Pharmacological Characterization and Radiolabeling of VUF15485, a High-Affinity Small-Molecule Agonist for the Atypical Chemokine Receptor ACKR3.

Atypical chemokine receptor 3 (ACKR3), formerly referred to as CXCR7, is considered to be an interesting drug target. In this study, we report on the synthesis, pharmacological characterization and radiolabeling of VUF15485, a new ACKR3 small-molecule agonist, that will serve as an important new tool to study this -arrestin-biased chemokine receptor. VUF15485 binds with nanomolar affinity (pIC = 8.

Ligand selectivity hotspots in serotonin GPCRs.

Serotonin is a neurotransmitter regulating numerous physiological processes also modulated by drugs, for example, schizophrenia, depression, migraine, and obesity. However, these drugs typically have adverse effects caused by promiscuous binding across 12 serotonin and more than 20 homologous receptors. Recently, structures of the entire serotonin receptor family uncovered molecular ligand recognition.

PSW-Designer: An Open-Source Computational Platform for the Design and Virtual Screening of Photopharmacological Ligands.

Photoswitchable (PSW) molecules offer an attractive opportunity for the optical control of biological processes. However, the successful design of such compounds remains a challenging multioptimization endeavor, resulting in several biological target classes still relatively poorly explored by photoswitchable ligands, as is the case for G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). Here, we present the PSW-Designer, a fully open-source computational platform, implemented in the KNIME Analytics Platform, to design and virtually screen novel photoswitchable ligands for photopharmacological applications based on privileged scaffolds.

Structure-Activity Assessment and In-Depth Analysis of Biased Agonism in a Set of Phenylalkylamine 5-HT Receptor Agonists.

Serotonergic psychedelics are described to have activation of the serotonin 2A receptor (5-HT) as their main pharmacological action. Despite their relevance, the molecular mechanisms underlying the psychedelic effects induced by certain 5-HT agonists remain elusive. One of the proposed hypotheses is the occurrence of biased agonism, defined as the preferential activation of certain signaling pathways over others.

Discovery of β-Arrestin-Biased 25CN-NBOH-Derived 5-HT Receptor Agonists.

The serotonin 2A receptor (5-HTR) is the mediator of the psychedelic effects of serotonergic psychedelics, which have shown promising results in clinical studies for several neuropsychiatric indications. The 5-HTR is able to signal through the Gα and β-arrestin effector proteins, but it is currently not known how the different signaling pathways contribute to the therapeutic effects mediated by serotonergic psychedelics. In the present work, we have evaluated the subtype-selective 5-HTR agonist 25CN-NBOH and a series of close analogues for biased signaling at this receptor.

GPCRs steer G and G selectivity via TM5-TM6 switches as revealed by structures of serotonin receptors.

Serotonin (or 5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT) is an important neurotransmitter that activates 12 different G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) through selective coupling of G, G or G proteins. The structural basis for G protein subtype selectivity by these GPCRs remains elusive. Here, we report the structures of the serotonin receptors 5-HT, 5-HT, and 5-HT with G, and 5-HT with G.

Structural insights into the lipid and ligand regulation of serotonin receptors.

Serotonin, or 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT), is an important neurotransmitter that activates the largest subtype family of G-protein-coupled receptors. Drugs that target 5-HT, 5-HT, 5-HT and other 5-HT receptors are used to treat numerous disorders. 5-HT receptors have high levels of basal activity and are subject to regulation by lipids, but the structural basis for the lipid regulation and basal activation of these receptors and the pan-agonism of 5-HT remains unclear.