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Gach-Janczak K, Piekielna-Ciesielska J, Adamska-Bartłomiejczyk A, Wtorek K, Ferrari F, Calo' G, Szymaszkiewicz A, Piasecka-Zelga J, Janecka A. In vitro and in vivo activity of cyclopeptide Dmt-c[d-Lys-Phe-Asp]NH 2, a mu opioid receptor agonist biased toward β-arrestin. Peptides 2018; 105:51-57. [PMID: 29684591 DOI: 10.1016/j.peptides.2018.04.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/05/2018] [Revised: 04/16/2018] [Accepted: 04/18/2018] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
Morphine and related drugs, which are the most effective analgesics for the relief of severe pain, act through activating opioid receptors. The endogenous ligands of these receptors are opioid peptides which cannot be used as antinociceptive agents due to their low bioactivity and stability in biological fluids. The major goal of opioid research is to understand the mechanism of action of opioid receptor agonists in order to improve therapeutic utility of opioids. Analgesic effects of morphine are mediated mostly through activation of the mu opioid receptor. However, in the search for safer and more effective drug candidates, analogs with mixed opioid receptor profile gained a lot of interest. Recently, the concept of biased agonists able to differentially activate GPCR downstream pathways, became a new approach in the design of novel drug candidates. It is hypothesized that compounds promoting G-protein signaling may produce analgesia while β-arrestin recruitment may be responsible for opioid side effects. In this report we showed that replacement of the tyrosine residue in the mu-selective ligand Tyr-c[d-Lys-Phe-Asp]NH2 with 2',6'-dimethyltyrosine (Dmt) produced a cyclopeptide Dmt-c[d-Lys-Phe-Asp]NH2 with mu/delta opioid receptor agonist profile. This analog showed improved antinociception in the hot-plate test, probably due to the simultaneous activation of mu and delta receptors but also significantly inhibited the gastrointestinal transit. Using the bioluminescence resonance energy transfer (BRET) assay it was shown that this analog was a mu receptor agonist biased toward β-arrestin. β-Arrestin-dependent signaling is most likely responsible for the observed inhibition of gastrointestinal motility exerted by the novel cyclopeptide.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Karol Wtorek
- Department of Biomolecular Chemistry, Medical University, Lodz, Poland
| | - Federica Ferrari
- Department of Medical Sciences, Section of Pharmacology and Italian Institute of Neuroscience, University of Ferrara, 44121 Ferrara, Italy
| | - Girolamo Calo'
- Department of Medical Sciences, Section of Pharmacology and Italian Institute of Neuroscience, University of Ferrara, 44121 Ferrara, Italy
| | - Agata Szymaszkiewicz
- Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, Medical University of Lodz, Poland
| | - Joanna Piasecka-Zelga
- Institute of Occupational Medicine, Research Laboratory for Medicine and Veterinary Products in the GMP Head of Research Laboratory for Medicine and Veterinary Products, Lodz, Poland
| | - Anna Janecka
- Department of Biomolecular Chemistry, Medical University, Lodz, Poland.
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Stefanucci A, Carotenuto A, Macedonio G, Novellino E, Pieretti S, Marzoli F, Szűcs E, Erdei AI, Zádor F, Benyhe S, Mollica A. Cyclic Biphalin Analogues Incorporating a Xylene Bridge: Synthesis, Characterization, and Biological Profile. ACS Med Chem Lett 2017; 8:858-863. [PMID: 28835802 DOI: 10.1021/acsmedchemlett.7b00210] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/18/2017] [Accepted: 07/12/2017] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
In this work we enhanced the ring lipophilicity of biphalin introducing a xylene moiety, thus obtaining three cyclic regioisomers. Novel compounds have similar in vitro activity as the parent compound, but one of these (6a) shows a remarkable increase of in vivo antinociceptive effect. Nociception tests have disclosed its significant high potency and the more prolonged effect in eliciting analgesia, higher than that of biphalin and of the disulfide-bridge-containing analogue (7).
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Affiliation(s)
- Azzurra Stefanucci
- Dipartimento
di Farmacia, Università di Chieti-Pescara “G. d’Annunzio”, Via dei Vestini 31, 66100 Chieti, Italy
| | - Alfonso Carotenuto
- Dipartimento
di Farmacia, Università di Napoli “Federico II”, Via D. Montesano, 49, 80131 Naples, Italy
| | - Giorgia Macedonio
- Dipartimento
di Farmacia, Università di Chieti-Pescara “G. d’Annunzio”, Via dei Vestini 31, 66100 Chieti, Italy
| | - Ettore Novellino
- Dipartimento
di Farmacia, Università di Napoli “Federico II”, Via D. Montesano, 49, 80131 Naples, Italy
| | - Stefano Pieretti
- Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Centro Nazionale per la Ricerca e la Valutazione Preclinica dei Farmaci, Viale Regina Elena 299, 00161 Rome, Italy
| | - Francesca Marzoli
- Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Centro Nazionale per la Ricerca e la Valutazione Preclinica dei Farmaci, Viale Regina Elena 299, 00161 Rome, Italy
| | - Edina Szűcs
- Institute
of Biochemistry, Biological Research Center of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Temesvári krt. 62., H-6726 Szeged, Hungary
| | - Anna I. Erdei
- Institute
of Biochemistry, Biological Research Center of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Temesvári krt. 62., H-6726 Szeged, Hungary
| | - Ferenc Zádor
- Institute
of Biochemistry, Biological Research Center of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Temesvári krt. 62., H-6726 Szeged, Hungary
| | - Sándor Benyhe
- Institute
of Biochemistry, Biological Research Center of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Temesvári krt. 62., H-6726 Szeged, Hungary
| | - Adriano Mollica
- Dipartimento
di Farmacia, Università di Chieti-Pescara “G. d’Annunzio”, Via dei Vestini 31, 66100 Chieti, Italy
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Abstract
This paper is the thirty-seventh consecutive installment of the annual review of research concerning the endogenous opioid system. It summarizes papers published during 2014 that studied the behavioral effects of molecular, pharmacological and genetic manipulation of opioid peptides, opioid receptors, opioid agonists and opioid antagonists. The particular topics that continue to be covered include the molecular-biochemical effects and neurochemical localization studies of endogenous opioids and their receptors related to behavior (endogenous opioids and receptors), and the roles of these opioid peptides and receptors in pain and analgesia (pain and analgesia); stress and social status (human studies); tolerance and dependence (opioid mediation of other analgesic responses); learning and memory (stress and social status); eating and drinking (stress-induced analgesia); alcohol and drugs of abuse (emotional responses in opioid-mediated behaviors); sexual activity and hormones, pregnancy, development and endocrinology (opioid involvement in stress response regulation); mental illness and mood (tolerance and dependence); seizures and neurologic disorders (learning and memory); electrical-related activity and neurophysiology (opiates and conditioned place preferences (CPP)); general activity and locomotion (eating and drinking); gastrointestinal, renal and hepatic functions (alcohol and drugs of abuse); cardiovascular responses (opiates and ethanol); respiration and thermoregulation (opiates and THC); and immunological responses (opiates and stimulants). This paper is the thirty-seventh consecutive installment of the annual review of research concerning the endogenous opioid system. It summarizes papers published during 2014 that studied the behavioral effects of molecular, pharmacological and genetic manipulation of opioid peptides, opioid receptors, opioid agonists and opioid antagonists. The particular topics that continue to be covered include the molecular-biochemical effects and neurochemical localization studies of endogenous opioids and their receptors related to behavior (endogenous opioids and receptors), and the roles of these opioid peptides and receptors in pain and analgesia (pain and analgesia); stress and social status (human studies); tolerance and dependence (opioid mediation of other analgesic responses); learning and memory (stress and social status); eating and drinking (stress-induced analgesia); alcohol and drugs of abuse (emotional responses in opioid-mediated behaviors); sexual activity and hormones, pregnancy, development and endocrinology (opioid involvement in stress response regulation); mental illness and mood (tolerance and dependence); seizures and neurologic disorders (learning and memory); electrical-related activity and neurophysiology (opiates and conditioned place preferences (CPP)); general activity and locomotion (eating and drinking); gastrointestinal, renal and hepatic functions (alcohol and drugs of abuse); cardiovascular responses (opiates and ethanol); respiration and thermoregulation (opiates and THC); and immunological responses (opiates and stimulants).
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Affiliation(s)
- Richard J Bodnar
- Department of Psychology and Neuropsychology Doctoral Sub-Program, Queens College, City University of New York, Flushing, NY 11367, United States.
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