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Antunes FTT, Campos MM, Carvalho VDPR, da Silva Junior CA, Magno LAV, de Souza AH, Gomez MV. Current Drug Development Overview: Targeting Voltage-Gated Calcium Channels for the Treatment of Pain. Int J Mol Sci 2023; 24:ijms24119223. [PMID: 37298174 DOI: 10.3390/ijms24119223] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/11/2023] [Revised: 04/29/2023] [Accepted: 05/02/2023] [Indexed: 06/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Voltage-gated calcium channels (VGCCs) are targeted to treat pain conditions. Since the discovery of their relation to pain processing control, they are investigated to find new strategies for better pain control. This review provides an overview of naturally based and synthetic VGCC blockers, highlighting new evidence on the development of drugs focusing on the VGCC subtypes as well as mixed targets with pre-clinical and clinical analgesic effects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Flavia Tasmin Techera Antunes
- Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4, Canada
- Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4, Canada
| | - Maria Martha Campos
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Odontologia, Escola de Ciências da Saúde e da Vida, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre 90619-900, RS, Brazil
| | | | | | - Luiz Alexandre Viana Magno
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências da Saúde, Faculdade Ciências Médicas de Minas Gerais (FCMMG), Belo Horizonte 30110-005, MG, Brazil
| | - Alessandra Hubner de Souza
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências da Saúde, Faculdade Ciências Médicas de Minas Gerais (FCMMG), Belo Horizonte 30110-005, MG, Brazil
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Liang Q, Qiao Z, Zhou Q, Xue D, Wang K, Shao L. Discovery of Potent and Selective Transient Receptor Potential Vanilloid 1 (TRPV1) Agonists with Analgesic Effects In Vivo Based on the Functional Conversion Induced by Altering the Orientation of the Indazole Core. J Med Chem 2022; 65:11658-11678. [PMID: 36008373 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.2c00469] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
Transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 (TRPV1) is a promising target for developing antinociceptive agents. Here, we report the synthesis of N-indazole-4-aryl piperazine carboxamide analogues as TRPV1 modulators. The structure-activity relationship (SAR) reveals that substituting indazole at the 5-/6-position leads to TRPV1 agonism, whereas the 4- and 7-positions of indazole obtain mild antagonism and loss of activity, respectively. The whole-cell clamp patch assay shows that 28 is a potent and selective TRPV1 agonist and it relieves inflammatory and thermal pain by desensitizing the native TRPV1 current in the dorsal root ganglion (DRG) in mice. Additionally, site-directed mutagenesis combined with molecular docking shows an important hydrogen interaction between Arg557 and the indazole of 28. Taken together, our findings provide insight into TRPV1 agonism-antagonism conversion based on the interaction between indazole and Arg557, which provides a strategy to obtain new TRPV1 agonists by structural modification of antagonists. Compound 28 may be used as a lead compound for further optimization.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qianqian Liang
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, School of Pharmacy, Fudan University, 826 Zhangheng Road, Shanghai 201203, China
| | - Zhen Qiao
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, School of Pharmacy, Fudan University, 826 Zhangheng Road, Shanghai 201203, China
| | - Qiqi Zhou
- Department of Pharmacology, Qilu Medical University, Zibo, Shandong 255300, China
| | - Dengqi Xue
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, School of Pharmacy, Fudan University, 826 Zhangheng Road, Shanghai 201203, China.,State Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology, Fudan University, 138 Yixueyuan Road, Shanghai 200032, China
| | - KeWei Wang
- Departments of Pharmacology, School of Pharmacy, Qingdao University Medical College, #1 Ningde Road, Qingdao 266073, China.,Institute of Innovative Drug Discovery, Qingdao University, 38 Dengzhou Road, Qingdao 266021, China
| | - Liming Shao
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, School of Pharmacy, Fudan University, 826 Zhangheng Road, Shanghai 201203, China.,State Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology, Fudan University, 138 Yixueyuan Road, Shanghai 200032, China
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Curcumin and metformin synergistically modulate peripheral and central immune mechanisms of pain. Sci Rep 2022; 12:9713. [PMID: 35690654 PMCID: PMC9188603 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-13647-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/24/2021] [Accepted: 05/26/2022] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Metformin is a well-tolerated antidiabetic drug and has recently been repurposed for numerous diseases, including pain. However, a higher dose of metformin is required for effective analgesia, which can potentiate its dose-dependent gastrointestinal side effects. Curcumin is a natural polyphenol and has beneficial therapeutic effects on pain. Curcumin has been used as an analgesic adjuvant with several analgesic drugs, allowing synergistic antinociceptive effects. Nevertheless, whether curcumin can exert synergistic analgesia with metformin is still unknown. In the present study, the nature of curcumin-metformin anti-inflammatory interaction was evaluated in in vitro using lipopolysaccharide-induced RAW 264.7 macrophage and BV-2 microglia cells. In both macrophage and microglia, curcumin effectively potentiates the anti-inflammatory effects of metformin, indicating potential synergistic effects in both peripheral and central pathways of pain. The nature of the interaction between curcumin and metformin was further recapitulated using a mouse model of formalin-induced pain. Coadministration of curcumin and metformin at a 1:1 fixed ratio of their ED50 doses significantly reduced the dose required to produce a 50% effect compared to the theoretically required dose in phase II of the formalin test with a combination index value of 0.24. Besides, the synergistic interaction does not appear to involve severe CNS side effects indicated by no motor alterations, no alterations in short-term and long-term locomotive behaviors, and the general well-being of mice. Our findings suggest that curcumin exerts synergistic anti-inflammation with metformin with no potential CNS adverse effects.
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Voltage-dependent Ca V3.2 and Ca V2.2 channels in nociceptive pathways. Pflugers Arch 2022; 474:421-434. [PMID: 35043234 DOI: 10.1007/s00424-022-02666-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/13/2021] [Revised: 01/12/2022] [Accepted: 01/13/2022] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Abstract
Noxious stimuli like cold, heat, pH change, tissue damage, and inflammation depolarize a membrane of peripheral endings of specialized nociceptive neurons which eventually results in the generation of an action potential. The electrical signal is carried along a long axon of nociceptive neurons from peripheral organs to soma located in dorsal root ganglions and further to the dorsal horn of the spinal cord where it is transmitted through a chemical synapse and is carried through the spinal thalamic tract into the brain. Two subtypes of voltage-activated calcium play a major role in signal transmission: a low voltage-activated CaV3.2 channel and a high voltage-activated CaV2.2 channel. The CaV3.2 channel contributes mainly to the signal conductance along nociceptive neurons while the principal role of the CaV2.2 channel is in the synaptic transmission at the dorsal horn. Both channels contribute to the signal initiation at peripheral nerve endings. This review summarizes current knowledge about the expression and distribution of these channels in a nociceptive pathway, the regulation of their expression and gating during pain pathology, and their suitability as targets for pharmacological therapy.
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