Increased Potency and Selectivity for Group III Metabotropic Glutamate Receptor Agonists Binding at Dual sites
作者:Chelliah Selvam、Isabelle A. Lemasson、Isabelle Brabet、Nadia Oueslati、Berin Karaman、Alexandre Cabaye、Amélie S. Tora、Bruno Commare、Tiphanie Courtiol、Sara Cesarini、Isabelle McCort-Tranchepain、Delphine Rigault、Laetitia Mony、Thomas Bessiron、Heather McLean、Frédéric R. Leroux、Françoise Colobert、Hervé Daniel、Anne Goupil-Lamy、Hugues-Olivier Bertrand、Cyril Goudet、Jean-Philippe Pin、Francine C. Acher
DOI:10.1021/acs.jmedchem.7b01438
日期:2018.3.8
A group III metabotropic glutamate (mGlu) receptor agonist (PCEP) was identified by virtual HTS. This orthosteric ligand is composed by an L-AP4-derived fragment that mimics glutamate and a chain that binds into a neighboring pocket, offering possibilities to improve affinity and selectivity. Herein we describe a series of derivatives where the distal chain is replaced by an aromatic or heteroaromatic group. Potent agonists were identified, including some with a mGlu(4) subtype preference, e.g., 17m (LSP1-2111) and 16g (LSP4-2022). Molecular modeling suggests that aromatic functional groups may bind at either one of the two chloride regulatory sites. These agonists may thus be considered as particular bitopic/dualsteric ligands. 17m was shown to reduce GABAergic synaptic transmission at striatopallidal synapses. We now demonstrate its inhibitory effect at glutamatergic parallel fiber-Purkinje cell synapses in the cerebellar cortex. Although these ligands have physicochemical properties that are markedly different from typical CNS drugs, they hold significant therapeutic potential.