scholarly journals Tegsedi (Inotersen): An Antisense Oligonucleotide Approved for the Treatment of Adult Patients with Hereditary Transthyretin Amyloidosis

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 78 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luís Gales

Tegsedi (Inotersen) is a chemically modified antisense oligonucleotide that inhibits the hepatic production of transthyretin (TTR). Several single-point mutations in TTR destabilize its structure, leading to the aggregation and accumulation of amyloid deposits in the nervous system, heart, kidneys and eyes. In July 2018, Tegsedi was approved by the European Commission for use in adults with stage one and two polyneuropathies. Later on, in October 2018, the FDA and Health Canada also approved its use for the treatment of the polyneuropathy of hereditary transthyretin-mediated amyloidosis (hATTR) in adults in the U.S. and Canada. Tegsedi was developed by Ionis Pharmaceuticals, the company that holds the global marketing license, together with its subsidiary Akcea Therapeutics.

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Filipa Bezerra ◽  
Maria João Saraiva ◽  
Maria Rosário Almeida

Transthyretin (TTR) amyloidoses are systemic diseases associated with TTR aggregation and extracellular deposition in tissues as amyloid. The most frequent and severe forms of the disease are hereditary and associated with amino acid substitutions in the protein due to single point mutations in the TTR gene (ATTRv amyloidosis). However, the wild type TTR (TTR wt) has an intrinsic amyloidogenic potential that, in particular altered physiologic conditions and aging, leads to TTR aggregation in people over 80 years old being responsible for the non-hereditary ATTRwt amyloidosis. In normal physiologic conditions TTR wt occurs as a tetramer of identical subunits forming a central hydrophobic channel where small molecules can bind as is the case of the natural ligand thyroxine (T4). However, the TTR amyloidogenic variants present decreased stability, and in particular conditions, dissociate into partially misfolded monomers that aggregate and polymerize as amyloid fibrils. Therefore, therapeutic strategies for these amyloidoses may target different steps in the disease process such as decrease of variant TTR (TTRv) in plasma, stabilization of TTR, inhibition of TTR aggregation and polymerization or disruption of the preformed fibrils. While strategies aiming decrease of the mutated TTR involve mainly genetic approaches, either by liver transplant or the more recent technologies using specific oligonucleotides or silencing RNA, the other steps of the amyloidogenic cascade might be impaired by pharmacologic compounds, namely, TTR stabilizers, inhibitors of aggregation and amyloid disruptors. Modulation of different steps involved in the mechanism of ATTR amyloidosis and compounds proposed as pharmacologic agents to treat TTR amyloidosis will be reviewed and discussed.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nobutaka Fujieda ◽  
Miho Yuasa ◽  
Yosuke Nishikawa ◽  
Genji Kurisu ◽  
Shinobu Itoh ◽  
...  

Cupin superfamily proteins (TM1459) work as a macromolecular ligand framework with a double-stranded beta-barrel structure ligating to a Cu ion through histidine side chains. Variegating the first coordination sphere of TM1459 revealed that H52A and H54A/H58A mutants effectively catalyzed the diastereo- and enantio-selective Michael addition reaction of nitroalkanes to an α,β-unsaturated ketone. Moreover, in silico substrate docking signified C106N and F104W single-point mutations, which inverted the diastereoselectivity of H52A and further improved the stereoselectivity of H54A/H58A, respectively.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marisa L. Martino ◽  
Stephen N. Crooke ◽  
Marianne Manchester ◽  
M.G. Finn

2017 ◽  
Vol 474 (18) ◽  
pp. 3189-3205 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ashoka Chary Taviti ◽  
Tushar Kant Beuria

Cell division in bacteria is a highly controlled and regulated process. FtsZ, a bacterial cytoskeletal protein, forms a ring-like structure known as the Z-ring and recruits more than a dozen other cell division proteins. The Min system oscillates between the poles and inhibits the Z-ring formation at the poles by perturbing FtsZ assembly. This leads to an increase in the FtsZ concentration at the mid-cell and helps in Z-ring positioning. MinC, the effector protein, interferes with Z-ring formation through two different mechanisms mediated by its two domains with the help of MinD. However, the mechanism by which MinD triggers MinC activity is not yet known. We showed that MinD directly interacts with FtsZ with an affinity stronger than the reported MinC–FtsZ interaction. We determined the MinD-binding site of FtsZ using computational, mutational and biochemical analyses. Our study showed that MinD binds to the H10 helix of FtsZ. Single-point mutations at the charged residues in the H10 helix resulted in a decrease in the FtsZ affinity towards MinD. Based on our findings, we propose a novel model for MinCD–FtsZ interaction, where MinD through its direct interaction with FtsZ would trigger MinC activity to inhibit FtsZ functions.


2006 ◽  
Vol 340 (3) ◽  
pp. 792-799 ◽  
Author(s):  
Motofumi Tanaka ◽  
Motoko Nagano-Fujii ◽  
Lin Deng ◽  
Satoshi Ishido ◽  
Kiyonao Sada ◽  
...  

2005 ◽  
Vol 385 (2) ◽  
pp. 339-345 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ricardo GOMES ◽  
Marta SOUSA SILVA ◽  
Alexandre QUINTAS ◽  
Carlos CORDEIRO ◽  
António FREIRE ◽  
...  

FAP (familial amyloidotic polyneuropathy) is a systemic amyloid disease characterized by the formation of extracellular deposits of transthyretin. More than 80 single point mutations are associated with amyloidogenic behaviour and the onset of this fatal disease. It is believed that mutant forms of transthyretin lead to a decreased stability of the tetramer, which dissociates into monomers that are prone to unfolding and aggregation, later forming β-fibrils in amyloid deposits. This theory does not explain the formation of β-fibrils nor why they are toxic to nearby cells. Age at disease onset may vary by decades for patients with the same mutation. Moreover, non-mutated transthyretin also forms the same deposits in SSA (senile systemic amyloidosis), suggesting that mutations may only accelerate this process, but are not the determinant factor in amyloid fibril formation and cell toxicity. We propose that glycation is involved in amyloidogenesis, since amyloid fibrils present several properties common to glycated proteins. It was shown recently that glycation causes the structural transition from the folded soluble form to β-fibrils in serum albumin. We identified for the first time a methylglyoxal-derived advanced glycation end-product, argpyrimidine [Nδ-(5-hydroxy-4,6-dimethylpyrimidin-2-yl)-L-ornithine] in amyloid fibrils from FAP patients. Unequivocal argpyrimidine identification was achieved chromatographically by amino acid analysis using dabsyl (4-dimethylaminoazobenzene-4′-sulphonyl) chloride. Argpyrimidine was found at a concentration of 162.40±9.05 pmol/mg of protein in FAP patients, and it was not detected in control subjects. The presence of argpyrimidine in amyloid deposits from FAP patients supports the view that protein glycation is an important factor in amyloid diseases.


2007 ◽  
Vol 67 (4 suppl) ◽  
pp. 813-818 ◽  
Author(s):  
CS. Trinca ◽  
HF. Waldemarin ◽  
E. Eizirik

The Neotropical otter is one of the least known otter species, and it is considered to be threatened to various degrees throughout its geographic range. Little information exists on the ecological characteristics of this species, and no genetic study has been published about it until now, hampering the design of adequate conservation strategies for its populations. To contribute with genetic information to comprehensive conservation efforts on behalf of L. longicaudis, we characterized the molecular diversity of the 5’ portion of the mtDNA control region in samples from this species collected in Southern and Southeastern Brazil. The sequence analysis revealed a high level of haplotype diversity (h = 0.819; SE = 0.0052) and nucleotide variability ranging from 0.0039 to 0.0067. One of the sampled haplotypes was the most common in both regions and, from this sequence, several other (locally occurring) haplotypes could be derived by single point mutations. No significant genetic differentiation was observed between the Southern and Southeastern regions.


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