2-Sulfonamidopyridine C-region analogs of 2-(3-fluoro-4-methylsulfonamidophenyl)propanamides as potent TRPV1 antagonists

TRPV1 antagonists that cause hypothermia, instead of hyperthermia, in rodents: Compounds' pharmacological profiles, in vivo targets, thermoeffectors recruited and implications for drug development

AIM

Thermoregulatory side effects hinder the development of transient receptor potential vanilloid-1 (TRPV1) antagonists as new painkillers. While many antagonists cause hyperthermia, a well-studied effect, some cause hypothermia. The mechanisms of this hypothermia are unknown and were studied herein.

METHODS

Two hypothermia-inducing TRPV1 antagonists, the newly synthesized A-1165901 and the known AMG7905, were used in physiological experiments in rats and mice. Their pharmacological profiles against rat TRPV1 were studied in vitro.

RESULTS

Administered peripherally, A-1165901 caused hypothermia in rats by either triggering tail-skin vasodilation (at thermoneutrality) or inhibiting thermogenesis (in the cold). A-1165901-induced hypothermia did not occur in rats with desensitized (by an intraperitoneal dose of the TRPV1 agonist resiniferatoxin) sensory abdominal nerves. The hypothermic responses to A-1165901 and AMG7905 (administered intragastrically or intraperitoneally) were absent in Trpv1^-/- mice, even though both compounds evoked pronounced hypothermia in Trpv1^+/+ mice. In vitro, both A-1165901 and AMG7905 potently potentiated TRPV1 activation by protons, while potently blocking channel activation by capsaicin.

CONCLUSION

TRPV1 antagonists cause hypothermia by an on-target action: on TRPV1 channels on abdominal sensory nerves. These channels are tonically activated by protons and drive the reflectory inhibition of thermogenesis and tail-skin vasoconstriction. Those TRPV1 antagonists that cause hypothermia further inhibit these cold defences, thus decreasing body temperature.

SIGNIFICANCE

TRPV1 antagonists (of capsaicin activation) are highly unusual in that they can cause both hyper- and hypothermia by modulating the same mechanism. For drug development, this means that both side effects can be dealt with simultaneously, by minimizing these compounds' interference with TRPV1 activation by protons.

Pyrazole C-region analogues of 2-(3-fluoro-4-methylsulfonylaminophenyl)propanamides as potent TRPV1 antagonists

A series of 1-substituted 3-(t-butyl/trifluoromethyl)pyrazole C-region analogues of 2-(3-fluoro-4-methylsulfonamidophenyl)propanamides were investigated for hTRPV1 antagonism. The structure activity relationship indicated that the 3-chlorophenyl group at the 1-position of pyrazole was the optimized hydrophobic group for antagonistic potency and the activity was stereospecific to the S-configuration, providing exceptionally potent antagonists 13S and 16S with K_i(CAP)=0.1nM. Particularly significant, 13S exhibited antagonism selective for capsaicin and NADA and not for low pH or elevated temperature. Both compounds also proved to be very potent antagonists for rTRPV1, blocking in vivo the hypothermic action of capsaicin, consistent with their in vitro mechanism. The docking study of compounds 13S and 16S in our hTRPV1 homology model indicated that the binding modes differed somewhat, with that of 13S more closely resembling that of GRT12360.

t-Butyl pyridine and phenyl C-region analogues of 2-(3-fluoro-4-methylsulfonylaminophenyl)propanamides as potent TRPV1 antagonists

A series of 2-substituted 6-t-butylpyridine and 4-t-butylphenyl C-region analogues of 2-(3-fluoro-4-methylsulfonamidophenyl)propanamides were investigated for hTRPV1 antagonism. The analysis of structure activity relationships indicated that the pyridine derivatives generally exhibited a little better antagonism than did the corresponding phenyl surrogates for most of the series. Among the compounds, compound 7 showed excellent antagonism toward capsaicin activation with Ki=0.1nM and compound 60S demonstrated a strong antiallodynic effect with 83% MPE at 10mg/kg in the neuropathic pain model. The docking study of 7S in our hTRPV1 homology model indicated that the interactions between the A/B-regions of 7S with Tyr511 and the interactions between the t-butyl and ethyl groups in the C-region of 7S with the two hydrophobic binding pockets of hTRPV1 contributed to the high potency.

TRPV1: A Target for Rational Drug Design

Transient Receptor Potential Vanilloid 1 (TRPV1) is a non-selective, Ca²⁺ permeable cation channel activated by noxious heat, and chemical ligands, such as capsaicin and resiniferatoxin (RTX). Many compounds have been developed that either activate or inhibit TRPV1, but none of them are in routine clinical practice. This review will discuss the rationale for antagonists and agonists of TRPV1 for pain relief and other conditions, and strategies to develop new, better drugs to target this ion channel, using the newly available high-resolution structures.