Each data point represents the mean of 48 replicates. using a bacterial manifestation system. They developed a strong, miniaturized, high-throughput GALK assay (Z element =0.91) and used this assay to display against libraries composed of 50,000 chemical compounds with diverse structural scaffolds. They selected 150 compounds that, at an average concentration of 33.3 M, inhibited GALK activity in vitro more than 86.5% and having a reproducibility score of at least 0.7 for any confirmatory display under identical experimental conditions. Of these 150 compounds, 34 were chosen for further characterization. Preliminary results indicated that these 34 compounds possess potential to serve as prospects to the development of more effective therapy of classic galactosemia. double knockout strain deficient in both GALT and GALK enzyme activities is no longer sensitive to galactose and develops well.17,18 Third, our laboratory recently demonstrated that galactose challenge to isogenic GALT-deficient (but not Bedaquiline (TMC-207) GALK-deficient) candida led to overt manifestation of environmental pressure response (ESR).19 All these studies indicate that gal-1-p is the major, if not sole, culprit for the galactose toxicity observed in GALT-deficient cells. This increases the query about the origin of gal-1-p, the enzymatic product of GALK upon -D-galactose, inside a galactosemic patient who refrains from dairy products. It has been shown that galactose moieties converted to gal-1-p can also be derived from nondairy sources (e.g., galactose-containing fruits & vegetables amounting to as much as 30 mg per day).20-22 Moreover, galactose moieties can also be produced endogenously from UDP-glucose via the UDP-4-galactose epimerase (GALE) reaction, as well as from your organic turnover of glycolipids and glycoproteins (Fig. 1), which may amount to 1.2 g inside a 50-kg adult man.23,24 Because endogenous galactose production is not amenable to diet manipulation, there is a need for innovative, nondietary therapy. As individuals with galactokinase deficiency do not experience the chronic sequelae of CG,16 a medically induced galactokinase deficiency could provide safety from the conversion of galactose to gal-1-p, regardless of the source of galactose. We, therefore, hypothesize that in conjunction with dietary therapy, an inhibitor of GALK can prevent the sequelae of chronic gal-1-p exposure in patients with CG. To enable us to test this hypothesis, we searched for small-molecule inhibitors of galactokinase and report our findings in this study. MATERIALS AND METHODS Overexpression and purification of human galactokinase cDNA coding for the human GALK1 gene was obtained from the Bedaquiline (TMC-207) I.M.A.G.E. consortium (Clone ID: 3501788). This sequence was amplified by PCR using specific primers designed to introduce an HMS174 (DE3) (Novagen) cells. Isopropyl -D-1-thiogalactopyranoside (IPTG) was added at a final concentration of 1 1 mM to cell culture in LBAmp upon TNR reaching OD600 = 0.6 at 37 C to induce overexpression of GALK for 3 h, and the pellet was subsequently stored at ?80 C. Protein purification was conducted at 4 C throughout. Briefly, cell pellets were Bedaquiline (TMC-207) resuspended in lysis buffer (50 mM NaH2PO4, 300 mM NaCl, 10 mM imidazole, and 100 mM Bedaquiline (TMC-207) galactose, pH 8). Cells were then lysed using a microfluidizer and clarified by centrifugation, and the lysate was loaded onto a chromatography column made up of Nickel affinity resin. The resin was washed, and bound GALK was eluted using an imidazole concentration gradient. Final purified GALK was concentrated to 1 1 mg/mL, dialyzed into phosphate-buffered saline (PBS), aliquoted, and stored frozen at ?80 C. Galactose-dependent adenosine triphosphatase (ATPase) activity was verified using the standard pyruvate kinase/ lactate dehydrogenase-coupled assay.25 To expedite the purification process, we subcontracted part of the work described above to Paragon BioServices, Inc. (Baltimore, MD), on a fee-for-service basis. Development of high-throughput screening assay for GALK Through a written agreement between the principal investigator (Dr. Kent Lai) and the high-throughput screening (HTS) facility of the Broad Institute at Harvard University/Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), whose setup was partly funded by a grant from the National Institutes of Health, we were granted access to use the facility to develop an HTS assay for GALK and the subsequent screening for small-molecule inhibitors. Using the Kinase-Glo? reagent (Promega, Madison, WI), we developed a miniaturized, 2-step HTS assay for GALK. This assay measures GALK activity indirectly by determining the amount of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) remaining after completion of the GALK-mediated reaction (step 1 1): galactose + ATP gal-1-p + adenosine diphosphate (ADP). If there is ample GALK activity, most ATP will be used up in step 1 1, and little will be left for the luciferase reaction (step 2 2): ATP + luciferin and luciferase (Kinase-Glo?) oxyluciferin + light. Final assay conditions in a total volume of 30 L were as follows: 0.15 g GALK, 5 mM MgCl2, 60 mM NaCl, 20 mM HEPES, 1 mM dithiothreitol (DTT), 0.5% DMSO, 0.01% bovine serum albumin (BSA), 1 mM -D-galactose,.