Based on a previously reported phenoxyacetic acid scaffold, compound 7 (HWL-088) has been identified as a superior free fatty acid receptor 1 (FFA1) agonist by comprehensive structure-activity relationship study. Our results indicated that the introduction of ortho-fluoro greatly increased the activity of phenoxyacetic acid series, and the unique structure-activity relationship in biphenyl moiety is different from previously reported FFA1 agonists. Moreover, the modeling study was also performed to better understand the binding mode of present series. Compound 7 significantly improved glucose tolerance both in normal and diabetic models, and even exerted greater potential on glucose control than that of TAK-875. These findings provided a novel candidate HWL-088, which is currently in preclinical study to evaluate its potential for the treatment of diabetes.
Discovery of first-in-class thiazole-based dual FFA1/PPARδ agonists as potential anti-diabetic agents
The free fatty acid receptor 1 (FFA1 or GPR40) and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor delta (PPAR delta) have attracted a lot of attention due to their role in promoting insulin secretion and sensibility, respectively, which are two major features of diabetes. Therefore, the dual FFA1/PPAR delta agonists would increase insulin secretion and sensibility by FFA1 and PPAR delta activation. In this study, we hybrid FFA1 agonist AM-4668 with PPAR delta agonist GW501516, leading to the identification of orally bioavailable dual agonist 32, which revealed high selectivity over other PPAR delta. Moreover, compound 32 exhibited good pharmacokinetic profiles with high plasma concentration, sustained half-life and low clearance in vivo. During the hypoglycemic test, a dual agonist 32 enhanced the tolerance of ob/ob mice for glucose loading in a dose-dependent manner. Our results suggest that dual FFA1/PPAR delta agonist could be a valuable therapy for type 2 diabetes. (C) 2018 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.
Design, synthesis and structure–activity relationship studies of novel phenoxyacetamide-based free fatty acid receptor 1 agonists for the treatment of type 2 diabetes
The free fatty acid receptor 1 (FFA1) has attracted extensive attention as a novel antidiabetic target in the last decade. Several FFA1 agonists reported in the literature have been suffered from relatively high molecular weight and lipophilicity. We have previously reported the FFA1 agonist 1. Based on the common amide structural characteristic of SAR1 and NIH screened compound, we here describe the continued structure-activity exploration to decrease the molecular weight and lipophilicity of the compound 1 series by converting various amide linkers. All of these efforts lead to the discovery of the preferable lead compound 18, a compound with considerable agonistic activity, high LE and LLE values, lower lipophilicity than previously reported agonists, and appreciable efficacy on glucose tolerance in both normal and type 2 diabetic mice. (c) 2015 Published by Elsevier Ltd.
Design, synthesis and biological evaluation of novel FFA1/GPR40 agonists: New breakthrough in an old scaffold
on an old phenoxyacetic acid scaffold, CPU014 (compound 14) has been identified as a superior agonist by comprehensive exploration of structure-activity relationship. In vitro toxicity study suggested that CPU014 has lower risk of hepatotoxicity than TAK-875. During acute toxicity study (5–500 mg/kg), a favorable therapeutic window of CPU014 was observed by evaluation of plasma profiles and liver slices