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Moritz AE, Free RB, Weiner WS, Akano EO, Gandhi D, Abramyan A, Keck TM, Ferrer M, Hu X, Southall N, Steiner J, Aubé J, Shi L, Frankowski KJ, Sibley DR. Discovery, Optimization, and Characterization of ML417: A Novel and Highly Selective D 3 Dopamine Receptor Agonist. J Med Chem 2020; 63:5526-5567. [PMID: 32342685 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.0c00424] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
To identify novel D3 dopamine receptor (D3R) agonists, we conducted a high-throughput screen using a β-arrestin recruitment assay. Counterscreening of the hit compounds provided an assessment of their selectivity, efficacy, and potency. The most promising scaffold was optimized through medicinal chemistry resulting in enhanced potency and selectivity. The optimized compound, ML417 (20), potently promotes D3R-mediated β-arrestin translocation, G protein activation, and ERK1/2 phosphorylation (pERK) while lacking activity at other dopamine receptors. Screening of ML417 against multiple G protein-coupled receptors revealed exceptional global selectivity. Molecular modeling suggests that ML417 interacts with the D3R in a unique manner, possibly explaining its remarkable selectivity. ML417 was also found to protect against neurodegeneration of dopaminergic neurons derived from iPSCs. Together with promising pharmacokinetics and toxicology profiles, these results suggest that ML417 is a novel and uniquely selective D3R agonist that may serve as both a research tool and a therapeutic lead for the treatment of neuropsychiatric disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amy E Moritz
- Molecular Neuropharmacology Section, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, Intramural Research Program, National Institutes of Health, 35 Convent Drive, MSC-3723, Bethesda, Maryland 20892-3723, United States
| | - R Benjamin Free
- Molecular Neuropharmacology Section, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, Intramural Research Program, National Institutes of Health, 35 Convent Drive, MSC-3723, Bethesda, Maryland 20892-3723, United States
| | - Warren S Weiner
- University of Kansas Specialized Chemistry Center, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas 66047, United States
| | - Emmanuel O Akano
- Molecular Neuropharmacology Section, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, Intramural Research Program, National Institutes of Health, 35 Convent Drive, MSC-3723, Bethesda, Maryland 20892-3723, United States
| | - Disha Gandhi
- Center for Integrative Chemical Biology and Drug Discovery, UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, 125 Mason Farm Road, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, United States
| | - Ara Abramyan
- Computational Chemistry and Molecular Biophysics Unit, Molecular Targets and Medications Discovery Branch, National Institute on Drug Abuse, Intramural Research Program, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, Maryland, 333 Cassell Drive, Baltimore, Maryland 21224, United States
| | - Thomas M Keck
- Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, Department of Molecular & Cellular Biosciences, College of Science and Mathematics, Rowan University, 201 Mullica Hill Road, Glassboro, New Jersey 08028, United States
| | - Marc Ferrer
- NIH Chemical Genomics Center, Division of Preclinical Innovation, National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health, 9800 Medical Center Drive, Rockville, Maryland 20850, United States
| | - Xin Hu
- NIH Chemical Genomics Center, Division of Preclinical Innovation, National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health, 9800 Medical Center Drive, Rockville, Maryland 20850, United States
| | - Noel Southall
- NIH Chemical Genomics Center, Division of Preclinical Innovation, National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health, 9800 Medical Center Drive, Rockville, Maryland 20850, United States
| | - Joseph Steiner
- NeuroTherapeutics Development Unit, National Institute for Neurological Disorders and Stroke, Intramural Research Program, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, United States
| | - Jeffrey Aubé
- University of Kansas Specialized Chemistry Center, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas 66047, United States.,Center for Integrative Chemical Biology and Drug Discovery, UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, 125 Mason Farm Road, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, United States
| | - Lei Shi
- Computational Chemistry and Molecular Biophysics Unit, Molecular Targets and Medications Discovery Branch, National Institute on Drug Abuse, Intramural Research Program, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, Maryland, 333 Cassell Drive, Baltimore, Maryland 21224, United States
| | - Kevin J Frankowski
- University of Kansas Specialized Chemistry Center, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas 66047, United States.,Center for Integrative Chemical Biology and Drug Discovery, UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, 125 Mason Farm Road, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, United States
| | - David R Sibley
- Molecular Neuropharmacology Section, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, Intramural Research Program, National Institutes of Health, 35 Convent Drive, MSC-3723, Bethesda, Maryland 20892-3723, United States
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Moritz AE, Free RB, Sibley DR. Advances and challenges in the search for D 2 and D 3 dopamine receptor-selective compounds. Cell Signal 2017; 41:75-81. [PMID: 28716664 DOI: 10.1016/j.cellsig.2017.07.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/18/2017] [Revised: 07/07/2017] [Accepted: 07/10/2017] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
Compounds that target D2-like dopamine receptors (DRs) are currently used as therapeutics for several neuropsychiatric disorders including schizophrenia (antagonists) and Parkinson's disease (agonists). However, as the D2R and D3R subtypes are highly homologous, creating compounds with sufficient subtype-selectivity as well as drug-like properties for therapeutic use has proved challenging. This review summarizes the progress that has been made in developing D2R- or D3R-selective antagonists and agonists, and also describes the experimental conditions that need to be considered when determining the selectivity of a given compound, as apparent selectivity can vary widely depending on assay conditions. Future advances in this field may take advantage of currently available structural data to target alternative secondary binding sites through creating bivalent or bitopic chemical structures. Alternatively, the use of high-throughput screening techniques to identify novel scaffolds that might bind to the D2R or D3R in areas other than the highly conserved orthosteric site, such as allosteric sites, followed by iterative medicinal chemistry will likely lead to exceptionally selective compounds in the future. More selective compounds will provide a better understanding of the normal and pathological functioning of each receptor subtype, as well as offer the potential for improved therapeutics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amy E Moritz
- Molecular Neuropharmacology Section, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, 35 Convent Drive, MSC-3723, Bethesda, MD 20892-3723, United States
| | - R Benjamin Free
- Molecular Neuropharmacology Section, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, 35 Convent Drive, MSC-3723, Bethesda, MD 20892-3723, United States
| | - David R Sibley
- Molecular Neuropharmacology Section, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, 35 Convent Drive, MSC-3723, Bethesda, MD 20892-3723, United States.
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Dopamine receptor dysregulation in hippocampus of aged rats underlies chronic pulsatile L-Dopa treatment induced cognitive and emotional alterations. Neuropharmacology 2013; 82:88-100. [PMID: 24291463 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropharm.2013.11.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/03/2013] [Revised: 11/11/2013] [Accepted: 11/19/2013] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Abstract
L-Dopa is the major symptomatic therapy for Parkinson's disease, which commonly occurs in elderly patients. However, the effects of chronic use on mood and cognition in old subjects remain elusive. In order to compare the effects of a chronic pulsatile L-Dopa treatment on emotional and cognitive functions in young (3 months) and old (18 months) intact rats, an L-Dopa/carbidopa treatment was administered every 12 h over 4 weeks. Rats were assessed for behavioural despair (repeated forced swimming test, RFST), anhedonia (sucrose preference test, SPT) and spatial learning (Morris water maze, MWM) in the late phase of treatment (T). Neuronal expression of Fos in the hippocampus at the early and late phases of T, as well as after MWM was studied. The density and ratio of dopamine D5r, D3r and D2r receptors were also evaluated in the hippocampus using immunohistochemistry and confocal microscopy. Young rats showed similar patterns during behavioural tests, whereas aged treated rats showed increased immobility counts in RFST, diminished sucrose liquid intake in SPT, and spatial learning impairment during MWM. Fos expression was significantly blunted in the aged treated group after MWM. The density of D5r, D3r and D2r was increased in both aged groups. The treatment reduced the ratio of D5r/D3r and D5r/D2r in both groups. Moreover, aged treated subjects had significant lower values of D5r/D3r and higher values of D5r/D2r when compared with young treated subjects. These results indicate that chronic L-Dopa treatment in itself could trigger emotional and cognitive dysfunctions in elderly subjects through dopamine receptor dysregulation.
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Adjei S, Houck AL, Ma K, Wesson DW. Age-dependent alterations in the number, volume, and localization of islands of Calleja within the olfactory tubercle. Neurobiol Aging 2013; 34:2676-82. [PMID: 23796661 DOI: 10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2013.05.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/05/2012] [Revised: 05/08/2013] [Accepted: 05/16/2013] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
Abstract
The incidence of olfactory perceptual dysfunction increases substantially with aging. Putative mechanisms for olfactory sensory loss are surfacing, including neuroanatomical modifications within brain regions responsible for odor information processing. The islands of Calleja (IC) are dense cell clusters localized within the olfactory tubercle, a cortical structure receiving monosynaptic input from the olfactory bulb. The IC are hypothesized to be important for intra- and extra-olfactory tubercle information processing, and thus olfaction. However, whether the anatomy of the IC are affected throughout normal aging remains unclear. By examining the IC of C57bl/6 mice throughout adulthood and early aging (4-18 months of age), we found that the number of IC decreases significantly with aging. Stereological analysis revealed that the remaining IC in 18-month-old mice were significantly reduced in estimated volume compared with those in 4- month-old mice. We additionally found that whereas young adults (4 months of age) possess greater numbers of IC within the posterior parts of the olfactory tubercle, by 18 months of age, a greater percentage of IC are found within the anterior-most part of the olfactory tubercle, perhaps providing a substrate for the differential access of the IC to odor information throughout aging. These results show that the IC are highly plastic components of the olfactory cortex, changing in volume, localization, and even number throughout normal aging. We predict that modifications among the IC throughout aging and age-related neurodegenerative disorders might be a novel contributor to pathological changes in olfactory cortex function and olfactory perception.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stacey Adjei
- Department of Neurosciences, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH 44106, USA
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Ueda S, Sakakibara SI, Kadowaki T, Naitoh T, Hirata K, Yoshimoto K. Chronic treatment with melatonin attenuates serotonergic degeneration in the striatum and olfactory tubercle of zitter mutant rats. Neurosci Lett 2008; 448:212-6. [PMID: 18955113 DOI: 10.1016/j.neulet.2008.10.059] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/17/2008] [Revised: 10/16/2008] [Accepted: 10/17/2008] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
The effects of chronic treatment with the antioxidant hormone melatonin on degeneration of serotonergic fibers were studied in the striatum and olfactory tubercle of the zitter rat, which shows a loss-of-function mutation of the glycosylated transmembrane protein attractin. In these animals, serotonergic fibers in the striatum and olfactory tubercle undergo spontaneous and progressive degeneration as a result of abnormal metabolism of reactive oxygen species. Homozygous zitter (zi/zi) rats were provided ad libitum access to drinking water containing melatonin for 9 months (M) after weaning. High-performance liquid chromatography analysis revealed that melatonin treatment significantly increased serotonin in the caudate-putamen, (CPU), nucleus accumbens (NA) and olfactory tubercle (OT). Immunohistochemical staining for serotonin was consistent with the neurochemical data and further demonstrated substantially increased numbers of serotonergic nerve terminals in these areas. Aberrant serotonergic fibers characterized by swollen varicosities (>1 microm in diameter) were observed in the CPU and NA of 10 M zi/zi rats. The number of these fibers decreased after melatonin treatment ended. Furthermore, hyperinnervation of serotonergic fibers was observed in the OT of melatonin-treated zi/zi rats. These results suggest that melatonin protects serotonergic fibers and terminals in zitter rats and/or promotes their neuroplasticity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shiuchi Ueda
- Department of Histology and Neurobiology, Dokkyo Medical University School of Medicine, Mubu, Tochigi 321-0293, Japan.
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Singh B, Wilson JH, Vasavada HH, Guo Z, Allore HG, Zeiss CJ. Motor deficits and altered striatal gene expression in aphakia (ak) mice. Brain Res 2007; 1185:283-92. [PMID: 17949697 DOI: 10.1016/j.brainres.2007.09.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/02/2007] [Revised: 08/30/2007] [Accepted: 09/05/2007] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Abstract
Like humans with Parkinson's disease (PD), the ak mouse lacks the majority of the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNc) and experiences striatal denervation. The purpose of this study was to test whether motor abnormalities in the ak mouse progress over time, and whether motor function could be associated with temporal alterations in the striatal transcriptome. Ak and wt mice (28 to 180 days old) were tested using paradigms sensitive to nigrostriatal dysfunction. Results were analyzed using a linear mixed model. Ak mice significantly underperformed wt controls in rotarod, balance beam, string test, pole test and cotton shred tests at all ages examined. Motor performance in ak mice remained constant over the first 6 months of life, with the exception of the cotton shred test, in which ak mice exhibited marginal decline in performance. Dorsal striatal semi-quantitative RT-PCR for 19 dopaminergic, cholinergic, glutaminergic and catabolic genes was performed in 1- and 6-month-old groups of ak and wt mice. Preproenkephalin levels in ak mice were elevated in both age groups. Drd1, 3 and 4 levels declined over time, in contrast to increasing Drd2 expression. Additional findings included decreased Chrnalpha6 expression and elevated VGluT1 expression at both time points in ak mice and elevated AchE expression in young ak mice only. Results confirm that motor ability does not decline significantly for the first 6 months of life in ak mice. Their striatal gene expression patterns are consistent with dopaminergic denervation, and change over time, despite relatively unaltered motor performance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bhupinder Singh
- Section of Comparative Medicine, Yale University, 375 Congress Ave., New Haven, CT 06519, USA
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Schirmer M, Nobrega JN, Harrison SJ, Löscher W. Alterations in dopamine D3 receptors in the circling (ci3) rat mutant. Neuroscience 2007; 144:1462-9. [PMID: 17187934 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2006.11.022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/08/2006] [Revised: 11/10/2006] [Accepted: 11/13/2006] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Abstract
We have previously described a black-hooded mutant rat (BH.7A/Ztm-ci3/ci3) that displays abnormal lateralized circling behavior, but normal auditory and vestibular functions. Neurochemical determination of dopamine and dopamine metabolite levels in striatum, nucleus accumbens and substantia nigra showed that ci3 rats have a significant asymmetry in striatal dopamine in that dopamine levels were significantly lower in the hemisphere contralateral to the preferred direction of turning. Consistent with this finding, immunohistological examination of dopaminergic neurons in substantia nigra and ventral tegmental area yielded a significant laterality in the medial part of substantia nigra pars compacta with a lower density of tyrosine hydroxylase-positive neurons in the contralateral hemisphere of mutant circling rats, while no laterality was seen in unaffected rats of the background strain. In the present study, quantitative autoradiography was used to examine the binding of [(3)H]SCH 23390, [(3)H]raclopride and [(3)H]7-OH-DPAT (7-hydroxy-N,N-di-n-propyl-2-aminotetralin) to dopamine D1, D2, and D3 receptors, respectively, in various brain regions of ci3 rats and unaffected rats of the background strain (BH.7A(LEW)/Won). No significant differences between circling rats and controls were obtained for D1 and D2 receptor binding in any region, but mutant rats differed from controls in dopamine D3 binding in several regions. A significant decrease in D3 binding was seen in the shell of the nucleus accumbens, the islands of Calleja, and the subependymal zone of ci3 mutant rats. Furthermore, a significant laterality in D3 binding was determined in ci3 rats in that binding was lower in the contralateral hemisphere in the shell of the nucleus accumbens and the islands of Calleja. Our data indicate that alterations of dopamine D3 receptors may be involved in the behavioral phenotype of the ci3 rat, thus substantiating the findings from a recent genetic linkage analysis that indicated the D3 receptor gene as a candidate gene in this rat mutant.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Schirmer
- Department of Pharmacology, Toxicology, and Pharmacy, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Foundation, Bünteweg 17, D-30559 Hannover, Germany
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