AUTHOR=Anzai Itsuki , Toichi Keisuke , Tokuda Eiichi , Mukaiyama Atsushi , Akiyama Shuji , Furukawa Yoshiaki 

TITLE=Screening of Drugs Inhibiting In vitro Oligomerization of Cu/Zn-Superoxide Dismutase with a Mutation Causing Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences

VOLUME=3

YEAR=2016

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/molecular-biosciences/articles/10.3389/fmolb.2016.00040

DOI=10.3389/fmolb.2016.00040

ISSN=2296-889X

ABSTRACT=<p>Dominant mutations in Cu/Zn-superoxide dismutase (<italic>SOD1</italic>) gene have been shown to cause a familial form of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (<italic>SOD1</italic>-ALS). A major pathological hallmark of this disease is abnormal accumulation of mutant SOD1 oligomers in the affected spinal motor neurons. While no effective therapeutics for <italic>SOD1</italic>-ALS is currently available, SOD1 oligomerization will be a good target for developing cures of this disease. Recently, we have reproduced the formation of SOD1 oligomers abnormally cross-linked <italic>via</italic> disulfide bonds in a test tube. Using our <italic>in vitro</italic> model of SOD1 oligomerization, therefore, we screened 640 FDA-approved drugs for inhibiting the oligomerization of SOD1 proteins, and three effective classes of chemical compounds were identified. Those hit compounds will provide valuable information on the chemical structures for developing a novel drug candidate suppressing the abnormal oligomerization of mutant SOD1 and possibly curing the disease.</p>