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Pillaiyar T, Wozniak M, Abboud D, Rasch A, Liebing AD, Poso A, Kronenberger T, Stäubert C, Laufer SA, Hanson J. Development of Ligands for the Super Conserved Orphan G Protein-Coupled Receptor GPR27 with Improved Efficacy and Potency. J Med Chem 2023; 66:17118-17137. [PMID: 38060818 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.3c02030] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/29/2023]
Abstract
The orphan G protein-coupled receptor GPR27 appears to play a role in insulin production, secretion, lipid metabolism, neuronal plasticity, and l-lactate homeostasis. However, investigations on the function of GPR27 are impaired by the lack of potent and efficacious agonists. We describe herein the development of di- and trisubstituted benzamide derivatives 4a-e, 7a-z, and 7aa-ai, which display GPR27-specific activity in a β-arrestin 2 recruitment-based assay. Highlighted compounds are PT-91 (7p: pEC50 6.15; Emax 100%) and 7ab (pEC50 6.56; Emax 99%). A putative binding mode was revealed by the docking studies of 7p and 7ab with a GPR27 homology model. The novel active compounds exhibited no GPR27-mediated activation of G proteins, indicating that the receptor may possess an atypical profile. Compound 7p displays high metabolic stability and brain exposure in mice. Thus, 7p represents a novel tool to investigate the elusive pharmacology of GPR27 and assess its potential as a drug target.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thanigaimalai Pillaiyar
- Institute of Pharmacy, Pharmaceutical/Medicinal Chemistry and Tübingen Center for Academic Drug Discovery, Eberhard Karls University Tübingen, Auf der Morgenstelle 8, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
| | - Monika Wozniak
- Laboratory of Molecular Pharmacology, GIGA-Molecular Biology of Diseases, University of Liège, B-4000 Liège, Belgium
| | - Dayana Abboud
- Laboratory of Molecular Pharmacology, GIGA-Molecular Biology of Diseases, University of Liège, B-4000 Liège, Belgium
| | - Alexander Rasch
- Institute of Pharmacy, Pharmaceutical/Medicinal Chemistry and Tübingen Center for Academic Drug Discovery, Eberhard Karls University Tübingen, Auf der Morgenstelle 8, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
| | - Aenne-Dorothea Liebing
- Rudolf Schönheimer Institute of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, Leipzig University, Johannisallee 30, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Antti Poso
- Institute of Pharmacy, Pharmaceutical/Medicinal Chemistry and Tübingen Center for Academic Drug Discovery, Eberhard Karls University Tübingen, Auf der Morgenstelle 8, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
- Cluster of Excellence iFIT (EXC 2180) "Image-Guided & Functionally Instructed Tumor Therapies", University of Tübingen, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
- School of Pharmacy, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Eastern Finland, 70211 Kuopio, Finland
| | - Thales Kronenberger
- Institute of Pharmacy, Pharmaceutical/Medicinal Chemistry and Tübingen Center for Academic Drug Discovery, Eberhard Karls University Tübingen, Auf der Morgenstelle 8, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
- Cluster of Excellence iFIT (EXC 2180) "Image-Guided & Functionally Instructed Tumor Therapies", University of Tübingen, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
- School of Pharmacy, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Eastern Finland, 70211 Kuopio, Finland
| | - Claudia Stäubert
- Rudolf Schönheimer Institute of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, Leipzig University, Johannisallee 30, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Stefan A Laufer
- Institute of Pharmacy, Pharmaceutical/Medicinal Chemistry and Tübingen Center for Academic Drug Discovery, Eberhard Karls University Tübingen, Auf der Morgenstelle 8, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
- Cluster of Excellence iFIT (EXC 2180) "Image-Guided & Functionally Instructed Tumor Therapies", University of Tübingen, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
| | - Julien Hanson
- Laboratory of Molecular Pharmacology, GIGA-Molecular Biology of Diseases, University of Liège, B-4000 Liège, Belgium
- Laboratory of Medicinal Chemistry, Centre for Interdisciplinary Research on Medicines (CIRM), University of Liège, B-4000 Liège, Belgium
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Pillaiyar T, Rosato F, Wozniak M, Blavier J, Charles M, Laschet C, Kronenberger T, Müller CE, Hanson J. Structure-activity relationships of agonists for the orphan G protein-coupled receptor GPR27. Eur J Med Chem 2021; 225:113777. [PMID: 34454125 DOI: 10.1016/j.ejmech.2021.113777] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/05/2021] [Revised: 08/12/2021] [Accepted: 08/12/2021] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
GPR27 belongs, with GPR85 and GPR173, to a small subfamily of three receptors called "Super-Conserved Receptors Expressed in the Brain" (SREB). It has been postulated to participate in key physiological processes such as neuronal plasticity, energy metabolism, and pancreatic β-cell insulin secretion and regulation. Recently, we reported the first selective GPR27 agonist, 2,4-dichloro-N-(4-(N-phenylsulfamoyl)phenyl)benzamide (I, pEC50 6.34, Emax 100%). Here, we describe the synthesis and structure-activity relationships of a series of new derivatives and analogs of I. All products were evaluated for their ability to activate GPR27 in an arrestin recruitment assay. As a result, agonists were identified with a broad range of efficacies including partial and full agonists, showing higher efficacies than the lead compound I. The most potent agonist was 4-chloro-2,5-difluoro-N-(4-(N-phenylsulfamoyl)phenyl)benzamide (7y, pEC50 6.85, Emax 37%), and the agonists with higher efficacies were 4-chloro-2-methyl-N-(4-(N-phenylsulfamoyl)phenyl)benzamide (7p, pEC50 6.04, Emax 123%), and 2-bromo-4-chloro-N-(4-(N-phenylsulfamoyl)phenyl)benzamide (7r, pEC50 5.99, Emax 123%). Docking studies predicted the putative binding site and interactions of agonist 7p with GPR27. Selected potent agonists were found to be soluble and devoid of cellular toxicity within the range of their pharmacological activity. Therefore, they represent important new tools to further characterize the (patho)physiological roles of GPR27.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thanigaimalai Pillaiyar
- Pharmaceutical Institute, Pharmaceutical & Medicinal Chemistry, University of Bonn, An der Immenburg 4, 53121, Bonn, Germany; Institute of Pharmacy, Pharmaceutical/Medicinal Chemistry and Tübingen Center for Academic Drug Discovery, Eberhard Karls University Tübingen, Auf der Morgenstelle 8, 72076, Tübingen, Germany.
| | - Francesca Rosato
- Pharmaceutical Institute, Pharmaceutical & Medicinal Chemistry, University of Bonn, An der Immenburg 4, 53121, Bonn, Germany
| | - Monika Wozniak
- Laboratory of Molecular Pharmacology, GIGA-Molecular Biology of Diseases, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium; Institute of Nuclear Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Kraków, Poland
| | - Jeremy Blavier
- Laboratory of Molecular Pharmacology, GIGA-Molecular Biology of Diseases, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium
| | - Maëlle Charles
- Laboratory of Molecular Pharmacology, GIGA-Molecular Biology of Diseases, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium
| | - Céline Laschet
- Laboratory of Molecular Pharmacology, GIGA-Molecular Biology of Diseases, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium
| | - Thales Kronenberger
- Institute of Pharmacy, Pharmaceutical/Medicinal Chemistry and Tübingen Center for Academic Drug Discovery, Eberhard Karls University Tübingen, Auf der Morgenstelle 8, 72076, Tübingen, Germany; Department of Internal Medicine VIII, University Hospital Tübingen, Otfried-Müller-Str. 14, Tübingen, 72076, Germany
| | - Christa E Müller
- Pharmaceutical Institute, Pharmaceutical & Medicinal Chemistry, University of Bonn, An der Immenburg 4, 53121, Bonn, Germany
| | - Julien Hanson
- Laboratory of Molecular Pharmacology, GIGA-Molecular Biology of Diseases, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium; Laboratory of Medicinal Chemistry, Centre for Interdisciplinary Research on Medicines (CIRM), University of Liège, Liège, Belgium
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