Thiolated polyglycerol sulfate as potential mucolytic for muco-obstructive lung diseases

Biomater Sci. 2024 Aug 20;12(17):4376-4385. doi: 10.1039/d4bm00381k.

Abstract

Increased disulfide crosslinking of secreted mucins causes elevated viscoelasticity of mucus and is a key determinant of mucus dysfunction in patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) and other muco-obstructive lung diseases. In this study, we describe the synthesis of a novel thiol-containing, sulfated dendritic polyglycerol (dPGS-SH), designed to chemically reduce these abnormal crosslinks, which we demonstrate with mucolytic activity assays in sputum from patients with CF. This mucolytic polymer, which is based on a reportedly anti-inflammatory polysulfate scaffold, additionally carries multiple thiol groups for mucolytic activity and can be produced on a gram-scale. After a physicochemical compound characterization, we compare the mucolytic activity of dPGS-SH to the clinically approved N-acetylcysteine (NAC) using western blot studies and investigate the effect of dPGS-SH on the viscoelastic properties of sputum samples from CF patients by oscillatory rheology. We show that dPGS-SH is more effective than NAC in reducing multimer intensity of the secreted mucins MUC5B and MUC5AC and demonstrate significant mucolytic activity by rheology. In addition, we provide data for dPGS-SH demonstrating a high compound stability, low cytotoxicity, and superior reaction kinetics over NAC at different pH levels. Our data support further development of the novel reducing polymer system dPGS-SH as a potential mucolytic to improve mucus function and clearance in patients with CF as well as other muco-obstructive lung diseases.

MeSH terms

  • Acetylcysteine / chemistry
  • Acetylcysteine / pharmacology
  • Cystic Fibrosis / drug therapy
  • Cystic Fibrosis / metabolism
  • Expectorants / chemistry
  • Expectorants / pharmacology
  • Glycerol* / chemistry
  • Humans
  • Lung Diseases, Obstructive / drug therapy
  • Lung Diseases, Obstructive / metabolism
  • Mucin 5AC / metabolism
  • Mucin-5B / metabolism
  • Mucus / chemistry
  • Mucus / metabolism
  • Polymers* / chemistry
  • Polymers* / pharmacology
  • Rheology
  • Sputum* / chemistry
  • Sputum* / metabolism
  • Sulfates / chemistry
  • Sulfates / pharmacology
  • Sulfhydryl Compounds* / chemistry
  • Sulfhydryl Compounds* / pharmacology
  • Viscosity

Substances

  • polyglycerol
  • Glycerol
  • Polymers
  • Sulfhydryl Compounds
  • Mucin 5AC
  • MUC5AC protein, human
  • Mucin-5B
  • Sulfates
  • Expectorants
  • Acetylcysteine
  • MUC5B protein, human