COMPOSITIONS AND METHODS FOR THE MODULATION OF THE CORTICOTROPIN RELEASING FACTOR BINDING PROTEIN AND THE TREATMENT OF ALCOHOL USE DISORDER
申请人:Brown University
公开号:US20210308107A1
公开(公告)日:2021-10-07
Stress responses involve corticotropin releasing factor (CRF), the two cognate receptors (CRF
1
and CRF
2
) and the CRF-binding protein (CRFBP). Utilizing a novel cell-based assay, a C-terminal CRFBP fragment [CRFBP(10 kD)] was found to potentiates CRF-intracellular Ca
2+
release, demonstrating that CRFBP possesses excitatory roles in addition to the inhibitory role established by the N-terminal fragment of CRFBP [CRFBP(27 kD)]. This interaction was CRF
2
-specific, as CRF
1
responses were not potentiated by CRFBP(10 kD). As there were currently no small molecule ligands available that selectively interact with either CRFBP or CRF
2
, a cell-based assay was miniaturized, wherein CRFBP(10 kD) was fused as a chimera with CRF
2α
, that allowed us to a perform a high-throughput screen (HTS) of approximately 350,000 small molecules. This resulted in the identification of negative allosteric modulators (NAMs) of the CRFBP(10 kD)-CRF
2
complex that blunt CRF-induced potentiation of N-Methyl-D-aspartic acid receptor (NMDAR)-mediated synaptic transmission in dopamine neurons in the ventral tegmental area (VTA). These results provide the first evidence of specific roles for CRF
2
and CRFBP in the modulation of neuronal activity and suggest that NMDARs in the VTA may be a target for the treatment of stress and substance abuse disorders such as alcohol use disorder.