Structure-Activity Relationship in Monosaccharide-Based Toll-Like Receptor 4 (TLR4) Antagonists

J Med Chem. 2018 Apr 12;61(7):2895-2909. doi: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.7b01803. Epub 2018 Mar 12.

Abstract

The structure-activity relationship was investigated in a series of synthetic TLR4 antagonists formed by a glucosamine core linked to two phosphate esters and two linear carbon chains. Molecular modeling showed that the compounds with 10, 12, and 14 carbons chains are associated with higher stabilization of the MD-2/TLR4 antagonist conformation than in the case of the C16 variant. Binding experiments with human MD-2 showed that the C12 and C14 variants have higher affinity than C10, while the C16 variant did not interact with the protein. The molecules, with the exception of the C16 variant, inhibited the LPS-stimulated TLR4 signal in human and murine cells, and the antagonist potency mirrored the MD-2 affinity calculated from in vitro binding experiments. Fourier-transform infrared, nuclear magnetic resonance, and small angle X-ray scattering measurements suggested that the aggregation state in aqueous solution depends on fatty acid chain lengths and that this property can influence TLR4 activity in this series of compounds.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Binding, Competitive / drug effects
  • Cell Line
  • Fatty Acids / chemistry
  • HEK293 Cells
  • Humans
  • Interleukin-8 / biosynthesis
  • Ligands
  • Lipopolysaccharides / metabolism
  • Mice
  • Models, Molecular
  • Molecular Conformation
  • Molecular Docking Simulation
  • Molecular Dynamics Simulation
  • Monosaccharides / chemistry*
  • Monosaccharides / pharmacology*
  • Recombinant Proteins / chemistry
  • Recombinant Proteins / pharmacology
  • Signal Transduction / drug effects
  • Structure-Activity Relationship
  • Toll-Like Receptor 4 / antagonists & inhibitors*

Substances

  • CXCL8 protein, human
  • Fatty Acids
  • Interleukin-8
  • Ligands
  • Lipopolysaccharides
  • Monosaccharides
  • Recombinant Proteins
  • TLR4 protein, human
  • Toll-Like Receptor 4