Influence of lipophilicity on the interactions of N-alkyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridines and their positively charged N-alkyl-4-phenylpyridinium metabolites with cytochrome P450 2D6

Detoxification of 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) by cytochrome P450 enzymes: A theoretical investigation

Two types of detoxification routes, N-demethylation to form 4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (PTP) and aromatic hydroxylation to generate 4-(4'-hydroxyphenyl)-1-methyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP-OH), for 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) mediated by Compound I (Cpd I) of cytochrome P450 are investigated theoretically using hybrid density functional calculations. Quantum chemical results reveal that for the N-demethylation, the initial C-H bond activation is achieved via a hydrogen atom transfer (HAT) mechanism. This is followed by a subsequent O-rebound to yield the carbinolamine intermediate. Due to the nature of pericyclic reaction, the generated carbinolamine decomposes in a non-enzymatic aqueous environment with the assistance of water molecules, forming amine and hydrated formaldehyde. For the aromatic hydroxylation, an initial addition of Cpd I to the substrate occurs mainly through a side-on approach with a subsequent proton shuttle to form the phenol product. A comparison of the energy barriers for both routes indicates that the N-demethylation (7.5/5.7kcal/mol for the quartet/doublet state in solvent) is thermodynamically more favorable than the aromatic hydroxylation process (14.9/14.8kcal/mol for the quartet/doublet state in solvent). This trend is in good agreement with the experimental product distribution, viz., the N-demethylation product PTP is more than the aromatic hydroxylation product MPTP-OH. Taken together, these observations not only enrich our knowledge on the mechanistic details of the N-dealkylation and the aromatic hydroxylation by P450s, but also provide certain insights into the metabolism of other analogous toxins.

New insights into the structural characteristics and functional relevance of the human cytochrome P450 2D6 enzyme

To date, the crystal structures of at least 12 human CYPs (1A2, 2A6, 2A13, 2C8, 2C9, 2D6, 2E1, 2R1, 3A4, 7A1, 8A1, and 46A1) have been determined. CYP2D6 accounts for only a small percentage of all hepatic CYPs (< 2%), but it metabolizes approximately 25% of clinically used drugs with significant polymorphisms. CYP2D6 also metabolizes procarcinogens and neurotoxins, such as 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine, 1,2,3,4-tetrahydroquinoline, and indolealkylamines. Moreover, the enzyme utilizes hydroxytryptamines and neurosteroids as endogenous substrates. Typical CYP2D6 substrates are usually lipophilic bases with an aromatic ring and a nitrogen atom, which can be protonated at physiological pH. Substrate binding is generally followed by oxidation (5-7 A) from the proposed nitrogen-Asp301 interaction. A number of homology models have been constructed to explore the structural features of CYP2D6, while antibody studies also provide useful structural information. Site-directed mutagenesis studies have demonstrated that Glu216, Asp301, Phe120, Phe481, and Phe483 play important roles in determining the binding of ligands to CYP2D6. The structure of human CYP2D6 has been recently determined and shows the characteristic CYP fold observed for other members of the CYP superfamily. The lengths and orientations of the individual secondary structural elements in the CYP2D6 structure are similar to those seen in other human CYP2 members, such as CYP2C9 and 2C8. The 2D6 structure has a well-defined active-site cavity located above the heme group with a volume of approximately 540 A(3), which is larger than equivalent cavities in CYP2A6 (260 A(3)), 1A2 (375 A(3)), and 2E1 (190 A(3)), but smaller than those in CYP3A4 (1385 A(3)) and 2C8 (1438 A(3)). Further studies are required to delineate the molecular mechanisms involved in CYP2D6 ligand interactions and their implications for drug development and clinical practice.

Polymorphism of human cytochrome P450 enzymes and its clinical impact

Pharmacogenetics is the study of how interindividual variations in the DNA sequence of specific genes affect drug response. This article highlights current pharmacogenetic knowledge on important human drug-metabolizing cytochrome P450s (CYPs) to understand the large interindividual variability in drug clearance and responses in clinical practice. The human CYP superfamily contains 57 functional genes and 58 pseudogenes, with members of the 1, 2, and 3 families playing an important role in the metabolism of therapeutic drugs, other xenobiotics, and some endogenous compounds. Polymorphisms in the CYP family may have had the most impact on the fate of therapeutic drugs. CYP2D6, 2C19, and 2C9 polymorphisms account for the most frequent variations in phase I metabolism of drugs, since almost 80% of drugs in use today are metabolized by these enzymes. Approximately 5-14% of Caucasians, 0-5% Africans, and 0-1% of Asians lack CYP2D6 activity, and these individuals are known as poor metabolizers. CYP2C9 is another clinically significant enzyme that demonstrates multiple genetic variants with a potentially functional impact on the efficacy and adverse effects of drugs that are mainly eliminated by this enzyme. Studies into the CYP2C9 polymorphism have highlighted the importance of the CYP2C9*2 and *3 alleles. Extensive polymorphism also occurs in other CYP genes, such as CYP1A1, 2A6, 2A13, 2C8, 3A4, and 3A5. Since several of these CYPs (e.g., CYP1A1 and 1A2) play a role in the bioactivation of many procarcinogens, polymorphisms of these enzymes may contribute to the variable susceptibility to carcinogenesis. The distribution of the common variant alleles of CYP genes varies among different ethnic populations. Pharmacogenetics has the potential to achieve optimal quality use of medicines, and to improve the efficacy and safety of both prospective and currently available drugs. Further studies are warranted to explore the gene-dose, gene-concentration, and gene-response relationships for these important drug-metabolizing CYPs.

Molecular properties and CYP2D6 substrates: central nervous system therapeutics case study and pattern analysis of a substrate database

CYP2D6 substrate status is a critical Go/No Go decision criteria in central nervous system (CNS) drug discovery efforts because the polymorphic nature of CYP2D6 can lead to variable patient safety and drug efficacy. In addition, CYP2D6 is disproportionately involved in the metabolism of CNS drugs compared with other drug classes. Therefore, identifying trends in small molecule properties of CNS-penetrant compounds that can help discriminate potential CYP2D6 substrates from nonsubstrates would allow additional prioritization in the synthesis and biological evaluation of new therapeutic candidates. We report here the conversion of the CNS drug minaprine from substrate to nonsubstrate, as well as the conversion of the related CNS drug minozac from nonsubstrate to substrate, through the use of analog synthesis and CYP2D6 enzyme kinetic analyses. No single molecular property strongly correlated with substrate status for this 3-amino-4-methyl-6-phenylpyridazine scaffold, although molecular volume and charge appeared to be indirectly related. A parsed database of CYP2D6 substrates across diverse chemical structures was assembled and analyzed for physical property trends correlating with substrate status. We found that a complex interplay of properties influenced CYP2D6 substrate status and that the particular chemical scaffold affects which properties are most prominent. The results also identified an unexpected issue in CNS drug discovery, in that some property trends correlative with CYP2D6 substrates overlap previously reported properties that correlate with CNS penetrance. These results suggest the need for a careful balance in the design and synthesis of new CNS therapeutic candidates to avoid CYP2D6 substrate status while maintaining CNS penetrance.

Effects of haloperidol and its pyridinium metabolite on plasma membrane permeability and fluidity in the rat brain

The use of antipsychotic drugs is limited by their tendency to produce extrapyramidal movement disorders such as tardive dyskinesia and parkinsonism. In previous reports it was speculated that extrapyramidal side effects associated with the butyrophenone neuroleptic agent haloperidol (HP) could be caused in part by the neurotoxic effect of its pyridinium metabolite (HPP(+)). Although both HPP(+) and HP have been shown to induce neurotoxic effects such as loss of cell membrane integrity, no information exists about the difference in the neurotoxic potency, especially in the potency to induce plasma membrane damage, between these two agents. In the present study, we compared the potency of the interaction of HPP(+) and HP with the plasma membrane integrity in the rat brain. Membrane permeabilization (assessed as [(18)F]2-fluoro-2-deoxy-d-glucose-6-phosphate release from brain slices) and fluidization (assessed as the reduction in the plasma membrane anisotropy of 1,6-diphenyl 1,3,5-hexatriene) were induced by HPP(+) loading (at >or=100 microM and >or=10 microM, respectively), while comparable changes were induced only at a higher concentration of HP (=1 mM). These results suggest that HPP(+) has a higher potency to induce plasma membrane damage than HP, and these actions of HPP(+) may partly underlie the pathogenesis of HP-induced extrapyramidal side effects.

Structural studies of Bcl-xL/ligand complexes using 19F NMR

Fluorine atoms are often incorporated into drug molecules as part of the lead optimization process in order to improve affinity or modify undesirable metabolic and pharmacokinetic profiles. From an NMR perspective, the abundance of fluorinated drug leads provides an exploitable niche for structural studies using 19F NMR in the drug discovery process. As 19F has no interfering background signal from biological sources, 19F NMR studies of fluorinated drugs bound to their protein receptors can yield easily interpretable and unambiguous structural constraints. 19F can also be selectively incorporated into proteins to obtain additional constraints for structural studies. Despite these advantages, 19F NMR has rarely been exploited for structural studies due to its broad lines in macromolecules and their ligand complexes, leading to weak signals in 1H/19F heteronuclear NOE experiments. Here we demonstrate several different experimental strategies that use 19F NMR to obtain ligand-protein structural constraints for ligands bound to the anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-xL, a drug target for anti-cancer therapy. These examples indicate the applicability of these methods to typical structural problems encountered in the drug development process.

Functional interaction of nitrogenous organic bases with cytochrome P450: A critical assessment and update of substrate features and predicted key active-site elements steering the access, binding, and orientation of amines

The widespread use of nitrogenous organic bases as environmental chemicals, food additives, and clinically important drugs necessitates precise knowledge about the molecular principles governing biotransformation of this category of substrates. In this regard, analysis of the topological background of complex formation between amines and P450s, acting as major catalysts in C- and N-oxidative attack, is of paramount importance. Thus, progress in collaborative investigations, combining physico-chemical techniques with chemical-modification as well as genetic engineering experiments, enables substantiation of hypothetical work resulting from the design of pharmacophores or homology modelling of P450s. Based on a general, CYP2D6-related construct, the majority of prospective amine-docking residues was found to cluster near the distal heme face in the six known SRSs, made up by the highly variant helices B', F and G as well as the N-terminal portion of helix C and certain beta-structures. Most of the contact sites examined show a frequency of conservation < 20%, hinting at the requirement of some degree of conformational versatility, while a limited number of amino acids exhibiting a higher level of conservation reside close to the heme core. Some key determinants may have a dual role in amine binding and/or maintenance of protein integrity. Importantly, a series of non-SRS elements are likely to be operative via long-range effects. While hydrophobic mechanisms appear to dominate orientation of the nitrogenous compounds toward the iron-oxene species, polar residues seem to foster binding events through H-bonding or salt-bridge formation. Careful uncovering of structure-function relationships in amine-enzyme association together with recently developed unsupervised machine learning approaches will be helpful in both tailoring of novel amine-type drugs and early elimination of potentially toxic or mutagenic candidates. Also, chimeragenesis might serve in the construction of more efficient P450s for activation of amine drugs and/or bioremediation.

Formation of stacking complexes between caffeine (1,2,3-trimethylxanthine) and 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine may attenuate biological effects of this neurotoxin

1-Methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) is a neurotoxin causing symptoms that may resemble those observed in patients suffering from Parkinson's disease. Therefore, MPTP-treated laboratory animals are currently the most favored models to study therapeutic intervention strategies in this disease. It was demonstrated recently that caffeine (1,2,3-trimethylxanthine) intake decreases the risk of Parkinson's disease in various human populations and attenuates MPTP-induced neurological effects in animal models. Since the effects of caffeine on MPTP-treated animals were mimicked by several antagonists of the adenosine A(2A) receptor, it was suggested that caffeine attenuates MPTP toxicity by blocking this receptor. Here, using microcalorimetry and molecular modeling, we demonstrate that caffeine can form stacking (pi-pi) complexes with MPTP. We found that a biological activity of MPTP (induction of mutations in a microbiological mutagenicity assay), which is completely independent on the A(2A) receptor blockade, is significantly reduced by caffeine. Therefore, we suggest that caffeine may attenuate neurotoxicity of MPTP (and possibly other polycyclic aromatic toxins) and reveal its protective effects on the risk of Parkinson's disease not only by blocking the A(2A) receptor but also by sequestering neurotoxin molecules in mixed complexes, especially in stomach.

Arylacetamide κ opioid receptor agonists with reduced cytochrome P450 2D6 inhibitory activity

Some kappa opioid receptor agonists of the arylacetamide class, for example, ICI 199441 (1), were found to strongly inhibit the activity of cytochrome P450 2D6 (CYP2D6) (1: CYP2D6 IC50=26 nM). Certain analogs bearing a substituted sulfonylamino group, for example, 13, were discovered to have significantly reduced CYP2D6 inhibitory activity (13: CYP2D6 IC50>10 microM) while displaying high affinity toward the cloned human kappa opioid receptor, good kappa/delta and kappa/mu selectivity, and potent in vitro and in vivo agonist activity.

The design and preparation of metabolically protected new arylpiperazine 5-HT1A ligands

New arylpiperazines related to buspirone, gepirone and NAN-190 were designed and screened in silico for their 5-HT(1A) affinity and potential sites of metabolism by human cytochrome p450 (CYP3A4). Modifications to these structures were assessed in silico for their influence on both 5HT(1A) affinity and metabolism. Selected new molecules were synthesized and purified in a parallel chemistry approach to determine structure activity relationships (SARs). The resulting molecules were assessed in vitro for their 5HT(1A) affinity and half-life in a heterologously expressed human CYP3A4 assay. Molecular features responsible for 5-HT(1A) affinity and CYP3A4 stability are described.