A small-molecule therapeutic lead for Huntington's disease: preclinical pharmacology and efficacy of C2-8 in the R6/2 transgenic mouse

Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2007 Oct 16;104(42):16685-9. doi: 10.1073/pnas.0707842104. Epub 2007 Oct 9.

Abstract

Huntington's disease (HD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease caused by a glutamine expansion within huntingtin protein. The exact pathological mechanisms determining disease onset and progression remain unclear. However, aggregates of insoluble mutant huntingtin (mhtt), a hallmark of HD, are readily detected within neurons in HD brain. Although aggregated polyglutamines may not be inherently toxic, they constitute a biomarker for mutant huntingtin useful for developing therapeutics. We previously reported that the small molecule, C2-8, inhibits polyglutamine aggregation in cell culture and brain slices and rescues degeneration of photoreceptors in a Drosophila model of HD. In this study, we assessed the therapeutic potential of C2-8 in the R6/2 mouse model of HD, which has been used to provide proof-of-concept data in considering whether to advance therapies to human HD. We show that, at nontoxic doses, C2-8 penetrates the blood-brain barrier and is present in brain at a high concentration. C2-8-treated mice showed improved motor performance and reduced neuronal atrophy and had smaller huntingtin aggregates. There have been no prior drug-like, non-toxic, brain-penetrable aggregation inhibitors to arise from cell-based high-throughput screens for reducing huntingtin aggregation that is efficacious in preclinical in vivo models. C2-8 provides an essential tool to help elucidate mechanisms of neurodegeneration in HD and a therapeutic lead for further optimization and development.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Anilides / pharmacokinetics
  • Anilides / pharmacology
  • Anilides / therapeutic use*
  • Animals
  • Atrophy / drug therapy
  • Blood-Brain Barrier / metabolism
  • Drug Evaluation, Preclinical
  • Female
  • Huntingtin Protein
  • Huntington Disease / drug therapy*
  • Huntington Disease / pathology
  • Mice
  • Mice, Transgenic
  • Motor Activity / drug effects
  • Neostriatum / chemistry
  • Neostriatum / drug effects
  • Neostriatum / pathology
  • Nerve Tissue Proteins / analysis
  • Nerve Tissue Proteins / metabolism
  • Neurons / drug effects
  • Neurons / pathology
  • Nuclear Proteins / analysis
  • Nuclear Proteins / metabolism
  • Sulfonamides / pharmacokinetics
  • Sulfonamides / pharmacology
  • Sulfonamides / therapeutic use*

Substances

  • Anilides
  • Htt protein, mouse
  • Huntingtin Protein
  • N-(4-bromophenyl) 3-(4-bromophenylaminosulfonyl)benzamide
  • Nerve Tissue Proteins
  • Nuclear Proteins
  • Sulfonamides