申请人:National University Corporation University of Toyama
公开号:US20140371291A1
公开(公告)日:2014-12-18
A novel serine racemase inhibitor exhibits sufficient activity and specificity. The serine racemase inhibitor includes one or more compounds selected from compounds respectively represented by the following general formulas [MM_1], [DR_1], [DR′_1], [LW_1], and [ED_1] as an active ingredient.
Serine racemase (SRR) is an enzyme that produces o-serine from L-serine. D-Serine acts as an endogenous coagonist of NMDA-type glutamate receptors (NMDARs), which regulate many physiological functions. Over-activation of NMDARs induces excitotoxicity, which is observed in many neurodegenerative disorders and epilepsy states. In our previous works on the generation of SRR gene knockout (Srr-KO) mice and its protective effects against NMDA- and A beta peptide-induced neurodegeneration, we hypothesized that the regulation of NMDARs' over-activation by inhibition of SRR activity is one such therapeutic strategy to combat these disease states. In the previous study, we performed in silico screening to identify four compounds with inhibitory activities against recombinant SRR. Here, we synthesized 21 derivatives of candidate 1, one of four hit compounds, and performed screening by in vitro evaluations. The derivative 13J showed a significantly lower IC50 value in vitro, and suppressed neuronal over-activation in vivo. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.