Masaya Kokubo

Discovery of the First M5-Selective and CNS Penetrant Negative Allosteric Modulator (NAM) of a Muscarinic Acetylcholine Receptor: (S)-9b-(4-Chlorophenyl)-1-(3,4-difluorobenzoyl)-2,3-dihydro-1H-imidazo[2,1-a]isoindol-5(9bH)-one (ML375)

A functional high throughput screen and subsequent multidimensional, iterative parallel synthesis effort identified the first muscarinic acetylcholine receptor (mAChR) negative allosteric modulator (NAM) selective for the M5 subtype. ML375 is a highly selective M5 NAM with submicromolar potency (human M5 IC50 = 300 nM, rat M5 IC50 = 790 nM, M1-M4 IC50 > 30 μM), excellent multispecies PK, high CNS penetration, and enantiospecific inhibition.

Development of a highly potent, novel M5 positive allosteric modulator (PAM) demonstrating CNS exposure: 1-((1H-indazol-5-yl)sulfoneyl)-N-ethyl-N-(2-(trifluoromethyl)benzyl)piperidine-4-carboxamide (ML380).

A functional high throughput screen identified a novel chemotype for the positive allosteric modulation (PAM) of the muscarinic acetylcholine receptor (mAChR) subtype 5 (M5). Application of rapid analog, iterative parallel synthesis efficiently optimized M5 potency to arrive at the most potent M5 PAMs prepared to date and provided tool compound 8n (ML380) demonstrating modest CNS penetration (human M5 EC50 = 190 nM, rat M5 EC50 = 610 nM, brain to plasma ratio (Kp) of 0.36).

Discovery, synthesis and characterization of a highly muscarinic acetylcholine receptor (mAChR)-selective M5-orthosteric antagonist, VU0488130 (ML381): a novel molecular probe.

Of the five G‐protein‐coupled muscarinic acetylcholine receptors (mAChRs; M1–M5), M5 is the least explored and understood due to a lack of mAChR subtype‐selective ligands. We recently performed a high‐throughput functional screen and identified a number of weak antagonist hits that are selective for the M5 receptor. Here, we report an iterative parallel synthesis and detailed molecular pharmacologic profiling effort that led to the discovery of the first highly selective, central nervous system (CNS)‐penetrant M5‐orthosteric antagonist, with sub‐micromolar potency (hM5 IC50=450 nM, hM5 Ki=340 nM, M1–M4 IC50 >30 μM), enantiospecific inhibition, and an acceptable drug metabolism and pharmacokinetics (DMPK) profile for in vitro and electrophysiology studies. This compound will be a powerful tool and molecular probe for the further investigation into the role of M5 in addiction and other diseases.

Further optimization of the M5 NAM MLPCN probe ML375: tactics and challenges.

This Letter describes the continued optimization of the MLPCN probe ML375, a highly selective M5 negative allosteric modulator (NAM), through a combination of matrix libraries and iterative parallel synthesis. True to certain allosteric ligands, SAR was shallow, and the matrix library approach highlighted the challenges with M5 NAM SAR within in this chemotype. Once again, enantiospecific activity was noted, and potency at rat and human M5 were improved over ML375, along with slight enhancement in physiochemical properties, certain in vitro DMPK parameters and CNS distribution. Attempts to further enhance pharmacokinetics with deuterium incorporation afforded mixed results, but pretreatment with a pan-P450 inhibitor (1-aminobenzotriazole; ABT) provided increased plasma exposure.

Suppressive effects of a novel CC chemokine receptor 4 antagonist on Th2 cell trafficking in ligand- and antigen-induced mouse models.

CC chemokine receptor 4 (CCR4) has been implicated as a preferential marker for T helper type 2 (Th2) cells, and is believed to be involved in the pathology of allergic diseases by controlling Th2 cell trafficking into inflamed tissues. The objective of the study was to characterize the pharmacological properties of E0001-163, a novel CCR4 antagonist. E0001-163 was tested in both in vitro chemotaxis assays as well as in vivo mouse models of CCR4 ligand-induced air pouch and antigen-induced airway inflammation by utilizing in vitro-polarized Th2 cells. In vitro, E0001-163 inhibited migratory response of human Th2-polarized cells to CCL22, a CCR4 ligand, with an IC50 value of 11.9 nM. E0001-163 significantly suppressed CCL22-induced Th2 cell trafficking into mouse air pouch in a dose-dependent manner at doses of 3 and 10mg/kg, suggesting that E0001-163 has an inhibitory effect on CCR4-mediated T cell trafficking in vivo. In addition, E0001-163 partially decreased Th2 cell trafficking and the level of IL-4 in the lungs in Th2-tansferred and ovalbumin (OVA)-challenged mice. T cell trafficking involves multiple chemokine receptors both in acute and chronic phases, and our findings suggest that CCR4, together with other chemokine receptors, may be involved in Th2 cell trafficking under disease conditions.