Bisoprolol-based 18F-PET tracer: Synthesis and preliminary in vivo validation of ß1-blocker selectivity for ß1-adrenergic receptors in the heart.

The selectivity of a drug toward various isoforms of the target protein family is important in terms of toxicology. Typically, drug or candidate selectivity is assessed by in vitro assays, but in vivo investigations are currently lacking. Positron emission tomography (PET) allows the non-invasive determination of the in vivo distribution of a radiolabeled drug, which can provide in vivo data regarding drug selectivity. Since the discovery of propranolol, a non-selective ß-blocker inhibiting both ß1- and ß2-adrenoreceptors (ß-ARs), various selective ß1-blockers, including bisoprolol, have been developed to overcome disadvantages associated with ß2-AR inhibition. As a proof of concept, we performed an in vivo PET study to understand the selectivity and efficacy of bisoprolol as a selective ß-blocker toward ß1-AR, as the heart and peripheral smooth muscles demonstrate distinct populations of ß1- and ß2-ARs. Biodistribution of 18F-labeled bisoprolol (1, [18F]bisoprolol) showed the retention of its uptake in the heart compared with other ß-AR-rich organs at late time points post-injection. The competitive blocking assay using unlabeled bisoprolol exhibited no inhibition of [18F]bisoprolol uptake in any organ but exhibited significantly rapid loss of radioactivity between two different time points in ß1-AR-rich organs such as the heart and brain. Furthermore, the organ-to-blood ratio revealed the slow excretion and better accumulation of [18F]bisoprolol inside the heart. Collectively, the ex vivo biodistribution and blocking study presented insightful evidence to better comprehend the in vivo distribution pattern of bisoprolol as a selective inhibitor targeting ß1-ARs in the heart and provided the possibility of PET as an in vivo technique for evaluating drug selectivity.

A New Class of ß-Pyrrolidino-1,2,3-Triazole Derivatives as ß-Adrenergic Receptor Inhibitors: Synthesis, Pharmacological, and Docking Studies.

New 1,4-disubstituted ß-pyrrolidino-1,2,3-triazoles were synthesized using a reusable copper-iodide-doped neutral alumina catalyst. Synthesis of diversely substituted triazoles and recyclability of CuI catalyst explains the broad scope of this protocol. The synthesized compounds were screened for their antimicrobial and anticancer properties. Most of the compounds showed significant antimicrobial activities against all the tested microorganisms compared to standard drugs. Furthermore, compounds 5a, 5e, 5g, 5h, 5i, and 5j showed moderate to potent activities against A549 and HepG-2 cells. In addition, compounds 5g and 5h displayed potential cytotoxicity activity against A549 cells with IC50 values of 72 ± 3.21 and 58 ± 2.31 µM, respectively. The molecular docking study revealed that some of the synthesized compounds exhibited comparable binding as co-crystalized ligands with the DNA topoisomerase IV and anaplastic lymphoma kinase receptors.

Effect of the rigidification of propranolol, a mixed ß-adrenoceptor and 5-HT1AR antagonist.

Propranolol is a popular ß adrenergic antagonists that, together with pindolol, binds also to serotoninergic receptors, namely 5-HT1A/B. In this work the rigidification of the propranolol structure by locking its hydroxyl group within a 1,3-dioxolane ring was investigated. Constrained derivatives of propranolol were synthesized, fully characterized and tested for their affinity at ß-adrenoreceptors and 5-HT1A/B/C receptors using radioligand binding assay. The constrained derivatives were inactive, as expected, at ß1/2/3 adrenergic receptors. Although less expected, these derivatives failed to bind also to 5-HT1A/B/C receptors. The rigidification of propranolol is detrimental for 5-HT1AR activity.

Design, synthesis, and in silico studies of novel eugenyloxy propanol azole derivatives having potent antinociceptive activity and evaluation of their ß-adrenoceptor blocking property.

The design, synthesis, antinociceptive and ß-adrenoceptor blocking activities of several eugenyloxy propanol azole derivatives have been described. In this synthesis, the reaction of eugenol with epichlorohydrin provided adducts 3 and 4 which were N-alkylated by diverse azoles to obtain the eugenyloxy propanol azole analogues in good yields. Adducts 3 and 4 were also reacted with azide ion to obtain the corresponding azide 6. The 'Click' Huisgen cycloaddition reaction of 6 with diverse alkynes afforded the title compounds in good yields. The synthesized eugenyloxy propanol azole derivatives were in vivo studied for the acute antinociception on male Spargue Dawley rats using tail-flick test. Compounds 5f, 5g, 7b and 11a exhibited potent analgesic properties in comparison with eugenol as a standard drug. In addition, all compounds were ex vivo tested for ß-adrenoceptor blocking properties on isolated left atrium of male rats which exhibited partial antagonist or agonist behaviour compared to the standard drugs. The molecular docking study on the binding site of transient receptor potential vanilloid subtype 1 (TRPV1) has indicated that like capsaicin, eugenyloxy propanol azole analogues exhibited the strong affinity to bind at site of TPRV1 in a "tail-up, head-down" conformation and the presence of triazolyl moieties has played undeniable role in durable binding of these ligands to TRPV1. The in silico pharmacokinetic profile, drug likeness and toxicity predictions carried out for all compounds determined that 5g can be considered as potential antinociceptive drug candidate for future research.

Synthesis and Biological Evaluation of New Combined α/ß-Adrenergic Blockers.

The synthesis, characterization, and pharmacological evaluation of new aryloxyaminopropanol compounds based on substituted (4-hydroxyphenyl)ethanone with alterations in the alkoxymethyl side chain in position 2 and with 2-methoxyphenylpiperazine in the basic part of the molecule are reported. For the in vitro pharmacological evaluation, isolated aorta and atria from normotensive Wistar rats were used. Compared to naftopidil, compounds with ethoxymethyl, propoxymethyl, butoxymethyl, and methoxyethoxymethyl substituent displayed similar α1 -adrenolytic potency. Compounds with methoxymethyl, ethoxymethyl, and propoxymethyl substituent caused a significant decrease in both spontaneous and isoproterenol-induced beating of isolated rat atria. Naftopidil and the tested substances containing a butoxymethyl and methoxyethoxymethyl substituent had no effect on the spontaneous or isoproterenol-induced beating. The tested substance that had the most pronounced effect was the compound with a propoxymethyl substituent. Its antihypertensive efficacy was investigated in vivo on spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs). The systolic blood pressure was found to be significantly lower in SHRs subjected to the treatment for 2 weeks than in untreated SHRs. Naftopidil had no significant effect.

Ocular Cubosome Drug Delivery System for Timolol Maleate: Preparation, Characterization, Cytotoxicity, Ex Vivo, and In Vivo Evaluation.

Glaucoma is an ocular disease featuring increased intraocular pressure (IOP) and its primary treatment strategy is to lower IOP by medication. Current ocular drug delivery in treating glaucoma is confronting a variety of challenges, such as low corneal permeability and bioavailability due to the unique anatomical structure of the human eye. To tackle these challenges, a cubosome drug delivery system for glaucoma treatment was constructed for timolol maleate (TM) in this study. The TM cubosomes (liquid crystalline nanoparticles) were prepared using glycerol monooleate and poloxamer 407 via high-pressure homogenization. These constructed nanoparticles appeared spherical using transmission electron microscopy and had an average particle size of 142 nm, zeta potential of -6.27 mV, and over 85% encapsulation efficiency. Moreover, using polarized light microscopy and small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), it was shown that the TM cubosomes have cubic liquid crystalline D-type (Pn3m) structure, which provides good physicochemical stability and high encapsulation efficiency. Ex vivo corneal permeability experiments showed that the total amount of TM cubosomes penetrated was higher than the commercially available eye drops. In addition, in vivo studies revealed that TM cubosomes reduced the IOP in rabbits from 27.8∼39.7 to 21.4∼32.6 mmHg after 1-week administration and had a longer retention time and better lower-IOP effect than the commercial TM eye drops. Furthermore, neither cytotoxicity nor histological impairment in the rabbit corneas was observed. This study suggests that cubosomes are capable of increasing the corneal permeability and bioavailability of TM and have great potential for ocular disease treatment.

Antilipolytic effects of 1,8-naphthyridine derivatives ß-adrenoceptor antagonists in rat white adipocytes.

The rat fat cell ß-adrenoceptors were investigated by studying the effects of new 1,8-naphthyridine derivatives synthesized starting from 7-amino-2-chloro-3-phenyl-1,8-naphthyridine on lipolysis induced by isoprenaline, and alprenolol. Lipolysis induced by isoprenaline agonist was competitively antagonized by the 1,8-naphthyridine analogue with a 7-hydroxy-2-(4'-methoxybenzylamine)-6-nitro-3-phenyl substituent designated as 3. In contrast, 10, 50, and 100 µm of 7-methoxy and 7-ethoxy derivatives did not modify the concentration-response curve of isoprenaline. A rightward shift of the curve was, however, observed with 50 µm of a 7-methoxy-2-(4'-methoxybenzylamine)-6-amino-3-phenyl substituent designated as 10. The selective ß1 -AR antagonist, 7-hydroxy-4-morpholinomethyl-2-piperazino-1,8-naphthyridine slightly reduced isoprenaline-induced lipolysis only at high doses. Alprenolol-mediated lipolytic effect was antagonized by derivative 3, 10 and the selective ß3 -AR antagonist SR 59,230A, but resistant to the selective ß1 -AR antagonist 7-hydroxy-4-morpholinomethyl-2-piperazino-1,8-naphthyridine. The results provide preliminary pharmacological evidence for the antilipolytic effect of the newly synthesized 1,8-naphthyridine derivatives on rat fat cells. The analogues designated as 3 and 10 were the most potent antagonists of this series.

Synthesis and In Vitro Pharmacological Evaluation of 5-(Alkoxymethyl)-2-(3-alkylamino-2-hydroxypropoxy)phenylethanones Related to Acebutolol and Celiprolol.

The structure-activity relationships of 13 analogs of aryloxyaminopropanol type derived from 2-hydroxyphenylethanone as potential ß-blockers are described. The synthesized compounds possess an isopropyl or a tert-butyl group in the hydrophilic part of the molecule and an alkoxymethyl substitution in the lipophilic moiety. The target compounds were prepared by an established four-step method and their structures were confirmed by interpretation of their UV, IR, (1) H NMR and (13) C NMR spectra, and by elemental analysis. The ß-adrenolytic efficacy of the prepared racemic compounds was determined on isolated guinea pig atria (ß1 ) and trachea (ß2 ) and expressed as pA2 values against isoprenaline tachycardia. The assumed cardioselectivity was expressed as ß1 /ß2 ratio and the values of compounds with an alkoxy group (CH3 O, iC3 H5 O, C5 H11 O, CH2 CHCH2 O, CH3 OCH2 CH2 O) in the lipophilic part and with tert-butyl in the hydrophilic part of the molecule were found to be comparable or higher than those of the standards acebutolol and celiprolol. All evaluated substances at a concentration of 10(-7) mol/dm(3) showed also negative chronotropic effects.

Preparation and evaluation of a timolol maleate drug-resin ophthalmic suspension as a sustained-release formulation in vitro and in vivo.

The aim of this work was to assess the performance of resin as an ocular delivery system. Timolol maleate (TM) was chosen as the model drug and an ion exchange resin (IER) as the carrier. The drug-resin complex was prepared using an oscillation method and then characterized regarding particle size, zeta potential, morphology, and drug content. After in vitro drug release study and corneal permeation study were performed, in vivo studies were performed in New Zealand albino rabbits using a suspension with particles sized 4.8 ± 1.2 µm and drug loading at 43.00 ± 0.09%. The results indicate that drug released from the drug-resin ophthalmic suspension permeated the cornea and displayed a sustained-release behavior. Drug levels in the ocular tissues after administration of the drug-resin ophthalmic suspension were significantly higher than after treatment with an eye drop formulation but were lower in body tissues and in the plasma. In conclusion, resins have great potential as effective ocular drug delivery carriers to increase ocular bioavailability of timolol while simultaneously reducing systemic drug absorption.

Engineering of an epoxide hydrolase for efficient bioresolution of bulky pharmaco substrates.

Optically pure epoxides are essential chiral precursors for the production of (S)-propranolol, (S)-alprenolol, and other ß-adrenergic receptor blocking drugs. Although the enzymatic production of these bulky epoxides has proven difficult, here we report a method to effectively improve the activity of BmEH, an epoxide hydrolase from Bacillus megaterium ECU1001 toward α-naphthyl glycidyl ether, the precursor of (S)-propranolol, by eliminating the steric hindrance near the potential product-release site. Using X-ray crystallography, mass spectrum, and molecular dynamics calculations, we have identified an active tunnel for substrate access and product release of this enzyme. The crystal structures revealed that there is an independent product-release site in BmEH that was not included in other reported epoxide hydrolase structures. By alanine scanning, two mutants, F128A and M145A, targeted to expand the potential product-release site displayed 42 and 25 times higher activities toward α-naphthyl glycidyl ether than the wild-type enzyme, respectively. These results show great promise for structure-based rational design in improving the catalytic efficiency of industrial enzymes for bulky substrates.

A smart library of epoxide hydrolase variants and the top hits for synthesis of (S)-ß-blocker precursors.

Microtuning of the enzyme active pocket has led to a smart library of epoxide hydrolase variants with an expanded substrate spectrum covering a series of typical ß-blocker precursors. Improved activities of 6- to 430-fold were achieved by redesigning the active site at two predicted hot spots. This study represents a breakthrough in protein engineering of epoxide hydrolases and resulted in enhanced activity toward bulky substrates.

Synthesis, docking study and ß-adrenoceptor activity of some new oxime ether derivatives.

A new series of oxime ethers 4a-z was designed and synthesized to test the blocking activity against ß1 and ß2-adrenergic receptors. Docking of these ether derivatives into the active site of the identified 3D structures of ß1 and ß2-adrenergic receptors showed MolDock scores comparable to those of reference compounds. Biological results revealed that the inhibition effects on the heart rate and contractility are less than those of propranolol. Nevertheless, the two compounds 4p and 4q that displayed the highest negative MolDock score with ß2-adrenergic receptors showed ß2-antagonistic activity by decreasing salbutamol relaxation of precontracted tracheal strips, which indicates the importance of a chlorothiophene moiety in the hydrophobic region for best complementarity with ß2 receptors. On other hand, the presence of a homoveratryl moiety increases the MolDock score of the tested compounds with the ß1 receptor.

Minor enantiomer recycling: application to enantioselective syntheses of beta blockers.

Continuous recycling of the minor product enantiomer obtained from the acetylcyanation of prochiral aldehydes provided access to highly enantiomerically enriched products. Cyanohydrin derivatives, which under normal conditions are obtained with modest or poor enantiomeric ratios, were formed with high enantiomeric purity by using a reinforcing combination of a chiral Lewis acid catalyst and a biocatalyst. The primarily obtained products were transformed into ß-adrenergic antagonists (S)-propanolol, (R)-dichloroisoproterenol, and (R)-pronethalol by means of a two-step procedure.

Synthesis and ß-adrenergic blocking activity of oxime ether hybrids derived from a natural isochroman-4-one.

AIM: In a search for new cardiovascular drug candidates, a series of novel oxime ethers derived from a natural isochroman-4-one were synthesized. METHOD: Compounds 3 and 6, derived from the natural antihypertensive compound 7, 8-dihydroxy-3-methyl-isochroman-4-one (XJP), were designed and synthesized. Subsequently, a series of novel isochroman-4-one oxime ether hybrids were prepared by hybridizing various N-substituted isopropanolamine functionalities to isochroman-4-one oxime. Furthermore, ß1-adrenergic blocking activities of the synthesized compounds were assayed using the isolated rat left atria. RESULTS: Twenty target compounds were obtained, and the preliminary structure-activity relationships were deduced. The most promising compound Ic exhibited ß1-adrenoceptor blocking activity (inhibition: 52.2%) at 10(-7) mol·L(-1), which was superior to that of propranolol (inhibition: 49.7%). CONCLUSION: The results suggested that natural product XJP/isopropanolamine moiety hybrids may provide a promising approach for the discovery of novel cardiovascular drug candidates.

Novel hybrids of natural isochroman-4-one bearing N-substituted isopropanolamine as potential antihypertensive candidates.

A series of novel hybrids of natural isochroman-4-one bearing isopropanolamine moiety were designed, synthesized and evaluated for their antihypertensive activity. It was found that compound IIId, prepared by hybridizing N-isopropyl substituted isopropanolamine functionality to a phenolic oxygen of isochroman-4-one, exhibited potent ß(1)-adrenoceptor blocking effect comparable to the well-known antihypertensive drug propranolol. Additionally, IIId significantly reduced the systolic and diastolic blood pressure in SHRs by over 40%, which was obviously stronger than the lead compounds 7,8-dihydroxy-3-methyl-isochroman-4-one (XJP) and its analogue XJP-B. Overall, IIId may be a promising antihypertensive candidate for further investigation.

A novel impinging aerosols method for production of propranolol hydrochloride-loaded alginate gel microspheres for oral delivery.

Propranolol hydrochloride was directly encapsulated in alginate gel microspheres (40-50 µm in diameter) using a novel method involving impinging aerosols of CaCl(2) cross-linking solution and sodium alginate solution containing the drug. Microspheres formulated using 0.1 M CaCl(2) exhibited the highest drug loading (14%, w/w of dry microspheres) with 66.5% encapsulation efficiency. Less than 4% and 35% propranolol release occurred from hydrated and dried microspheres, respectively, in 2 h in simulated gastric fluid (SGF). The majority of the drug load (90%) was released in 5 and 7 h from hydrated and dried microspheres, respectively, in simulated intestinal fluid (SIF). Prior incubation of hydrated microspheres (cross-linked using 0.5 M CaCl(2)) in SGF prolonged the time of release in SIF to 10 h, which has implications for the design of protocols and correlation with in vivo release behaviour. Restricted propranolol release in SGF and complete extraction in SIF demonstrate the potential of alginate gel microspheres for oral delivery of pharmaceuticals.

Asymmetric synthesis of ß-adrenergic blockers through multistep one-pot transformations involving in situ chiral organocatalyst formation.

Two birds one stone: A new atom-economical one-pot approach to enantioselective chiral drug synthesis, involving in situ multistep organocatalyst formation and the application of the reaction for multistep sequential synthesis of ß-adrenergic blockers is disclosed (see scheme).

Synthesis and characterization of high-affinity 4,4-difluoro-4-bora-3a,4a-diaza-s-indacene-labeled fluorescent ligands for human ß-adrenoceptors.

The growing practice of exploiting noninvasive fluorescence-based techniques to study G protein-coupled receptor pharmacology at the single cell and single molecule level demands the availability of high-quality fluorescent ligands. To this end, this study evaluated a new series of red-emitting ligands for the human ß-adrenoceptor family. Upon the basis of the orthosteric ligands propranolol, alprenolol, and pindolol, the synthesized linker-modified congeners were coupled to the commercially available fluorophore BODIPY 630/650-X. This yielded high-affinity ß-adrenoceptor fluorescent ligands for both the propranolol and alprenolol derivatives; however, the pindolol-based products displayed lower affinity. A fluorescent diethylene glycol linked propranolol derivative (18a) had the highest affinity (log K(D) of -9.53 and -8.46 as an antagonist of functional ß2- and ß1-mediated responses, respectively). Imaging studies with this compound further confirmed that it can be employed to selectively label the human ß2-adrenoceptor in single living cells, with receptor-associated binding prevented by preincubation with the nonfluorescent ß2-selective antagonist 3-(isopropylamino)-1-[(7-methyl-4-indanyl)oxy]butan-2-ol (ICI 118551) ( J. Cardiovasc. Pharmacol.1983, 5, 430-437. ).

An efficient asymmetric synthesis of the potent beta-blocker ICI-118,551 allows the determination of enantiomer dependency on biological activity.

A highly efficient, practical and flexible two-step asymmetric synthesis of the beta(2)-selective beta-blocker ICI 118,551 is reported, allowing an unambiguous determination of the dependency of biological activity with optical activity, revealing the S,S-enantiomer to be the most potent.

Cell-based beta2-adrenergic receptor-ligand binding assay using synthesized europium-labeled ligands and time-resolved fluorescence.

High-sensitivity, high-throughput, and user-friendly lanthanide-based assays for receptor-ligand interactions provide an attractive alternative to the traditional radioligand displacement assays. In this study, three small-molecule pindolol ligand derivatives were synthesized and their binding properties were tested in a radioligand displacement assay. The ligand derivatives were further labeled with fluorescent europium(III) chelate for beta(2)-adrenergic receptor-ligand binding assay. The europium-labeled pindolol ligands having no spacer (C0) or a 12-carbon spacer (C12) arm bound to the human beta(2)-adrenergic receptors overexpressed in human embryonic kidney HEK293(i) cells. Europium ligand with a 6-carbon spacer arm (C6) showed no binding. Competitive binding assays were developed with the functional labeled ligands. The IC(50) values for beta(2)-adrenergic antagonist propranolol were 60 and 37 nM, the Z' values were 0.51 and 0.77, and the signal-to-background ratios were 5.5 and 16.0 for C0 and C12, respectively. This study shows that functional time-resolved fluorescent assays can be constructed using fluorescent lanthanide chelates conjugated to small-molecule ligands.