Synoviolin inhibitors for treatment of fibrosis

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) significantly affects quality of life. We recently cloned synoviolin, an E3 ubiquitin ligase implicated in the endoplasmic reticulum-associated degradation pathway. Synoviolin is highly expressed in rheumatoid synovial cells and is involved in the pathogenesis of RA. Inhibition of synoviolin activity is a potentially useful therapeutic approach for the treatment of RA. We recently identified two classes of small molecules, named LS-101 and LS-102, which inhibited synoviolin activity. LS-102 selectively inhibited synoviolin enzymatic activity, while LS-101 inhibited a broad array of RING-type E3 ligases. Moreover, these inhibitors suppressed the proliferation of rheumatoid synovial cells, and significantly reduced the severity of disease in a mouse model of RA and liver fibrosis. Our results suggest that inhibition of synoviolin is a potentially useful approach in the treatment of fibrosis.