Pharmacological inhibition of PERK, the key kinase of the unfolded protein response that mediates translational shutdown, restores protein synthesis in prion-infected mice, thus preventing neurodegeneration and clinical disease.

Activation of the PERK branch of the unfolded protein response (UPR) in response to protein misfolding within the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) results in the transient repression of protein synthesis, mediated by the phosphorylation of the alpha subunit of eukaryotic initiation factor 2 (eIF2α). This is part of a wider integrated physiological response to maintain proteostasis in the face of ER stress, the dysregulation of which is increasingly associated with a wide range of diseases, particularly neurodegenerative disorders. In prion-diseased mice, persistently high levels of eIF2α cause sustained translational repression leading to catastrophic reduction of critical proteins, resulting in synaptic failure and neuronal loss. We previously showed that restoration of global protein synthesis using the PERK inhibitor GSK2606414 was profoundly neuroprotective, preventing clinical disease in prion-infected mice. However, this occured at the cost of toxicity to secretory tissue, where UPR activation is essential to healthy functioning. Here we show that pharmacological modulation of eIF2α-P-mediated translational inhibition can be achieved to produce neuroprotection without pancreatic toxicity. We found that treatment with the small molecule ISRIB, which restores translation downstream of eIF2α, conferred neuroprotection in prion-diseased mice without adverse effects on the pancreas. Critically, ISRIB treatment resulted in only partial restoration of global translation rates, as compared with the complete restoration of protein synthesis seen with GSK2606414. ISRIB likely provides sufficient rates of protein synthesis for neuronal survival, while allowing some residual protective UPR function in secretory tissue. Thus, fine-tuning the extent of UPR inhibition and subsequent translational de-repression uncouples neuroprotective effects from pancreatic toxicity. The data support the pursuit of this approach to develop new treatments for a range of neurodegenerative disorders that are currently incurable.

CDK2 inhibitors have been proposed as effective anti‐cancer therapeutics. We show here that CYC202 (R‐roscovitine) is a potent inhibitor of recombinant CDK2/cyclin E kinase activity (IC₅₀ = 0.10 μM) with an average cytotoxic IC₅₀ of 15.2 μM in a panel of 19 human tumour cell lines, and we also demonstrate selectivity for rapidly proliferating cells over non‐proliferating cells. A study of the cell cycle effects of CYC202 in Lovo colorectal carcinoma cells showed that the major effect was not the predicted arrest in one part of the cycle, but rather an induction of cell death from all compartments of the cell cycle. The maximum tolerated dose given intravenously to mice was in excess of 20 mg/kg. Doses up to 2,000 mg/kg were tolerated when administered orally in mice. Following repeated intraperitoneal administration (3 times daily for 5 days) of 100 mg/kg to nude mice bearing the Lovo human colorectal tumour, CYC202 induced a significant antitumour effect with a 45% reduction in tumour growth compared to controls. A second experiment using the human uterine xenograft MESSA‐DX5 treated with orally administered CYC202 (500 mg/kg 3 times daily for 4 days) also exhibited a significant reduction in the rate of growth of the tumour (62%). These data, showing enzyme and cellular potency together with antitumour activity, confirm the potential of CDK2 inhibitors such as CYC202 as anticancer drugs.

Identification of a memory drug target: ISRIB is a potent inhibitor of the integrated stress response (ISR), which involves the activation of eIF2α-specific kinases, phosphorylation of eIF2α, and consequent down-regulation of global translation levels. ISRIB is also a candidate drug for treating certain memory disorders. ISRIB does not prevent eIF2α phosphorylation and must therefore act downstream of this step. Sekine et al. now report that ISRIB reverses the inhibitory effect of eIF2α phosphorylation on the activity of eIF2B, a dedicated guanine nucleotide exchange factor, enhancing its activity independently of phosphorylation (see the Perspective by Hinnebusch). The authors isolated ISRIB-resistant cells and identified a genetic lesion in a short N-terminal region of eIF2Bδ that appears to be responsible for the observed phenotype. Science , this issue p. 1027 ; see also p. 967