Ning Shao

The discovery of potent antitumor agent C11-deoxypsymberin/irciniastatin A: total synthesis and biology of advanced psymberin analogs.

Structure-activity relationship (SAR) studies by modification of the unsaturated side chain of potent anticancer marine natural product psymberin/irciniastatin A (1) suggest that substitution at C4 and C5 is important for the cytotoxicity of psymberin, but the terminal double bond is not essential for activity. An aryl group is a good replacement for the olefin. The total synthesis of structurally simplified C11-deoxypsymberin (29) was completed, and its activity is consistently more potent than the natural product which provides a unique opportunity for further SAR studies in the psymberin and pederin family. Preliminary mechanism studies suggest the mode of action of psymberin is through cell apoptosis.

Discovery of MK-8318, a Potent and Selective CRTh2 Receptor Antagonist for the Treatment of Asthma

A novel series of tricyclic tetrahydroquinolines were identified as potent and selective CRTh2 receptor antagonists. The agonism and antagonism switch was achieved through structure-based drug design (SBDD) using a CRTh2 receptor homologue model. The challenge of very low exposures in pharmacokinetic studies was overcome by exhaustive medicinal chemistry lead optimization through focused SAR studies on the tricyclic core. Further optimization resulted in the identification of the preclinical candidate 4-(cyclopropyl((3aS,9R,9aR)-7-fluoro-4-(4-(trifluoromethoxy)benzoyl)-2,3,3a,4,9,9a-hexahydro-1H-cyclopenta[b]quinolin-9-yl)amino)-4-oxobutanoic acid (15c, MK-8318) with potent and selective CRTh2 antagonist activity and a favorable PK profile suitable for once daily oral dosing for potential treatment of asthma.