PAF-receptor. 1. 'Cache-oreilles' effect of selected high-potency platelet-activating factor (PAF) antagonists

Three-dimensional electrostatic maps were calculated for six potent antagonists of platelet-activating factor (PAF), the antagonists being selected for their apparent structural heterogeneity. The molecules examined were the compact Ginkgolides BN 52020, BN 52021 and BN 52022 (1, 2 and 3), the semi-rigid kadsurenone (4), a flexible synthetic dinor type C furanoid lignan L-652,731 (5a) and the triazolothienobenzodiazepine WEB 2086 (7). Calculation of the electrostatic potential generated around all the above molecules showed the existence of two wells of negative potential or 'cache-oreilles' (ear-muffs), i.e., the isocontours drawn at -10 kcal/mol, located at 180 degrees from each other and separated by a maximum distance of 22-27 A. Except for the synthetic dinor type C furanoid lignan (5a), the molecules also presented a moderate hydrophobic fragment, which constitutes a third point of interaction with the high-affinity binding site in rabbit and human platelets. The findings of the present study allow speculation that this high-affinity acceptor site may be a 'polarized cylinder' with a diameter of 10-12 A.

Crystal and molecular structure of BN 52021, a PAF-acether antagonist. Comparison with the conformation of Kadsurenone and related compounds

BN52021 (Ginkgolide B) monohydrate C20H24O10 X H2O crystallizes in the triclinic space group P1 with two independant molecules in the unit cell of which parameters are a = 7.627(2), b = 11.514(3), c = 12.941(3)A, alpha = 97.05(2), beta = 90.27(2) and gamma = 108.71(2)o, V = 1067.06A3. Calculated density Dx = 1.320g X cm-3. The crystal structure was solved by Patterson methods starting from dreiding model data. The final reliability index R = 0.099 for 3848 observed reflections collected with a four-circle diffractometer. Anti-PAF activities of Kadsurenone, Kadsurin-A, Kadsurin-B and Piperenone, molecular structure of MIRANDIN-A, related compounds and BN52021 suggest that a distance 0-0 of about 6.6A observed in Kadsurenone and in BN52021 could be favourable to anti-PAF activity.