Publications by authors named "Ray J Unwalla"

The CC chemokine receptor 6 (CCR6) is a potential target for chronic inflammatory diseases. Previously, we reported an active CCR6 structure in complex with its cognate chemokine CCL20, revealing the molecular basis of CCR6 activation. Here, we present two inactive CCR6 structures in ternary complexes with different allosteric antagonists, CCR6/SQA1/OXM1 and CCR6/SQA1/OXM2.

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A high-throughput screening campaign to discover small molecule leads for the treatment of bone disorders concluded with the discovery of a compound with a 2-aminopyrimidine template that targeted the Wnt beta-catenin cellular messaging system. Hit-to-lead in vitro optimization for target activity and molecular properties led to the discovery of (1-(4-(naphthalen-2-yl)pyrimidin-2-yl)piperidin-4-yl)methanamine (5, WAY-262611). Compound 5 has excellent pharmacokinetic properties and showed a dose dependent increase in the trabecular bone formation rate in ovariectomized rats following oral administration.

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Pyrrole[2,3-d]azepines have been identified as potent agonists of the farnesoid X receptor (FXR). Based on the planar X-ray crystal structure of WAY-362450 1 in the ligand binding domain and molecular modeling studies, non-planar reduced compounds were designed which led to agonists that exhibit high aqueous solubility and retain moderate in vitro potency.

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Tanaproget represents a potential first-in-class nonsteroidal PR agonist for contraception with improved safety and side effect profiles versus currently available steroidal oral contraceptives. Additional SAR, biological activity, and structural information from a tanaproget/hPR-LBD (hPR-LBD = human progesterone receptor ligand binding domain) cocrystal structure will also be presented.

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