Gregory John Hollingworth

Functional Properties of the High-Affinity TRPV1 (VR1) Vanilloid Receptor Antagonist (4-Hydroxy-5-iodo-3-methoxyphenylacetate ester) Iodo-Resiniferatoxin

We have synthesized iodinated resiniferatoxin bearing a 4-hydroxy-5-iodo-3-methoxyphenylacetate ester (I-RTX) and have characterized its activity on rat and human TRPV1 (VR1) receptors, as well as in behavioral assays of nociception. In whole cell patch-clamp recordings from transfected cells the functional activity of I-RTX was determined. Currents activated by capsaicin exhibited characteristic outward rectification and were antagonized by capsazepine and I-RTX. On rat TRPV1 the affinity of I-RTX was 800-fold higher than that of capsazepine (IC50 = 0.7 and 562 nM, respectively) and 10-fold higher on rat versus human receptors (IC50 = 0.7 and 5.4 nM, respectively). The same difference was observed when comparing the inhibition of [3H]RTX binding to rat and human TRPV1 membranes for both RTX and I-RTX. Additional pharmacological differences were revealed using protons as the stimulus. Under these conditions capsazepine only partly blocked currents through rat TRPV1 receptors (by 70 to 80% block), yet was a full antagonist on human receptors. In contrast, I-RTX completely blocked proton-induced currents in both species and that activated by noxious heat. I-RTX also blocked capsaicin-induced firing of C-fibers in a rat in vitro skin-nerve assay. Despite this activity and the high affinity of I-RTX for rat TRPV1, only capsazepine proved to be an effective antagonist of capsaicin-induced paw flinching in rats. Thus, although I-RTX has limited utility for in vivo behavioral studies it is a high-affinity TRPV1 receptor antagonist that will be useful to characterize the functional properties of cloned and native vanilloid receptor subtypes in vitro.

2-Aryl Indole NK1 receptor antagonists: optimisation of indole substitution

The synthesis and biological evaluation of a series of 2-aryl indoles with high affinity for the human neurokinin-1 (hNK1) receptor are reported, concentrating on optimisation of the indole substitution.

2-Aryl indole NK1 receptor antagonists: optimisation of the 2-Aryl ring and the indole nitrogen substituent

Novel 2-aryl indole hNK1 receptor ligands were prepared utilising palladium cross-coupling chemistry of a late intermediate as a key step. Compounds with high hNK1 receptor binding affinity and good brain penetration (e.g., 9d) were synthesised.

A convenient method for the preparation of aryl cyclopropyl ethers from phenols

Abstract A general method for the synthesis of cyclopropyl ethers from phenols is described. Alkylation of a phenol using 1-iodo-1-(phenylthio)cyclopropane followed by removal of the phenylthio group furnishes the cyclopropyl ethers in modest to excellent yields. The procedure tolerates a wide range of functional groups.

4,4-Disubstituted cyclohexylamine NK1 receptor antagonists II

Abstract A series of novel 4,4-disubstituted cyclohexylamine based NK 1 antagonists is described. The effect of changes to the C 1 –C 4 relative stereochemistry on the cyclohexane ring and replacements for the flexible linker are discussed, leading to the identification of compounds with high affinity and good in vivo duration of action.