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Tummino TA, Iliopoulos-Tsoutsouvas C, Braz JM, O'Brien ES, Stein RM, Craik V, Tran NK, Ganapathy S, Liu F, Shiimura Y, Tong F, Ho TC, Radchenko DS, Moroz YS, Rosado SR, Bhardwaj K, Benitez J, Liu Y, Kandasamy H, Normand C, Semache M, Sabbagh L, Glenn I, Irwin JJ, Kumar KK, Makriyannis A, Basbaum AI, Shoichet BK. Large library docking for cannabinoid-1 receptor agonists with reduced side effects. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2023.02.27.530254. [PMID: 38328157 PMCID: PMC10849508 DOI: 10.1101/2023.02.27.530254] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/09/2024]
Abstract
Large library docking can reveal unexpected chemotypes that complement the structures of biological targets. Seeking new agonists for the cannabinoid-1 receptor (CB1R), we docked 74 million tangible molecules, prioritizing 46 high ranking ones for de novo synthesis and testing. Nine were active by radioligand competition, a 20% hit-rate. Structure-based optimization of one of the most potent of these (Ki = 0.7 uM) led to '4042, a 1.9 nM ligand and a full CB1R agonist. A cryo-EM structure of the purified enantiomer of '4042 ('1350) in complex with CB1R-Gi1 confirmed its docked pose. The new agonist was strongly analgesic, with generally a 5-10-fold therapeutic window over sedation and catalepsy and no observable conditioned place preference. These findings suggest that new cannabinoid chemotypes may disentangle characteristic cannabinoid side-effects from their analgesia, supporting the further development of cannabinoids as pain therapeutics.
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Li L, Li P, Guo J, Wu Y, Zeng Q, Li N, Huang X, He Y, Ai W, Sun W, Liu T, Xiong D, Xiao L, Sun Y, Zhou Q, Kuang H, Wang Z, Jiang C. Up-regulation of oxytocin receptors on peripheral sensory neurons mediates analgesia in chemotherapy-induced neuropathic pain. Br J Pharmacol 2023. [PMID: 36702458 DOI: 10.1111/bph.16042] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/11/2022] [Revised: 01/19/2023] [Accepted: 01/22/2023] [Indexed: 01/28/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Chemotherapy-induced neuropathic pain (CINP) currently has limited effective treatment. Although the roles of oxytocin (OXT) and the oxytocin receptor (OXTR) in central analgesia have been well documented, the expression and function of OXTR in the peripheral nervous system remain unclear. Here, we evaluated the peripheral antinociceptive profiles of OXTR in CINP. EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH Paclitaxel (PTX) was used to establish CINP. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR), in situ hybridization, and immunohistochemistry were used to observe OXTR expression in dorsal root ganglia (DRG). The antinociceptive effects of OXT were assessed by hot-plate and von Frey tests. Whole-cell patch clamp was performed to record sodium currents, excitability of DRG neurons, and excitatory synapse transmission. KEY RESULTS Expression of OXTR in DRG neurons was enhanced significantly after PTX treatment. Activation of OXTR exhibited antinociceptive effects, by decreasing the hyperexcitability of DRG neurons in PTX-treated mice. Additionally, OXTR activation up-regulated the phosphorylation of protein kinase C (pPKC) and, in turn, impaired voltage-gated sodium currents, particularly the voltage-gated sodium channel 1.7 (NaV 1.7) current, that plays an indispensable role in PTX-induced neuropathic pain. OXT suppressed excitatory transmission in the spinal dorsal horn as well as excitatory inputs from primary afferents in PTX-treated mice. CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS The OXTR in small-sized DRG neurons is up-regulated in CINP and its activation relieved CINP by inhibiting the neural excitability by impairment of NaV 1.7 currents via pPKC. Our results suggest that OXTR on peripheral sensory neurons is a potential therapeutic target to relieve CINP.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lixuan Li
- Guangdong Medical University, Zhanjiang, Guangdong, China.,Department of Pain Medicine and Shenzhen Municipal Key Laboratory for Pain Medicine, The 6th Affiliated Hospital of Shenzhen University Medical School, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China
| | - Pupu Li
- Department of Medical Oncology, The 6th Affiliated Hospital of Shenzhen University Medical School, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China
| | - Jing Guo
- Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Shenzhen University General Hospital and Shenzhen University Academy of Clinical Medical Sciences, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China
| | - Yifei Wu
- Department of Medical Neuroscience, Key University Laboratory of Metabolism and Health of Guangdong, SUSTech Center for Pain Medicine, School of Medicine, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China
| | - Qian Zeng
- Department of Pain Medicine and Shenzhen Municipal Key Laboratory for Pain Medicine, The 6th Affiliated Hospital of Shenzhen University Medical School, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China
| | - Nan Li
- Department of Pain Medicine and Shenzhen Municipal Key Laboratory for Pain Medicine, The 6th Affiliated Hospital of Shenzhen University Medical School, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China
| | - Xiaoting Huang
- Medical Research Center, The 6th Affiliated Hospital of Shenzhen University Medical School, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China
| | - Yongshen He
- Medical Research Center, The 6th Affiliated Hospital of Shenzhen University Medical School, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China
| | - Wen Ai
- Medical Research Center, The 6th Affiliated Hospital of Shenzhen University Medical School, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China
| | - Wuping Sun
- Department of Pain Medicine and Shenzhen Municipal Key Laboratory for Pain Medicine, The 6th Affiliated Hospital of Shenzhen University Medical School, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China
| | - Tao Liu
- Department of Pediatrics, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang, Jiangxi, China
| | - Donglin Xiong
- Department of Pain Medicine and Shenzhen Municipal Key Laboratory for Pain Medicine, The 6th Affiliated Hospital of Shenzhen University Medical School, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China
| | - Lizu Xiao
- Department of Pain Medicine and Shenzhen Municipal Key Laboratory for Pain Medicine, The 6th Affiliated Hospital of Shenzhen University Medical School, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China
| | - Yanyan Sun
- Department of Anesthesiology, Shenzhen University General Hospital and Shenzhen University Academy of Clinical Medical Sciences, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China
| | - Qiming Zhou
- Department of Medical Oncology, The 6th Affiliated Hospital of Shenzhen University Medical School, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China
| | - Haixia Kuang
- Department of Pediatrics, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang, Jiangxi, China
| | - Zilong Wang
- Department of Medical Neuroscience, Key University Laboratory of Metabolism and Health of Guangdong, SUSTech Center for Pain Medicine, School of Medicine, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China
| | - Changyu Jiang
- Department of Pain Medicine and Shenzhen Municipal Key Laboratory for Pain Medicine, The 6th Affiliated Hospital of Shenzhen University Medical School, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China.,Medical Research Center, The 6th Affiliated Hospital of Shenzhen University Medical School, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China
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Fink EA, Xu J, Hübner H, Braz JM, Seemann P, Avet C, Craik V, Weikert D, Schmidt MF, Webb CM, Tolmachova NA, Moroz YS, Huang XP, Kalyanaraman C, Gahbauer S, Chen G, Liu Z, Jacobson MP, Irwin JJ, Bouvier M, Du Y, Shoichet BK, Basbaum AI, Gmeiner P. Structure-based discovery of nonopioid analgesics acting through the α 2A-adrenergic receptor. Science 2022; 377:eabn7065. [PMID: 36173843 PMCID: PMC10360211 DOI: 10.1126/science.abn7065] [Citation(s) in RCA: 50] [Impact Index Per Article: 25.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
Because nonopioid analgesics are much sought after, we computationally docked more than 301 million virtual molecules against a validated pain target, the α2A-adrenergic receptor (α2AAR), seeking new α2AAR agonists chemotypes that lack the sedation conferred by known α2AAR drugs, such as dexmedetomidine. We identified 17 ligands with potencies as low as 12 nanomolar, many with partial agonism and preferential Gi and Go signaling. Experimental structures of α2AAR complexed with two of these agonists confirmed the docking predictions and templated further optimization. Several compounds, including the initial docking hit '9087 [mean effective concentration (EC50) of 52 nanomolar] and two analogs, '7075 and PS75 (EC50 4.1 and 4.8 nanomolar), exerted on-target analgesic activity in multiple in vivo pain models without sedation. These newly discovered agonists are interesting as therapeutic leads that lack the liabilities of opioids and the sedation of dexmedetomidine.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elissa A. Fink
- Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
- Graduate Program in Biophysics, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Jun Xu
- Kobilka Institute of Innovative Drug Discovery, School of Life and Health Sciences, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Guangdong 518172, China
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Physiology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Harald Hübner
- Department of Chemistry and Pharmacy, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, 91058 Erlangen, Germany
| | - Joao M. Braz
- Department of Anatomy, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Philipp Seemann
- Department of Chemistry and Pharmacy, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, 91058 Erlangen, Germany
| | - Charlotte Avet
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine, Institute for Research in Immunology and Cancer, Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada
| | - Veronica Craik
- Department of Anatomy, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Dorothee Weikert
- Department of Chemistry and Pharmacy, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, 91058 Erlangen, Germany
| | - Maximilian F. Schmidt
- Department of Chemistry and Pharmacy, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, 91058 Erlangen, Germany
| | - Chase M. Webb
- Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
- Graduate Program in Pharmaceutical Sciences and Pharmacogenomics, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Nataliya A. Tolmachova
- Enamine Ltd., 02094 Kyiv, Ukraine
- Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry and Petrochemistry, National Ukrainian Academy of Science, 02660 Kyiv, Ukraine
| | - Yurii S. Moroz
- National Taras Shevchenko University of Kyiv, 01601 Kyiv, Ukraine
- Chemspace, Riga LV-1082, Latvia
| | - Xi-Ping Huang
- National Institute of Mental Health Psychoactive Drug Screening Program (NIMH PDSP), School of Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Chakrapani Kalyanaraman
- Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Stefan Gahbauer
- Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Geng Chen
- Kobilka Institute of Innovative Drug Discovery, School of Life and Health Sciences, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Guangdong 518172, China
| | - Zheng Liu
- Kobilka Institute of Innovative Drug Discovery, School of Life and Health Sciences, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Guangdong 518172, China
| | - Matthew P. Jacobson
- Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - John J. Irwin
- Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Michel Bouvier
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine, Institute for Research in Immunology and Cancer, Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada
| | - Yang Du
- Kobilka Institute of Innovative Drug Discovery, School of Life and Health Sciences, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Guangdong 518172, China
| | - Brian K. Shoichet
- Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Allan I. Basbaum
- Department of Anatomy, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Peter Gmeiner
- Department of Chemistry and Pharmacy, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, 91058 Erlangen, Germany
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Structures of the σ 2 receptor enable docking for bioactive ligand discovery. Nature 2021; 600:759-764. [PMID: 34880501 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-021-04175-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 98] [Impact Index Per Article: 32.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/20/2021] [Accepted: 10/19/2021] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
The σ2 receptor has attracted intense interest in cancer imaging1, psychiatric disease2, neuropathic pain3-5 and other areas of biology6,7. Here we determined the crystal structure of this receptor in complex with the clinical candidate roluperidone2 and the tool compound PB288. These structures templated a large-scale docking screen of 490 million virtual molecules, of which 484 compounds were synthesized and tested. We identified 127 new chemotypes with affinities superior to 1 μM, 31 of which had affinities superior to 50 nM. The hit rate fell smoothly and monotonically with docking score. We optimized three hits for potency and selectivity, and achieved affinities that ranged from 3 to 48 nM, with up to 250-fold selectivity versus the σ1 receptor. Crystal structures of two ligands bound to the σ2 receptor confirmed the docked poses. To investigate the contribution of the σ2 receptor in pain, two potent σ2-selective ligands and one potent σ1/σ2 non-selective ligand were tested for efficacy in a mouse model of neuropathic pain. All three ligands showed time-dependent decreases in mechanical hypersensitivity in the spared nerve injury model9, suggesting that the σ2 receptor has a role in nociception. This study illustrates the opportunities for rapid discovery of in vivo probes through structure-based screens of ultra large libraries, enabling study of underexplored areas of biology.
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