Discovery of Aryl Formyl Piperidine Derivatives as Potent, Reversible, and Selective Monoacylglycerol Lipase Inhibitors.

Most of the current monoacylglycerol lipase (MAGL) inhibitors function by an irreversible mechanism of action, causing a series of side effects. Herein, starting from irreversible inhibitors, 25 compounds were synthesized and evaluated for MAGL inhibition, among which, compound showed the most potent inhibitory activity (IC = 15 nM). Crucially, docking studies demonstrated that the -chlorine-substituted aniline fragment occupied a hydrophobic subpocket enclosed by side chains of Val191, Tyr194, Val270, and Lys273, which creatively identify a new key anchoring point for the development of new MAGL inhibitors. Furthermore, evaluation innovatively revealed that this reversible inhibitor significantly ameliorated depressive-like behaviors induced by reserpine. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that reversible inhibitors of MAGL were developed to support MAGL as a potential therapeutic target for depression.