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ACS Omega Feb 2021Rare diseases impact hundreds of millions of individuals worldwide. However, few therapies exist to treat the rare disease population because financial resources are...
Rare diseases impact hundreds of millions of individuals worldwide. However, few therapies exist to treat the rare disease population because financial resources are limited, the number of patients affected is low, bioactivity data is often nonexistent, and very few animal models exist to support preclinical development efforts. Sialidosis is an ultrarare lysosomal storage disorder in which mutations in the NEU1 gene result in the deficiency of the lysosomal enzyme sialidase-1. This enzyme catalyzes the removal of sialic acid moieties from glycoproteins and glycolipids. Therefore, the defective or deficient protein leads to the buildup of sialylated glycoproteins as well as several characteristic symptoms of sialidosis including visual impairment, ataxia, hepatomegaly, dysostosis multiplex, and developmental delay. In this study, we used a bibliometric tool to generate links between lysosomal storage disease (LSD) targets and existing bioactivity data that could be curated in order to build machine learning models and screen compounds . We focused on sialidase as an example, and we used the data curated from the literature to build a Bayesian model which was then used to score compound libraries and rank these molecules for testing. Two compounds were identified from testing using microscale thermophoresis, namely sulfameter ( 2.15 ± 1.02 μM) and mexenone ( 8.88 ± 4.02 μM), which validated our approach to identifying new molecules binding to this protein, which could represent possible drug candidates that can be evaluated further as potential chaperones for this ultrarare lysosomal disease for which there is currently no treatment. Combining bibliometric and machine learning approaches has the ability to assist in curating small molecule data and model building, respectively, for rare disease drug discovery. This approach also has the capability to identify new compounds that are potential drug candidates.
PubMed: 33553934
DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.0c05591 -
Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy Apr 1996A remarkably high rate of adverse events is associated with the use of trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole in patients with human immunodeficiency virus type 1 infection. We... (Comparative Study)
Comparative Study
A remarkably high rate of adverse events is associated with the use of trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole in patients with human immunodeficiency virus type 1 infection. We examined the efficacies of sulfonamides alone in the prevention of Pneumocystis carinii pneumonitis, with the assumption that at least some of the adverse events with the drug combination might be due to trimethoprim. With the immunosuppressed rat model, eight sulfonamides were studied at 100, 10, and 1.0 mg/kg/day (10 rats per dosage and drug). P. carinii infection was prevented in all animals (100%) receiving dosages of as little as 1.0 mg of sulfamethoxazole, sulfamethoxypyridazine, and sulfadimethoxine per kg per day, as little as 10 mg of sulfameter, sulfachlorpyridazine, and sulfaquinoxaline per kg per day; and 100 mg of sulfaguanidine and sulfanilamide per kg per day. These studies suggest that a sulfonamide, such as sulfamethoxazole, might provide effective prophylaxis for P. carinii pneumonitis without trimethoprim.
Topics: Animals; Anti-Infective Agents; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Male; Pneumonia, Pneumocystis; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Sulfadimethoxine; Sulfamethoxazole; Sulfamethoxypyridazine
PubMed: 8849260
DOI: 10.1128/AAC.40.4.962 -
Frontiers in Plant Science 2012Plant activators are agrochemicals that protect crops from diseases by activating the plant immune system. To isolate lead compounds for use as practical plant...
Plant activators are agrochemicals that protect crops from diseases by activating the plant immune system. To isolate lead compounds for use as practical plant activators, we screened two different chemical libraries composed of various bioactive substances by using an established screening procedure that can selectively identify immune-priming compounds. We identified and characterized a group of sulfonamide compounds - sulfameter, sulfamethoxypyridazine, sulfabenzamide, and sulfachloropyridazine - among the various isolated candidate molecules. These sulfonamide compounds enhanced the avirulent Pseudomonas-induced cell death of Arabidopsis suspension cell cultures and increased disease resistance in Arabidopsis plants against both avirulent and virulent strains of the bacterium. These compounds did not prevent the growth of pathogenic bacteria in minimal liquid media at 200 μM. They also did not induce the expression of defense-related genes in Arabidopsis seedlings, at least not at 24 and 48 h after treatment, suggesting that they do not act as salicylic acid analogs. In addition, although sulfonamides are known to be folate biosynthesis inhibitors, the application of folate did not restore the potentiation effects of the sulfonamides on pathogen-induced cell death. Our data suggest that sulfonamides potentiate Arabidopsis disease resistance by their novel chemical properties.
PubMed: 23118736
DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2012.00245