A high-throughput approach for identification of novel general anesthetics

PLoS One. 2009 Sep 24;4(9):e7150. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0007150.

Abstract

Anesthetic development has been a largely empirical process. Recently, we described a GABAergic mimetic model system for anesthetic binding, based on apoferritin and an environment-sensitive fluorescent probe. Here, a competition assay based on 1-aminoanthracene and apoferritin has been taken to a high throughput screening level, and validated using the LOPAC(1280) library of drug-like compounds. A raw hit rate of approximately 15% was reduced through the use of computational filters to yield an overall hit rate of approximately 1%. These hits were validated using isothermal titration calorimetry. The success of this initial screen and computational triage provides feasibility to undergo a large scale campaign to discover novel general anesthetics.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

  • Anesthesia, General / methods
  • Anesthetics, General / therapeutic use*
  • Animals
  • Anthracenes / pharmacology
  • Apoferritins / chemistry
  • Calorimetry / methods
  • Combinatorial Chemistry Techniques
  • Drug Design*
  • Drug Evaluation, Preclinical / methods*
  • Horses
  • Inhibitory Concentration 50
  • Molecular Structure
  • Spleen / metabolism
  • Technology, Pharmaceutical / instrumentation*
  • Technology, Pharmaceutical / methods*

Substances

  • Anesthetics, General
  • Anthracenes
  • 1-aminoanthracene
  • Apoferritins