The 20S proteasome is the main protease for the degradation of oxidatively damaged and intrinsically disordered proteins. When accumulation of disordered or oxidatively damaged proteins exceeds proper clearance in neurons, imbalanced pathway signaling or aggregation occurs, which have been implicated in the pathogenesis of several neurological disorders. Screening of the NIH Clinical Collection and Prestwick libraries identified the neuroleptic agent chlorpromazine as a lead agent capable of enhancing 20S proteasome activity. Chemical manipulation of chlorpromazine abrogated its D2R receptor binding affinity while retaining its ability to enhance 20S mediated proteolysis at low micromolar concentrations. The resulting small molecule enhancers of 20S proteasome activity induced the degradation of intrinsically disordered proteins, α-synuclein, and tau but not structured proteins. These small molecule 20S agonists can serve as leads to explore the therapeutic potential of 20S activation or as new tools to provide insight into the yet unclear mechanics of 20S-gate regulation.

中文翻译：

---

小分子增强的20S蛋白酶体活性靶向固有紊乱的蛋白质。

20S蛋白酶体是氧化损伤和内在无序蛋白降解的主要蛋白酶。当无序或氧化损伤蛋白的积累超过神经元中的适当清除率时，就会发生不平衡的信号通路或聚集，这与多种神经系统疾病的发病机理有关。通过筛选NIH Clinical Collection和Prestwick库，确定​​了抗精神病药氯丙嗪是能够增强20S蛋白酶体活性的先导药物。氯丙嗪的化学处理废除了其D2R受体结合亲和力，同时保留了在低微摩尔浓度下增强20S介导的蛋白水解的能力。所得的20S蛋白酶体活性小分子增强剂诱导了内在无序的蛋白质α-突触核蛋白的降解，和tau，但不是结构化蛋白质。这些小分子20S激动剂可以用作探索20S活化治疗潜力的线索，也可以作为新工具提供对20S门调控机制的不清楚的见解。