2. Academic Validation
  3. Novel CaMKII-δ Inhibitor Hesperadin Exerts Dual Functions to Ameliorate Cardiac Ischemia/Reperfusion Injury and Inhibit Tumor Growth

Novel CaMKII-δ Inhibitor Hesperadin Exerts Dual Functions to Ameliorate Cardiac Ischemia/Reperfusion Injury and Inhibit Tumor Growth

  • Circulation. 2022 Apr 12;145(15):1154-1168. doi: 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.121.055920.
Junxia Zhang 1,  Ruqi Liang 2,  Kai Wang 3,  Wenjia Zhang 4,  Mao Zhang 1,  Li Jin 1,  Peng Xie 1,  Wen Zheng 1,  Haibao Shang 1,  Qingmei Hu 1,  Jiayi Li 1,  Gengjia Chen 1,  Fujian Wu 5,  Feng Lan 1 5,  Lipeng Wang 6,  Shi-Qiang Wang 6,  Yongfeng Li 7 8,  Yong Zhang 1 4 7 8,  Jinghao Liu 1,  Fengxiang Lv 1,  Xinli Hu 1,  Rui-Ping Xiao 1 9 10 11,  Xiaoguang Lei 2 9 12,  Yan Zhang 1
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 State Key Laboratory of Membrane Biology, Institute of Molecular Medicine, College of Future Technology (J.Z., M.Z., L.J., P.X., W. Zheng, H.S., Q.H., J. Li, G.C., J. Liu, F.L., X.H., R.-P.X., Yan Zhang), Peking University, Beijing, China.
  • 2 Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, Key Laboratory of Bioorganic Chemistry and Molecular Engineering of Ministry of Education, Department of Chemical Biology, College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering (R.L., X.L.), Peking University, Beijing, China.
  • 3 Department of Physiology and Pathophysiology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Peking University, and the Key Laboratory of Molecular Cardiovascular Sciences (Peking University), Ministry of Education, Beijing, China (K.W.).
  • 4 Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences and Key Laboratory of Molecular Cardiovascular Sciences, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Ministry of Education (W. Zhang, Yan Zhang), Peking University Health Science Center, Beijing, China.
  • 5 State Key Laboratory of Cardiovascular Disease, National Center for Cardiovascular Diseases, Fuwai Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China (F.W., F.L.).
  • 6 College of Life Sciences (L.W., S.-Q.W.), Peking University, Beijing, China.
  • 7 Neuroscience Research Institute and Department of Neurobiology, School of Basic Medical Sciences (Y.L., Yong Zhang), Peking University Health Science Center, Beijing, China.
  • 8 Key Laboratory for Neuroscience, Ministry of Education/National Health Commission, IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research at PKU. Beijing, China (Y.L., Yong Zhang).
  • 9 Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences (R.-P.X., X.L.), Peking University, Beijing, China.
  • 10 Beijing City Key Laboratory of Cardiometabolic Molecular Medicine (R.-P.X.), Peking University, Beijing, China.
  • 11 PKU-Nanjing Joint Institute of Translational Medicine, Nanjing, China (R.-P.X.).
  • 12 Academy for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies (X.L.), Peking University, Beijing, China.
PMID: 35317609 DOI: 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.121.055920
Abstract

Background: Cardiac ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury has emerged as an important therapeutic target for ischemic heart disease, the leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. At present, there is no effective therapy for reducing cardiac I/R injury. CaMKII (CA2+/calmodulin-dependent kinase II) plays a pivotal role in the pathogenesis of severe heart conditions, including I/R injury. Pharmacological inhibition of CaMKII is an important strategy in the protection against myocardial damage and cardiac diseases. To date, there is no drug targeting CaMKII for the clinical therapy of heart disease. Furthermore, at present, there is no selective inhibitor of CaMKII-δ, the major CaMKII isoform in the heart.

Methods: A small-molecule kinase inhibitor library and a high-throughput screening system for the kinase activity assay of CaMKII-δ9 (the most abundant CaMKII-δ splice variant in human heart) were used to screen for CaMKII-δ inhibitors. Using cultured neonatal rat ventricular myocytes, human embryonic stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes, and in vivo mouse models, in conjunction with myocardial injury induced by I/R (or hypoxia/reoxygenation) and CaMKII-δ9 overexpression, we sought to investigate the protection of hesperadin against cardiomyocyte death and cardiac diseases. BALB/c nude mice with xenografted tumors of human Cancer cells were used to evaluate the in vivo antitumor effect of hesperadin.

Results: Based on the small-molecule kinase inhibitor library and screening system, we found that hesperadin, an Aurora B kinase inhibitor with antitumor activity in vitro, directly bound to CaMKII-δ and specifically blocked its activation in an ATP-competitive manner. Hesperadin functionally ameliorated both I/R- and overexpressed CaMKII-δ9-induced cardiomyocyte death, myocardial damage, and heart failure in both rodents and human embryonic stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes. In addition, in an in vivo BALB/c nude mouse model with xenografted tumors of human Cancer cells, hesperadin delayed tumor growth without inducing cardiomyocyte death or cardiac injury.

Conclusions: Here, we identified hesperadin as a specific small-molecule inhibitor of CaMKII-δ with dual functions of cardioprotective and antitumor effects. These findings not only suggest that hesperadin is a promising leading compound for clinical therapy of cardiac I/R injury and heart failure, but also provide a strategy for the joint therapy of Cancer and Cardiovascular Disease caused by Anticancer treatment.

Keywords

calcium-calmodulin-dependent protein kinase type 2; cardiotonic agents; hesperadin; neoplasms; reperfusion injury.

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