Loss of function mutations in Kelch Like ECH Associated Protein 1 (KEAP1), or gain-of-function mutations in nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (NRF2), are common in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and associated with therapeutic resistance. To discover novel NRF2 inhibitors for targeted therapy, we conducted a quantitative high-throughput screen using a diverse set of ~400,000 small molecules (Molecular Libraries Small Molecule Repository Library, MLSMR) at the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences. We identified ML385 as a probe molecule that binds to NRF2 and inhibits its downstream target gene expression. Specifically, ML385 binds to Neh1, the Cap 'N' Collar Basic Leucine Zipper (CNC-bZIP) domain of NRF2, and interferes with the binding of the V-Maf Avian Musculoaponeurotic Fibrosarcoma Oncogene Homolog G (MAFG)-NRF2 protein complex to regulatory DNA binding sequences. In clonogenic assays, when used in combination with platinum-based drugs, doxorubicin or taxol, ML385 substantially enhances cytotoxicity in NSCLC cells, as compared to single agents. ML385 shows specificity and selectivity for NSCLC cells with KEAP1 mutation leading to gain of NRF2 function. In preclinical models of NSCLC with gain of NRF2 function, ML385 in combination with carboplatin showed significant anti-tumor activity. We demonstrate the discovery and validation of ML385 as a novel and specific NRF2 inhibitor and conclude that targeting NRF2 may represent a promising strategy for the treatment of advanced NSCLC.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) poses a major health threat to the world. The recent development of direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) against HCV has markedly improved the response rate of HCV and reduced the side effects in comparison to the interferon-based therapy. Despite this therapeutic advance, there is still a need to develop new inhibitors that target different stages of the HCV life cycle because of various limitations of the current regimens. In this study, we performed a quantitative high throughput screening of the Molecular Libraries Small Molecule Repository (MLSMR) of ∼350,000 chemicals for novel HCV inhibitors using our previously developed cell-based HCV infection assay. Following confirmation and structural clustering analysis, we narrowed down to 158 compounds from the initial ∼3000 molecules that showed inhibitory activity for further structural and functional analyses. We were able to assign the majority of these compounds to specific stage(s) in the HCV life cycle. Three of them are direct inhibitors of NS3/4A protease. Most of the compounds appear to act on novel targets in HCV life cycle. Four compounds with novel structure and excellent drug-like properties, three targeting HCV entry and one targeting HCV assembly/secretion, were advanced for further development as lead hits. These compounds represent diverse chemotypes that are potential lead compounds for further optimization and may offer promising candidates for the development of novel therapeutics against HCV infection. In addition, they represent novel molecular probes to explore the complex interactions between HCV and the cells.

Adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) is a rare but aggressive malignancy with no effective therapy for patients with unresectable disease. The aim of the current study was i) to evaluate TOP2A expression and function in human adrenocortical neoplasm and ACC cells and ii) to determine the anticancer activity of agents that target TOP2A. TOP2A mRNA and protein expression levels were evaluated in 112 adrenocortical tissue samples (21 normal adrenal cortex, 80 benign adrenocortical tumors, and 11 ACCs). In vitro siRNA knockdown of TOP2A in ACC cell lines (NCI-H295R and SW13) was used to determine its effect on cellular proliferation, cell cycle, anchorage-independent growth, and cellular invasion. We screened 14 TOP2A inhibitors for their anticancer activity in ACC cells. TOP2A mRNA and protein expression was significantly higher in ACC than in benign and normal adrenocortical tissue samples (P<0.05). Knockdown of TOP2A gene expression in ACC cell lines significantly decreased cell proliferation, anchorage-independent growth, and invasion (P<0.05). A screening assay in NCI-H295R cells showed that 11 of 14 TOP2A inhibitors had antiproliferative activity, 5 of the 14 TOP2A inhibitors had a higher antiproliferative activity than mitotane, and aclarubicin was the agent with the highest activity. Aclarubicin was validated to significantly decrease proliferation and tumor spheroid size in both NCI-H295R and SW13 ACC cell lines (P<0.05). Our results suggest that TOP2A is overexpressed in ACC, regulates cellular proliferation and invasion in ACC cells, and is an attractive target for ACC therapy. Of the TOP2A inhibitors screened, aclarubicin is a good candidate agent to test in future clinical trials for patients with locally advanced and metastatic ACC.

BACKGROUND: Drug repurposing for cancer treatment is an emerging approach to discover clinically approved drugs that demonstrate antineoplastic effect. The effective therapeutics for patients with advanced adrenocortical carcinoma(ACC) are greatly needed. The objective of this study was to identify and validate drugs with antineoplastic effect in ACC cells using a novel quantitative high-throughput drug screening (qHTS) technique. METHODS: A quantitative high-throughput proliferation assay of 2,816 clinically approved drugs was performed in the NCI-H295R ACC cell line. We validated the antiproliferative effect of candidate compounds in NCI-H295R cells. Further validation was performed in 3-dimensional multicellular aggregates (MCA) of NCI-H295R and SW-13 cell lines. RESULTS: We identified 79 active compounds against ACC cells; 21 had an efficacy ≥ 60% and IC50 <1 μM. The top drug categories enriched were cardiotonic, antiseptic, and antineoplastic. We selected Bortezomib, ouabain, Methotrexate, pyrimethamine for validation. All had an antiproliferative effect in monolayer culture of NCI-H295R cells at clinical achievable serum level. Bortezomib and ouabain inhibited growth of MCA in both cell lines at a low concentration (10 fold below IC50). Methotrexate inhibited growth and caused disintegration of MCA in both cell lines at concentrations well below the maximum serum level (10 to 100 fold of IC50). Pyrimethamine caused growth inhibition in both cell lines at 10 fold of IC50 concentration. CONCLUSIONS: qHTS of previously approved compounds is an effective and efficient method to identify anticancer drugs for a rare cancer such as ACC. We have validated the antineoplastic effect of Bortezomib, ouabain, Methotrexate and pyrimethamine, which could be translated into clinical trials in patients with locally advanced and/or metastatic ACC.

We measured the "druggability" of the ATP-dependent luciferase derived from the firefly Photuris pennsylvanica that was optimized using directed evolution (Ultra-Glo, Promega). Quantitative high-throughput screening (qHTS) was used to determine IC(50)s of 198899 samples against a formulation of Ultra-Glo luciferase (Kinase-Glo). We found that only 0.1% of the Kinase-Glo inhibitors showed an IC(50) < 10 microM compared to 0.9% found from a previous qHTS against the firefly luciferase from Photinus pyralis (lucPpy). Further, the maximum affinity identified in the lucPpy qHTS was 50 nM, while for Kinase-Glo this value increased to 600 nM. Compounds with interactions stretching outside the luciferin binding pocket were largely lost with Ultra-Glo luciferase. Therefore, Ultra-Glo luciferase will show less compound interference when used as an ATP sensor compared to lucPpy. This study demonstrates the power of large-scale quantitative analysis of structure-activity relationships (>100K compounds) in addressing important questions such as a target's druggability.

We describe here a series of N-(quinolin-8-yl)benzenesulfonamides capable of suppressing the NFkappaB pathway identified from two high-throughput screens run at two centers of the NIH Molecular Libraries Initiative. These small molecules were confirmed in both primary and secondary assays of NFkappaB activation and expanded upon through analogue synthesis. The series exhibited potencies in the cell-based assays at as low as 0.6 microM, and several indications suggest that the targeted activity lies within a common region of the NFkappaB pathway.

A cell-sensor assay for stabilization of IkappaBalpha was developed in the activated B cell-like diffuse large B-cell lymphoma cell line OCI-Ly3. This cell line expresses known nuclear factor kappaB (NFkappaB) target genes due to high constitutive activity of IkappaB kinase (IKK), which phosphorylates the protein IkappaBalpha leading to proteasomal degradation of IkappaBalpha and activation of NFkappaB. The cell-sensor assay uses green and red light-emitting beetle luciferases, with the green luciferase fused to IkappaBalpha (IkappaBalpha-CBG68) and the red luciferase (CBR) present in its native state. The IkappaBalpha-CBG68 reporter functions as a sensor of IKK and proteasome activity, while CBR serves to normalize for cell number and nonspecific effects. Both reporter constructs were stably integrated and placed under the control of an inducible promoter system, which increased fold responsiveness to inhibitors when assay incubations were performed simultaneous to reporter induction by doxycycline. The assay was miniaturized to a 1,536-well plate format and showed a Z' of 0.6; it was then used to panel 2,677 bioactive compounds by a concentration-response-based screening strategy. The concentration-effect curves for the IkappaBalpha-CBG68 and CBR signals were then used to identify specific stabilizers of IkappaBalpha, such as IKK inhibitors or proteasome inhibitors, which increased the doxycycline-induced rise in IkappaBalpha-CBG68 without affecting the rise in CBR. Known and unexpected inhibitors of NFkappaB signaling were identified from the bioactive collection. We describe here the development and performance of this assay, and discuss the merits of its specific features.

Microtiter plate readers have evolved from photomultiplier and charged-coupled device-based readers, where a population-averaged signal is detected from each well, to microscope-based imaging systems, where cellular characteristics from individual cells are measured. For these systems, speed and ease of data analysis are inversely proportional to the amount of data collected from each well. Microplate laser cytometry is a technology compatible with a 1536-well plate format and capable of population distribution analysis. Microplate cytometers such as the Acumen Explorer can monitor up to four fluorescent signals from single objects in microtiter plates with densities as high as 1536 wells. These instruments can measure changes in fluorescent protein expression, cell shape, or simple cellular redistribution events such as cytoplasmic to nuclear translocation. To develop high-throughput screening applications using laser-scanning microplate cytometry, we used green fluorescent protein- and yellow fluorescent protein-expressing cell lines designed to measure diverse biological functions such as nuclear translocation, epigenetic signaling, and G protein-coupled receptor activation. This chapter illustrates the application of microplate laser cytometry to these assays in a manner that is suitable for screening large compound collections in high throughput.