Robert Anthony Doti

Design and synthesis of a novel series of [1-(4-hydroxy-benzyl)-1H-indol-5-yloxy]-acetic acid compounds as potent, selective, thyroid hormone receptor β agonists

The design, synthesis, and structure activity relationships for a novel series of indoles as potent, selective, thyroid hormone receptor β (TRβ) agonists is described. Compounds with >50× binding selectivity for TRβ over TRα were generated and evaluation of compound 1c from this series in a model of dyslipidemia demonstrated positive effects on plasma lipid endpoints in vivo.

Identification of potent and selective retinoic acid receptor gamma (RARγ) antagonists for the treatment of osteoarthritis pain using structure based drug design.

A series of triaryl pyrazoles were identified as potent pan antagonists for the retinoic acid receptors (RARs) α, β and γ. X-ray crystallography and structure-based drug design were used to improve selectivity for RARγ by targeting residue differences in the ligand binding pockets of these receptors. This resulted in the discovery of novel antagonists which maintained RARγ potency but were greater than 500-fold selective versus RARα and RARβ. The potent and selective RARγ antagonist LY2955303 demonstrated good pharmacokinetic properties and was efficacious in the MIA model of osteoarthritis-like joint pain. This compound demonstrated an improved margin to RARα-mediated adverse effects.