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Blough B, Namjoshi O. Small Molecule Neuropeptide S and Melanocortin 4 Receptor Ligands as Potential Treatments for Substance Use Disorders. Handb Exp Pharmacol 2019; 258:61-87. [PMID: 31628605 DOI: 10.1007/164_2019_313] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
There is a vital need for novel approaches and biological targets for drug discovery and development. Treatment strategies for substance use disorders (SUDs) to date have been mostly ineffective other than substitution-like therapeutics. Two such targets are the peptide G-protein-coupled receptors neuropeptide S (NPS) and melanocortin 4 (MC4). Preclinical evidence suggests that antagonists, inverse agonists, or negative allosteric modulators of these receptors might be novel therapeutics for SUDs. NPS is a relatively unexplored receptor with high potential for treating SUD. MC4 has a strong link to early-onset obesity, and emerging evidence suggests significant overlap between food-maintained and drug-maintained behaviors making MC4 an intriguing target for SUD. This chapter provides an overview of the literature in relation to the roles of NPS and MC4 in drug-seeking behaviors and then provides a medicinal chemistry-based survey of the small molecule ligands for each receptor.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bruce Blough
- Center for Drug Discovery, RTI International, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA.
| | - Ojas Namjoshi
- Center for Drug Discovery, RTI International, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA
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Hruby VJ, Cai M, Nyberg J, Muthu D. Approaches to the rational design of selective melanocortin receptor antagonists. Expert Opin Drug Discov 2011; 6:543-57. [PMID: 22646078 DOI: 10.1517/17460441.2011.565743] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/05/2022]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION When establishing the physiological roles of specific receptors in normal and disease states, it is critical to have selective antagonist ligands for each receptor in a receptor system with several subtypes. The melanocortin receptors have five subtypes referred to as the melanocortin 1 receptor, melanocortin 2 receptor, melanocortin 3 receptor, melanocortin 4 receptor and melanocortin 5 receptor, and they are of critical importance for many aspects of human health and disease. AREAS COVERED This article reviews the current efforts to design selective antagonistic ligands for the five human melanocortin receptors summarizing the currently published orthosteric and allosteric antagonists for each of these receptors. EXPERT OPINION Though there has been progress, there are still few drugs available that address the many significant biological activities and diseases that are associated with these receptors, which is possibly due to the lack of receptor selectivity that these designed ligands are currently showing. The authors believe that further studies into the antagonists' 3D conformational and topographical properties in addition to future mutagenesis studies will provide greater insight into these ligands which could play a role in the treatment of various diseases in the future.
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Affiliation(s)
- Victor J Hruby
- University of Arizona, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry , 1306 E. University Blvd., Tucson, AZ 85721 , USA
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René P, Le Gouill C, Pogozheva ID, Lee G, Mosberg HI, Farooqi IS, Valenzano KJ, Bouvier M. Pharmacological chaperones restore function to MC4R mutants responsible for severe early-onset obesity. J Pharmacol Exp Ther 2010; 335:520-32. [PMID: 20826565 DOI: 10.1124/jpet.110.172098] [Citation(s) in RCA: 60] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Heterozygous null mutations in the melanocortin-4 receptor (MC4R) cause early-onset obesity in humans, indicating that metabolic homeostasis is sensitive to quantitative variation in MC4R function. Most of the obesity-causing MC4R mutations functionally characterized so far lead to intracellular retention of receptors by the cell's quality control system. Thus, recovering cell surface expression of mutant MC4Rs could have a beneficial therapeutic value. We tested a pharmacological chaperone approach to restore cell surface expression and function of 10 different mutant forms of human melanocortin-4 receptor found in obese patients. Five cell-permeant MC4R-selective ligands were tested and displayed pharmacological chaperone activities, restoring cell surface targeting and function of the receptors with distinct efficacy profiles for the different mutations. Such mutation-specific efficacies suggested a structure-activity relationship between compounds and mutant receptor conformations that may open a path toward personalized therapy. In addition, one of the five pharmacological chaperones restored function to most of the mutant receptors tested. Combined with its ability to reach the central nervous system and its selectivity for the MC4R, this pharmacological chaperone may represent a candidate for the development of a targeted therapy suitable for a large subset of patients with MC4R-deficient obesity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Patricia René
- Department of Biochemistry, Institute for Research in Immunology and Cancer, and University Drug Research Group, University of Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
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Bossola M, Pacelli F, Doglietto GB. Cancer cachexia: drugs in the patent literature. Expert Opin Ther Pat 2008. [DOI: 10.1517/13543776.18.7.739] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/05/2022]
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Targeting melanocortin receptors: an approach to treat weight disorders and sexual dysfunction. Nat Rev Drug Discov 2008; 7:307-23. [PMID: 18323849 DOI: 10.1038/nrd2331] [Citation(s) in RCA: 110] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
Abstract
The melanocortin system has multifaceted roles in the control of body weight homeostasis, sexual behaviour and autonomic functions, and so targeting this pathway has immense promise for drug discovery across multiple therapeutic areas. In this Review, we first outline the physiological roles of the melanocortin system, then discuss the potential of targeting melanocortin receptors by using MC3 and MC4 agonists for treating weight disorders and sexual dysfunction, and MC4 antagonists to treat anorectic and cachectic conditions. Given the complexity of the melanocortin system, we also highlight the challenges and opportunities for future drug discovery in this area.
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Nozawa D, Chaki S, Nakazato A. Recent advances in the development of melanocortin-4 receptor ligands. Expert Opin Ther Pat 2008. [DOI: 10.1517/13543776.18.4.403] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/05/2022]
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Tran JA, Jiang W, Tucci FC, Fleck BA, Wen J, Sai Y, Madan A, Chen TK, Markison S, Foster AC, Hoare SR, Marks D, Harman J, Chen CW, Arellano M, Marinkovic D, Bozigian H, Saunders J, Chen C. Design, synthesis, in vitro, and in vivo characterization of phenylpiperazines and pyridinylpiperazines as potent and selective antagonists of the melanocortin-4 receptor. J Med Chem 2007; 50:6356-66. [PMID: 17994683 DOI: 10.1021/jm701137s] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Benzylamine and pyridinemethylamine derivatives were synthesized and characterized as potent and selective antagonists of the melanocortin-4 receptor (MC4R). These compounds were also profiled in rodents for their pharmacokinetic properties. Two compounds with diversified profiles in chemical structure, pharmacological activities, and pharmacokinetics, 10 and 12b, showed efficacy in an established murine cachexia model. For example, 12b had a K(i) value of 3.4 nM at MC4R, was more than 200-fold selective over MC3R, and had a good pharmacokinetic profile in mice, including high brain penetration. Moreover, 12b was able to stimulate food intake in the tumor-bearing mice and reverse their lean body mass loss. Our results provided further evidence that a potent and selective MC4R antagonist with appropriate pharmacokinetic properties might potentially be useful for the treatment of cancer cachexia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joe A Tran
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc., 12790 El Camino Real, San Diego, California 92130, USA
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8
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Nozawa D, Okubo T, Ishii T, Takamori K, Chaki S, Okuyama S, Nakazato A. Novel piperazines: Potent melanocortin-4 receptor antagonists with anxiolytic-like activity. Bioorg Med Chem 2007; 15:2375-85. [PMID: 17267226 DOI: 10.1016/j.bmc.2007.01.019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/22/2006] [Revised: 01/12/2007] [Accepted: 01/13/2007] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
In the present study, we found that a novel piperazine compound, 11a, showed a moderate affinity (IC(50)=333nM) for the MC4 receptor. We developed the new type of piperazine compounds and found that mono-piperazine 11b exhibited a high-affinity (IC(50)=40.3nM) for the MC4 receptor. We also found that a series of biphenyl analogues exhibited a high-affinity for the receptor, and in particular, compound 11j exhibited the highest affinity for the MC4 receptor with an IC(50) value of 14.5nM. Furthermore, some of these compounds, when administered orally, significantly reversed the stress-induced anxiety-like behavior in rats. In this paper, we report the synthesis, structure-activity relationships, and oral activity of the novel mono-piperazines as MC4 receptor antagonists.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dai Nozawa
- Medicinal Research Laboratories, Taisho Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd, 1-403 Yoshino-cho, Kita-ku, Saitama, Saitama 331-9530, Japan.
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Chen C. Recent progress toward nonpeptide ligands for the melanocortin-4 receptor. PROGRESS IN MEDICINAL CHEMISTRY 2007; 45:111-67. [PMID: 17280903 DOI: 10.1016/s0079-6468(06)45503-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/13/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Chen Chen
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc., 12700 El Camino Real, San Diego, CA 92130, USA
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Nozawa D, Okubo T, Ishii T, Chaki S, Okuyama S, Nakazato A. Synthesis of Diphenylmethyl Analogues and Their Affinity for the Melanocortin-4 Receptor and the Serotonin Transporter. Chem Pharm Bull (Tokyo) 2007; 55:1044-50. [PMID: 17603198 DOI: 10.1248/cpb.55.1044] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
While examining antagonists of the melanocortin-4 receptor (MC4 receptor), we found that compound 12b, containing a diphenylmethyl moiety, had a relatively high affinity for the MC4 receptor. When diphenylmethyl analogues were further examined, compounds 12c and 18 were also found to exhibit a high affinity for the MC4 receptor (IC(50)=46.7 nM and 33.2 nM, respectively). Furthermore, compound 12c was also found to show a high affinity for the serotonin transporter (IC(50)=10.7 nM). Here, we describe the synthesis and biological evaluation of various diphenylmethyl analogues in relation to their actions on the MC4 receptor and the serotonin transporter.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dai Nozawa
- Medicinal Research Laboratories, Taisho Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd, Saitama, Japan.
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Jiang W, Tucci FC, Chen CW, Arellano M, Tran JA, White NS, Marinkovic D, Pontillo J, Fleck BA, Wen J, Saunders J, Madan A, Foster AC, Chen C. Arylpropionylpiperazines as antagonists of the human melanocortin-4 receptor. Bioorg Med Chem Lett 2006; 16:4674-8. [PMID: 16777413 DOI: 10.1016/j.bmcl.2006.05.088] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/03/2006] [Revised: 05/23/2006] [Accepted: 05/30/2006] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
A series of 3-arylpropionylpiperazines were synthesized as antagonists of the melanocortin-4 receptor. Their potency was found to be increased by replacing the alpha-methyl substituent of the initial lead 11 with a larger s-Bu or i-Bu group. Further potency enhancement was observed when a glycine or beta-alanine was incorporated onto the benzylamine. Some compounds demonstrated good potency, moderate selectivity, and oral bioavailability.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wanlong Jiang
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc., San Diego, CA 92130, USA
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