Repurposing of Agrochemicals as ATTRv Amyloidosis Inhibitors.
Yokoyama, T., Fujiwara, S., Nishikubo, K., Mizuguchi, M., Nabeshima, Y., Toyooka, N., Okada, T., Nakagawa, Y.(2025) J Med Chem 68: 1572-1586
- PubMed: 39761163 
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jmedchem.4c02221
- Primary Citation of Related Structures:  
9JIQ, 9JIR, 9JIS - PubMed Abstract: 
Transthyretin (TTR), a plasma protein, undergoes transformation into amyloid fibers, leading to ATTRv amyloidosis, a disease characterized by organ deposition of TTR amyloid fibrils and subsequent organ failure. Developing compounds that bind and kinetically stabilize TTR is a crucial strategy in the treatment of ATTRv amyloidosis. In this study, we narrowed 651 pesticide-related compounds down to 14 possible TTR binders through in silico screening; subsequent in vitro analysis revealed that 7 of them exhibited amyloid fibril formation inhibition activity. The herbicide components bromoxynil ( 6 ) and ioxynil ( 21 ) showed especially high ligand efficiency and efficiently inhibited amyloid fibril formation of amyloidogenic V30M-TTR. Additionally, aclonifen ( 9 ) exhibited moderate fibril formation inhibition activity, but showed selective binding to TTR comparable to that of tafamidis. While improvement is needed to the selective TTR-binding or fibril formation inhibition activity, the compounds identified herein are promising lead candidates for the development of ATTRv amyloidosis therapeutics.
Organizational Affiliation: 
Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Toyama, 2630 Sugitani, Toyama 930-0914, Japan.