Clinical Pharmacology Institute, Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, 510405, China.
State Key Laboratory of Bioactive Substances and Functions of Natural Medicines, Institute of Materia Medica, Neuroscience Center, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, 100050, China.
Acta Pharmacol Sin. 2023 Oct;44(10):1935-1947. doi: 10.1038/s41401-023-01100-y. Epub 2023 May 17.
Chemokine receptor 5 (CCR5) is one of the main co-receptors of HIV-1, and has been found to be a potential therapeutic target for stroke. Maraviroc is a classic CCR5 antagonist, which is undergoing clinical trials against stroke. As maraviroc shows poor blood-brain barrier (BBB) permeability, it is of interest to find novel CCR5 antagonists suitable for neurological medication. In this study we characterized the therapeutic potential of a novel CCR5 antagonist A14 in treating ischemic stroke mice. A14 was discovered in screening millions compounds in the Chemdiv library based on the molecular docking diagram of CCR5 and maraviroc. We found that A14 dose-dependently inhibited the CCR5 activity with an IC value of 4.29 μM. Pharmacodynamic studies showed that A14 treatment exerted protective effects against neuronal ischemic injury both in vitro and vivo. In a SH-SY5Y cell line overexpressing CCR5, A14 (0.1, 1 μM) significantly alleviated OGD/R-induced cell injury. We found that the expression of CCR5 and its ligand CKLF1 was significantly upregulated during both acute and recovery period in focal cortical stroke mice; oral administration of A14 (20 mg·kg·d, for 1 week) produced sustained protective effect against motor impairment. A14 treatment had earlier onset time, lower onset dosage and much better BBB permeability compared to maraviroc. MRI analysis also showed that A14 treatment significantly reduced the infarction volume after 1 week of treatment. We further revealed that A14 treatment blocked the protein-protein interaction between CCR5 and CKLF1, increasing the activity of CREB signaling pathway in neurons, thereby improving axonal sprouting and synaptic density after stroke. In addition, A14 treatment remarkably inhibited the reactive proliferation of glial cells after stroke and reduced the infiltration of peripheral immune cells. These results demonstrate that A14 is a promising novel CCR5 antagonist for promoting neuronal repair after ischemic stroke. A14 blocked the protein-protein interaction between CKLF1 and CCR5 after stroke by binding with CCR5 stably, improved the infarct area and promoted motor recovery through reversing the CREB/pCREB signaling which was inhibited by activated CCR5 Gαi pathway, and benefited to the dendritic spines and axons sprouting.
趋化因子受体 5(CCR5)是 HIV-1 的主要共受体之一,已被发现是中风的潜在治疗靶点。马拉维若(maraviroc)是一种经典的 CCR5 拮抗剂,目前正在针对中风进行临床试验。由于马拉维若的血脑屏障(BBB)通透性较差,因此寻找适合神经药物的新型 CCR5 拮抗剂很有意义。在这项研究中,我们研究了新型 CCR5 拮抗剂 A14 治疗缺血性中风小鼠的治疗潜力。A14 是在基于 CCR5 和马拉维若的分子对接图筛选 Chemdiv 文库中的数百万种化合物时发现的。我们发现 A14 剂量依赖性地抑制 CCR5 活性,IC 值为 4.29 μM。药效学研究表明,A14 治疗在体外和体内均对神经元缺血性损伤具有保护作用。在过表达 CCR5 的 SH-SY5Y 细胞系中,A14(0.1、1 μM)可显著减轻 OGD/R 诱导的细胞损伤。我们发现,在局灶性皮质性中风小鼠的急性和恢复期,CCR5 及其配体 CKLF1 的表达均明显上调;口服 A14(20 mg·kg·d,1 周)可持续对运动障碍产生保护作用。与马拉维若相比,A14 治疗具有更早的作用时间、更低的作用剂量和更好的 BBB 通透性。MRI 分析还表明,治疗 1 周后,A14 治疗可显著减少梗死体积。我们进一步发现,A14 治疗可阻断 CCR5 和 CKLF1 之间的蛋白-蛋白相互作用,增加神经元中 CREB 信号通路的活性,从而改善中风后的轴突发芽和突触密度。此外,A14 治疗可显著抑制中风后神经胶质细胞的反应性增殖,并减少外周免疫细胞的浸润。这些结果表明,A14 是一种有前途的新型 CCR5 拮抗剂,可促进缺血性中风后的神经元修复。A14 通过与 CCR5 稳定结合,在中风后阻断了 CKLF1 和 CCR5 之间的蛋白-蛋白相互作用,通过逆转被激活的 CCR5 Gαi 通路抑制的 CREB/pCREB 信号,改善了梗塞面积并促进了运动功能恢复,并有利于树突棘和轴突发芽。