Brent W. Mccleland

Discovery of novel 1-azoniabicyclo[2.2.2]octane muscarinic acetylcholine receptor antagonists.

A novel 4-hydroxyl(diphenyl)methyl substituted quinuclidine series was discovered as a very promising class of muscarinic antagonists. The structure-activity relationships of the connectivity of the diphenyl moiety to the quinuclidine core and around the ring nitrogen side chain are described. Computational docking studies using an homology model of the M(3) receptor readily explained the observed structure-activity relationship of the various compounds. Compound 14o was identified as a very potent, slowly reversible M(3) antagonist with a very long in vivo duration of bronchoprotection.

Discovery of novel cyanamide-based inhibitors of cathepsin C.

The discovery of potent and selective cyanamide-based inhibitors of the cysteine protease cathepsin C is detailed. Optimization of the template with regard to plasma stability led to the identification of compound 17, a potent cathepsin C inhibitor with excellent selectivity over other cathepsins and potent in vivo activity in a cigarette smoke mouse model.

Exploitation of a Novel Binding Pocket in Human Lipoprotein-Associated Phospholipase A2 (Lp-PLA2) Discovered through X-ray Fragment Screening.

Elevated levels of human lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 (Lp-PLA2) are associated with cardiovascular disease and dementia. A fragment screen was conducted against Lp-PLA2 in order to identify novel inhibitors. Multiple fragment hits were observed in different regions of the active site, including some hits that bound in a pocket created by movement of a protein side chain (approximately 13 Å from the catalytic residue Ser273). Using structure guided design, we optimized a fragment that bound in this pocket to generate a novel low nanomolar chemotype, which did not interact with the catalytic residues.