MK-8719, a Novel and Selective -GlcNAcase Inhibitor That Reduces the Formation of Pathological Tau and Ameliorates Neurodegeneration in a Mouse Model of Tauopathy.

Deposition of hyperphosphorylated and aggregated tau protein in the central nervous system is characteristic of Alzheimer disease and other tauopathies. Tau is subject to -linked -acetylglucosamine (-GlcNAc) modification, and -GlcNAcylation of tau has been shown to influence tau phosphorylation and aggregation. Inhibition of -GlcNAcase (OGA), the enzyme that removes -GlcNAc moieties, is a novel strategy to attenuate the formation of pathologic tau.

Discovery of MK-8719, a Potent O-GlcNAcase Inhibitor as a Potential Treatment for Tauopathies.

Inhibition of O-GlcNAcase (OGA) has emerged as a promising therapeutic approach to treat tau pathology in neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease and progressive supranuclear palsy. Beginning with carbohydrate-based lead molecules, we pursued an optimization strategy of reducing polar surface area to align the desired drug-like properties of potency, selectivity, high central nervous system (CNS) exposure, metabolic stability, favorable pharmacokinetics, and robust in vivo pharmacodynamic response. Herein, we describe the medicinal chemistry and pharmacological studies that led to the identification of (3a,5,6,7,7a)-5-(difluoromethyl)-2-(ethylamino)-3a,6,7,7a-tetrahydro-5-pyrano[3,2-]thiazole-6,7-diol (MK-8719), a highly potent and selective OGA inhibitor with excellent CNS penetration that has been advanced to first-in-human phase I clinical trials.

Inhibition of O-GlcNAcase leads to elevation of O-GlcNAc tau and reduction of tauopathy and cerebrospinal fluid tau in rTg4510 mice.

Background: Hyperphosphorylation of microtubule-associated protein tau is a distinct feature of neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs) that are the hallmark of neurodegenerative tauopathies. O-GlcNAcylation is a lesser known post-translational modification of tau that involves the addition of N-acetylglucosamine onto serine and threonine residues. Inhibition of O-GlcNAcase (OGA), the enzyme responsible for the removal of O-GlcNAc modification, has been shown to reduce tau pathology in several transgenic models.

Structures of lactate dehydrogenase A (LDHA) in apo, ternary and inhibitor-bound forms.

Lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) is an essential metabolic enzyme that catalyzes the interconversion of pyruvate and lactate using NADH/NAD(+) as a co-substrate. Many cancer cells exhibit a glycolytic phenotype known as the Warburg effect, in which elevated LDH levels enhance the conversion of glucose to lactate, making LDH an attractive therapeutic target for oncology. Two known inhibitors of the human muscle LDH isoform, LDHA, designated 1 and 2, were selected, and their IC50 values were determined to be 14.

Pharmacological inhibition of O-GlcNAcase (OGA) prevents cognitive decline and amyloid plaque formation in bigenic tau/APP mutant mice.

Background: Amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs) are the defining pathological hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Increasing the quantity of the O-linked N-acetylglucosamine (O-GlcNAc) post-translational modification of nuclear and cytoplasmic proteins slows neurodegeneration and blocks the formation of NFTs in a tauopathy mouse model. It remains unknown, however, if O-GlcNAc can influence the formation of amyloid plaques in the presence of tau pathology.

A potent mechanism-inspired O-GlcNAcase inhibitor that blocks phosphorylation of tau in vivo.

Pathological hyperphosphorylation of the microtubule-associated protein tau is characteristic of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and the associated tauopathies. The reciprocal relationship between phosphorylation and O-GlcNAc modification of tau and reductions in O-GlcNAc levels on tau in AD brain offers motivation for the generation of potent and selective inhibitors that can effectively enhance O-GlcNAc in vertebrate brain. We describe the rational design and synthesis of such an inhibitor (thiamet-G, K(i) = 21 nM; 1) of human O-GlcNAcase.

Asymmetric synthesis of oxygen heterocycles via Pd-catalyzed dynamic kinetic asymmetric transformations: application to nucleosides.

Racemic butadiene and isoprene monoepoxide react with unsaturated alcohols in the presence of a chiral palladium catalyst and a boron co-catalyst to give 3-alkoxy-4-hydroxy-1-butene and 3-alkoxy-4-hydroxy-3-methyl-1-butene, respectively, with excellent regio- and enantioselectivity in a dynamic kinetic asymmetric transformation whereby both enantiomers of the starting epoxides provide the same enantiomeric product. In the case of 2-phenylbutadiene monoepoxide, easily available from phenacyl chloride and vinylmagnesium bromide, the reaction proceeds by kinetic resolution. A model to rationalize the result is presented.

Enzymatic resolution of bicyclic 1-heteroarylamines using Candida antarctica lipase B.

Candida antarctica lipase B has been used to kinetically resolve a structurally diverse series of bicyclic 1-heteroaryl primary amines by enantioselective acetylation. High yields of either enantiomer could be obtained with excellent enantioselectivity (90-99% ee), while the undesired enantiomer could, in some cases, be recycled by thermal racemization. The absolute stereochemistry of the products was confirmed by an X-ray crystal structure.

Concise preparation of amino-5,6,7,8-tetrahydroquinolines and amino-5,6,7,8-tetrahydroisoquinolines via catalytic hydrogenation of acetamidoquinolines and acetamidoisoquinolines.

A method to prepare amino-substituted 5,6,7,8-tetrahydroquinolines and 5,6,7,8-tetrahydroisoquinolines via catalytic hydrogenation of the corresponding acetamido-substituted quinolines and isoquinolines followed by acetamide hydrolysis is described. The yields of the products are good when the acetamido substituent is present on the pyridine ring and moderate with the acetamido substituent on the benzene ring. This method has also been applied to the regioselective reduction of quinoline substrates bearing other substituents (R = OMe, CO(2)Me, Ph).