Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Merck Research Laboratories, Sumneytown Pike, PO Box 4, West Point, PA 19486, USA.
Published: May 2011
AI Article Synopsis
Article Abstract
Fused aromatics such as naphthalene were identified as highly potent and CNS penetrant M(1) positive allosteric modulators during an SAR study to replace the phenyl B-ring linkage.
Neuroimmunology Program, Fundació Clínic per la Recerca Biomèdica - Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer (FCRB-IDIBAPS), Barcelona 08036, Spain.
Anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) encephalitis is a disorder mediated by autoantibodies against the GluN1 subunit of NMDAR. It occurs with severe neuropsychiatric symptoms that often improve with immunotherapy. Clinical studies and animal models based on patients' antibody transfer or NMDAR immunization suggest that the autoantibodies play a major pathogenic role.
Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute of CAMH, 250 college street, Toronto, ON M5T 1R8, Canada; Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, 250 college street, Toronto, ON M5T 1R8, Canada; Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Toronto, Medical Sciences Building, 1 King's College Cir Room 4207, Toronto, ON M5S 1A8, Canada. Electronic address:
Reduced somatostatin (SST) and SST-expressing GABAergic neurons are well-replicated findings in Alzheimer's disease (AD) and are associated with cognitive deficits. SST cells inhibit pyramidal cell dendrites through α5-GABA-A receptors (α5-GABAA-R). α5-GABAAR positive allosteric modulation (α5-PAM) has procognitive and neurotrophic effects in stress and aging models.
Allosteric regulation allows proteins to dynamically respond to environmental cues by modulating activity at sites away from the catalytic center. Despite its importance, the SET-domain protein lysine methyltransferase superfamily has been understudied. Here, we present four crystal structures of SMYD2, a unique family member with a MYND domain.
The Secretin receptor (SCTR) presents a promising path for hypertension management, with KSD179019 as identified as a Positive Allosteric Modulator (PAM) of SCTR, demonstrating anti-hypertensive effects in animal models. Our objective was to comprehensively evaluate the potential toxicity of KSD179019 through in vitro and in vivo investigations. Initial in vitro studies showed minimal toxicity in liver and kidney cells and non-mutagenicity in bacterial assays.
Herein, we report progress toward a metabotropic glutamate receptor subtype 1 (mGlu) positive allosteric modulator (PAM) clinical candidate and the discovery of VU6024578/BI02982816. From a weak high-throughput screening hit (VU0538160, EC > 10 μM, 71% Glu), optimization efforts improved functional potency over 185-fold to deliver the selective (inactive on mGlu) and CNS penetrant (rat K = 0.99, K = 0.
