National Institutes of Health/National Institute Of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIH/NIAID)
R21AI123794
United States
National Institutes of Health/National Institute Of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIH/NIAID)
R01AI143714
United States
National Institutes of Health/National Institute Of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIH/NIAID)
R01AI177635
United States
Citation
Journal: ACS Omega / Year: 2026 Title: Structure-Activity Relationship Study of Antimalarial Asparagine-Derived Proteasome Inhibitors. Authors: Hao Zhang / Daqiang Li / Hao-Chi Hsu / Akshay Vishwanatha / Wenhu Zhan / Takafumi Yukawa / Joseph Visone / Toshihiro Imaeda / Rei Okamoto / Pavla Fajtova / Ryoma Hara / Masanori Kawasaki / ...Authors: Hao Zhang / Daqiang Li / Hao-Chi Hsu / Akshay Vishwanatha / Wenhu Zhan / Takafumi Yukawa / Joseph Visone / Toshihiro Imaeda / Rei Okamoto / Pavla Fajtova / Ryoma Hara / Masanori Kawasaki / Kenjiro Sato / Mayako Michino / Shreeya Garg / Oriana Kreutzfeld / Patrick K Tumwebaze / Stephen Orena / Martin Okitwi / Kazuyoshi Aso / Roland A Cooper / Philip J Rosenthal / Peter T Meinke / Michael Foley / Anthony J O'Donoghue / Huilin Li / Laura A Kirkman / Gang Lin / Abstract: Malaria remains a significant global health threat, affecting millions of lives each year. The causative agents, parasites, are highly resilient and have developed resistance to nearly all existing ...Malaria remains a significant global health threat, affecting millions of lives each year. The causative agents, parasites, are highly resilient and have developed resistance to nearly all existing antimalarial drugs. The 20S proteasome core (20S), a central component of the parasite's proteostasis pathway, has emerged as a promising therapeutic target. Inhibiting 20S effectively suppresses parasite growth at multiple stages of the parasite life cycle, synergizes with artemisinin-based therapies, and shows no cross-resistance with other antimalarial drug classes. Previously, we identified a novel class of proteasome inhibitors with potent activity against 20S, which we subsequently optimized for improved potency and selectivity over human proteasomes. However, these inhibitors exhibited suboptimal pharmacokinetic properties, potentially attributable to a high number of rotatable bonds and hydrogen bond donors. Here, we describe further optimization of this inhibitor class and provide structural insights into 20S-inhibitor interactions. Cryo-EM structural studies reveal a novel binding pose of the inhibitor at the 20S β5 active site, explaining the enhanced activity of an -cap sulfonamide modification compared to an -cap amide. These findings offer insights into the development of next-generation antimalarial 20S-targeting compounds with improved drug-like properties.
Name: N~4~-tert-butyl-N~2~-(4-methylbenzene-1-sulfonyl)-N~1~-[2-(1-oxo-1,3-dihydro-2H-isoindol-2-yl)ethyl]-L-aspartamide type: ligand / ID: 15 / Number of copies: 2 / Formula: A1CRS
Molecular weight
Theoretical: 500.61 Da
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Experimental details
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Structure determination
Method
cryo EM
Processing
single particle reconstruction
Aggregation state
particle
-
Sample preparation
Concentration
3 mg/mL
Buffer
pH: 7.5 / Details: 20 mM Tris, pH 7.5, 5 mM MgCl2, and 100 mM KCl
Grid
Model: Quantifoil R1.2/1.3 / Material: GOLD / Mesh: 300 / Support film - Material: CARBON / Support film - topology: HOLEY ARRAY / Pretreatment - Type: GLOW DISCHARGE / Pretreatment - Time: 30 sec. / Pretreatment - Atmosphere: OTHER
Vitrification
Cryogen name: ETHANE / Chamber humidity: 100 % / Chamber temperature: 279 K / Instrument: FEI VITROBOT MARK IV
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Electron microscopy
Microscope
TFS KRIOS
Specialist optics
Energy filter - Name: GIF Bioquantum / Energy filter - Slit width: 20 eV
Image recording
Film or detector model: GATAN K3 BIOQUANTUM (6k x 4k) / Digitization - Dimensions - Width: 5760 pixel / Digitization - Dimensions - Height: 4092 pixel / Number grids imaged: 1 / Number real images: 24167 / Average exposure time: 1.2 sec. / Average electron dose: 58.0 e/Å2
Electron beam
Acceleration voltage: 300 kV / Electron source: FIELD EMISSION GUN
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