Discovery of selective glucocorticoid receptor modulators by multiplexed reporter screening

Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2009 Mar 24;106(12):4929-34. doi: 10.1073/pnas.0812308106. Epub 2009 Mar 2.

Abstract

Glucocorticoids are widely used to suppress inflammation and treat various immune-mediated diseases. Some glucocorticoid receptor (GR)-regulated genes mediate the therapeutic response, whereas others cause debilitating side effects. To discover selective modulators of the GR response, we developed a high-throughput, multiplexed system to monitor regulation of 4 promoters simultaneously. An initial screen of 1,040 natural products and Food and Drug Administration-approved drugs identified modulators that caused GR to regulate only a subset of its target promoters. Some compounds selectively inhibited GR-mediated gene activation without altering the repression of cytokine expression by GR. This approach will facilitate identification of genes and small molecules that augment beneficial effects of GR and diminish deleterious ones. Our results have important implications for the development of GR modulators and the identification of cross-talk pathways that control selective GR gene regulation.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adipogenesis / drug effects
  • Animals
  • Anthracyclines / pharmacology
  • Aurintricarboxylic Acid / analogs & derivatives
  • Aurintricarboxylic Acid / pharmacology
  • Biological Assay
  • Caproates / pharmacology
  • Cell Line
  • Cytokines / metabolism
  • Drug Discovery / methods*
  • Fluorescent Dyes / metabolism
  • Gene Expression Regulation / drug effects
  • Genes, Reporter*
  • Humans
  • Ligands
  • Mice
  • Promoter Regions, Genetic
  • Receptors, Glucocorticoid / genetics
  • Receptors, Glucocorticoid / metabolism*
  • Rosaniline Dyes / pharmacology
  • Signal Transduction / drug effects
  • Toluidines / pharmacology
  • Transcriptional Activation / drug effects

Substances

  • Anthracyclines
  • Caproates
  • Cytokines
  • Fluorescent Dyes
  • Ligands
  • Receptors, Glucocorticoid
  • Rosaniline Dyes
  • Toluidines
  • pararosaniline
  • Aurintricarboxylic Acid
  • aurin