Biology subjects

Godoy, A. S.

Publications and source records attributed to Godoy, A. S..

7 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2025

Metabolic Adaptations of Prostate Cancer Cells Under Chronic Fructose Stimulation

BackgroundDietary sugars, particularly fructose, are increasingly implicated in cancer progression through their impact on tumor metabolism. However, the specific metabolic adaptations driven by fructose in prostate cancer (PCa) remain unexplored. MethodsWe investigated the metabolic consequences of chronic fructose exposure in androgen-sensitive (LNCaP) and androgen-independent (PC-3) PCa cell lines. We evaluated the expression, localization, and function of the fructose transporter Glut-5 and assessed metabolic fluxes, enzyme expression, lipid accumulation, and global metabolite profiles using molecular, imaging, and metabolomic approaches. ResultsGlut-5 was primarily localized to early endosomes under basal and fructose-stimulated conditions, suggesting a non-canonical role potentially consistent with transceptor function. Chronic fructose exposure significantly upregulated Glut-5 expression and enhanced fructose uptake, but did not alter substantially its subcellular localization. Functionally, fructose reduced lactate production and mitochondrial ATP output, indicating a metabolic shift away from glycolysis and oxidative phosphorylation. In LNCaP cells, fructose induced robust activation of de novo lipogenesis (DNL), evidenced by upregulation of FASN and G6PD, increased lipid droplet accumulation, and enhanced levels of key fatty acid metabolites (e.g., TG, EPA, DHA). In contrast, PC-3 cells exhibited a distinct metabolic response, characterized by increased ceramide and amino acid metabolites. Notably, pharmacological inhibition of lipid metabolism using etomoxir abrogated proliferation in both cell lines under fructose stimulation. ConclusionsThese findings reveal that fructose promotes a metabolic reprogramming in PCa cells that is cell type- and AR-dependent, enhancing lipogenesis and potentially contributing to tumor progression. Our study identifies Glut-5-mediated fructolysis and lipid metabolic pathways as key vulnerabilities in PCa, offering potential avenues for metabolic intervention.

cell biology↗

bioRxiv2024

Identifying novel chemical matter against the Chikungunya virus nsP3 macrodomain through crystallographic fragment screening

Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) causes severe fever, rash and debilitating joint pain that can last for months 1,2or even years. Millions of people have been infected with CHIKV, mostly in low and middle-income countries, and the virus continues to spread into new areas due to the geographical expansion of its mosquito hosts. Its genome encodes a macrodomain, which functions as an ADP-ribosyl hydrolase, removing ADPr from viral and host-cell proteins interfering with the innate immune response. Mutational studies have shown that the CHIKV nsP3 macrodomain is necessary for viral replication, making it a potential target for the development of antiviral therapeutics. We, therefore, performed a high-throughput crystallographic fragment screen against the CHIKV nsP3 macrodomain, yielding 109 fragment hits covering the ADPr-binding site and two adjacent subsites that are absent in the homologous macrodomain of SARS-CoV-2 but may be present in other alphaviruses, such as Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus (VEEV) and eastern equine encephalitis virus (EEEV). Finally, a subset of overlapping fragments was used to manually design three fragment merges covering the adenine and oxyanion subsites. The rich dataset of chemical matter and structural information discovered from this fragment screen is publicly available and can be used as a starting point for developing a CHIKV nsP3 macrodomain inhibitor.

biochemistry↗

bioRxiv2024

High-throughput crystallographic fragment screening of Zika virus NS3 Helicase

The Zika virus (ZIKV), discovered in Africa in 1947, swiftly spread across continents, causing significant concern due to its recent association with microcephaly in newborns and Guillain-Barre syndrome in adults. Despite a decrease in prevalence, the potential for a resurgence remains, necessitating urgent therapeutic interventions. Like other flaviviruses, ZIKV presents promising drug targets within its replication machinery, notably the NS3 helicase (NS3Hel) protein, which plays critical roles in viral replication. However, a lack of structural information impedes the development of specific inhibitors targeting NS3Hel. Here we applied high-throughput crystallographic fragment screening on ZIKV NS3Hel, which yielded structures that reveal 3D binding poses of 46 fragments at multiple sites of the protein, including 11 unique fragments in the RNA-cleft site. These fragment structures provide templates for direct design of hit compounds and should thus assist the development of novel direct-acting antivirals against ZIKV and related flaviviruses, thus opening a promising avenue for combating future outbreaks.

biophysics↗

bioRxiv2023

Sex differences in responses to aggressive encounters among California mice

Despite how widespread female aggression is across the animal kingdom, there remains much unknown about its neuroendocrine mechanisms, especially in females that engage in aggression outside the peripartum period. Although the impact of experience in aggressive encounters on steroid hormone responses have been described, little is known about the impact of these experiences on female behavior or their neuropeptide responses. In this study, we compared behavioral responses in both male and female adult California mice based on if they had 0, 1, or 3 aggressive encounters using a modified resident intruder paradigm. We measured how arginine vasopressin and oxytocin cells in the paraventricular nucleus responded to aggression using c-fos immunohistochemistry. We saw that both sexes disengaged with intruders with repeated aggressive encounters, but that on the final day of testing females were most likely to freeze when they encountered intruders compared to no aggression controls - which was not significant in males. Finally, we saw that percent of arginine vasopressin and c-fos co-localizations in the posterior region of the paraventricular nucleus increased in males who fought compared to no aggression controls. No difference was observed in females. Overall, there is evidence that engaging in aggression induces stress responses in both sexes, and that females may be more sensitive to the effects of fighting.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2022

Structural basis of nirmatrelvir and ensitrelvir resistance profiles against SARS-CoV-2 Main Protease naturally occurring polymorphisms

SARS-CoV-2 is the causative agent of COVID-19. Mpro is the main viral protease, with a critical role in replication and, therefore, an attractive target for antiviral drug discovery. The clinically approved drug nirmatrelvir from Pfizer, and the clinical candidate ensitrelvir from Shionogi Pharmaceuticals had so far showed great potential for treatment of viral infections. Despite the importance of new therapeutics, the broad use of antivirals is often associated with mutation selection and resistance generation. Herein, we characterized 14 naturally occurring polymorphisms that are already in circulation and are within the radius of action of these two antivirals. Nirmatrelvir retained most of its in vitro activity against most polymorphism tested, while mutants G143S and Q189K were associated with higher resistance. For ensitrelvir, higher resistance was observed for polymorphisms M49I, G143S and R188S, but not for Q189K, suggesting a distinct resistance profile difference between the two inhibitors. The crystal structures of selected polymorphism reveal the structural basis for resistance generation. Our data will assist the monitoring of potential resistant strains, support the design of combined therapy to avoid resistance, as well as assist the development of a next generation of Mpro inhibitors

biochemistry↗

bioRxiv2022

Discovery of a Novel Inhibitor for Chikungunya Virus

Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is the etiological agent of chikungunya fever, a (re)emerging arbovirus infection, that causes severe and often persistent arthritis, representing a serious health problem worldwide for which no antivirals are currently available. Despite the efforts over the last decade to identify and optimize new inhibitors or to reposition existing drugs, no compound has progressed to clinical trials and prophylaxis is based on vector control, which has shown limited success in containing the virus. Herein, we screened 36 compounds using a replicon system and ultimately identified 3-methyltoxoflavin with activity against CHIKV using cell assays (EC50 200 nM). We have additionally screened 3-methyltoxoflavin against a panel of viruses and showed that it also inhibits yellow fever virus (IC50 370 nM, SI=3.2 in Huh-7 cells). 3-methyltoxoflavin is a known protein disulfide isomerase (PDI) inhibitor, and inhibitor of alphaviruses which likely depends on this host protein to aid in facilitating disulfide bond formation and isomerization, since alphaviruses require conserved cysteine residues for proper folding and assembly of the E1 and E2 envelope glycoproteins. In summary we demonstrate that 3-methyltoxoflavin has activity against CHIKV and may represent a starting point for optimization to develop inhibitors to this and other viruses.

microbiology↗

bioRxiv2020

Machine Learning Models Identify Inhibitors of SARS-CoV-2

With the ongoing SARS-CoV-2 pandemic there is an urgent need for the discovery of a treatment for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Drug repurposing is one of the most rapid strategies for addressing this need and numerous compounds have been selected for in vitro testing by several groups already. These have led to a growing database of molecules with in vitro activity against the virus. Machine learning models can assist drug discovery through prediction of the best compounds based on previously published data. Herein we have implemented several machine learning methods to develop predictive models from recent SARS-CoV-2 in vitro inhibition data and used them to prioritize additional FDA approved compounds for in vitro testing selected from our in-house compound library. From the compounds predicted with a Bayesian machine learning model, CPI1062 and CPI1155 showed antiviral activity in HeLa-ACE2 cell-based assays and represent potential repurposing opportunities for COVID-19. This approach can be greatly expanded to exhaustively virtually screen available molecules with predicted activity against this virus as well as a prioritization tool for SARS-CoV-2 antiviral drug discovery programs. The very latest model for SARS-CoV-2 is available at www.assaycentral.org.Competing Interest StatementSE is CEO and owner of Collaborations Pharmaceuticals, Inc. DHF, KMZ, TRL, AP are employees of Collaborations Pharmaceuticals, Inc.View Full Text

pharmacology and toxicology↗