Abstract
Stimulator of interferon genes (STING) is an endoplasmic reticulum transmembrane protein that serves as a molecular hub for activation of interferon and inflammatory cytokine response by multiple cellular DNA sensors. Not surprisingly, STING has been demonstrated to play an important role in host defense against microorganisms and pharmacologic activation of STING is considered as an attractive strategy to treat viral diseases and boost antitumor immunity. In light of this we established a HepAD38-derived reporter cell line that expresses firefly luciferase in response to the activation of cyclic GMP-AMP synthase (cGAS)-STING pathway for high throughput screening (HTS) of small molecular human STING agonists. This cell-based reporter assay required only 4 h treatment with a reference STING agonist to induce a robust luciferase signal and was demonstrated to have an excellent performance in HTS format. By screening 16,000 compounds, a dispiro diketopiperzine (DSDP) compound was identified to induce cytokine response in a manner dependent on the expression of functional human STING, but not mouse STING. Moreover, we showed that DSDP induced an interferon-dominant cytokine response in human skin fibroblasts and peripheral blood mononuclear cells, which in turn potently suppressed the replication of yellow fever virus, dengue virus and Zika virus. We have thus established a robust cell-based assay system suitable for rapid discovery and mechanistic analyses of cGAS-STING pathway agonists. Identification of DSDP as a human STING agonist enriches the pipelines of STING-targeting drug development for treatment of viral infections and cancers.
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.