• James R Shoblock, Natalie Welty, Diane Nepomuceno, Brian Lord, Leah Aluisio, Ian Fraser, S Timothy Motley, Steve W Sutton, Kirsten Morton, Ruggero Galici, John R Atack, Lisa Dvorak, Devin M Swanson, Nicholas I Carruthers, Curt Dvorak, Timothy W Lovenberg, and Pascal Bonaventure.
• Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research and Development, L.L.C., 3210 Merryfield Row, San Diego, CA 92121, USA. jshobloc@its.jnj.com
• Psychopharmacology (Berl.). 2010 Feb 1;208(2):265-77.

RationaleThe lack of potent, selective, brain penetrant Y(2) receptor antagonists has hampered in vivo functional studies of this receptor.ObjectiveHere, we report the in vitro and in vivo characterization of JNJ-31020028 (N-(4-{4-[2-(diethylamino)-2-oxo-1-phenylethyl]piperazin-1-yl}-3-fluorophenyl)-2-pyridin-3-ylbenzamide), a novel Y(2) receptor antagonist.MethodsThe affinity of JNJ-31020028 was determined by inhibition of the PYY binding to human Y(2) receptors in KAN-Ts cells and rat Y(2) receptors in rat hippocampus. The functional activity was determined by inhibition of PYY-stimulated calcium responses in KAN-Ts cells expressing a chimeric G protein Gqi5 and in the rat vas deferens (a prototypical Y(2) bioassay). Ex vivo receptor occupancy was revealed by receptor autoradiography. JNJ-31020028 was tested in vivo with microdialysis, in anxiety models, and on corticosterone release.ResultsJNJ-31020028 bound with high affinity (pIC(50) = 8.07 +/- 0.05, human, and pIC(50) = 8.22 +/- 0.06, rat) and was >100-fold selective versus human Y(1), Y(4), and Y(5) receptors. JNJ-31020028 was demonstrated to be an antagonist (pK(B) = 8.04 +/- 0.13) in functional assays. JNJ-31020028 occupied Y(2) receptor binding sites (approximately 90% at 10 mg/kg) after subcutaneous administration in rats. JNJ-31020028 increased norepinephrine release in the hypothalamus, consistent with the colocalization of norepinephrine and neuropeptide Y. In a variety of anxiety models, JNJ-31020028 was found to be ineffective, although it did block stress-induced elevations in plasma corticosterone, without altering basal levels, and normalized food intake in stressed animals without affecting basal food intake.ConclusionThese results suggest that Y(2) receptors may not be critical for acute behaviors in rodents but may serve modulatory roles that can only be elucidated under specific situational conditions.

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