10.12.2012 Views

netLibrary - eBook Summary Structure-based Drug Design by ...

netLibrary - eBook Summary Structure-based Drug Design by ...

netLibrary - eBook Summary Structure-based Drug Design by ...

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.

Document<br />

Page 314<br />

anemone toxins and to indicate how the favorable cardiotonic properties of the anthopleurins might be<br />

mimicked in a low molecular weight analog.<br />

Progress in defining the cardiotonic pharmacophore has been hampered <strong>by</strong> difficulties in determining<br />

high-resolution structures of the anthopleurins in solution due to the presence of multiple conformers,<br />

and <strong>by</strong> uncertainties concerning the exact location of some of the key residues in the Arg14 loop. Both<br />

of these problems would have been alleviated <strong>by</strong> isotopic labeling of the molecules in a high-yield<br />

expression system, which would have allowed for better definition of the structures in solution. The<br />

question of how the structure in solution might change upon binding to the sodium channel remains<br />

open and is particularly relevant to residues in the Arg14-containing loop. Conformationally constrained<br />

analogs of the ligand offer one means of addressing this problem. The definitive solution would be<br />

provided <strong>by</strong> a high-resolution structure for the sodium channel, determined <strong>by</strong> x-ray or electron<br />

crystallography, but this will not be available in the near future. In the meantime, the approach of<br />

complementary mutagenesis (of both ligand and receptor), which has been very informative in defining<br />

the charybdotoxin-potassium channel interface [68,77], can be employed to produce a crude model of<br />

the binding site.<br />

Once a lead compound is obtained, further development will almost certainly be required to optimize<br />

properties such as bioavailability and stability in vivo. A key requirement will also be good selectivity<br />

for the cardiac over other sodium channels, but the results of mutagenesis studies carried out so far on<br />

the anthopleurins suggest that this should be achievable. Lead compounds will also have to be rigorously<br />

evaluated in terms of their effects on cardiac arrhythmias to ensure that they ameliorate rather than<br />

exacerbate this problem, especially in the failing heart. Finally, the possibility that the beneficial effects<br />

of positive inotropes in vivo may be the result of inotropic and noninotropic activities [6] would need to<br />

be evaluated for mimetics of the anthopleurins. These requirements notwithstanding, there is good<br />

reason to be optimistic that a mimetic of the anthopleurins can be developed and that it may have<br />

significant benefits in the treatment of congestive heart failure.<br />

Acknowledgments<br />

I am grateful to all the colleagues who have contributed to our sea anemone toxin work over the years,<br />

and, in particular, to Steve Monks, Paul Pallaghy, and Jane Tudor for assistance with the figures and for<br />

helpful discussions. I also thank Ken Blumenthal for communicating results prior to publication.<br />

Note Added in Proof<br />

Since completion of this chapter, two additional papers on site-directed mutations of anthopleurin-B<br />

have been published. In the first (Khera PK, Blumenthal<br />

http://legacy.netlibrary.com/nlreader/nlReader.dll?bookid=12640&filename=Page_314.html [4/5/2004 5:24:06 PM]

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!