- Peyman, Mona;
- Barroso, Emma;
- Turcu, Andreea L;
- Estrany, Francesc;
- Smith, Dáire;
- Jurado-Aguilar, Javier;
- Rada, Patricia;
- Morisseau, Christophe;
- Hammock, Bruce D;
- Valverde, Ángela M;
- Palomer, Xavier;
- Galdeano, Carles;
- Vázquez, Santiago;
- Vázquez-Carrera, Manuel
Soluble epoxide hydrolase (sEH) is a drug target with the potential for therapeutic utility in the areas of inflammation, neurodegenerative disease, chronic pain, and diabetes, among others. Proteolysis-targeting chimeras (PROTACs) molecules offer new opportunities for targeting sEH, due to its capacity to induce its degradation. Here, we describe that the new ALT-PG2, a PROTAC that degrades sEH protein in the human hepatic Huh-7 cell line, in isolated mouse primary hepatocytes, and in the liver of mice. Remarkably, sEH degradation caused by ALT-PG2 was accompanied by an increase in the phosphorylated levels of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), while phosphorylated extracellular-signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2) was reduced. Consistent with the key role of these kinases on endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, ALT-PG2 attenuated the levels of ER stress and inflammatory markers. Overall, the findings of this study indicate that targeting sEH with degraders is a promising pharmacological strategy to promote AMPK activation and to reduce ER stress and inflammation.