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Aquaporins : Chemical inhibition by small molecules

Huber, Vincent J. ; Wacker, Sören and Rützler, Michael LU (2016) p.249-271
Abstract

The human genome encodes 13 aquaporin isoforms with characteristic substrate specificity that are expressed at specific locations throughout the body. Of these isoforms, AQPs 1-4 serve important functions in renal water reabsorption. Consequently, specific AQP inhibitors have been proposed as 'aquaretics', a new class of drugs suitable to induce diuresis without concomitant salt wasting. Furthermore, animal experiments suggested that AQP4 inhibitors could be useful to treat some forms of brain edema. Other proposed applications for AQP inhibitors involve amongst others treatment of diabetes, inflammatory skin diseases and cancer. However, few of these putative applications have been critically evaluated against current forms of therapy.... (More)

The human genome encodes 13 aquaporin isoforms with characteristic substrate specificity that are expressed at specific locations throughout the body. Of these isoforms, AQPs 1-4 serve important functions in renal water reabsorption. Consequently, specific AQP inhibitors have been proposed as 'aquaretics', a new class of drugs suitable to induce diuresis without concomitant salt wasting. Furthermore, animal experiments suggested that AQP4 inhibitors could be useful to treat some forms of brain edema. Other proposed applications for AQP inhibitors involve amongst others treatment of diabetes, inflammatory skin diseases and cancer. However, few of these putative applications have been critically evaluated against current forms of therapy. Furthermore, development of AQP inhibitors remains difficult and despite numerous efforts during at least the last 15 years very few AQP inhibitors have been described. Moreover, none of the hitherto described substances have been developed to a level where meaningful verification of proposed AQP drug targets in preclinical or clinical settings was possible. Nonetheless, encouraging progress towards development of such substances has been made during recent years. Novel cell-based assays facilitate high throughput screening of chemical compound libraries for hit discovery. AQP 3D structures have been solved for 10 isoforms, which can support rapidly evolving computational hit discovery methods, as well as hit to lead programs. In this chapter, we will provide a critical review of current evidence supporting relevance of AQPs as drug targets, describe current methods for AQP inhibitor discovery and will try to highlight challenges that remain before successful AQP inhibitor development.

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Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; and
organization
publishing date
type
Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding
publication status
published
subject
host publication
Aquaporins in Health and Disease : New Molecular Targets for Drug Discovery - New Molecular Targets for Drug Discovery
editor
Soveral, Graca ; Nielsen, Soren and Casini, Angela
pages
23 pages
publisher
CRC Press
external identifiers
  • scopus:85052294460
ISBN
9781498707831
9781498707848
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
c467ab0e-98d9-4521-a54d-cea4582ae292
alternative location
https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/e/9781498707848
date added to LUP
2018-10-01 10:40:27
date last changed
2024-01-15 02:15:01
@inbook{c467ab0e-98d9-4521-a54d-cea4582ae292,
  abstract     = {{<p>The human genome encodes 13 aquaporin isoforms with characteristic substrate specificity that are expressed at specific locations throughout the body. Of these isoforms, AQPs 1-4 serve important functions in renal water reabsorption. Consequently, specific AQP inhibitors have been proposed as 'aquaretics', a new class of drugs suitable to induce diuresis without concomitant salt wasting. Furthermore, animal experiments suggested that AQP4 inhibitors could be useful to treat some forms of brain edema. Other proposed applications for AQP inhibitors involve amongst others treatment of diabetes, inflammatory skin diseases and cancer. However, few of these putative applications have been critically evaluated against current forms of therapy. Furthermore, development of AQP inhibitors remains difficult and despite numerous efforts during at least the last 15 years very few AQP inhibitors have been described. Moreover, none of the hitherto described substances have been developed to a level where meaningful verification of proposed AQP drug targets in preclinical or clinical settings was possible. Nonetheless, encouraging progress towards development of such substances has been made during recent years. Novel cell-based assays facilitate high throughput screening of chemical compound libraries for hit discovery. AQP 3D structures have been solved for 10 isoforms, which can support rapidly evolving computational hit discovery methods, as well as hit to lead programs. In this chapter, we will provide a critical review of current evidence supporting relevance of AQPs as drug targets, describe current methods for AQP inhibitor discovery and will try to highlight challenges that remain before successful AQP inhibitor development.</p>}},
  author       = {{Huber, Vincent J. and Wacker, Sören and Rützler, Michael}},
  booktitle    = {{Aquaporins in Health and Disease : New Molecular Targets for Drug Discovery}},
  editor       = {{Soveral, Graca and Nielsen, Soren and Casini, Angela}},
  isbn         = {{9781498707831}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{01}},
  pages        = {{249--271}},
  publisher    = {{CRC Press}},
  title        = {{Aquaporins : Chemical inhibition by small molecules}},
  url          = {{https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/e/9781498707848}},
  year         = {{2016}},
}