The present invention relates to compounds, compositions and methods for treating Alzheimer's disease.
Alzheimer's disease is the most common neurodegenerative disease and the most common cause of dementia in the elderly. By September 2015, the disease affected 47.5 million people worldwide. Its prevalence is 5% after 65 years old and grows exponentially with age (25% of people aged more than 80 are affected) but it can also occur much earlier.
Alzheimer's disease is characterised by progressive and irreversible loss of neurons. This loss leads to the decline of cognitive faculties, such as memory, language, reasoning, as well as a disappearance of orientation capacities in time and space. Eventually, patients are unable to recognise familiar people or to carry out mundane tasks.
Alzheimer's disease appears to be due, at least in part, to the presence in the brain of extracellular deposits of β-amyloid peptide forming so-called amyloid plaques. These plaques lead to a dysfunction of surrounding neurons, and ultimately to neuronal death. The β-amyloid peptide comprises 36 to 43 amino acids and is derived from an abnormal enzymatic cleavage of the amyloid precursor protein (APP), by β-secretase and γ-secretase. This peptide is insoluble and little degraded. This process usually starts at the hippocampus and gradually extends to different areas of the cerebral cortex.
At this time, there is no drug treatment for this disease.
Indeed, current drugs approved in this context, such as donepezil (Rogers et al. (1998) Arch Intern Med. 158: 1021-3), an anti-cholinesterase, aim at slowing the symptomatic progression of the disease, but do not prevent the neuronal degeneration and death.
Accordingly, there is a need for alternative treatments to these compounds in Alzheimer's disease, in particular to alter the pathological mechanisms of this condition in addition to treating the symptoms.
The present invention arises from the recognition, by the present inventors, of the potential of queuine as a neuroprotective agent in the prevention or treatment of Alzheimer's disease. Without wishing to be bound to a particular theory, the inventors believe that queuine could prevent or exert a beneficial action on the misfolding of proteins involved in the pathological mechanism leading to amyloid plaque formation.
Thus, the present invention relates to queuine, a precursor of queuine, a derivative of queuine or a stereoisomer of queuine, an analogue of queuine, or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt or hydrate thereof, for use in the prevention or treatment of Alzheimer's disease.
The present invention relates to a compound of the following formula (I):
wherein:
The present invention also relates to a compound of the following formula (I) of the following formula (II):
wherein:
In an embodiment of the invention the compound of formula (I), in particular the compound of formula (II), or the pharmaceutically acceptable salt or hydrate thereof, for use as defined above, is in combination with at least one additional compound useful for the prevention or treatment of Alzheimer's disease.
The present invention also relates to a pharmaceutical composition comprising as active substance a compound of formula (I), in particular a compound of formula (II), or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt or hydrate thereof as defined above, optionally in association with at least one pharmaceutically acceptable excipient or vehicle, for use in the prevention or treatment of Alzheimer's disease.
In an embodiment of the present invention the above defined pharmaceutical composition further comprises at least one additional compound useful for the prevention or treatment of Alzheimer's disease.
The present invention also relates to a pharmaceutical composition comprising as active substance a compound of formula (I), in particular a compound of formula (II), or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt or hydrate thereof, as defined above, further comprising at least one additional compound useful for the prevention or treatment of Alzheimer's disease, optionally in association with at least one pharmaceutically acceptable excipient or vehicle.
The present invention also relates to products comprising:
a compound of formula (I), in particular a compound of formula (II), or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt or hydrate thereof, as defined above,
at least one additional compound useful for the prevention or treatment of Alzheimer's disease,
as a combined preparation for simultaneous, separated or sequential use in the prevention or treatment of Alzheimer's disease in an individual.
The present invention also relates to a dietary supplement comprising a compound of formula (I), in particular a compound of formula (II), or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt or hydrate thereof, as defined above, for use for reducing the risk of Alzheimer's disease.
In an embodiment of the present invention, the dietary supplement as defined above, optionally comprises additional compounds, preferably selected from the group consisting of vitamins, minerals, fatty acids, amino acids and antioxidants.
The present invention also relates to a method for the prevention or treatment of Alzheimer's disease in an individual, comprising administering to the individual an effective amount of a compound of formula (I), in particular of a compound of formula (II), or of a pharmaceutically acceptable salt or hydrate thereof, as defined above.
In an embodiment of the present invention, the method as defined above further comprises the administration of at least one compound useful for the prevention or treatment of Alzheimer's disease.
The present invention also relates to the use of a compound of formula (I), in particular a compound of formula (II), as defined above for the manufacture of a medicament intended for the prevention or treatment of Alzheimer's disease in an individual.
In an embodiment of the present invention, the medicament as defined above further comprises at least one compound useful for the prevention or treatment of Alzheimer's disease.
Compounds of formula (I) as defined above can be readily chemically synthesized by one of skilled in the art, as is in particular described in Barnett & Grubb (2000), Tetrahedron 56: 9221-9225, Oxenford et al. (2004) Tetrahedron Letters 45:9053-9055, Brooks et al. (2010) Tetrahedron Letters 51: 4163-4165, Gerber et al. (2012) Org. Biomol. Chem. 10: 8660-8668, the thesis by Allen Brook entitled “Synthesis of Tritium Labeled Queuine, PreQ1 and Related Azide Probes Toward Examining the Prevalence of Queuine” (2012, University of Michigan), Akimoto et al. (1986) J. Med. Chem., 29: 1749-1753, Kelly et al. (2016) Nucleic Acids Research, 1-11, and international application WO2016/050806, all of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Briefly, by way of example, queuine can be synthesised according to the following reaction scheme:
In additions, compounds of formula (I) as defined above may be extracted and optionally purified from natural sources such as microorganisms, in particular bacteria, or from plants, in particular from plants nodulated with alpha-Proteobacteria such as bacteria of the Rhizobium, Mesorhizobium, and Sinorhizobium genii.
By way of example, queuosine can be obtained from tRNAs, in particular tRNAAsn, tRNAAsp, tRNAHis and tRNATyr, prepared as follows:
Preparation of Total RNA Under Acidic Conditions
Enrichment of tRNA
The stereoisomer of queuine according to the invention can be of any type. Preferably, the stereoisomer of queuine is ent-queuine.
The pharmaceutical acceptable salt or hydrate according to the invention can be of any type. However, it is preferred that the pharmaceutical acceptable salt according to the invention is a hydrochloride salt.
Preferably, the glycosyl group according to the invention is selected from the group consisting of a mannosyl group, a galactosyl group or a glutamyl group.
Preferably, the aminoacyl group is selected from alanine (ala, A), arginine (arg, R), asparagine (asn, N), aspartic acid (asp, D), cysteine (cys, C), glutamine (gln, Q), glutamic acid (glu, E), glycine (gly, G), histidine (his, H), isoleucine (ile, I), leucine (leu, L), lysine (lys, K), methionine (met, M), phenylalanine (phe, F), proline (pro, P), serine (ser, S), threonine (thr, T), tryptophan (trp, W), tyrosine (tyr, Y) and valine (val, V).
In an embodiment of the invention, the substituents of formula (I), in particular of formula (II), according to the invention may be linked together.
In a preferred embodiment of the compound of formula (I) as defined above:
R1 is H, and
R12 represents a saturated or unsaturated alkyl, cycloalkyl, heterocycloalkyl or ether group having from 1 to 20 carbon atoms, optionally substituted by at least one group selected from the group consisting of:
In another preferred embodiment of the compound of formula (I) as defined above:
R12 represent a group of the following formula:
wherein:
In another preferred embodiment of the compound of formula (I), as defined above:
R1 is H, and
R12 represents a saturated or unsaturated alkyl group having from 1 to 20 carbon atoms, optionally substituted by at least one of a hydroxyl group.
In another preferred embodiment of the compound of formula (I), in particular of the compound of formula (II), as defined above:
R2 and R3, which are identical or different, represent —OH, a —O-mannosyl group, a —O-galactosyl group or a —O-glutamyl group;
R6 represents —OH;
R7 and R8, which are identical or different, represent —OH or a ribonucleic acid group.
Preferably, when R7 and R8 both represent a ribonucleic acid group, the compound of formula (I) according to the invention is included in a transfer RNA (tRNA) as a ribonucleoside of the tRNA. More preferably, the compound of formula (I) according to the invention is a ribonucleoside of the anticodon of the tRNA, most preferably the first nucleoside of the anticodon, i.e. the 5′ nucleoside of the anticodon or the nucleoside in the wobble position of the anticodon. Preferred tRNAs according to the invention are selected from the list consisting of tRNAs, tRNAAsn, tRNAHis and tRNATyr.
Preferably, the compound of formula (I), in particular the compound of formula (II), as defined above is represented by the following formulae (III), (IV) or (V):
Preferably, when a compound of formula (I), in particular a compound of formulae (III)-(V) according to the invention is included in a tRNAAsp, then R3 is OH and R2 is O-mannose.
Preferably also, when a compound of formula (I), in particular a compound of formulae (III)-(V) according to the invention is included in a tRNATyr, then R3 is OH and R2 is O-galactose.
Preferably, the compound of formula (I), in particular the compound of formula (II) according to the invention is represented by the following formula (VI):
As should be clear to one of skilled in the art, all the stereochemical configurations of the compounds according to the invention are intended to be covered by the formulae shown herein. In particular, as is intended herein, when the stereoconfiguration of a bond is not specified, the bond may represent any of an upward bond, a downward bond, and a mixture of the two, in particular a 1/1 mixture of the two.
Thus, the compound of formula (I) according to the invention also relates to the optically active forms of the compound of formula (V), such as the enantiomers represented by the following formulae (Va) and (Vb):
or their mixtures, in particular a racemic mixture thereof.
The compound of formula (VIa) is queuine. Queuine, is also known as 7-(3,4-trans-4,5-cis-dihydroxy-1-cyclopenten-3-ylaminomethyl)-7-deazaguanine. The compound of formula (VIb) is ent-queuine.
Preferably, the compound of formula (I), notably the compound of formula (II) according to the invention is represented by the following formulae (VII), (VIIa), (VIIb), (VIII), (VIIa), (VIIIb), (IX), (IXa) (IXb), (X)
Preferably also, the compound of formula (I) according to the invention is represented by the following formulae (XII), (XIIa), (XIIb), (XIII), (XIV), (XV), (XVI), (XVII) or(XVIII):
The compound of formula (VIIa) is epoxyqueuine, also known as 7-(5-[3,4-epoxy-2,5-dihydroxycyclopent-1-yl)amino]methyl)-7-deazaguanine.
The compound of formula (VIIIa) is queuosine also known as 2-amino-5-({[(1S,4S,5R)-4,5-dihydroxycyclopent-2-en-1-yl]amino}methyl)-7-(β-D-ribofuranosyl)-1,7-dihydro-4H-pyrrolo[2,3-d]pyrimidin-4-one.
The compound of formula (IXa) is epoxyqueuosine also known as 5 7-(5-[(3,4-epoxy-2,5-dihydroxycyclopent-1-yl)amino]methyl)-7-deazaguanosine.
Preferably, the compound of formula (II) according to the invention is selected from the group consisting of mannosyl-queuine, galactosyl-queuine, glutamyl-queuine, galactosyl-queuosine, mannosyl-queuosine, glutamyl-queuosine, queuine-tRNA, and epoxyqueuine-tRNA.
The compound of formula (XIII) is N-((2-amino-4-oxo-4,7-dihydro-3Hpyrrolo[2,3-d]pyrimidin-5-yl)methyl)-3-phenylpropan-1-amine.
The compound (XIV) is N-((2-amino-4-oxo-4,7-dihydro-3Hpyrrolo[2,3-d]pyrimidin-5-yl)methyl)-propan-1-amine.
The compound (XVII) is N-((2-amino-4-oxo-4,7-dihydro-3Hpyrrolo[2,3-d]pyrimidin-5-yl)methyl)-butan-1-amine.
The compound (XVIII) is N-((2-amino-4-oxo-4,7-dihydro-3Hpyrrolo[2,3-d]pyrimidin-5-yl)methyl)-hexan-1-amine.
Preferably also the compound of formula (I), in particular the compound of formula (II), according to the invention is selected from the group consisting of queuine-tRNAAsp, queuine-tRNATyr, epoxyqueuine-tRNAAsp, epoxyqueuine-tRNATyr, queuine-tRNAAsn, queuine-tRNAHis, epoxyqueuine-tRNAAsn, epoxyqueuine-tRNAHis, mannosyl-queuine-tRNAAsp, galacotsyl-queuine-tRNATyr, mannosyl-epoxyqueuine-tRNAAsp, and galacotsyl-epoxyqueuine-tRNATyr.
Most preferably also the compound of formula (I), in particular the compound of formula (II), according to the invention is selected form the group consisting of queuine, ent-queuine, queuosine, epoxyqueuine, epoxyqueuosine, mannosyl-queuine, galactosyl-queuine, glutamyl-queuine, galactosyl-queuosine, mannosyl-queuosine, glutamyl-queuosine, queuine-tRNA and epoxyqueuine-Trna, a compound of formula (XII), (XIIa) and (XIIb).
Alzheimer's disease is well known of one of skilled in the art. It is notably defined by class G30 of the 10th revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10) 2016 version set by the World Health Organization. In addition, Alzheimer's disease is defined by the following diagnostic criteria in the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder (DSM-5) (2013) American Psychiatric Association, pages 611-614:
A. The criteria are met for major or mild neurocognitive disorder.
B. There is insidious onset and gradual progression of impairment in one or more cognitive domains (for major neurocognitive disorder, at least two domains must be impaired).
C. Criteria are met for either probable or possible Alzheimer's disease as follows:
For Major Neurocognitive Disorder:
For Mild Neurocognitive Disorder:
Alzheimer's disease prevented or treated according to the invention may in particular be Alzheimer's disease at an early stage, Alzheimer's disease at an intermediate stage, Alzheimer's disease at an advanced stage, pre-clinical Alzheimer's disease, a dementia due to Alzheimer's disease, a mild cognitive disorder due to Alzheimer's disease, a mild neurocognitive disorder due to Alzheimer's disease, a major neurocognitive disorder due to Alzheimer's disease, the probable Alzheimer's disease, or the possible Alzheimer's disease.
Preferably, the prevention or treatment of Alzheimer's disease according to the invention relates to the prevention or treatment of at least one cognitive or neurocognitive disorder due to Alzheimer's disease, in particular selected from the group consisting of memory disorder or a learning disability.
The invention also relates to the prevention or treatment of symptoms of Alzheimer's disease.
The individual according to the invention is preferably a human.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the individual according to the invention is 65 years old or more. In another preferred embodiment of the invention, the individual according to the invention is less than 65 years old.
The individual according to the invention may present one or more symptoms of dementia or may have dementia.
The individual according to the invention may not have dementia. In particular, the individual according to the invention may have cognitive disorders, in particular mild cognitive disorders corresponding to the Anglo-Saxon denomination Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI), which is well known of one of skilled in the art, and notably defined by Petersen et al. (1999) Arch Neurol 56:303-308. An individual is generally defined as having a MCI in the event of a subjective complaint associated with objective evidence of a deficit in memory performance with a saving of the cognitive and overall intellectual functioning and integrity of activities of everyday life. Preferably, an individual with a MCI according to the invention has a Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) score, in particular in the consensus version of the Groupe de Réflexion sur les Evaluation COgnitives (GRECO) (Study on Group of cognitive evaluation), higher than the score corresponding to the 5th percentile, according to its age and its socio-cultural level.
Besides, the individual according to the invention may also not have cognitive disorder.
The additional compound useful for the prevention or treatment of Alzheimer's disease according to the invention can be of any type known of one of skilled in the art. Preferably, the additional compound according to the invention is selected from the group consisting of donepezil, galantamine, memantine, and rivastigmine.
Preferably, the additional compound in the dietary supplement is selected from the group consisting of vitamins, minerals, fatty acids, amino acids, antioxidants and derivatives or precursors thereof.
Preferably vitamins are selected from the group consisting of pyridoxine, pyridoxal phosphate (Vitamin B6), riboflavin, thiamine, vitamin E, vitamin K3, vitamin C, niacin, CoQ10 and β-carotene.
Preferably, minerals are selected from the group consisting of calcium, magnesium, selenium and phosphorus.
Preferably, the amino-acid is L-DOPA (levodopa).
Preferably, the fatty acids are selected from the group consisting of Levo-carnitine and acetyl-L-carnitine.
As intended herein, “combined” or “in combination” means that the compound of formula (I), in particular the compound of formula (II) as defined above, is administered at the same time than another compound or product, either together, i.e. at the same administration site, or separately, or at different times, provided that the time period during which the compound of formula (I) as defined above exerts its effects on the individual and the time period during which the additional agent or product exerts its pharmacological effects on the individual, at least partially intersect.
Preferably also, the compound of formula (I), in particular the compound of formula (II), according to the invention or the pharmaceutically acceptable salt or hydrate thereof is for an administration or is administered at a dosage regimen of from 0.01 to 40 mg/kg/d, more preferably of from 0.01 to 10 mg/kg, even more preferably of from 0.01 to 1 mg/kg/d, and most preferably of from 0.01 to 0.1 mg/kg/d.
Preferably, the compound of formula (I), in particular the compound of formula (II) according to the invention or the pharmaceutically acceptable salt or hydrate thereof is in a form suitable for an administration or is administered by the oral route, the intradermal route, the intravenous route, the intramuscular route or the subcutaneous route. Preferably, the compound of formula (I), in particular the compound of formula (II), according to the invention, or the pharmaceutical composition, medicament, products or dietary supplement comprising it is in a form suitable for an administration or is administered by a hypodermic implant.
Preferably, the compound of formula (I) according to the invention, or the pharmaceutical composition, medicament, products or dietary supplement comprising it is in the form of a powder, sachets, tablets, gelatine, capsules, or a liquid or gel solution.
Preferably also, the pharmaceutical composition, medicament, products or dietary supplement according to the invention, comprises the compound of formula (I) according to the invention, in particular queuine, ent-queuine, queuosine, the compound of formula (XII), (XIIa), or (XIIb) at a unit dose of at least 0.15 mg, 1 mg, 10 mg, 50 mg, 100 mg, 500 mg or 1000 mg.
Preferably also, the pharmaceutical composition, medicament, products or dietary supplement according to the invention, comprises an extract, in particular a purified extract, from microorganism and/or plant, which comprises the compound of formula (I) according to the invention, in particular queuine, ent-queuine, queuosine, the compound of formula (XII), (XIIa), or (XIIb) in particular at a unit dose of at least 0.15 mg, 1 mg, 10 mg, 50 mg, 100 mg, 500 mg or 1000 mg.
The invention will be explained in more detailed in the following non-limitative Example.
The purpose of this example is to evaluate the effects of compounds according to the invention in the in vitro model of Alzheimer's disease deriving from intoxication of cortical neurons by the amyloid β1-42 peptide, in accordance with Callizot et al. (2013) J. Neurosci. Res. 91: 706-16; Chumakov et al. (2015) Nature Scientific Reports 5: 7608; Combs et al. (2000) J. Neurosci. 20:558-67; Cummings et al. (1998) Neurology. 51(Suppl 1): S2-17, discussion S65-7; Harrison (1990) J. Physiol. 422: 433-446; Kawahara et al. (2000) Brain Res. Bull. 53: 389-97; Pike et al. (1991) Brain Res. 563: 311-4; Sakono et al. (2010) FEBS J. 277: 1348-58; Singer et al. (1999) J. Neurosci. 19: 2455-2463; Sisodia et al. (1990) Science. 248: 492-5.
A. Materials and Methods
1. Cortical Neuron Culture Rat cortical neurons are cultured as described by Singer et al. (1999) J. Neurosci. 19: 2455-2463. Briefly pregnant female rats of 15 days gestation are killed by cervical dislocation and the foetuses are removed from the uterus. The cortex is removed and placed in ice-cold medium of Leibovitz containing 2% of Penicillin and Streptomycin (PS) and 1% of bovine serum albumin. The cortex is dissociated by trypsinisation (0.05%) for 20 min at 37° C. The reaction is stopped by the addition of Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium (DMEM) containing DNAase I grade II (0.1 mg/ml) and 10% of foetal calf serum (FCS). Cells are then mechanically dissociated by 3 passages through a 10 ml pipette. Cells are then centrifuged at 515×g for 10 min at 4° C. The supernatant is discarded and the cells of pellet are re-suspended in a defined culture medium consisting of Neurobasal supplemented with 2% of B27 supplement, 2 mM of L-glutamine, 2% of PS solution and 10 ng/ml of BDNF. Viable cells are counted in a Neubauer cytometer using the trypan blue exclusion test. The cells are seeded at a density of 30 000 cells/well in 96 well-plates pre-coated with poly-D-lysine and are cultured at 37° C. in a humidified air (95%)/CO2 (5%) atmosphere.
2. Effect of Queuine on Neuronal Cell Death after β-Amyloid Injury in Cortical Neurons
2.1. Incubation of Queuine 6 Days Before Intoxication
After 5 days of culture, the cells are incubated with queuine (7 concentrations). After 6 days of incubation with queuine, cells are intoxicated with 10 μM of amyloid 1-42 oligomers in a medium as defined by Callizot et al. (2013) J. Neurosci. Res. 91: 706-16 in the presence of queuine. BDNF (50 ng/ml) is used as positive control and reference compound.
The following conditions are tested:
Six wells per condition and 3 cultures are performed.
2.2. Incubation of Queuine 24H Before the Intoxication
Briefly, on day 10, queuine (7 concentrations) is added. 24H after, cells are intoxicated with Amyloid β1-42 at 10 μM for 24h.
The following conditions are tested:
Six wells per condition and 3 cultures are performed.
3. End Point Evaluation: Measure of Total Number of Rat Cortical Neurons
24 hours after intoxication, cells are fixed by a cold solution of ethanol (95%) and acetic acid (5%) for 5 min. The cells are then permeabilized and non-specific sites are blocked with a solution of phosphate buffered saline (PBS) containing 0.1% of saponin and 1% fetal calf serum (FCS) for 15 min at room temperature. Then, cells are incubated with monoclonal antibody anti microtubule-associated-protein 2 (MAP-2).
This antibody stains specifically cell bodies and neurites of neurons. This antibody is revealed with Alexa Fluor 488 goat anti-mouse IgG. Nuclei of neurons are labeled by a fluorescent marker (Hoechst solution).
The neuron survival is evaluated (number of MAP-2 positive neuronal cell bodies are counted).
For each well of culture, 20 pictures per well are taken using InCell Analyzer™ 2000 (GE Healthcare) with 20× magnification. All the images are taken in the same conditions. All values are expressed as mean±s.e. mean. Statistical analyses are done on different conditions (ANOVA followed by Dunnett's test).
An increased survival of neurons incubated with queuine as compared to conditions without queuine indicates that queuine has anti-Alzheimer's disease properties.
The purpose of this example is the in vivo evaluation of compounds according to the invention in a murine model of Alzheimer's disease by administration of the amyloid $25-35 peptide in accordance with Maurice et al. (1996) Brain Res. 706:181-193; Maurice et al. (1998) Neuroscience 83:413-428; Meunier et al. (2006) J. Pharmacol. Exp. Ther. 317:1307-1319; Meunier et al. (2013) Genome Research 23:34-45; Villard et al. (2009) Neurophsychopharmacologie 34:1552-1566; Villard et al. (2011) J. Psychopharmacol. 25:1101-1117.
A. Materials and Methods
1. Animals
Male Swiss mice, 5 weeks old and weighing 30-35 g (JANVIER, Saint Berthevin, France), are kept for housing. Animals are housed in groups with access to food and water ad libitum, except during behavioural experiments. They are kept in a temperature and humidity-controlled animal facility on a 12 h/12 h light/dark cycle (lights off at 07:00 pm). Mice are numbered by marking their tail using permanent markers.
2. Protocol
Seventy-two male Swiss mice (30-35 g) are used. Six animal groups are constituted and submitted to different treatments:
Day 1: a scrambled version of the amyloid $25-35 peptide (Sc.Aβ, negative control) or the amyloid β25-35 peptide (Aβ25-35) is injected intracerebroventricularly (ICV) (the Aβ25-35 peptide causes cellular intoxication). Between the 1st and 10th day, treatments are administered once a day intraperitoneally (IP).
At days 8 to 10, two different behavioral tests are used:
On day 10, after the behavioral test, animals are sacrificed by decapitation. Blood plasma samples are collected on each animal. The hippocampus and frontal cortex are dissected out and frozen in liquid nitrogen.
On n=6 animals per group, one hemi-hippocampus is used to determine the lipid peroxidation levels using a colorimetric method.
On n=6 animals per group, one hemi-hippocampus is used to determine the level of four biochemical markers using ELISA assays.
The other brain structures are stored at −80° C. and are available for supplementary biochemical assays.
3. Products
3.1. Compounds
Donepezil is solubilized in NaCl 0.9%
Aβ25-35:
Sc.Aβ:
Queuine is obtained from Synthenova SAS, 15 rue J. Baptiste Lamarck, 14 200 Herouville Saint Clair.
3.2. Amyloid Peptides Administration
Each mouse is anesthetized with isoflurane 2.5% and injected ICV with Aβ25-35 peptide (9 nmol/mouse) or Sc.Aβ peptide (9 nmol/mouse), in a final volume of 3 L/mouse. These injections help to establish a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease according to Maurice et al. (1996) Brain Res. 706:181-193; Maurice et al. (1998) Neuroscience 83:413-428; Meunier et al. (2006) J. Pharmacol. Exp. Ther. 317:1307-1319; Meunier et al. (2013) Genome Research 23:34-45; Villard et al. (2009) Neurophsychopharmacologie 34:1552-1566; Villard et al. (2011) J. Psychopharmacol. 25:1101-1117.
4. Conduct of the Tests
4.1. Behavioral and Biochemical Analysis
4.1.1. Spontaneous Alternation Performance
On day 8, all animals are tested for spontaneous alternation performance in the Y-maze, an index of spatial working memory. The Y-maze is made of grey polyvinylchloride. Each arm is 40 cm long, 13 cm high, 3 cm wide at the bottom, 10 cm wide at the top, and converging at an equal angle. Each mouse is placed at the end of one arm and allowed to move freely through the maze during an 8 min session. The series of arm entries, including possible returns into the same arm, is checked visually. An alternation is defined as entries into all three arms on consecutive occasions. The number of maximum alternations is therefore the total number of arm entries minus two and the percentage of alternation is calculated as (actual alternations/maximum alternations)×100. Parameters included the percentage of alternation (memory index) and total number of arm entries (exploration index) (Maurice et al. (1996) Brain Res. 706:181-193; Maurice et al. (1998) Neuroscience 83:413-428; Meunier et al. (2006) J. Pharmacol. Exp. Ther. 317:1307-1319; Meunier et al. (2013) Genome Research 23:34-45; Villard et al. (2009) Neurophsychopharmacologie 34:1552-1566; Villard et al. (2011) J. Psychopharmacol. 25:1101-1117). Animals showing an extreme behavior (Alternation percentage <20% or >90% or number of arm entries <10) are discarded from the calculation.
4.1.2. Passive Avoidance Test
The apparatus is a two-compartments (15×20×15 cm high) box with one illuminated with white polyvinylchloride walls and the other darkened with black polyvinylchloride walls and a grid floor. A guillotine door separates each compartment. A 60 W lamp positioned 40 cm above the apparatus lights up the white compartment during the experiment. Scrambled footshocks (0.3 mA for 3 s) are delivered to the grid floor using a shock generator scrambler (Lafayette Instruments, Lafayette, USA). The guillotine door is initially closed during the training session. During training session, each mouse is placed into the white compartment. After 5 s, the door is raised. When the mouse entered the dark compartment and placed all its paws on the grid floor, the door is closed and the footshock delivered for 3 s. The step-through latency, that is, the latency spent to enter the dark compartment, and the number of vocalizations are recorded. The retention test is carried out 24 h after training. Each mouse is placed again into the white compartment. After 5 s, the door is raised. The step-through and escape latencies (corresponding to the re-exit from the dark compartment) are recorded up to 300 s (Meunier et al. (2006) J. Pharmacol. Exp. Ther. 317:1307-1319; Villard et al. (2009) Neurophsychopharmacologie 34:1552-1566; Villard et al. (2011) J. Psychopharmacol. 25:1101-1117).
Animals that showed latencies during the training and retention session both lower than 10 s are considered as failing to respond to the procedure and are discarded from the calculations.
4.2. Lipid Peroxidation Measurement
All mice from each group are sacrificed by decapitation and both hippocampi are rapidly removed, weighed and kept in liquid nitrogen until assayed. After thawing, one hippocampus per mice is homogenized in cold methanol (1/10 w/v), centrifuged at 1,000 g during 5 min and the supernatant placed in Eppendorf tube. The reaction volume of each homogenate is added to FeSO4 1 mM, H2SO4 0.25 M, xylenol orange 1 mM and incubated for 30 min at room temperature. After reading the absorbance at 580 nm (A5801), 10 μl of cumene hydroperoxide (CHP) 1 mM are added to the sample and incubated for 30 min at room temperature, to determine the maximal oxidation level. The absorbance is measured at 580 nm (A5802). The level of lipid peroxidation is determined as CHP equivalents according to: CHPE=A5801/A5802×[CHP (nmol)] and expressed as CHP equivalents per mg of tissue and as percentage of control group data (V-treated Sc.Aβ-administered mice).
4.3. ELISA Assays
Contents in Bax, Bcl2, GFAP and Caspase-3 are analyzed by ELISA assays.
The kits are:
Mitochondrial Dysfunction/Apoptosis
Caspase-3: Supplier: USCNK Reference: SEA626Mu
Bax: Supplier: USCNK Reference: SEB343Mu
Bcl2: Supplier: USCNK Reference: SEA778Mu
Inflammatory Processes
GFAP: Supplier: USCNK Reference: SEA425Mu
For all assays, the cortices are homogenized after thawing in a Tris buffer (50 mM Tris, 150 mM NaCl, pH 7.5) and sonicated for 20 s. After centrifugation (16,100 g for 15 min, 4° C.), supernatants are used for ELISA assays according to the manufacturer instructions. For each assay, absorbance is read at 450 nm and sample concentration is calculated using the standard curve. Results are expressed in pg or ng of marker per mg of tissue and in percent of Sc.Aβ+Vehicle solution. 6 samples per group (n=36/ELISA kit) are assayed in duplicates.
An improvement of the tested behavioral and biochemical characteristics of mice administered with queuine as compared to mice which did not receive queuine indicates that queuine has anti-Alzheimer's disease properties.
The purpose of this example is to evaluate the effects of compounds according to the invention in the in vitro model of Alzheimer's disease deriving from intoxication of cortical neurons by the amyloid β1-42 peptide, in accordance with Callizot et al. (2013) J. Neurosci. Res. 91: 706-16; Chumakov et al. (2015) Nature Scientific Reports 5: 7608; Combs et al. (2000) J. Neurosci. 20:558-67; Cummings et al. (1998) Neurology. 51(Suppl 1): S2-17, discussion S65-7; Harrison (1990) J. Physiol. 422: 433-446; Kawahara et al. (2000) Brain Res. Bull. 53: 389-97; Pike et al. (1991) Brain Res. 563: 311-4; Sakono et al. (2010) FEBS J. 277: 1348-58; Singer et al. (1999) J. Neurosci. 19: 2455-2463; Sisodia et al. (1990) Science. 248: 492-5, Jan et al., (2010) Nat. Protoc., 5: 1186-1209.
A. Material and Method
1. Cortical Neurons
Rat cortical neurons are cultured as described by Callizot et al., (2013) with modifications. Briefly pregnant female rat (Wistar) of 15 days of gestation are killed. Foetuses are collected and immediately placed in ice-cold L15 Leibovitz medium with a 2% penicillin (10,000 U/mL) and streptomycin (10 mg/ml) solution (PS) and 1% bovine serum albumin (BSA). Cortex are treated for 20 min at 37° C. with a trypsin- EDTA solution at a final concentration of 0.05% trypsin and 0.02% EDTA. The dissociation is stopped by addition of Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium (DMEM) with 4.5 g/L of glucose, containing DNAse I grade II (final concentration 0.5 mg/ml) and 10% fetal calf serum (FCS). Cells are mechanically dissociated by three forced passages through the tip of a 10-ml pipette. Cells are then centrifuged at 515×g for 10 min at 4° C. The supernatant is discarded, and the pellet is resuspended in a defined culture medium consisting of Neurobasal medium with a 2% solution of B27 supplement, 2 mmol/litter of L-glutamine, 2% of PS solution, 10 ng/mL of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), 2% of heat-inactivated horse serum, 2% of heat-inactivated FCS, 1 g/L of glucose, 1 mM of sodium pyruvate, and 100 μM of non-essential amino acids. Viable cells are counted in a Neubauer cytometer, using the trypan blue exclusion test. The cells are seeded at a density of 45,000 per well in 96-well plates (for immunostaining) precoated with poly-L-lysine and are cultured at 37° C. in an air (95%)-CO2 (5%) incubator. For 96 wells plates, only 60 wells are used. The wells of first and last lines and columns are not used (to avoid the edge effect) and are filled with sterile water. The medium is changed every 2 days.
2. Test Compound and Human Aβ1-42Exposure
On day 10 of culture, queuine is dissolved in the culture medium and pre-incubated with primary cortical neurons for 24H, before Aβ1-42 exposure. Then on day 11 of culture, the cortical neurons are intoxicated with AB solutions. The Aβ1-42 preparation is done following the procedure described by Callizot et al., (2013). Briefly, Aβ1-42 peptide are dissolved in the defined culture medium mentioned above, at an initial concentration of 40 μmol/L. This solution is gently agitated for 3 days at 37° C. in the dark and immediately used after being properly diluted in culture medium to the concentration used (5 μM, 0.5μM oligomers).
Aβ1-42 preparation is added to a final concentration of 5μM (0.5 μM oligomers, ABO) diluted in control medium in presence of queuine, for 72 hours.
3. Organization of Culture Plates
Each compound is tested on 1 culture in a 96 well plate (6 wells per conditions). For 96 wells plates, only 60 wells are used. The wells of first and last lines and columns are not used (to avoid the edge effect) and are filled with sterile water. Queuine is added 24h before Aβ1-42 application. The following conditions are assessed:
4. Evaluation
4.1. Immunostaining
72 hours after Aβ1-42 application, the cell culture supernatant are collected cytokine quantification (e.g. TNFα) and the cortical neurons are fixed by a cold solution of ethanol (95%) and acetic acid (5%) for 5 min at −20° C. After permeabilization with 0.1% of saponin, cells are incubated for 2 hours with:
These antibodies are revealed with secondary antibodies goat anti-rabbit IgG, goat anti-mouse IgG and goat anti-chicken IgG coupled with an Alexa Fluor at the dilution 1/400 in PBS containing 1% FCS, 0.1% saponin, for 1 hour at room temperature.
For each condition, 30 pictures/well (representative of the whole well area) are automatically taken using ImageXpress (Molecular Devices) at 20× magnification. All images are automatically acquired under the same conditions. The following analysis is performed with Custom Module Editor (Molecular Devices):
4.2 TNF-α Evaluation
In order to assess the activation of microglia in the cell culture, the levels of TNF-α are quantified in cell culture supernatant after 72h (end of the culture) by ELISA.
5. Statistical Analysis
All values are expressed as mean+/−SEM. Statistical analysis are performed by one-way ANOVA, followed by Dunnett's or a PLSD Fisher test, p<0.05 is considered significant.
6. Results
Queuine has a neuroprotective effect on cortical neurons intoxicated with Aβ1-42 peptide. Indeed, queuine significantly restores the survival of neurons at 100 nM (*, p <0.05), 300 nM (*, p<0.05) and 1 μM (*, p<0.05).
The results of the TNF-α evaluation are shown in the in following Table 1:
Table 1 shows that the peptide Aβ1-42 (5 μM) induces a significant increase in TNFα. BDNF (50 ng/ml) decreases the level of TNFα. Queuine at 300 nM (*, p<0.05), 1 μM (*, p<0.05), and 3 μM (*, p<0.05) restores the level of TNFα.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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18305245.5 | Mar 2018 | EP | regional |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/EP2019/055780 | 3/7/2019 | WO | 00 |