Journal of medicinal chemistry
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High throughput screening identified 2-acetamido-thiazolylthio acetic ester 1 as an inhibitor of cyclin-dependent kinase 2 (CDK2). Because this compound is inactive in cells and unstable in plasma, we have stabilized it to metabolic hydrolysis by replacing the ester moiety with a 5-ethyl-substituted oxazole as in compound 14. Combinatorial and parallel synthesis provided a rapid analysis of the structure-activity relationship (SAR) for these inhibitors of CDK2, and over 100 analogues with IC(50) values in the 1-10 nM range were rapidly prepared. ⋯ In addition, A2780 ovarian carcinoma cells undergo rapid apoptosis following exposure to CDK2 inhibitors of this class. Mechanism of action studies have confirmed that the phosphorylation of CDK2 substrates such as RB, histone H1, and DNA polymerase alpha (p70 subunit) is reduced in the presence of compound 14. Further optimization led to compounds such as water soluble 45, which possesses a favorable pharmacokinetic profile in mice and demonstrates significant antitumor activity in vivo in several murine and human models, including an engineered murine mammary tumor that overexpresses cyclin E, the coactivator of CDK2.
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A training set of 27 propofol (2,6-diisopropylphenol) analogues was used to construct four-dimensional (4D) quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) models for three screens of biological activity: loss of righting reflex (LORR) in tadpoles, enhancement of agonist activity at the gamma-aminobutyric acid type A (GABA(A)) receptor, and direct (agonist-independent) activation of the receptor. The three resulting 4D-QSAR models are almost identical in form, and all suggest three key ligand-receptor interaction sites. The formation of an intermolecular hydrogen bond involving the proton of the ligand -OH group is the most important binding interaction. ⋯ Those compounds highly congeneric to the training set compounds were accurately predicted. However, compounds exploring substituent sites and/or electronic structures different from the training set were less well-predicted. Overall, the results show a striking similarity between the models of the sites responsible for anesthesia and those mediating effects of the training set of propofol analogues on the GABA(A) receptor; it follows that the GABA(A) receptor is therefore the likely site of propofol's anesthetic action.
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A potent, selective, orally active LXR agonist was identified from focused libraries of tertiary amines. GW3965 (12) recruits the steroid receptor coactivator 1 to human LXRalpha in a cell-free ligand-sensing assay with an EC(50) of 125 nM and profiles as a full agonist on hLXRalpha and hLXRbeta in cell-based reporter gene assays with EC(50)'s of 190 and 30 nM, respectively. After oral dosing at 10 mg/kg to C57BL/6 mice, 12 increased expression of the reverse cholesterol transporter ABCA1 in the small intestine and peripheral macrophages and increased the plasma concentrations of HDL cholesterol by 30%. 12 will be a valuable chemical tool to investigate the role of LXR in the regulation of reverse cholesterol transport and lipid metabolism.
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A series of mono- and per-6-substituted cyclodextrin derivatives were synthesized as synthetic receptors (or host molecules) of rocuronium bromide, the most widely used neuromuscular blocker in anaesthesia. By forming host-guest complexes with rocuronium, these cyclodextrin derivatives reverse the muscle relaxation induced by rocuronium in vitro and in vivo and therefore can be used as reversal agents of the neuromuscular blocker to assist rapid recovery of patients after surgery. ⋯ The structure-activity relationships are consistent with this supramolecular mechanism of action and are discussed herein. These include the effects of binding cavity size and hydrophobic and electrostatic interaction on the reversal activities of these compounds.
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Analogues of the 2',6'-dimethyl-L-tyrosine (Dmt)-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroisoquinoline-3-carboxylic acid (Tic) pharmacophore were prepared to test the hypothesis that a "spacer" and a third aromatic center in opioid peptides are required to convert a delta-antagonist into ligands with delta-agonist or with mixed delta-antagonist/mu-agonist properties. Potent delta-agonists and bifunctional compounds with high delta- and mu-opioid receptor affinities were obtained by varying the spacer length [none, NH-CH(2), NH-CH(2)-CH(2), Gly-NH-CH(2)] and C-terminal aromatic nucleus [1H-benzimidazole-2-yl, phenyl (Ph) and benzyl groups]. C-terminal modification primarily affected mu-opioid receptor affinities, which increased maximally 1700-fold relative to the prototype delta-antagonist H-Dmt-Tic-NH(2) and differentially modified bioactivity. ⋯ H-Dmt-Tic-NH-CH(2)-1H-benzimidazole-2-yl (Bid) (2) became a highly potent delta-agonist (pEC(50), 9.90), slightly greater than deltorphin C (pEC(50), 9.56), with mu-agonism (pE(50), 7.57), while H-Dmt-Tic-Gly-NH-CH(2)-Bid (4) retained potent delta-antagonism (pA(2), 9.0) but with an order of magnitude less mu-agonism. Similarly, H-Dmt-Tic-Gly-NH-Ph (5) had nearly equivalent high delta-agonism (pEC(50), 8.52) and mu-agonism (pEC(50), 8.59), while H-Dmt-Tic-Gly-NH-CH(2)-Ph (6) whose spacer was longer by a single methylene group exhibited potent delta-antagonism (pA(2), 9.25) and very high mu-agonism (pEC(50), 8.57). These data confirm that the distance between the Dmt-Tic pharmacophore and a third aromatic nucleus is an important criterion in converting Dmt-Tic from a highly potent delta-antagonist into a potent delta-agonist or into ligands with mixed delta- and mu-opioid properties.