Agonists of TRPA1 such as mustard oil and its key component AITC cause pain and neurogenic inflammation in humans and pain behavior in rodents. TRPA1 is activated by numerous reactive compounds making it a sensor for reactive compounds in the body. Failure of AITC, formalin and other reactive compounds to trigger pain behavior in TRPA1 knockout mice, as well as the ability of TRPA1 antisense to alleviate cold hyperalgesia after spinal nerve ligation, suggest that TRPA1 is a potential target for novel analgesic agents. Here, we have characterized CHO cells expressing human and rat TRPA1 driven by an inducible promoter. As reported previously, both human and rat TRPA1 are activated by AITC and inhibited by ruthenium red. We have also characterized noxious cold response of these cell lines and show that noxious cold activates both human and rat TRPA1. Further, we have used CHO cells expressing human TRPA1 to screen a small molecule compound library and discovered that 'trichloro(sulfanyl)ethyl benzamides' (AMG2504, AMG5445, AMG7160 and AMG9090) act as potent antagonists of human TRPA1 activated by AITC and noxious cold. However, trichloro(sulfanyl)ethyl benzamides' (TCEB compounds) displayed differential pharmacology at rat TRPA1. AMG2504 and AMG7160 marginally inhibited rat TRPA1 activation by AITC, whereas AMG5445 and AMG9090 acted as partial agonists. In summary, we conclude that both human and rat TRPA1 channels show similar AITC and noxious cold activation profiles, but TCEB compounds display species-specific differential pharmacology at TRPA1.

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Drug-induced cardiac arrhythmia, specifically Torsades de pointes, is associated with QT/QTc interval prolongation, thus prolongation of the QT interval is considered as a biomarker for Torsades de pointes risk (N Engl J Med 350:1013-1022, 2004). Specific inhibition of human ether-a-go-go-related gene (hERG) potassium channels has been recognized as the main mechanism for QT prolongation (Cardiovasc Res 58:32-45, 2003). This mechanism has been demonstrated for a variety of smallmolecule agents, which access the inner pore of the hERG channel preferentially from inside the cell. Peptide inhibitors of hERG, such as BeKm-1, interact with the extracellular amino acid residues close to the external pore region of the channel. In this study, the isolated rabbit heart was used to assess whether BeKm-1 could induce QTc prolongation like dofetilide and N- [4-[[1-[2-(6-methyl-2-pyridinyl) ethyl]-4-piperidinyl]carbonyl]phenyl]methanesulfonamide (E-4031). Five hearts were perfused with 10 and 100 nM BeKm-1 sequentially. ECG parameters and left ventricular contractility were measured with spontaneously beating hearts. Both concentrations of BeKm-1 prolonged QTc intervals significantly and concentration-dependently (4.7 and 16.3% at 10 and 100 nM, respectively). When evaluated for their inhibitory effect in a hERG functional assay, BeKm-1, dofetilide, and E-4031 caused QTc prolongation at concentrations that caused significant hERG channel inhibition. Lastly, two polyclonal anti-hERG antibodies were also assessed in the hERG channel assay and found to be devoid of any inhibitory effect. These results indicated that the isolated rabbit heart assay can be used to measure QTc changes caused by specific hERG inhibition by peptides that specifically block the external pore region of the channel.

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