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Chen C, Guo SM, Sun Y, Li H, Hu N, Yao K, Ni H, Xia Z, Xu B, Xie X, Long YQ. Discovery of orally effective and safe GPR40 agonists by incorporating a chiral, rigid and polar sulfoxide into β-position to the carboxylic acid. Eur J Med Chem 2023; 251:115267. [PMID: 36933395 DOI: 10.1016/j.ejmech.2023.115267] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2022] [Revised: 02/28/2023] [Accepted: 03/07/2023] [Indexed: 03/12/2023]
Abstract
GPR40 is primarily expressed in pancreatic islet β-cells, and its activation by endogenous ligands of medium to long-chain free fatty acids or synthetic agonists is clinically proved to improve glycemic control by stimulating glucose-dependent insulin secretion. However, most of the reported agonists are highly lipophilic, which might cause lipotoxicity and the off-target effects in CNS. Particularly, the withdrawal of TAK-875 from clinical trials phase III due to liver toxicity concern threw doubt over the long-term safety of targeting GPR40. Improving the efficacy and the selectivity, thus enlarging the therapeutic window would provide an alternative to develop safe GPR40-targeted therapeutics. Herein, by employing an innovative "three-in-one" pharmacophore drug design strategy, the optimal structural features for GPR40 agonist was integrated into one functional group of sulfoxide, which was incorporated into the β-position of the propanoic acid core pharmacophore. As a result, the conformational constraint, polarity as well as chirality endowed by the sulfoxide significantly enhanced the efficacy, selectivity and ADMET properties of the novel (S)- 2-(phenylsulfinyl)acetic acid-based GPR40 agonists. The lead compounds (S)-4a and (S)-4s exhibited robust plasma glucose-lowering effects and insulinotropic action during an oral glucose tolerance test in C57/BL6 mice, excellent pharmacokinetic profile and little hepatobiliary transporter inhibition, marginal cell toxicities against human primary hepatocyte at 100 μM.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cheng Chen
- College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Soochow University, 199 Renai Road, Suzhou, 215123, China; Department of Chemistry, Shanghai University, 99 Shangda Road, Shanghai, 200444, China; State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, National Center for Drug Screening, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 201203, China
| | - Shi-Meng Guo
- State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, National Center for Drug Screening, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 201203, China
| | - Yuanjun Sun
- College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Soochow University, 199 Renai Road, Suzhou, 215123, China
| | - He Li
- State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, National Center for Drug Screening, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 201203, China
| | - Nan Hu
- Department of Pharmacy, the Third Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, 185 Juqian Street, Changzhou, 213003, China
| | - Kun Yao
- College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Soochow University, 199 Renai Road, Suzhou, 215123, China
| | - Huxin Ni
- College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Soochow University, 199 Renai Road, Suzhou, 215123, China
| | - Zhikan Xia
- State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, National Center for Drug Screening, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 201203, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 19A Yuquan Road, Beijing, 100049, China
| | - Bin Xu
- Department of Chemistry, Shanghai University, 99 Shangda Road, Shanghai, 200444, China
| | - Xin Xie
- State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, National Center for Drug Screening, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 201203, China.
| | - Ya-Qiu Long
- College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Soochow University, 199 Renai Road, Suzhou, 215123, China; Department of Pharmacy, the Third Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, 185 Juqian Street, Changzhou, 213003, China.
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