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The p38 MAPK cascade is a key signaling pathway linked to a multitude of physiological functions and of central importance in inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. Although studied extensively, little is known about how conformation-specific inhibitors alter signaling outcomes. Here, we have explored the highly dynamic back pocket of p38 MAPK with allosteric urea fragments. However, screening against known off-targets showed that these fragments maintained the selectivity issues of their parent compound BIRB-796, while combination with the hinge-binding motif of VPC-00628 greatly enhanced inhibitor selectivity. Further efforts focused therefore on the exploration of the αC-out pocket of p38 MAPK, yielding compound 137 as a highly selective type-II inhibitor. Even though 137 is structurally related to a recent p38 type-II chemical probe, SR-318, the data presented here provide valuable insights into back-pocket interactions that are not addressed in SR-318 and it provides an alternative chemical tool with good cellular activity targeting also the p38 back pocket.

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Fibroblasts derived from the progeroid Werner syndrome show reduced replicative lifespan and a "stressed" morphology, both alleviated using the MAP kinase inhibitor SB203580. However, interpretation of these data is problematical because although SB203580 has the stress-activated kinases p38 and JNK1/2 as its preferred targets, it does show relatively low overall kinase selectivity. Several lines of data support a role for both p38 and JNK1/2 activation in the control of cellular proliferation and also the pathology of diseases of ageing, including type II diabetes, diseases to which Werner Syndrome individuals are prone, thus making the use of JNK inhibitors attractive as possible therapeutics. We have thus tested the effects of the widely used JNK inhibitor SP600125 on the proliferation and morphology of WS cells. In addition we synthesised and tested two recently described aminopyridine based inhibitors. SP600125 treatment resulted in the cessation of proliferation of WS cells and resulted in a senescent-like cellular phenotype that does not appear to be related to the inhibition of JNK1/2. In contrast, use of the more selective aminopyridine CMPD 6o at concentrations that fully inhibit JNK1/2 had a positive effect on cellular proliferation of immortalised WS cells, but no effect on the replicative lifespan of primary WS fibroblasts. In addition, CMPD 6o corrected the stressed WS cellular morphology. The aminopyridine CMPD 6r, however, had little effect on WS cells. CMDP 6o was also found to be a weak inhibitor of MK2, which may partially explain its effects on WS cells, since MK2 is known to be involved in regulating cellular morphology via HSP27 phosphorylation, and is thought to play a role in cell cycle arrest. These data suggest that total JNK1/2 activity does not play a substantial role in the proliferation control in WS cells.

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We sought to identify new susceptibility loci for Alzheimer's disease through a staged association study (GERAD+) and by testing suggestive loci reported by the Alzheimer's Disease Genetic Consortium (ADGC) in a companion paper. We undertook a combined analysis of four genome-wide association datasets (stage 1) and identified ten newly associated variants with P ≤ 1 × 10(-5). We tested these variants for association in an independent sample (stage 2). Three SNPs at two loci replicated and showed evidence for association in a further sample (stage 3). Meta-analyses of all data provided compelling evidence that ABCA7 (rs3764650, meta P = 4.5 × 10(-17); including ADGC data, meta P = 5.0 × 10(-21)) and the MS4A gene cluster (rs610932, meta P = 1.8 × 10(-14); including ADGC data, meta P = 1.2 × 10(-16)) are new Alzheimer's disease susceptibility loci. We also found independent evidence for association for three loci reported by the ADGC, which, when combined, showed genome-wide significance: CD2AP (GERAD+, P = 8.0 × 10(-4); including ADGC data, meta P = 8.6 × 10(-9)), CD33 (GERAD+, P = 2.2 × 10(-4); including ADGC data, meta P = 1.6 × 10(-9)) and EPHA1 (GERAD+, P = 3.4 × 10(-4); including ADGC data, meta P = 6.0 × 10(-10)).

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BACKGROUND: UR-13756 is a potent and selective p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) inhibitor, reported to have good bioavailability and pharmacokinetic properties and, thus, is of potential use in the treatment of accelerated aging in Werner syndrome. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: Irradiation of 2-chloroacrylonitrile and methylhydrazine in ethanol at 100 °C gives 1-methyl-3-aminopyrazole, which reacts with 4-fluorobenzaldehyde and a ketone, obtained by Claisen condensation of 4-picoline, in a Hantzsch-type 3-component hereocyclocondensation, to give the pyrazolopyridine UR-13756. UR-13756 shows p38 MAPK inhibitory activity in human telomerase reverse transcriptase-immortalized HCA2 dermal fibroblasts, with an IC(50) of 80 nm, as shown by ELISA, is 100% efficacious for up to 24 h at 1.0 µm and displays excellent kinase selectivity over the related stress-activated c-Jun kinases. In addition, UR-13756 is an effective p38 inhibitor at 1.0 µm in Werner syndrome cells, as shown by immunoblot. CONCLUSION: The convergent synthesis of UR-13756 is realized using microwave dielectric heating and provides a highly selective inhibitor that shows excellent selectivity for p38 MAPK over c-Jun N-terminal kinase.

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Werner syndrome provides a convincing model for aspects of the normal ageing phenotype and may provide a suitable model for therapeutic interventions designed to combat the ageing process. Cultured primary fibroblast cells from Werner syndrome patients provide a powerful model system to study the link between replicative senescence in vitro and in vivo pathophysiology. Genome instability, together with an increased pro-oxidant state, and frequent replication fork stalling, all provide plausible triggers for intracellular stress in Werner syndrome cells, and implicates p38 MAPK signaling in their shortened replicative lifespan. A number of different p38 MAPK inhibitor chemotypes have been prepared rapidly and efficiently using microwave heating techniques for biological study in Werner syndrome cells, including SB203580, VX-745, RO3201195, UR-13756 and BIRB 796, and their selectivity and potency evaluated in this cellular context. Werner syndrome fibroblasts treated with a p38 MAPK inhibitor reveal an unexpected reversal of the accelerated ageing phenotype. Thus the study of p38 inhibition and its effect upon Werner pathophysiology is likely to provide new revelations into the biological mechanisms operating in cellular senescence and human ageing in the future.

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A benzopyranopyridine inhibitor of mitogen-activated protein kinase-activated protein kinase 2 (MK2) is prepared rapidly and efficiently in one step using microwave dielectric heating, whereas a substrate-selective p38 MAPK inhibitor was prepared using conventional heating techniques. The former had MK2 inhibitory activity above 2.5 microM concentration, whereas the latter showed no MK2 inhibition at 10 microM. However, rather than rescuing the reduced cellular growth rate and aged morphology of hTERT-immortalised WS dermal fibroblasts, both induce a state resembling stress-induced cellular senescence, suggesting that these inhibitors may have limited therapeutic use.

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Microwave irradiation of substituted hydrazines and beta-ketoesters gives 5-aminopyrazoles in excellent yield, which can be transformed to the corresponding N-carbonyl derivatives by treatment with an isocyanate or chloroformate. Derivatization of 4-nitronaphth-1-ol using predominantly microwave heating methods and reaction with an N-pyrazole carbamate provides a rapid route to the N-pyrazole urea BIRB 796 in high purity, as a potent and selective inhibitor of p38alpha mitogen-activated protein kinase for the study of accelerated ageing in Werner syndrome cells.

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