5-HT3 antagonists derived from aminopyridazine-type muscarinic M1 agonists

Diverse Pharmacological Potential of Pyridazine Analogs against Various Diseases

Pyridazinone analogs possess diverse types of pharmacological activities, such as anticancer, antimicrobial, anticonvulsant, analgesic, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antihypertensive, antisecretory, antiulcer, and other useful pharmacological activities. They also possess cyclooxygenase (COX) inhibitors, dipeptidyl peptidase inhibitors, phosphodiesterase inhibitors, glutamate transporter activators, adenosine receptor antagonists, serotonin receptors antagonists, lipooxygenase, cholinesterase, vasodilator, and anesthetics. Pyridazine rings are the essential structure for some marketed drugs, such as pimobendan, levosimendan as a cardiotonic drug, and emorfozan as an analgesic and anti-inflammatory (Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug) agent. So, researchers all over the world have paid attention to synthesizing various pyridazinone compounds mainly due to the ease of design and synthesis of different analogs and variables in the pharmacological responses. This review article focuses on the pharmacological activities of different pyridazine analogs.

Synthesis and biological evaluation of 3-amino-, 3-alkoxy- and 3-aryloxy-6-(hetero)arylpyridazines as potent antitumor agents

Various 3-amino-, 3-aryloxy- and alkoxy-6-arylpyridazines have been synthesized by an electrochemical reductive cross-coupling between 3-amino-, 3-aryloxy- or 3-alkoxy-6-chloropyridazines and aryl or heteroaryl halides. In vitro antiproliferative activity of these products was evaluated against a representative panel of cancer cell lines (HuH7, CaCo-2, MDA-MB-231, HCT116, PC3, NCI-H727, HaCaT) and oncogenicity prevention of the more efficient derivatives was highlighted on human breast cancer cell line MDA-MB 468-Luc prior establishing their interaction with p44/42 and Akt-dependent signaling pathways.

A novel method for heterocyclic amide-thioamide transformations

In this paper, we introduce a novel and convenient method for the transformation of heterocyclic amides into heteocyclic thioamides. A two-step approach was applied for this transformation: Firstly, we applied a chlorination of the heterocyclic amides to afford the corresponding chloroheterocycles. Secondly, the chloroherocycles and N-cyclohexyl dithiocarbamate cyclohexylammonium salt were heated in chloroform for 12 h at 61 °C to afford heteocyclic thioamides in excellent yields.

1-Piperazinylphthalazines as potential VEGFR-2 inhibitors and anticancer agents: Synthesis and in vitro biological evaluation

In our endeavor towards the development of effective VEGFR-2 inhibitors, three novel series of phthalazine derivatives based on 1-piperazinyl-4-arylphthalazine scaffold were synthesized. All the newly prepared phthalazines 16a-k, 18a-e and 21a-g were evaluated in vitro for their inhibitory activity against VEGFR-2. In particular, compounds 16k and 21d potently inhibited VEGFR-2 at sub-micromolar IC50 values 0.35 ± 0.03 and 0.40 ± 0.04 μM, respectively. Moreover, seventeen selected compounds 16c-e, 16g, 16h, 16j, 16k, 18c-e and 21a-g were evaluated for their in vitro anticancer activity according to US-NCI protocol, where compounds 16k and 21d proved to be the most potent anticancer agents. While, compound 16k exhibited potent broad spectrum anticancer activity with full panel GI50 (MG-MID) value of 3.62 μM, compound 21d showed high selectivity toward leukemia and prostate cancer subpanels [subpanel GI50 (MG-MID) 3.51 and 5.15 μM, respectively]. Molecular docking of compounds16k and 21d into VEGFR-2 active site was performed to explore their potential binding mode.

Design and validation of a homogeneous time-resolved fluorescence cell-based assay targeting the ligand-gated ion channel 5-HT3A

Ligand-gated ion channels (LGICs) are considered as attractive protein targets in the search for new therapeutic agents. Nowadays, this strategy involves the capability to screen large chemical libraries. We present a new Tag-lite ligand binding assay targeting LGICs on living cells. This technology combines the use of suicide enzyme tags fused to channels of interest with homogeneous time-resolved fluorescence (HTRF) as the detection readout. Using the 5-HT3 receptor as system model, we showed that the pharmacology of the HALO-5HT3 receptor was identical to that of the native receptor. After validation of the assay by using 5-HT3 agonists and antagonists of reference, a pilot screen enabled us to identify azelastine, a well-known histamine H1 antagonist, as a potent 5-HT3 antagonist. This interesting result was confirmed with electrophysiological experiments. The method described here is easy to implement and could be applicable for other LGICs, opening new ways for the screening of chemical libraries.

Structure-activity relationship studies of SEN12333 analogues: determination of the optimal requirements for binding affinities at α7 nAChRs through incorporation of known structural motifs

Alpha7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) have implications in the regulation of cognitive processes such as memory and attention and have been identified as a promising therapeutic target for the treatment of the cognitive deficits associated with schizophrenia and Alzheimer's disease (AD). Structure affinity relationship studies of the previously described α7 agonist SEN12333 (8), have resulted in the identification of compound 45, a potent and selective agonist of the α7 nAChR with enhanced affinity and improved physicochemical properties over the parent compound (SEN12333, 8).

Access to 4-alkylaminopyridazine derivatives via nitrogen-assisted regioselective Pd-catalyzed reactions

3-Substituted, 6-substituted, and unsymmetrical 3,6-disubstituted 4-alkylaminopyridazines were prepared from a sequence of three chemo- and regioselective reactions combining amination and palladium-catalyzed cross-coupling reactions, such as reductive dehalogenation and Suzuki-Miyaura reactions. Extension of the methodology to Sonogashira reaction yielded a novel class of 3-substituted pyrrolopyridazines.

Synthesis and in-vitro cytotoxic evaluation of novel pyridazin-4-one derivatives

A new series of N-aryl-4-oxo-1,4-dihydro-pyridazine-3-carboxylic acids has been synthesized by condensation of aryldiazonium with 4-hydroxy-6-methyl-2-pyrone. Some of these compounds exhibited in-vitro cytotoxic activity with moderate to excellent growth inhibition against the murine P815 mastocytoma cell line. Compound 5b showed an important cytotoxic activity against cell line P815 (IC(50 )= 0.40 microg/mL).

1-amino-4-benzylphthalazines as orally bioavailable smoothened antagonists with antitumor activity

Abnormal activation of the Hedgehog (Hh) signaling pathway has been linked to several types of human cancers, and the development of small-molecule inhibitors of this pathway represents a promising route toward novel anticancer therapeutics. A cell-based screen performed in our laboratories identified a new class of Hh pathway inhibitors, 1-amino-4-benzylphthalazines, that act via antagonism of the Smoothened receptor. A variety of analogues were synthesized and their structure-activity relationships determined. This optimization resulted in the discovery of high affinity Smoothened antagonists, one of which was further profiled in vivo. This compound displayed a good pharmacokinetic profile and also afforded tumor regression in a genetic mouse model of medulloblastoma.

Synthesis and antibacterial activity of some glucosyl- and ribosyl-pyridazin-3-ones

Reaction of 5,6-diphenylpyridazin-3(2H)-one 1a,b with 2,3,4,6-tetra-O-acetyl-beta-D-glucopyranosyl bromide 2 in K(2)CO(3)/acetone gave 5,6-diphenyl-N(2)-(2',3',4',6'-tetra-O-acetyl-beta-D-glucopyranosyl)pyridazin-3-one 5a,b. The same nucleosides 5a,b were obtained by reaction of 1a,b with peracetylated glucose 3 under MW irradiation. Mercuration of 1a,b followed by reaction with glucosyl bromide 2 gave the same nucleosides 5a,b. The riboside 4-cyano-5,6-diphenyl-N(2)-(2',3',5'-tri-O-acetyl-beta-D-ribofuranosyl)-pyridazin-3-one 8 was obtained by reaction of 4-cyanopyridazinone 1b with peracetylated ribose 7 under MW irradiation. The deprotected nucleosides 6a,b and 9 were obtained by stirring of 5a,b and 8 in methanol and TEA/H(2)O. The structure was confirmed using (1)H and (13)C-NMR spectra. Selected members of these compounds were screened for antibacterial activity.

Use of 4-bromo pyridazine 3,6-dione for building 3-amino pyridazine libraries

An efficient method for preparation of 4,6 or 5,6 disubstituted 3-aminopyridazines was easily carried out starting from easily available 4-bromo-pyridazine-3,6-dione, and using combination of both amination and Pd(0) cross-coupling reactions under microwave irradiation.

Chemogenomics in drug discovery

Chemogenomics is a new strategy in drug discovery which, in principle, searches for all molecules that are capable of interacting with any biological target. Because of the almost infinite number of drug-like organic molecules, this is an impossible task. Therefore chemogenomics has been defined as the investigation of classes of compounds (libraries) against families of functionally related proteins. In this definition, chemogenomics deals with the systematic analysis of chemical-biological interactions. Congeneric series of chemical analogs are probes to investigate their action on specific target classes, e.g., GPCRs, kinases, phosphodiesterases, ion channels, serine proteases, and others. Whereas such a strategy developed in pharmaceutical industry almost 20 years ago, it is now more systematically applied in the search for target- and subtype-specific ligands. The term "privileged structures" has been defined for scaffolds, such as the benzodiazepines, which very often produce biologically active analogs in a target family, in this case in the class of G-protein-coupled receptors. The SOSA approach is a strategy to modify the selectivity of biologically active compounds, generating new drug candidates from the side activities of therapeutically used drugs.

Microwave-assisted cyclic amidine synthesis using TiCl4

Microwave-assisted treatment of various heterocyclic amides (benzodiazepinone, phthalazone) with TiCl(4) in the presence of primary or secondary amines provides the corresponding amidines. In addition to the interest of the microwaves for this reaction, our study highlights the higher reactivity of the cyclic acetamide moiety compared to the cyclic benzamide moiety towards this TiCl(4)-mediated reaction.

Annulation of Primary Amines to Piperazines and Diazaspirocycles Utilizing α-Methyl Benzyl Resin

The microwave-assisted solid-phase synthesis of piperazines, 3,9-diazaspiro[5.5]undecanes and 2,9-diazaspiro[5.5]undecanes is reported. The synthesis relies on the direct annulation of primary amines with resin-bound bismesylates. Critical to the success of this chemistry was the development of alpha-methyl benzyl carbamate resin linker. This resin permits the cleavage of the heterocycles under mildly acidic conditions, free of contaminating linker-derived N-alkylated byproducts.

Novel Pyridazino[4,3-b]indoles with Dual Inhibitory Activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Monoamine Oxidase

Tuberculosis is one of the most common infectious diseases known to man. About 37% of the world's population (about 1.86 billion people) are infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis. According to the World Health Organization, every year approximately 8 million people develop active tuberculosis and almost 2 million of those die from the disease. The incidence of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) is increasing. The present drug regimen for treating tuberculosis has been in existence for 30 years. New drugs that will shorten total treatment duration, improve the treatment of MDR-TB, and address latent tuberculosis are the most urgent need of tuberculosis control programs. A new series of synthetic 3-amino-4-arylpyridazino[4,3-b]indoles (pyridazinoindoles) were identified as inhibitors of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The design, synthesis, and antimycobacterial activity of these compounds are described. While the most active compounds are still not comparable to the front-line drugs rifampicin and isoniazid, they do show promise. Most of the pyridazinoindoles with appreciable antituberculosis activity also inhibit monoamine oxidase, suggestive of a novel inhibitory effect on mycobacterial redox reactions.

Synthesis and muscarinic activities of O-[(benzyl- or benzoyl-pyrazolyl)propynyl]-oximes of N-methylpiperidinone, 3-tropinone, and 3-quinuclidinone

The synthesis of O-propynyloximes of N-methylpiperidinone, 3-tropinone, and 3-quinuclidinone, containing several pyrazole frameworks is described, together with their muscarinic receptor affinities. Compounds derived from N-methylpiperidinone or 3-tropinone and N-(4-methoxybenzyl)- or N-(2,4,6-trimethylbenzoyl)pyrazole showed moderate activity for muscarinic receptors in the rat central nervous system. A semi-empirical AM1 calculation has shown that the O-[(benzoyl-pyrazolyl)propynyl]-oximes of tropinone fit a previously described muscarinic pharmacophoric model, revealing structural features useful for the development of new muscarinic agents.

The solid-phase synthesis and use of N-monosubstituted piperazines in chemical library synthesis

An efficient solid-phase synthesis of mono-N-substituted piperazines is presented. The key transformation involves a selective borane amide bond reduction in the presence of a carbamate resin linkage. This synthetic route takes advantage of the large diverse pool of commercially available carboxylic acids, acid chlorides, and sulfonyl chlorides. The solid-phase approach facilitates parallel processing by eliminating the need for column chromatography after each synthetic step. The N-monosubstituted piperazines were shown to react with polymeric activated tetrafluorophenol (TFP) reagents to generate arrays of amides and sulfonamides in good purity for biological testing.

5-HT(3)R binding of lerisetron: an interdisciplinary approach to drug-Receptor interactions

The design, synthesis, and use of lerisetron-based molecular probes to investigate the 5-HT(3)R binding site are described. A SAR study, which involved distance and electronic parameter modifications of lerisetron's N-benzyl group, resulted in the discovery of a partial agonist.

Design, synthesis, and structure-activity relationships of a series of 3-[2-(1-benzylpiperidin-4-yl)ethylamino]pyridazine derivatives as acetylcholinesterase inhibitors

Starting from the 3-[2-(1-benzylpiperidin-4-yl)ethylamino]-6-phenylpyridazine 1, we performed the design, the synthesis, and the structure-activity relationships of a series of pyridazine analogues acting as AChE inhibitors. Structural modifications were achieved on four different parts of compound 1 and led to the following observations: (i) introduction of a lipophilic environment in the C-5 position of the pyridazine ring is favorable for the AChE-inhibitory activity and the AChE/BuChE selectivity; (ii) substitution and various replacements of the C-6 phenyl group are possible and led to equivalent or slightly more active derivatives; (iii) isosteric replacements or modifications of the benzylpiperidine moiety are detrimental to the activity. Among all derivatives prepared, the indenopyridazine derivative 4g was found to be the more potent inhibitor with an IC(50) of 10 nM on electric eel AChE. Compared to compound 1, this represents a 12-fold increase in potency. Moreover, 3-[2-(1-benzylpiperidin-4-yl)ethylamino]-5-methyl-6-phenylpyridazine 4c, which showed an IC(50) of 21 nM, is 100-times more selective for human AChE (human BuChE/AChE ratio of 24) than the reference compound tacrine.

Glycinergic potentiation by some 5-HT(3) receptor antagonists: insight into selectivity

The ability of various 5-HT(3) receptor antagonists to potentiate spinal glycine responses was investigated. Whereas (3-alpha-tropanyl)-1H-indole-3-carboxylate (ICS 205930), (3-alpha-tropanyl)-3,5-dichlorobenzoate (MDL 72222) and 1-methyl-N-(3-alpha-tropanyl)-1H-indazole-3-carboxamide (LY 278584) exhibited this property, even in identified motoneurones, several other chemically similar 5-HT(3) receptor antagonists did not. Introducing a methyl group on the nitrogen of the azabicyclo moiety of ICS 205930 greatly reduced the ability to potentiate glycine responses. Neither endo-1-methyl-N-(9-methyl-9-azabicyclo[3.3. 1]non-3-yl)-indazole-3-carboxamide (granisetron), differing from LY 278584 by an additional carbon in this cycle, nor 2beta-carbomethoxy-3beta-benzoyloxytropane (cocaine), 1,2,3, 9-tetrahydro-9-methyl-3-[(2-methyl-1H-imidazol-1-yl)-methyl]-4H-carba zol-4-one (ondansetron) and (S)-4-amino-N-(1-azabicyclo[2.2. 2]oct-3-yl)-5-chloro-2-methoxy-benzamide ((S)-zacopride) could potentiate glycine responses. A pharmacophore model of the glycinergic potentiators was generated by molecular modelling using MDL 72222 as a template. According to this model, an aromatic ring, a carbonyl group and a tropane nitrogen atom are required for glycinergic potentiation, as previously described for 5-HT(3) receptor antagonism. However, the steric allowance at the glycine receptor site and the tridimensional arrangement of the pharmacophoric elements appear to be more restricted.

Toward general methods of targeted library design: topomer shape similarity searching with diverse structures as queries

A promising strategy for selecting synthetic targets is similarity-based searching of very large "virtual libraries", which comprise all structures accessible by linking two or three commercially available building blocks with combinatorial syntheses. To assess the general applicability of this strategy, leading structures taken from each of 34 recent medicinal chemistry publications were used as queries to search a virtual library containing 2.6 x 10(13) products from seven reactions, using a topomer shape similarity metric. Eighty-five percent of these searches succeeded, by yielding, with a search radius no greater than 120 topomer shape units, either at least 400 hits or hits from at least six sublibraries. From these 34 sets of search results, 122 representative structures were selected, illustrating potential "lead hops", or otherwise novel structures. Overall shape similarity to the query structure was confirmed for up to 95% of these representative structures, according to FLEXS, an algorithmically distinct program. Experimentally, there were 28 structures among those reported in the 34 query publications that were identified within the virtual library. Among these, the frequency of high activity was 87% for the 16 structures whose similarity to their query was 90 topomer units or less, compared to a frequency of 50% for the other 12 structures.

Novel potent and selective central 5-HT3 receptor ligands provided with different intrinsic efficacy. 2. Molecular basis of the intrinsic efficacy of arylpiperazine derivatives at the central 5-HT3 receptors

Novel 5-HT3 receptor ligands were designed and synthesized with the aim of obtaining deeper insight into the molecular basis of the intrinsic efficacy of arylpiperazines interacting with the central 5-HT3 receptor. The newly synthesized compounds and some previously published compounds belonging to the same class of heteroarylpiperazines were tested for their potential ability to displace [3H]granisetron from rat cortical membranes. These 5-HT3 receptor binding studies revealed subnanomolar affinity in several of the compounds under study. The most active ligands were quipazine derivatives bearing a phenyl group in the 4-position and various oxygenated alkyl side chains in the 3-position of the quinoline nucleus. Qualitative and theoretical quantitative structure-affinity relationship studies were carried out, and the interaction model for the 5-HT3 ligands related to quipazine with their receptor, proposed in part 1 of the present work, was updated to incorporate the latest data. The potential 5-HT3 agonist/antagonist activity of 12 selected compounds was assessed in vitro on the 5-HT3 receptor-dependent [14C]guanidinium uptake in NG 108-15 cells. Their intrinsic efficacy ranged from the 5-HT3 full agonist properties of compounds 7a and 8h, i to those of partial agonists 10a,d and antagonists 8b,d,e, and 9c, d,h,i. The comparison between these functional data and those relative to the previously described compounds suggested that in this class of 5-HT3 ligands the intrinsic efficacy is modulated in a rather subtle manner by the steric features of the heteroaryl moiety.