Reductions in log P Improved Protein Binding and Clearance Predictions Enabling the Prospective Design of Cannabinoid Receptor (CB1) Antagonists with Desired Pharmacokinetic Properties

Nontoxic combretafuranone analogues with high in vitro antibacterial activity

A library of thirty two 3,4-diphenylfuranones related to both combretastatin A-4 and antifungal 5-(acyloxymethyl)-3-(halophenyl)-2,5-dihydrofuran-2-ones was prepared. Cytotoxic effects on a panel of cancer and normal cell lines and antiinfective activity were evaluated, and the data were complemented with tests for the activation of caspase 3 and 7. High cytotoxicity was observed in some of the halogenated analogues, eg. 3-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)-4-(4-methylphenyl)-2,5-dihydrofuran-2-one with IC₅₀ 0.12-0.23 μM, but the compounds were also highly toxic against non-malignant control cells. More importantly, notable antibacterial activity indicating G⁺ selectivity has been found in the 3,4-diarylfuranone class of compounds for the first time. Hydroxymethylation of furanone C5 knocked out cytotoxic effects (up to 40 μM) while maintaining significant activity against Staphylococcus strains in some derivatives. MIC₉₅ of the most promising compound, 3-(4-bromophenyl)-5,5-bis(hydroxymethyl)-4-(4-methylphenyl)-2,5-dihydrofuran-2-one against S. aureus strain ATCC 6538 was 0.98 μM (0.38 μg/mL) and 3.9 μM (1.52 μg/mL) after 24 and 48 h, respectively.

Development of Quinazoline/Pyrimidine-2,4(1H,3H)-diones as Agonists of Cannabinoid Receptor Type 2

Starting from a prototypical structure 1, we describe our efforts to design and obtain novel quinazoline/pyrimidine-2,4(1H,3H)-diones with high CB2 agonist potency and selectivity as well as improved physicochemical characteristics, mainly hydrophilicity. The most potent and selective CB2 agonists, 8 and 36, in this series were also endowed with lower logP values than that of GW842166X and lead compound 1. These derivatives appear to be promising lead compounds for the development of future CB2 agonists.

The syntheses of isotopically labelled CB-1 antagonists for the treatment of obesity

BMS-725519, BMS-811064, and BMS-812204 are potent and selective central cannabinoid receptor antagonists that have been investigated for the treatment of human obesity. To further understand their biotransformation profiles, radiolabelled and stable-labelled products were required. This paper describes the utility of [¹⁴ C]1,1-carbonyldiimidazole as a radiolabelling reagent for the syntheses of carbonyl-labelled [¹⁴ C]BMS-725519, [¹⁴ C]BMS-811064, and [¹⁴ C]BMS-812204. The syntheses of stable-labelled [¹³ C₆ ]BMS-725519 and [¹³ CD₃¹³ CD₂ ]BMS-812204 synthesized from of [¹³ C₆ ]4-chloroacetophenone and [¹³ CD₃¹³ CD₂ ]iodoethane, respectively, are also described.

Successful application of serum shift prediction models to the design of dual targeting inhibitors of bacterial gyrase B and topoisomerase IV with improved in vivo efficacy

A series of dual targeting inhibitors of bacterial gyrase B and topoisomerase IV were identified and optimized to mid-to-low nanomolar potency against a variety of bacteria. However, in spite of seemingly adequate exposure achieved upon IV administration, the in vivo efficacy of the early lead compounds was limited by high levels of binding to serum proteins. To overcome this limitation, targeted serum shift prediction models were generated for each subclass of interest and were applied to the design of prospective analogs. As a result, numerous compounds with comparable antibacterial potency and reduced protein binding were generated. These efforts culminated in the synthesis of compound 10, a potent inhibitor with low serum shift that demonstrated greatly improved in vivo efficacy in two distinct rat infection models.