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Thrombosis underlies many life-threatening cardio-cerebrovascular diseases. Although existing anticoagulants are effective in treating thrombotic diseases, their application is limited due to the concern of bleeding. New anticoagulants that preserve hemostasis have significant clinical importance. Herein, a novel galactosylated glycosaminoglycan, with unique sequence and sulfate substitutions, was isolated from the snail Camaena cicatricose (CCG). Administration of CCG effectively inhibited thrombus formation in a rat venous thrombosis model, which is positively correlated with its ex vivo anticoagulant activity (APTT prolongation), with much lower bleeding risk compared with heparins. It is also effective in preventing thrombosis in the rat arterial-venous shunt model and endotoxin-treated mice. CCG inhibited coagulation by selectively targeting iFXase enzyme complex (FIXa–FVIIIa), in an antithrombin (AT)-independent manner. CCG can bind to FIXa with high affinity and decrease the affinity of FIXa–FVIIIa, with no effect on the FIXa activity. Compared with heparins, it cannot bind to AT and exhibits high selectivity for iFXase inhibition, consistent with its absence of the specific heparin pentasaccharide sequence. Overall, the snail galactosed glycosaminoglycan inhibits thrombosis without affecting hemostasis via disrupting iFXase (FIXa–FVIIIa). CCG may represent a promising candidate for thrombosis treatment without increased bleeding risk.

Inflammation causes many diseases that are serious threats to human health. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying regulation of inflammation and inflammasome activation are not fully understood which has delayed the discovery of new anti-inflammatory drugs of urgent clinic need. Here, we found that the natural compound Teuvincenone F, which was isolated and purified from the stems and leaves of , could significantly inhibit lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced pro-inflammatory cytokines production and NLRP3 inflammasome activation. Our results showed that Teuvincenone F attenuated K63-linked ubiquitination of NF-κB-essential modulator (NEMO, also known as IKKγ) to suppress LPS-induced phosphorylation of NF-κB, and inhibited mRNA expression of IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α, and NLRP3. In addition, we found that decreased NLRP3 expression by Teuvincenone F suppressed NLRP3 inflammasome activation and IL-1β/IL-18 maturation. , we revealed that Teuvincenone F treatment relieved LPS-induced inflammation. In conclusion, Teuvincenone F is a highly effective natural compound to suppress LPS-induced inflammation by attenuating K63-linked ubiquitination of NEMO, highlighting that Teuvincenone F may be a potential new anti-inflammatory drug for the treatment of inflammatory and NLRP3 inflammasome-driven diseases.

Artemisinin-resistant malaria parasites have emerged and have been spreading, posing a significant public health challenge. Antimalarial drugs with novel mechanisms of action are therefore urgently needed. In this report, we exploit a “selective starvation” strategy by inhibiting Plasmodium falciparum hexose transporter 1 (PfHT1), the sole hexose transporter in P. falciparum, over human glucose transporter 1 (hGLUT1), providing an alternative approach to fight against multidrug-resistant malaria parasites. The crystal structure of hGLUT3, which shares 80% sequence similarity with hGLUT1, was resolved in complex with C3361, a moderate PfHT1-specific inhibitor, at 2.3-Å resolution. Structural comparison between the present hGLUT3-C3361 and our previously reported PfHT1-C3361 confirmed the unique inhibitor binding-induced pocket in PfHT1. We then designed small molecules to simultaneously block the orthosteric and allosteric pockets of PfHT1. Through extensive structure–activity relationship studies, the TH-PF series was identified to selectively inhibit PfHT1 over hGLUT1 and potent against multiple strains of the blood-stage P. falciparum. Our findings shed light on the next-generation chemotherapeutics with a paradigm-shifting structure-based design strategy to simultaneously target the orthosteric and allosteric sites of a transporter.

Artemisinin-resistant malaria parasites have emerged and been spreading, posing a significant public health challenge. Anti-malarial drugs with novel mechanisms of action are therefore urgently needed. In this report, we exploit a “selective starvation” strategy by selectively inhibiting Plasmodium falciparum hexose transporter 1 (PfHT1), the sole hexose transporter in Plasmodium falciparum, over human glucose transporter 1 (hGLUT1), providing an alternative approach to fight against multidrug-resistant malaria parasites. Comparison of the crystal structures of human GLUT3 and PfHT1 bound to C3361, a PfHT1-specific moderate inhibitor, revealed an inhibitor binding-induced pocket that presented a promising druggable site. We thereby designed small-molecules to simultaneously block the orthosteric and allosteric pockets of PfHT1. Through extensive structure-activity relationship (SAR) studies, the TH-PF series was identified to selectively inhibit PfHT1 over GLUT1 and potent against multiple strains of the blood-stage P. falciparum. Our findings shed light on the next-generation chemotherapeutics with a paradigm-shifting structure-based design strategy to simultaneously targeting the orthosteric and allosteric sites of a transporter. Blocking sugar uptake in P. falciparum by selectively inhibiting the hexose transporter PfHT1 kills the blood-stage parasites without affecting the host cells, indicating PfHT1 as a promising therapeutic target. Here, we report the development of novel small-molecule inhibitors that are selectively potent to the malaria parasites over human cell lines by simultaneously targeting the orthosteric and the allosteric binding sites of PfHT1. Our findings established the basis for the rational design of next-generation anti-malarial drugs.