Estrogen receptor reprogramming ligands for the prevention of protracted menopausal symptoms and chronic diseases

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Project Summary/Abstract Because of longer lifespans, health problems affecting menopausal women are becoming increasingly common. Hot flashes, sleep issues, and mood swings are typical short-term symptoms that can have a negative impact on quality of life and productivity at work. An increased incidence of chronic disorders such as osteoporosis, obesity, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and cardiovascular disease is linked to long-term estrogen insufficiency following menopause. Menopausal hormone therapy (MHT) is effective at reducing menopausal symptoms and preventing some chronic diseases, but according to the Women's Health Initiative (WHI), long-term therapy has more risks than benefits. The use of MHT among menopausal women has sharply dropped since the publication of the WHI data. MHT is currently recommended for a 5-year short-term treatment of hot flashes and vaginal symptoms. MHT is no longer recommended for the primary prevention of chronic diseases. Countless menopausal women continue to wait anxiously for a safer long-term MHT to improve their quality of life and health. In the meantime, many women opt for unproven supplements to relieve menopausal symptoms. There is a significant unmet need for developing new MHT formulations that can be utilized for long-term therapy because many women suffer from menopausal symptoms for more than five years and chronic diseases increase throughout menopause. Almost 80 years after MHT was approved, there is still no MHT formula safe for long- term therapy. Our objective is to develop a safer MHT formula that can be used long-term to treat protracted menopausal symptoms and prevent chronic diseases, such as osteoporosis, diabetes, obesity, and metabolic syndrome. We discovered a class of compounds that we termed estrogen receptor (ER) reprogramming ligands. We found that when a reprogramming ligand is combined with estradiol (E2), a new set of genes are regulated that are not regulated by the reprogramming ligand or E2 alone. The reprogramming ligand blocked the proliferation of human breast cancer cells and the growth of the mouse uterus in response to E2. Our goal is to create an E2/reprogramming ligand combination by replacing the progestin component of MHT with a reprogramming ligand and adding it to the estrogen-alone formulation. Our hypothesis is that the E2/reprogramming ligand combination will be safer than the single estrogen and estrogen/progestin MHT preparations currently on the market so that they can be used as a long-term therapy to prevent protracted menopausal symptoms and chronic diseases. Our original reprogramming ligand was a natural compound. To improve its pharmacological properties and strengthen its patent protection, we prepared and identified several synthetic analogs that behave similarly to the natural reprogramming ligand in cell-based assays. As the next step in the clinical development pathway, we will test the synthetic analogs in animal models to select the lead analog that is the most effective and safe for future clinical trials.