2025 Fall
International Convention of PSK

D+7
October 22-24, 2025

Abstracts

P7-13

Marine-derived dual ROCK inhibitors lower intraocular pressure and promote trabecular meshwork relaxation in the DBA/2J glaucoma mouse model

  • Hyejin Ko1, Thinh T. M. Bui2, Hyeongju Jeong2, Dae-geun Song1,3, Nguyen Hai Yen1,3, Suk Woo Kang1, Thi Thu Pham Trang1,3, Kyuho Moon*2, Sang Hoon Jung*1,3
  • 1Natural Product Drug Development Division, Gangneung Institute of Natural Products, Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST)
  • 2College of Pharmacy, Kyung Hee University, Seoul 02447
  • 3College of Pharmacy, Kyung Hee University, Seoul 02447Natural Product Applied Science, KIST School, University of Science and Technology, Gangneung 25451

Glaucoma, a leading cause of irreversible blindness, results from elevated intraocular pressure (IOP) due to impaired aqueous humor outflow, primarily at the trabecular meshwork (TM). Rho-associated protein kinase (ROCK) promotes TM stiffness by inducing actomyosin contraction and stabilizing actin filaments. Here, we report four novel aromatic compounds, nocarnaphthols A–D (14​), isolated from a marine-derived Nocardiopsis sp. SCY18. Nocarnaphthols A (1) and C (3) potently inhibited ROCK1/2 with IC₅₀ values of 6.38–9.65 μM. In human TM cells, these compounds reduced phosphorylation of myosin light chain and cofilin, promoting cytoskeletal relaxation. Barrier restoration in a TGF-β2-induced fibrotic TM model was confirmed by trans-endothelial electrical resistance. In vivo, nocarnaphthol A (0.03% and 0.1%, twice daily) was topically administered to 7-month-old DBA/2J mice, a well-established genetic model of age-related glaucoma, for 3 months. IOP dropped by 30% and 26% at 0.03% and 0.1%, respectively, by week 1—exceeding netarsudil and latanoprost (18%)—and normalized earlier than all controls. No contralateral IOP change or systemic toxicity (e.g., body weight loss) was observed throughout the treatment period. These findings highlight nocarnaphthols A as a promising dual ROCK inhibitor with potent cellular and in vivo efficacy, offering a novel chemical scaffold for glaucoma therapeutics.


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