Design and synthesis of potent carboxylic acid DGAT1 inhibitors with high cell permeability.

A series of potent carboxylic acid DGAT1 inhibitors with high permeability were developed from a virtual screening hit. Strategies were employed to reduce Pgp substrate recognition and increase passive permeability, resulting in the discovery of a series showing good inhibition of cellular triglyceride synthesis. The mutagenic potential of prospective metabolites was evaluated in the Ames assay, and one aniline was shown to be devoid of mutagenicity.

SAR, pharmacokinetics, safety, and efficacy of glucokinase activating 2-(4-sulfonylphenyl)-N-thiazol-2-ylacetamides: discovery of PSN-GK1.

Allosteric activators of the glucose-sensing enzyme glucokinase (GK) are currently attracting much interest as potential antidiabetic therapies because they can achieve powerful blood glucose lowering through actions in multiple organs. Here, the optimization of a weakly active high-throughput screening hit to (2 R)-2-(4-cyclopropanesulfonylphenyl)- N-(5-fluorothiazol-2-yl)-3-(tetrahydropyran-4-yl)propionamide (PSN-GK1), a potent GK activator with an improved pharmacokinetic and safety profile, is described. Following oral administration, this compound elicited robust glucose lowering in rats.

Activity of the isolated HIV RNase H domain and specific inhibition by N-hydroxyimides.

This report describes a procedure to generate enzymatically active, isolated HIV RNase H domain. In contrast to previously described preparations, the RNA cleavage activity of the untagged RNase H domain was surprisingly similar to that of the full-length HIV-RT protein. Signature cleavages at 18 and 9 nucleotides downstream of a recessed RNA 5'-end were retained with the isolated RNase H domain.

Two-metal ion mechanism of RNA cleavage by HIV RNase H and mechanism-based design of selective HIV RNase H inhibitors.

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) RNase H activity is essential for the synthesis of viral DNA by HIV reverse transcriptase (HIV-RT). RNA cleavage by RNase H requires the presence of divalent metal ions, but the role of metal ions in the mechanism of RNA cleavage has not been resolved. We measured HIV RNase H activity associated with HIV-RT protein in the presence of different concentrations of either Mg2+, Mn2+, Co2+ or a combination of these divalent metal ions.