Development of a Multiplexed Activity-Based Protein Profiling Assay to Evaluate Activity of Endocannabinoid Hydrolase Inhibitors

ACS Chem Biol. 2018 Sep 21;13(9):2406-2413. doi: 10.1021/acschembio.8b00534. Epub 2018 Sep 12.

Abstract

Endocannabinoids, an important class of signaling lipids involved in health and disease, are predominantly synthesized and metabolized by enzymes of the serine hydrolase superfamily. Activity-based protein profiling (ABPP) using fluorescent probes, such as fluorophosphonate (FP)-TAMRA and β-lactone-based MB064, enables drug discovery activities for serine hydrolases. FP-TAMRA and MB064 have distinct, albeit partially overlapping, target profiles but cannot be used in conjunction due to overlapping excitation/emission spectra. We therefore synthesized a novel FP-probe with a green BODIPY as a fluorescent tag and studied its labeling profile in mouse proteomes. Surprisingly, we found that the reporter tag plays an important role in the binding potency and selectivity of the probe. A multiplexed ABPP assay was developed in which a probe cocktail of FP-BODIPY and MB064 visualized most endocannabinoid serine hydrolases in mouse brain proteomes in a single experiment. The multiplexed ABPP assay was employed to profile endocannabinoid hydrolase inhibitor activity and selectivity in the mouse brain.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Boron Compounds / chemistry*
  • Brain / drug effects
  • Brain / enzymology
  • Brain / metabolism
  • Drug Discovery
  • Drug Evaluation, Preclinical / methods*
  • Endocannabinoids / metabolism
  • Enzyme Assays / methods*
  • Fluorescent Dyes / chemistry*
  • Halogenation
  • Mice
  • Organophosphonates / chemistry
  • Proteome / analysis
  • Proteome / metabolism
  • Serine Endopeptidases / analysis*
  • Serine Endopeptidases / metabolism
  • Serine Proteinase Inhibitors / pharmacology*

Substances

  • 4,4-difluoro-4-bora-3a,4a-diaza-s-indacene
  • Boron Compounds
  • Endocannabinoids
  • Fluorescent Dyes
  • Organophosphonates
  • Proteome
  • Serine Proteinase Inhibitors
  • Serine Endopeptidases