor for oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) cell lines. In vitro validation of bosutinib in OSCC cell lines demonstrated that indeed, these cell lines were sensitive to bosutinib with IC50 of 0.8-1.2 μM. As further confirmation, we demonstrated experimentally that bosutinib has anti-proliferative activity in OSCC cell lines, demonstrating that DeSigN was able to robustly predict drug that could be beneficial for tumour control.
CONCLUSIONS: DeSigN is a robust method that is useful for the identification of candidate drugs using an input gene signature obtained from gene expression analysis. This user-friendly platform could be used to identify drugs with unanticipated efficacy against cancer cell lines of interest, and therefore could be used for the repurposing of drugs, thus improving the efficiency of drug development.

PMID: 28198666 [PubMed - in process]

Repositioning of amprenavir as a novel extracellular signal-regulated kinase-2 inhibitor and apoptosis inducer in MCF-7 human breast cancer.

Int J Oncol. 2017 Jan 24;:

Authors: Jiang W, Li X, Li T, Wang H, Shi W, Qi P, Li C, Chen J, Bao J, Huang G, Wang Y

Abstract
Computational drug repositioning by virtually screening existing drugs for additional therapeutic usage could efficiently accelerate anticancer drug discovery. Herein, a library of 1447 Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved small molecule drugs was screened in silico for inhibitors of extracellular signal-regulated kinase 2 (ERK2). Then, in vitro kinase assay demonstrated amprenavir, a HIV-1 protease inhibitor, as a potential kinase inhibitor of ERK2. The in vivo kinase assay indicated that amprenavir could inhibit ERK2-mediated phosphorylation of BimEL at Ser69. Amprenavir could suppress this phosphorylation in MCF-7 cells, which may further facilitate the association of BimEL with several pro-survival molecules. Additionally, inhibition of ERK2-BimEL signaling pathway by amprenavir could contribute to its anti-proliferative and apoptosis-inducing activity in MCF-7 cells. Finally, in vivo tumor growth and immunohistochemical studies confirmed that amprenavir remarkably suppressed tumor proliferation and induce apoptosis in MCF-7 xenografts. Taken together, amprenavir can effectively inhibit the kinase activity of ERK2, and thus induces apoptosis and inhibits tumor growth in human MCF-7 cancer cells both in vitro and in vivo, making amprenavir a promising candidate for future anticancer therapeutics.

PMID: 28197631 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

Mefloquine and its oxazolidine derivative compound are active against drug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains and in a murine model of tuberculosis infection.

Int J Antimicrob Agents. 2016 Aug;48(2):203-7

Authors: Rodrigues-Junior VS, Villela AD, Gonçalves RS, Abbadi BL, Trindade RV, López-Gavín A, Tudó G, González-Martín J, Basso LA, de Souza MV, Campos MM, Santos DS

Abstract
Repurposing of drugs to treat tuberculosis (TB) has been considered an alternative to overcome the global TB epidemic, especially to combat drug-resistant forms of the disease. Mefloquine has been reported as a potent drug to kill drug-resistant strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. In addition, mefloquine-derived molecules have been synthesised and their effectiveness against mycobacteria has been assessed. In this work, we demonstrate for the first time the activities of mefloquine and its oxazolidine derivative compound 1E in a murine model of TB infection following administration of both drugs by the oral route. The effects of associations between mefloquine or 1E with the clinically used antituberculosis drugs isoniazid, rifampicin, ethambutol, moxifloxacin and streptomycin were also investigated. Importantly, combination of mefloquine with isoniazid and of 1E with streptomycin showed a two-fold decrease in their minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs). Moreover, no tested combinations demonstrated antagonist interactions. Here we describe novel evidence on the activity of mefloquine and 1E against a series of quinolone-resistant M. tuberculosis strains. These data show MICs against quinolone-resistant strains (0.5-8 µg/mL) similar to or lower than those previously reported for multidrug-resistant strains. Taking these results together, we can suggest the use of mefloquine or 1E in combination with clinically available drugs, especially in the case of resistant forms of TB.

PMID: 27364701 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

In vitro screening of an FDA-Approved Library against ESKAPE pathogens.

Curr Pharm Des. 2017 Feb 09;:

Authors: Younis W, AbdelKhalek A, Mayhoub AS, Seleem MN

Abstract
Bacterial resistance to conventional antibiotics is an increasingly serious threat to public health worldwide that requires immediate exploration and the development of novel antimicrobial compounds. Drug repurposing is an inexpensive and untapped source of new antimicrobial leads, and it holds many attractive features warranting further attention for antimicrobial drug discovery. In an effort to repurpose drugs and explore new leads in the field of antimicrobial drug discovery, we performed a whole-cell screening assay of 1,600 Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved drugs against Enterococcus faecium, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumannii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Enterobacter cloacae (ESKAPE) pathogens. The in vitro screening identified 49 non-antimicrobial drugs that were active against at least one species of ESKAPE pathogen. Although some of these drugs were known to have antibacterial activity, many have never been reported before. In particular, sulfonamide-containing structures represent a novel drug scaffold that should be investigated further. The characteristics of these drugs as antimicrobial agents may offer a safe, effective, and quick supplement to current approaches to treating bacterial infections.

PMID: 28190396 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

Novel antiviral activity and mechanism of bromocriptine as a Zika virus NS2B-NS3 protease inhibitor.

Antiviral Res. 2017 Feb 06;:

Authors: Chan JF, Chik KK, Yuan S, Yip CC, Zhu Z, Tee KM, Tsang JO, Chan CC, Poon VK, Lu G, Zhang AJ, Lai KK, Chan KH, Kao RY, Yuen KY

Abstract
Zika virus (ZIKV) infection is associated with congenital malformations in infected fetuses and severe neurological and other systemic complications in adults. There are currently limited anti-ZIKV treatment options that are readily available and safe for use in pregnancy. In this drug repurposing study, bromocriptine was found to have inhibitory effects on ZIKV replication in cytopathic effect inhibition, virus yield reduction, and plaque reduction assays. Time-of-drug-addition assay showed that bromocriptine exerted anti-ZIKV activity between 0 and 12 h post-ZIKV inoculation, corroborating with post-entry events in the virus replication cycle prior to budding. Our docking model showed that bromocriptine interacted with several active site residues of the proteolytic cavity involving H51 and S135 in the ZIKV-NS2B-NS3 protease protein, and might occupy the active site and inhibit the protease activity of the ZIKV-NS2B-NS3 protein. A fluorescence resonance energy transfer-based enzymatic assay confirmed that bromocriptine inhibited ZIKV protease activity. Moreover, bromocriptine exhibited synergistic effect with interferon-α2b against ZIKV replication in cytopathic effect inhibition assay. The availability of per vagina administration of bromocriptine as suppositories or vaginoadhesive discs and the synergistic anti-ZIKV activity between bromocriptine and type I interferon may make bromocriptine a potentially useful and readily available treatment option for ZIKV infection. The anti-ZIKV effects of bromocriptine should be evaluated in a suitable animal model.

PMID: 28185815 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

8 new pubmed citations were retrieved for your search. Click on the search hyperlink below to display the complete search results:

"drug repositioning" OR "drug repurposing"

These pubmed results were generated on 2017/02/09

PubMed comprises more than millions of citations for biomedical literature from MEDLINE, life science journals, and online books. Citations may include links to full-text content from PubMed Central and publisher web sites.

Genome-wide association analyses for lung function and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease identify new loci and potential druggable targets.

Nat Genet. 2017 Feb 06;:

Authors: Wain LV, Shrine N, Artigas MS, Erzurumluoglu AM, Noyvert B, Bossini-Castillo L, Obeidat M, Henry AP, Portelli MA, Hall RJ, Billington CK, Rimington TL, Fenech AG, John C, Blake T, Jackson VE, Allen RJ, Prins BP, Understanding Society Scientific Group, Campbell A, Porteous DJ, Jarvelin MR, Wielscher M, James AL, Hui J, Wareham NJ, Zhao JH, Wilson JF, Joshi PK, Stubbe B, Rawal R, Schulz H, Imboden M, Probst-Hensch NM, Karrasch S, Gieger C, Deary IJ, Harris SE, Marten J, Rudan I, Enroth S, Gyllensten U, Kerr SM, Polasek O, Kähönen M, Surakka I, Vitart V, Hayward C, Lehtimäki T, Raitakari OT, Evans DM, Henderson AJ, Pennell CE, Wang CA, Sly PD, Wan ES, Busch R, Hobbs BD, Litonjua AA, Sparrow DW, Gulsvik A, Bakke PS, Crapo JD, Beaty TH, Hansel NN, Mathias RA, Ruczinski I, Barnes KC, Bossé Y, Joubert P, van den Berge M, Brandsma CA, Paré PD, Sin DD, Nickle DC, Hao K, Gottesman O, Dewey FE, Bruse SE, Carey DJ, Kirchner HL, Geisinger-Regeneron DiscovEHR Collaboration, Jonsson S, Thorleifsson G, Jonsdottir I, Gislason T, Stefansson K, Schurmann C, Nadkarni G, Bottinger EP, Loos RJ, Walters RG, Chen Z, Millwood IY, Vaucher J, Kurmi OP, Li L, Hansell AL, Brightling C, Zeggini E, Cho MH, Silverman EK, Sayers I, Trynka G, Morris AP, Strachan DP, Hall IP, Tobin MD

Abstract
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is characterized by reduced lung function and is the third leading cause of death globally. Through genome-wide association discovery in 48,943 individuals, selected from extremes of the lung function distribution in UK Biobank, and follow-up in 95,375 individuals, we increased the yield of independent signals for lung function from 54 to 97. A genetic risk score was associated with COPD susceptibility (odds ratio per 1 s.d. of the risk score (∼6 alleles) (95% confidence interval) = 1.24 (1.20-1.27), P = 5.05 × 10(-49)), and we observed a 3.7-fold difference in COPD risk between individuals in the highest and lowest genetic risk score deciles in UK Biobank. The 97 signals show enrichment in genes for development, elastic fibers and epigenetic regulation pathways. We highlight targets for drugs and compounds in development for COPD and asthma (genes in the inositol phosphate metabolism pathway and CHRM3) and describe targets for potential drug repositioning from other clinical indications.

PMID: 28166213 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

CaV channels and cancer: canonical functions indicate benefits of repurposed drugs as cancer therapeutics.

Eur Biophys J. 2016 Oct;45(7):621-633

Authors: Buchanan PJ, McCloskey KD

Abstract
The importance of ion channels in the hallmarks of many cancers is increasingly recognised. This article reviews current knowledge of the expression of members of the voltage-gated calcium channel family (CaV) in cancer at the gene and protein level and discusses their potential functional roles. The ten members of the CaV channel family are classified according to expression of their pore-forming α-subunit; moreover, co-expression of accessory α2δ, β and γ confers a spectrum of biophysical characteristics including voltage dependence of activation and inactivation, current amplitude and activation/inactivation kinetics. CaV channels have traditionally been studied in excitable cells including neurones, smooth muscle, skeletal muscle and cardiac cells, and drugs targeting the channels are used in the treatment of hypertension and epilepsy. There is emerging evidence that several CaV channels are differentially expressed in cancer cells compared to their normal counterparts. Interestingly, a number of CaV channels also have non-canonical functions and are involved in transcriptional regulation of the expression of other proteins including potassium channels. Pharmacological studies show that CaV canonical function contributes to the fundamental biology of proliferation, cell-cycle progression and apoptosis. This raises the intriguing possibility that calcium channel blockers, approved for the treatment of other conditions, could be repurposed to treat particular cancers. Further research will reveal the full extent of both the canonical and non-canonical functions of CaV channels in cancer and whether calcium channel blockers are beneficial in cancer treatment.

PMID: 27342111 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

8 new pubmed citations were retrieved for your search. Click on the search hyperlink below to display the complete search results:

"drug repositioning" OR "drug repurposing"

These pubmed results were generated on 2017/02/06

PubMed comprises more than millions of citations for biomedical literature from MEDLINE, life science journals, and online books. Citations may include links to full-text content from PubMed Central and publisher web sites.

Drug repurposing and therapeutic anti-microRNA predictions for inhibition of oxidized low-density lipoprotein-induced vascular smooth muscle cell-associated diseases.

J Bioinform Comput Biol. 2016 Dec 22;:1650043

Authors: Chen ST, Huang CH, Kok VC, Huang CF, Ciou JS, Tsai JJ, Kurubanjerdjit N, Ng KL

Abstract
Drug repurposing is a new method for disease treatments, which accelerates the identification of new uses for existing drugs with minimal side effects for patients. MicroRNA-based therapeutics are a class of drugs that have been used in gene therapy following the FDA's approval of the first anti-sense therapy. This study examines the effects of oxLDL on vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) and identifies potential drugs and antimiRs for treating VSMC-associated diseases. The Connectivity Map (cMap) database is utilized to identify potential new uses of existing drugs. The success of the identifications was supported by MTT assay, clonogenic assay and clinical trial data. Specifically, 37 drugs, some of which are undergoing clinical trials, were identified. Three of the identified drugs exhibit IC50 activities. Among the 37 drugs' targets, three differentially expressed genes (DEGs) are identified as drug targets by using both the DrugBank and the NCBI PubChem Compound databases. Also, one DEG, DNMT1, which is regulated by 17 miRNAs, where these miRNAs are potential targets for developing antimiR-based miRNA therapy, is found.

PMID: 28150521 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

A Blockade of IGF Signaling Sensitizes Human Ovarian Cancer Cells to the Anthelmintic Niclosamide-Induced Anti-Proliferative and Anticancer Activities.

Cell Physiol Biochem. 2016;39(3):871-88

Authors: Deng Y, Wang Z, Zhang F, Qiao M, Yan Z, Wei Q, Wang J, Liu H, Fan J, Zou Y, Liao J, Hu X, Chen L, Yu X, Haydon RC, Luu HH, Qi H, He TC, Zhang J

Abstract
BACKGROUND/AIMS: Ovarian cancer is the most lethal gynecologic malignancy, and there is an unmet clinical need to develop new therapies. Although showing promising anticancer activity, Niclosamide may not be used as a monotherapy. We seek to investigate whether inhibiting IGF signaling potentiates Niclosamide's anticancer efficacy in human ovarian cancer cells.
METHODS: Cell proliferation and migration are assessed. Cell cycle progression and apoptosis are analyzed by flow cytometry. Inhibition of IGF signaling is accomplished by adenovirus-mediated expression of siRNAs targeting IGF-1R. Cancer-associated pathways are assessed using pathway-specific reporters. Subcutaneous xenograft model is used to determine anticancer activity.
RESULTS: We find that Niclosamide is highly effective on inhibiting cell proliferation, cell migration, and cell cycle progression, and inducing apoptosis in human ovarian cancer cells, possibly by targeting multiple signaling pathways involved in ELK1/SRF, AP-1, MYC/MAX and NFkB. Silencing IGF-1R exert a similar but weaker effect than that of Niclosamide's. However, silencing IGF-1R significantly sensitizes ovarian cancer cells to Niclosamide-induced anti-proliferative and anticancer activities both in vitro and in vivo.
CONCLUSION: Niclosamide as a repurposed anticancer agent may be more efficacious when combined with agents that target other signaling pathways such as IGF signaling in the treatment of human cancers including ovarian cancer.

PMID: 27497986 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Sulforaphane Prevents Neuronal Apoptosis and Memory Impairment in Diabetic Rats.

Cell Physiol Biochem. 2016;39(3):901-7

Authors: Wang G, Fang H, Zhen Y, Xu G, Tian J, Zhang Y, Zhang D, Zhang G, Xu J, Zhang Z, Qiu M, Ma Y, Zhang H, Zhang X

Abstract
BACKGROUND/AIMS: To explore the effects of sulforaphane (SFN) on neuronal apoptosis in hippocampus and memory impairment in diabetic rats.
METHODS: Thirty male rats were randomly divided into normal control, diabetic model and SFN treatment groups (N = 10 in each group). Streptozotocin (STZ) was applied to establish diabetic model. Water Morris maze task was applied to test learning and memory. Tunel assaying was used to detect apoptosis in hippocampus. The expressions of Caspase-3 and myeloid cell leukemia 1(MCL-1) were detected by western blotting. Neurotrophic factor levels and AKT/GSK3β pathway were also detected.
RESULTS: Compared with normal control, learning and memory were apparently impaired, with up-regulation of Caspase-3 and down-regulation of MCL-1 in diabetic rats. Apoptotic neurons were also found in CA1 region after diabetic modeling. By contrast, SFN treatment prevented the memory impairment, decreased the apoptosis of hippocampal neurons. SFN also attenuated the abnormal expression of Caspase-3 and MCL-1 in diabetic model. Mechanically, SFN treatment reversed diabetic modeling-induced decrease of p-Akt, p-GSK3β, NGF and BDNF expressions.
CONCLUSION: SFN could prevent the memory impairment and apoptosis of hippocampal neurons in diabetic rat. The possible mechanism was related to the regulation of neurotropic factors and Akt/GSK3β pathway.

PMID: 27497670 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Anthelminthic drug niclosamide sensitizes the responsiveness of cervical cancer cells to paclitaxel via oxidative stress-mediated mTOR inhibition.

Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2017 Jan 27;:

Authors: Chen L, Wang L, Shen H, Lin H, Li D

Abstract
Drug repurposing represents an alternative therapeutic strategy to cancer treatment. The potent anti-cancer activities of a FDA-approved anthelminthic drug niclosamide have been demonstrated in various cancers. However, whether niclosamide is active against cervical cancer are unknown. In this study, we investigated the effects of niclosamide alone and its combination with paclitaxel in cervical cancer cells in vitro and in vivo. We found that niclosamide significantly inhibited proliferation and induced apoptosis of a panel of cervical cancer cell lines, regardless of their cellular origin and genetic pattern. Niclosamide also inhibited tumor growth in cervical cancer xenograft mouse model. Importantly, niclosamide significantly enhanced the responsiveness of cervical cancer cell to paclitaxel. We further found that niclosamide induced mitochondrial dysfunctions via inhibiting mitochondrial respiration, complex I activity and ATP generation, which led to oxidative stress. ROS scavenge agent N-acetyl-l-cysteine (NAC) completely reversed the effects of niclosamide in increasing cellular ROS, inhibiting proliferation and inducing apoptosis, suggesting that oxidative stress induction is the mechanism of action of niclosamide in cervical cancer cells. In addition, niclosamide significantly inhibited mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling pathway in cervical cancer cells and its inhibitory effect on mTOR is modulated by oxidative stress. Our work suggests that niclosamide is a useful addition to the treatment armamentarium for cervical cancer and induction of oxidative stress may be a potential therapeutic strategy in cervical cancer.

PMID: 28137584 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

A Systematic Framework for Drug Repositioning from Integrated Omics and Drug Phenotype Profiles Using Pathway-Drug Network.

Biomed Res Int. 2016;2016:7147039

Authors: Jadamba E, Shin M

Abstract
Drug repositioning offers new clinical indications for old drugs. Recently, many computational approaches have been developed to repurpose marketed drugs in human diseases by mining various of biological data including disease expression profiles, pathways, drug phenotype expression profiles, and chemical structure data. However, despite encouraging results, a comprehensive and efficient computational drug repositioning approach is needed that includes the high-level integration of available resources. In this study, we propose a systematic framework employing experimental genomic knowledge and pharmaceutical knowledge to reposition drugs for a specific disease. Specifically, we first obtain experimental genomic knowledge from disease gene expression profiles and pharmaceutical knowledge from drug phenotype expression profiles and construct a pathway-drug network representing a priori known associations between drugs and pathways. To discover promising candidates for drug repositioning, we initialize node labels for the pathway-drug network using identified disease pathways and known drugs associated with the phenotype of interest and perform network propagation in a semisupervised manner. To evaluate our method, we conducted some experiments to reposition 1309 drugs based on four different breast cancer datasets and verified the results of promising candidate drugs for breast cancer by a two-step validation procedure. Consequently, our experimental results showed that the proposed framework is quite useful approach to discover promising candidates for breast cancer treatment.

PMID: 28127549 [PubMed - in process]

Six psychotropics for pre-symptomatic & early Alzheimer's (MCI), Parkinson's, and Huntington's disease modification.

Neural Regen Res. 2016 Nov;11(11):1712-1726

Authors: Lauterbach EC

Abstract
The quest for neuroprotective drugs to slow the progression of neurodegenerative diseases (NDDs), including Alzheimer's disease (AD), Parkinson's disease (PD), and Huntington's disease (HD), has been largely unrewarding. Preclinical evidence suggests that repurposing quetiapine, lithium, valproate, fluoxetine, donepezil, and memantine for early and pre-symptomatic disease-modification in NDDs may be promising and can spare regulatory barriers. The literature of these psychotropics in early stage and pre-symptomatic AD, PD, and HD is reviewed and propitious findings follow. Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) phase of AD: salutary human randomized controlled trial findings for low-dose lithium and, in selected patients, donepezil await replication. Pre-symptomatic AD: human epidemiological data indicate that lithium reduces AD risk. Animal model studies (AMS) reveal encouraging results for quetiapine, lithium, donepezil, and memantine. Early PD: valproate AMS findings show promise. Pre-symptomatic PD: lithium and valproate AMS findings are encouraging. Early HD: uncontrolled clinical data indicate non-progression with lithium, fluoxetine, donepezil, and memantine. Pre-symptomatic HD: lithium and valproate are auspicious in AMS. Many other promising findings awaiting replication (valproate in MCI; lithium, valproate, fluoxetine in pre-symptomatic AD; lithium in early PD; lithium, valproate, fluoxetine in pre-symptomatic PD; donepezil in early HD; lithium, fluoxetine, memantine in pre-symptomatic HD) are reviewed. Dose- and stage-dependent effects are considered. Suggestions for signal-enhancement in human trials are provided for each NDD stage.

PMID: 28123400 [PubMed - in process]

Ex vivo drug response profiling detects recurrent sensitivity patterns in drug resistant ALL.

Blood. 2017 Jan 25;:

Authors: Frismantas V, Dobay MP, Rinaldi A, Tchinda J, Dunn SH, Kunz J, Richter-Pechanska P, Marovca B, Pail O, Jenni S, Diaz-Flores E, Chang BH, Brown TJ, Collins RH, Uhrig S, Balasubramanian GP, Bandapalli OR, Higi S, Eugster S, Voegeli P, Delorenzi M, Cario G, Loh ML, Schrappe M, Stanulla M, Kulozik AE, Muckenthaler MU, Saha V, Irving JA, Meisel R, Radimerski T, Von Stackelberg A, Eckert C, Tyner JW, Horvath P, Bornhauser BC, Bourquin JP

Abstract
Drug sensitivity and resistance testing on diagnostic leukemia samples should provide important functional information to guide actionable target and biomarker discovery. We provide proof of concept data by profiling 60 drugs on 68 acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) samples mostly from resistant disease in co-cultures on bone marrow stromal cells. Patient-derived xenografts retained the original pattern of mutations found in the matched patient material. Stromal co-culture did not prevent leukemia cell cycle activity, while a specific sensitivity profile to cell cycle related drugs identified samples with higher cell proliferation both in vitro and in vivo as leukemia xenografts. In cases with refractory relapses, individual patterns of marked drug resistance, but also exceptional responses to new agents of immediate clinical relevance were detected. The BCL2-inhibitor venetoclax was highly active below 10 nM in BCP-ALL subsets including MLL-AF4 and TCF3-HLF ALL, and in some T-ALLs, predicting in vivo activity as a single agent and in combination with dexamethasone and vincristine. Unexpected sensitivity to dasatinib with IC50 values below 20 nM was detected in two independent T-ALL cohorts, which correlated with similar cytotoxic activity of the SRC Inhibitor KX2-391 and inhibition of SRC phosphorylation. A patient with refractory T-ALL was treated with dasatinib based on drug profiling information and achieved a five-month remission. Thus, drug profiling captures disease-relevant features and unexpected sensitivity to relevant drugs, which warrants further exploration of this functional assay in the context of clinical trials in order to develop drug repurposing strategies for patients with urgent medical needs.

PMID: 28122742 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

Pharmacophore-based repositioning of approved drugs as novel S. aureus NorA efflux pump inhibitors.

J Med Chem. 2017 Jan 24;:

Authors: Astolfi A, Felicetti T, Iraci N, Manfroni G, Massari S, Pietrella D, Tabarrini O, Kaatz GW, Barreca ML, Sabatini S, Cecchetti V

Abstract
An intriguing opportunity to address antimicrobial resistance is represented by the inhibition of efflux pumps. Focusing on NorA, the most important efflux pump of Staphylococcus aureus, an efflux pump inhibitors (EPIs) library was used for ligand-based pharmacophore modeling studies. Exploiting the obtained models, an in silico drug repositioning approach allowed for the identification of novel and potent NorA EPIs.

PMID: 28117588 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

Old-School Chemotherapy in Immunotherapeutic Combination in Cancer, A Low-cost Drug Repurposed.

Cancer Immunol Res. 2016 May;4(5):377-82

Authors: Abu Eid R, Razavi GS, Mkrtichyan M, Janik J, Khleif SN

Abstract
Cancer immunotherapy has proven to be a potent treatment modality. Although often successful in generating antitumor immune responses, cancer immunotherapy is frequently hindered by tumor immune-escape mechanisms. Among immunosuppressive strategies within the tumor microenvironment, suppressive immune regulatory cells play a key role in promoting tumor progression through inhibiting the effector arm of the immune response. Targeting these suppressive cells can greatly enhance antitumor immune therapies, hence augmenting a highly effective therapeutic antitumor response. Several approaches are being tested to enhance the effector arm of the immune system while simultaneously inhibiting the suppressor arm. Some of these approaches are none other than traditional drugs repurposed as immune modulators. Cyclophosphamide, an old-school chemotherapeutic agent used across a wide range of malignancies, was found to be a potent immune modulator that targets suppressive regulatory immune cells within the tumor microenvironment while enhancing effector cells. Preclinical and clinical findings have confirmed the ability of low doses of cyclophosphamide to selectively deplete regulatory T cells while enhancing effector and memory cytotoxic T cells within the tumor microenvironment. These immune effects translate to suppressed tumor growth and enhanced survival, evidence of antitumor therapeutic efficacy. This article discusses the reincarnation of cyclophosphamide as an immune modulator that augments novel immunotherapeutic approaches. Cancer Immunol Res; 4(5); 377-82. ©2016 AACR.

PMID: 27196429 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]