A CNS-Targeting Prodrug Strategy for Nuclear Receptor Modulators
摘要:
The blood-brain barrier is a major impediment for targeted central nervous system (CNS) therapeutics, especially with carboxylic acid-containing drugs. Nuclear receptor modulators, which often feature carboxylic acid motifs for target engagement, have emerged as a class of potentially powerful therapeutics for neurodegenerative CNS diseases. Herein is described a prodrug strategy that directs the biodistribution of parent drug nuclear receptor modulators into the CNS while masking them as functional receptor ligands in the periphery. This prodrug strategy targets a specific amidase, fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH), an enzyme with enriched expression in the CNS. Our results demonstrate that this prodrug strategy can be generalized to a variety of carboxylic acid-containing drug structures that satisfy the structural requirements of blood-brain barrier diffusion and FAAH substrate recognition.
Disclosed is a compound having the formula:
pharmaceutically acceptable salts or solvates thereof and pharmaceutical compositions containing the same, wherein the structural variables are as defined herein. The compounds, salts and solvates of this invention are useful as LXR agonists.