Globoid-cell leukodystrophy (GLD) or Krabbe disease is a lysosomal disease caused by β-galactocerebrosidase (GALC) deficiency resulting in a rapidly progressive neurodegenerative disorder. Unfortunately, the only available treatment is hematopoietic bone marrow transplantation, which prevents its fulminant manifestation but without treating further neurological manifestations. Here we describe the development of a cellular high-throughput screening (HTS) assay using GLD patient fibroblasts to screen for small molecules that enhance the residual mutant GALC enzymatic activity. Small molecules have substantial therapeutic potential in GLD as they are more prone to cross the blood-brain barrier, reaching the neuronal affected cells. The transformation of primary skin fibroblasts with SV40 large T antigen showed to maintain the biochemical characteristics of the GLD cells and generates sufficient cells for the HTS. Using a specific fluorescent substrate, residual GALC activity from a SV40-transformed GLD patient fibroblast was measurable in high-dense microplates plates. The pilot quantitative HTS against a small compound collection showed robust statistics. The small molecules that showed active concentration-response curves were further studied in primary GLD fibroblasts. This cell-based HTS assay demonstrates the feasibility of employing live-GLD patient cells to identify therapeutic agents that can be potentially be used for the treatment of this progressive neurodegenerative disease.

Small molecules have been identified as potential therapeutic agents for lysosomal storage diseases (LSDs), inherited metabolic disorders caused by defects in proteins that result in lysosome dysfunctional. Some small molecules function assisting the folding of mutant misfolded lysosomal enzymes that are otherwise degraded in ER-associated degradation. The ultimate result is the enhancement of the residual enzymatic activity of the deficient enzyme. Most of the high throughput screening (HTS) assays developed to identify these molecules are single-target biochemical assays. Here we describe a cell-based assay using patient cell lines to identify small molecules that enhance the residual arylsulfatase A (ASA) activity found in patients with metachromatic leukodystrophy (MLD), a progressive neurodegenerative LSD. In order to generate sufficient cell lines for a large scale HTS, primary cultured fibroblasts from MLD patients were transformed using SV40 large T antigen. These SV40 transformed (SV40t) cells showed to conserve biochemical characteristics of the primary cells. Using a specific colorimetric substrate para-nitrocatechol sulfate (pNCS), detectable ASA residual activity were observed in primary and SV40t fibroblasts from a MLD patient (ASA-I179S) cultured in multi-well plates. A robust fluorescence ASA assay was developed in high-density 1,536-well plates using the traditional colorimetric pNCS substrate, whose product (pNC) acts as “plate fluorescence quencher” in white solid-bottom plates. The quantitative cell-based HTS assay for ASA generated strong statistical parameters when tested against a diverse small molecule collection. This cell-based assay approach can be used for several other LSDs and genetic disorders, especially those that rely on colorimetric substrates which traditionally present low sensitivity for assay-miniaturization. In addition, the quantitative cell-based HTS assay here developed using patient cells creates an opportunity to identify therapeutic small molecules in a disease-cellular environment where potentially disrupted pathways are exposed and available as targets.

Globoid-cell leukodystrophy (GLD) or Krabbe disease is a lysosomal disease caused by βgalactocerebrosidase (GALC) deficiency resulting in a rapidly progressive neurodegenerative disorder. Unfortunately, the only available treatment is hematopoietic bone marrow transplantation, which prevents its fulminant manifestation but without treating further neurological manifestations. Here we describe the development of a cellular high-throughput screening (HTS) assay using GLD patient fibroblasts to screen for small molecules that enhance the residual mutant GALC enzymatic activity. Small molecules have substantial therapeutic potential in GLD as they are more prone to cross the blood-brain barrier, reaching the neuronal affected cells. The transformation of primary skin fibroblasts with SV40 large T antigen showed to maintain the biochemical characteristics of the GLD cells and generates sufficient cells for the HTS. Using a specific fluorescent substrate, residual GALC activity from a SV40-transformed GLD patient fibroblast was measurable in high-dense microplates plates. The pilot quantitative HTS against a small compound collection showed robust statistics. The small molecules that showed active concentration-response curves were further studied in primary GLD fibroblasts. This cell-based HTS assay demonstrates the feasibility of employing live-GLD patient cells to identify therapeutic agents that can be potentially be used for the treatment of this progressive neurodegenerative disease. Keywords β-galactocerebrosidase; high-throughput screening; small molecules; Krabbe Disease INTRODUCTORY STATEMENT Globoid-cell leukodystrophy (GLD), mostly known as Krabbe disease (MIM#245200), is an autosomal recessive lysosomal storage disease (LSD) caused by the deficiency of β