A High-Content Screen for Mucin-1-Reducing Compounds Identifies Fostamatinib as a Candidate for Rapid Repurposing for Acute Lung Injury.

Cell Rep Med
Authors
Abstract

Drug repurposing has the advantage of identifying potential treatments on a shortened timescale. In response to the pandemic spread of SARS-CoV-2, we took advantage of a high-content screen of 3,713 compounds at different stages of clinical development to identify FDA-approved compounds that reduce mucin-1 (MUC1) protein abundance. Elevated MUC1 levels predict the development of acute lung injury (ALI) and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and correlate with poor clinical outcomes. Our screen identifies fostamatinib (R788), an inhibitor of spleen tyrosine kinase (SYK) approved for the treatment of chronic immune thrombocytopenia, as a repurposing candidate for the treatment of ALI. , fostamatinib reduces MUC1 abundance in lung epithelial cells in a mouse model of ALI. , SYK inhibition by the active metabolite R406 promotes MUC1 removal from the cell surface. Our work suggests fostamatinib as a repurposing drug candidate for ALI.

Year of Publication
2020
Journal
Cell Rep Med
Volume
1
Issue
8
Pages
100137
Date Published
2020 Nov 17
ISSN
2666-3791
DOI
10.1016/j.xcrm.2020.100137
PubMed ID
33294858
PubMed Central ID
PMC7691435
Links
Grant list
R01 AI042269 / AI / NIAID NIH HHS / United States
R01 AI148161 / AI / NIAID NIH HHS / United States
T32 HL007627 / HL / NHLBI NIH HHS / United States