Voltage-gated potassium channel KV1.3 inhibitors have been shown to be effective in preventing T-cell proliferation and activation by affecting intracellular Ca2+ homeostasis. Here, we present the ...structure-activity relationship, KV1.3 inhibition, and immunosuppressive effects of new thiophene-based KV1.3 inhibitors with nanomolar potency on K+ current in T-lymphocytes and KV1.3 inhibition on Ltk− cells. The new KV1.3 inhibitor trans-18 inhibited KV1.3 -mediated current in phytohemagglutinin (PHA)-activated T-lymphocytes with an IC50 value of 26.1 nM and in mammalian Ltk− cells with an IC50 value of 230 nM. The KV1.3 inhibitor trans-18 also had nanomolar potency against KV1.3 in Xenopus laevis oocytes (IC50 = 136 nM). The novel thiophene-based KV1.3 inhibitors impaired intracellular Ca2+ signaling as well as T-cell activation, proliferation, and colony formation.
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•KV1.3 inhibitors have been shown to be effective in preventing T-cell proliferation.•The new 3-thiophene-based compounds inhibited KV1.3 channels in the nanomolar range in three independent test systems.•Functional studies showed that inhibitor trans-18 impaired intracellular Ca2+ signaling.•Compound trans-18 inhibits T-cell activation, proliferation, and colony formation.
The KV1.3 voltage‐gated potassium ion channel is involved in many physiological processes both at the plasma membrane and in the mitochondria, chiefly in the immune and nervous systems. Therapeutic ...targeting KV1.3 with specific peptides and small molecule inhibitors shows great potential for treating cancers and autoimmune diseases, such as multiple sclerosis, type I diabetes mellitus, psoriasis, contact dermatitis, rheumatoid arthritis, and myasthenia gravis. However, no KV1.3‐targeted compounds have been approved for therapeutic use to date. This review focuses on the presentation of approaches for discovering new KV1.3 peptide and small‐molecule inhibitors, and strategies to improve the selectivity of active compounds toward KV1.3. Selectivity of dalatazide (ShK‐186), a synthetic derivate of the sea anemone toxin ShK, was achieved by chemical modification and has successfully reached clinical trials as a potential therapeutic for treating autoimmune diseases. Other peptides and small‐molecule inhibitors are critically evaluated for their lead‐like characteristics and potential for progression into clinical development. Some small‐molecule inhibitors with well‐defined structure–activity relationships have been optimized for selective delivery to mitochondria, and these offer therapeutic potential for the treatment of cancers. This overview of KV1.3 inhibitors and methodologies is designed to provide a good starting point for drug discovery to identify novel effective KV1.3 modulators against this target in the future.
Plasma membrane (PM) and mitochondrial (mt) ion channels - particularly potassium channels - became oncological targets soon after the discovery that they are involved both in the regulation of ...proliferation and apoptosis. Some members of the Kv Shaker family, namely Kv1.1, Kv1.3, Kv1.5 and Kv11.1 (Herg), and the intermediate-conductance calcium-activated potassium KCa3.1 (IK) channels have been shown to contribute to apoptosis in various cell lines. Kv1.3, Kv1.5 and IK are located in the plasma membrane but also in the mitochondrial inner membrane, where they participate in apoptotic signalling. Interestingly, an altered protein expression of some of the channels mentioned above has been reported in neoplastic cell lines/tissues, but a systematic quantification addressing the protein expression of the above potassium channels in tumor cell lines of different origin has not been carried out yet. In the present study we investigated whether expression of specific potassium channels, at the mRNA and protein level, can be correlated with cell sensitivity to various apoptotic stimuli, including chemotherapeutic drugs, in a panel of cancer cell lines. The results show correlation between the protein expression of the Kv1.1 and Kv1.3 channels and susceptibility to death upon treatment with staurosporine, C2-ceramide and cisplatin. Furthermore, we investigated the correlation between Kv channel expression and sensitivity to three distinct membrane-permeant Kv1.3 inhibitors, since these drugs have recently been shown to be able to induce apoptosis and also reduce tumor volume in an in vivo model. Higher protein expression of Kv1.3 significantly correlated with lower cell survival upon treatment with clofazimine, one of the Kv1.3 inhibitors. These results suggest that expression of Kv1.1 and Kv1.3 sensitizes tumour cells of various origins to cytotoxins. Data reported in this work regarding potassium channel protein expression in different cancer cell lines may be exploited for pharmacological manipulation aiming to affect proliferation/apoptosis of cancer cells.
We have previously shown that the mitochondrial potassium channel Kv1.3 (mtKv1.3) in T lymphocytes is a novel target of Bax. Mutation of Bax at lysine 128 (BaxK128E) abrogates its inhibitory effects ...on mtKv1.3 and prevents apoptosis. The importance of mtKv1.3 inhibition was underscored by the finding that membrane-permeant Kv1.3 inhibitors induced Bax/Bak-independent cell death and reduced the volume of an mtKv1.3-expressing tumor by 90% in a mouse model. However, the possible involvement of other Kv channels in apoptosis has not been clarified. Here we report that, like Kv1.3, Kv1.1 and Kv1.5 also interact with Bax. Transfection of Kvdeficient lymphocytes with Kv1.1 restores sensitivity to cell death in apoptosis-resistant CTLL-2 lymphocytes. SiRNA down-regulation of Kv1.3 and Kv1.5 expression in macrophages confers resistance to apoptosis. We further report that J774 macrophages express Kv1.3 and Kv1.5 in their mitochondria and that inhibition of both channels with specific membrane-permeant drugs can efficiently induce apoptosis in a macrophage cell line. Thus, our results indicate that the mechanism proposed for Kv1.3 can be extended to other Kv channels and suggest that membrane-permeant drugs may be a novel pharmacological tool for inducing apoptosis in macrophages, important players in the immune system. This result could be exploited for the depletion of tumor-associated macrophages, which have been shown to foster tumor growth.
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