The acid beta-glucosidase active site exhibits plasticity in binding 3,4,5,6-tetrahydroxyazepane-based inhibitors: implications for pharmacological chaperone design for gaucher disease
[GLCM_HUMAN] Defects in GBA are the cause of Gaucher disease (GD) [MIM:230800]; also known as glucocerebrosidase deficiency. GD is the most prevalent lysosomal storage disease, characterized by accumulation of glucosylceramide in the reticulo-endothelial system. Different clinical forms are recognized depending on the presence (neuronopathic forms) or absence of central nervous system involvement, severity and age of onset. [:]                                              Defects in GBA are the cause of Gaucher disease type 1 (GD1) [MIM:230800]; also known as adult non-neuronopathic Gaucher disease. GD1 is characterized by hepatosplenomegaly with consequent anemia and thrombopenia, and bone involvement. The central nervous system is not involved.[:]          Defects in GBA are the cause of Gaucher disease type 2 (GD2) [MIM:230900]; also known as acute neuronopathic Gaucher disease. GD2 is the most severe form and is universally progressive and fatal. It manifests soon after birth, with death generally occurring before patients reach two years of age.        Defects in GBA are the cause of Gaucher disease type 3 (GD3) [MIM:231000]; also known as subacute neuronopathic Gaucher disease. GD3 has central nervous manifestations.       Defects in GBA are the cause of Gaucher disease type 3C (GD3C) [MIM:231005]; also known as pseudo-Gaucher disease or Gaucher-like disease.      Defects in GBA are the cause of Gaucher disease perinatal lethal (GDPL) [MIM:608013]. It is a distinct form of Gaucher disease type 2, characterized by fetal onset. Hydrops fetalis, in utero fetal death and neonatal distress are prominent features. When hydrops is absent, neurologic involvement begins in the first week and leads to death within 3 months. Hepatosplenomegaly is a major sign, and is associated with ichthyosis, arthrogryposis, and facial dysmorphism.      Note=Perinatal lethal Gaucher disease is associated with non-immune hydrops fetalis, a generalized edema of the fetus with fluid accumulation in the body cavities due to non-immune causes. Non-immune hydrops fetalis is not a diagnosis in itself but a symptom, a feature of many genetic disorders, and the end-stage of a wide variety of disorders.      Defects in GBA contribute to susceptibility to Parkinson disease (PARK) [MIM:168600]. A complex neurodegenerative disorder characterized by bradykinesia, resting tremor, muscular rigidity and postural instability. Additional features are characteristic postural abnormalities, dysautonomia, dystonic cramps, and dementia. The pathology of Parkinson disease involves the loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra and the presence of Lewy bodies (intraneuronal accumulations of aggregated proteins), in surviving neurons in various areas of the brain. The disease is progressive and usually manifests after the age of 50 years, although early-onset cases (before 50 years) are known. The majority of the cases are sporadic suggesting a multifactorial etiology based on environmental and genetic factors. However, some patients present with a positive family history for the disease. Familial forms of the disease usually begin at earlier ages and are associated with atypical clinical features.     
Publication Abstract from PubMed
Pharmacologic chaperoning is a therapeutic strategy being developed to improve the cellular folding and trafficking defects associated with Gaucher disease, a lysosomal storage disorder caused by point mutations in the gene encoding acid-beta-glucosidase (GCase). In this approach, small molecules bind to and stabilize mutant folded or nearly folded GCase in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), increasing the concentration of folded, functional GCase trafficked to the lysosome where the mutant enzyme can hydrolyze the accumulated substrate. To date, the pharmacologic chaperone (PC) candidates that have been investigated largely have been active site-directed inhibitors of GCase, usually containing five- or six-membered rings, such as modified azasugars. Here we show that a seven-membered, nitrogen-containing heterocycle (3,4,5,6-tetrahydroxyazepane) scaffold is also promising for generating PCs for GCase. Crystal structures reveal that the core azepane stabilizes GCase in a variation of its proposed active conformation, whereas binding of an analogue with an N-linked hydroxyethyl tail stabilizes GCase in a conformation in which the active site is covered, also utilizing a loop conformation not seen previously. Although both compounds preferentially stabilize GCase to thermal denaturation at pH 7.4, reflective of the pH in the ER, only the core azepane, which is a mid-micromolar competitive inhibitor, elicits a modest increase in enzyme activity for the neuronopathic G202R and the non-neuronopathic N370S mutant GCase in an intact cell assay. Our results emphasize the importance of the conformational variability of the GCase active site in the design of competitive inhibitors as PCs for Gaucher disease.
Binding of 3,4,5,6-tetrahydroxyazepanes to the acid-beta-glucosidase active site: implications for pharmacological chaperone design for Gaucher disease.,Orwig SD, Tan YL, Grimster NP, Yu Z, Powers ET, Kelly JW, Lieberman RL Biochemistry. 2011 Dec 13;50(49):10647-57. Epub 2011 Nov 14. PMID:22047104
From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.