A Large-Scale High-Throughput Screen for Modulators of SERCA Activity

• Published in: Biomolecules (Basel, Switzerland) Switzerland), 2022-11, Vol.12 (12), p.1789
• Main Authors: Bidwell, Philip A, Yuen, Samantha L, Li, Ji, Berg, Kaja, Rebbeck, Robyn T, Aldrich, Courtney C, Roopnarine, Osha, Cornea, Razvan L, Thomas, David D
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animals; Ca2+-transporting ATPase; Calcium - metabolism; calcium ATPase; Calcium influx; Calcium transport; Calcium-transporting ATPases; Cardiac muscle; Cytosol; Dehydrogenases; Drug development; drug discovery; Endoplasmic reticulum; Endoplasmic Reticulum - metabolism; Enzymes; Evaluation; Gene therapy; Health aspects; Heart failure; High-throughput screening; High-throughput screening (Biochemical assaying); Ion Transport; Kinases; Mammalian cells; Mammals - metabolism; membrane transport; Methods; Muscle Cells - metabolism; Muscle contraction; Muscular dystrophy; Musculoskeletal system; Phosphorylation; Physiological aspects; Sarcoplasmic reticulum; Sarcoplasmic Reticulum - metabolism; Sarcoplasmic Reticulum Calcium-Transporting ATPases - metabolism
• ISSN: 2218-273X; 2218-273X
• DOI: 10.3390/biom12121789

The sarco/endoplasmic reticulum Ca-ATPase (SERCA) is a P-type ion pump that transports Ca from the cytosol into the endoplasmic/sarcoplasmic reticulum (ER/SR) in most mammalian cells. It is critically important in muscle, facilitating relaxation and enabling subsequent contraction. Increasing SERCA expression or specific activity can alleviate muscle dysfunction, most notably in the heart, and we seek to develop small-molecule drug candidates that activate SERCA. Therefore, we adapted an NADH-coupled assay, measuring Ca-dependent ATPase activity of SERCA, to high-throughput screening (HTS) format, and screened a 46,000-compound library of diverse chemical scaffolds. This HTS platform yielded numerous hits that reproducibly alter SERCA Ca-ATPase activity, with few false positives. The top 19 activating hits were further tested for effects on both Ca-ATPase and Ca transport, in both cardiac and skeletal SR. Nearly all hits increased Ca uptake in both cardiac and skeletal SR, with some showing isoform specificity. Furthermore, dual analysis of both activities identified compounds with a range of effects on Ca -uptake and ATPase, which fit into distinct classifications. Further study will be needed to identify which classifications are best suited for therapeutic use. These results reinforce the need for robust secondary assays and criteria for selection of lead compounds, before undergoing HTS on a larger scale.