Discovery of highly potent and selective alpha4beta2-nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) partial agonists containing an isoxazolylpyridine ether scaffold that demonstrate antidepressant-like activity. Part II.

Article Details

Citation

Yu LF, Eaton JB, Fedolak A, Zhang HK, Hanania T, Brunner D, Lukas RJ, Kozikowski AP

Discovery of highly potent and selective alpha4beta2-nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) partial agonists containing an isoxazolylpyridine ether scaffold that demonstrate antidepressant-like activity. Part II.

J Med Chem. 2012 Nov 26;55(22):9998-10009. doi: 10.1021/jm301177j. Epub 2012 Nov 2.

PubMed ID
23092294 [ View in PubMed
]
Abstract

In our continued efforts to develop alpha4beta2-nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) partial agonists as novel antidepressants having a unique mechanism of action, structure-activity relationship (SAR) exploration of certain isoxazolylpyridine ethers is presented. In particular, modifications to both the azetidine ring present in the starting structure 4 and its metabolically liable hydroxyl side chain substituent have been explored to improve compound druggability. The pharmacological characterization of all new compounds has been carried out using [(3)H]epibatidine binding studies together with functional assays based on (86)Rb(+) ion flux measurements. We found that the deletion of the metabolically liable hydroxyl group or its replacement by a fluoromethyl group not only maintained potency and selectivity but also resulted in compounds showing antidepressant-like properties in the mouse forced swim test. These isoxazolylpyridine ethers appear to represent promising lead candidates in the design of innovative chemical tools containing reporter groups for imaging purposes and of possible therapeutics.

DrugBank Data that Cites this Article

Binding Properties
DrugTargetPropertyMeasurementpHTemperature (°C)
NicotineNeuronal acetylcholine receptor subunit beta-2EC 50 (nM)295N/AN/ADetails
NicotineNeuronal acetylcholine receptor subunit beta-2Ki (nM)4.9N/AN/ADetails
NicotineNeuronal acetylcholine receptor subunit beta-2Ki (nM)5.5N/AN/ADetails
NicotineNeuronal acetylcholine receptor subunit beta-2IC 50 (nM)427N/AN/ADetails
NicotineNeuronal acetylcholine receptor subunit beta-2EC 50 (nM)295.12N/AN/ADetails
NicotineNeuronal acetylcholine receptor subunit beta-2IC 50 (nM)426.58N/AN/ADetails