中文名称 | 英文名称 | CAS号 | 化学式 | 分子量 |
---|---|---|---|---|
—— | 2-(3-cyano-4-hydroxyphenyl)-N,N-4-trimethylthiazole-5-carboxamide | 1380049-43-3 | C14H13N3O2S | 287.342 |
This article describes the challenges in the discovery and optimization of mGlu2/4 heterodimer Positive Allosteric Modulators (PAMs).
Initial forays based on VU0155041, a PAM of both the mGlu4 homodimer and the mGlu2/4 heterodimer, led to flat, intractable SAR that precluded advancement. Screening of a collection of 1,152 FDA approved drugs led to the discovery that febuxostat, an approved xanthine oxidase inhibitor, was a moderately potent PAM of the mGlu2/4 heterodimer (EC50 = 3.4 µM), but was peripherally restricted (rat Kp = 0.03). Optimization of this hit led to PAMs with improved potency (EC50s <800 nM) and improved CNS penetration (rat Kp >2, an ~100-fold increase).
However, these new amide analogs of febuxostat proved to be either GIRK1/2 and GIRK1/4 activators (primary carboxamide congeners) or mGlu2 PAMs (secondary and tertiary amides) and not selective mGlu2/4 heterodimer PAMs.
These results required the team to develop a new screening cascade paradigm, and exemplified the challenges in developing allosteric ligands for heterodimeric receptors.