Patent Application: US-64143509-A

Abstract:
disclosed is a simple and reproducible method for assaying inositol phosphorylceramide synthase activity that employs a fluorescence resonance energy transfer pair for measuring enzyme activity . the invention also includes a novel method for identifying ipc synthase inhibitors .

Description:
current assays for ipc synthase activity involve incubating phosphatidylinsitol and c 6 — n -[ 7 -( 4 - nitrobenzo - 2 - oxa - 1 , 3 - diazole )]- ceramide ( c 6 - nbd - ceramide ; fig2 ), or radioactive ceramide , with an enzyme preparation , for a certain period of time . the reaction product , c 6 - nbd - inositol phosphorylceramide ( ipc ), is subsequently separated from unreacted c 6 - nbd - ceramide by adsorbing onto 100 μl ( sedimented gel volume ) ag4 - x4 resin , formate form , in a 96 - well filter plate , using a vacuum manifold . following adsorption , the resin is washed five times with 200 μl of 96 % ( v / v ) methanol and the product eluted with 200 μl of 1 . 0 m potassium formate in 96 % ( v / v ) methanol . the product is then quantified in a fluorescence plate reader , using 466 ηm excitation wave - length and measuring emission at 536 ηm . different enzyme preparations have been used for this and other ( earlier ) ipc synthase assays , resulting in data of varying quality ( e . g ., ko et al ., 1994 ; ko et al ., 1995 ; mandala et al ., 1997 ; mandala , et al ., 1998 ; fischl et al ., 1999 ; zhong et al ., 1999 ; heidler and radding , 2000 ). recently , changes in the procedure used for preparation of the enzyme drastically improved the performance of this type of ipc synthase assay and transformed it from an assay procedure generating poorly reproducible and at best qualitative data , into a reliable , reproducible assay capable of actually generating kinetic parameters ( aeed et al . 2004 ). still , a remaining weakness associated with the assay system developed by aeed et al . ( 2004 ) is the complex product work - up procedure . consistently pipetting ( exact amounts of ) ion - exchange resin into 96 - well plates is difficult . and the many manipulations required for the product work - up make the assay labor - intensive . hence , generating consistent , reproducible data ( with this assay system ) is challenging . it depends to a large extent on the skill of the individual carrying out the work , and the assay is virtually impossible to robotize for use in high - throughput screening efforts . an assay of this invention and described herein circumvents the current problems with the ipc assay product work - up . the assay of this invention includes reacting phosphatidylinositol with c 6 - nbd - ceramide in the presence of a detergent treated enzyme preparation . the resulting assay product does not have to be isolated for quantification . instead , at the completion of the enzymatic reaction , a poly - arginine peptide ( or other phosphate - binding compound ) conjugated to a fluorophor ( fig3 ), is added to the reaction mixture . the poly - arginine peptide ( or other phosphate - binding compound ) binds to the phosphate group in the reaction product ( c 6 - nbd - inositol phosphorylceramide ). this brings the fluorophor ( linked to the peptide or other phosphate - binding compound ) in close proximity to the fluorescent nbd tag on the ceramide portion of the reaction product . one fluorophor that can be used is the 7 - diethylamino - 3 -( 4 ′- maleimidylphenyl )- 4 - methylcoumarin [ d - 346 ]- hexa - arginine conjugate ( shown in fig3 ) on the peptide ( or compound ). the fluorophor is chosen such that it has an emission spectrum that to a very large extent overlaps the excitation spectrum of nbd . consequently , the two fluorescent moieties forms a “ fluorescent energy transfer ” ( fret ) pair , i . e . the emitted radiation from the higher energy fluorophor ( e . g . d - 346 ) serves as excitation radiation for the lower energy moiety ( e . g . nbd ) ( fig4 ). and when the reaction mixture ( following addition of the fluorophor - conjugated polyarginine peptide ) is illuminated at the excitation wavelength of the polyarginine peptide - conjugated fluorophor , a fluorescence signal , proportional to the amount of reaction product in the mixture , will be emitted at the emission wave - length of nbd . in practical terms , this means that the amount of product formed in the assay can be quantified directly in the 96 - well ( or 384 - well ) assay plate , without separation from the reaction mixture or any other work - up , using a 96 - well plate fluorescence reader . hence , an assay comprising this product quantification method is readily adaptable to robotized high - throughput screening efforts . an additional advantage of the fret - based assay is that the fret signal used for quantification of the reaction product is quite specific . it will be generated only if the two fluorescent moieties are brought in close proximity of each other , i . e ., the fluorophor - conjugated peptide ( or other fluorophor - conjugated phosphate - binding compound ) by itself does not generate this signal , nor does it generate a signal if bound to any other molecule than the nbd - tagged reaction product . hence , the data scatter caused by variations in the sample work - up in existing assays , is eliminated . different lengths and composition ( number of arginine residues ) can be used for the polyarginine peptide . moreover , other ( positively ) charged amino acids , such as for instance lysine or histidine , may also be used in the peptide , either exclusively or in combination with different charged or uncharged amino acids , including arginine . the amino acids can be any amino acids , including naturally occurring and non - naturally occurring and modifications and derivatives thereof . the length and composition of the peptide is chosen such that adhesion to the reaction product is maximized and non - specific binding ( to other molecules ) is minimized . a peptide containing six arginine residues ( fig3 ) is functional . in addition , other compounds , with charged functionalities capable of binding to phosphate groups may be used instead of a peptide . different fluorophors may be attached , at either end , to the peptide or other phosphate - binding molecule , using known methods . these fluorophors may have an emission spectrum that partly or completely overlaps the excitation ( or absorption ) spectrum of the fluorophor conjugated to ceramide . if an nbd - conjugated ceramide , such as c 6 - nbd - ceramide , is used , a functioning example of such a compound is d - 346 ( fig4 ). alternatively , the fluorophor conjugated to the phosphate - binding peptide ( or other phosphate - binding compound ) may have an excitation spectrum that partly or completely overlaps the emission spectrum of nbd ( or other fluorophor conjugated to ceramide ). some non - limiting examples of thiol - reactive fluorophors , i . e . fluorophors that are easily conjugated to a synthetic peptide are listed in table 1 . provided the fluorescence characteristics of the fluorophor conjugated to ceramide are matched to the fluorophor conjugated to the peptide ( or other phosphate - binding compound ), such that a fret pair is formed , ceramide - fluorophor conjugates other than c 6 - nbd - ceramide can also be used in the assay . non - limiting examples of commercially available ceramide - fluorophor conjugates are listed in table 2 . however , it is important to realize that chemistry approaches suitable for conjugation of a range of different lipid - compatible fluorophors , to ceramide , are readily available . hence , a number of fluorophors , in addition to the two used for the compounds listed in table 2 , can be used and the only significant requirement for the fluorophor conjugated to ceramide , is that it is capable of forming an efficient fret pair with the fluorophore used on the assay detection and quantification peptide or other compound . a few non - limiting examples of fluorophors that likely would work with a d - 346 - containing peptide ( or other detection compound ) when conjugated to ceramide are alexa fluor , fluorescein , lucifer yellow , oregon green and pympo ( 1 -( 3 -( succinimidyloxycarbonyebenzyl )- 4 -( 5 -( 4 - methoxyphenyl ) oxazol - 2 - yl ) pyridinium bromide ). the assay comprises incubating a sample with a fluorescent labeled ipc synthase substrate and adding a phosphate binding compound conjugated to a fluorophor , wherein the phosphate binding compound conjugated to a fluorophor forms a fret pair with the fluorescent labeled ipc synthase substrate . the sample can be any material that contains ipc synthase . the assay can be used to identify an ipc synthase modulator . the modulator can inhibit or activate ipc synthase . a test compound can be added to the assay to determine whether it modulates ipc synthase activity . known modulators of activity can be used as controls or used for comparison of test compounds . known inhibitors include , without limitation , aureobasidin a ( nagiec , et . al . 1997 ), galbonolide a or rustmicin ( mandala , et al . 1998 ), and khafrefugen ( mandala , et al . 1997 ). the present invention also provides kits for assaying ipc synthase activity and for testing compounds for modulating ipc synthase activity . the kits can include reagents for performing the assay including one or more of : ( 1 ) a fluorescent labeled ipc synthase substrate , ( 2 ) a phosphate binding compound conjugated to a fluorophor , wherein the phosphate binding compound conjugated to a fluorophor forms a ( fret ) pair with the fluorescent labeled ipc synthase substrate , ( 3 ) phosphatidyl inositol , ( 4 ) a sample that contains ipc synthase , ( 5 ) a known modulator of ipc synthase , ( 6 ) buffers and other reagents , including , for example , phosphate buffer , and chaps and ( 7 ) vessels in which to perform the assay . the conditions described by aeed et al . ( 2004 ) are used to isolate 10 μg ( protein ) of chaps - washed membranes which is then pre - incubated with 4 ηmoles of phosphatidylinositol ( pi ) in 28 μl 71 . 4 mm potassium phosphate buffer , ph 7 . 0 for 30 min in a 96 - well plate . the enzymatic reaction is subsequently started by addition of 12 μl of 0 . 1 mg / ml c 6 - nbd - ceramide , in ethanol , or 2 mm chaps . final assay volume is 40 μl and final reagent concentrations are 50 mm potassium phosphate , ph 7 . 0 , 0 . 25 mg membrane protein / ml , 5 μm c 6 - nbd - ceramide , 100 μm pi , 0 . 3 % ( v / v ) ethanol and 0 . 6 mm chaps . following incubation at room temperature for 5 - 30 min , the reaction is stopped by adding 150 μl 96 % ( v / v ) methanol . 150 μl 100 μm d - 346 - hexa - arginine in 50 mm potassium phosphate , ph 7 . 0 , is added , and the plate is incubated at room temperature for 5 minutes . fluorescence is subsequently measured at 600 ηm , using an excitation wavelength of 384 ηm . the assay may be scaled up or down , using different volumes appropriately . the assay may also be carried out in any suitable vessel , including plates containing multiple wells , including two up to 384 or more well plates , microscope slides , or other vessels . the foregoing example and description are not meant to limit the invention . while the invention has been described in terms of different specific embodiments and examples , those skilled in the art will recognize that various changes and modifications can be made through routine experimentation without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention . accordingly , the invention should be understood as not being limited by the foregoing detailed description , but as being defined by the appended claims and their equivalents . the following patent documents and journal articles are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety . abi - said , d ., anaissie , e ., uzun , o ., raad , i ., pinzcowski , h ., and vartivarian , s . 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