Arylcarbamate derivatives of 1-piperidineethanol as potent ligands for 5-HT4 receptors.

A series of carbamate derivatives (7) of 2-(1-piperidinyl)ethyl 4-amino-5-chloro-2-methoxybenzoates, which have been described as potent agonists and antagonists of 5-HT4 receptors, were synthesized. They were evaluated using radioligand binding assays with [3H]GR 113808, a 5-HT4 receptor selective ligand, in the rat striatum and the electrically stimulated myenteric plexus longitudinal muscle of the guinea pig. In contrast to the previously described ester derivatives, a drop in the affinity for 5-HT4 receptors was observed and the compounds were inactive as agonists in the guinea pig ileum preparation. Unexpectedly, the ortho-substituted carbamates 8b,c (R' = H, RO = MeO or EtO, R" = H) had nanomolar affinity for 5-HT4 receptors (Ki = 8.9 +/- 0.5 and 2.6 +/- 0.4 nM, respectively). As reported previously, the cis- or trans-3,5-dimethyl substitution of piperidine (8n,o) was particularly favorable (Ki = 1.1 +/- 0.6 nM for both isomers). 8c is an antagonist equipotent to the 5-HT4 receptor antagonist SDZ 205-557 (1).

Design and synthesis of new naphthalenic derivatives as ligands for 2-[125I]iodomelatonin binding sites.

New melatonin-like agents were designed from the frameworks of 2,5-dimethoxyphenethylamine, an important structural moiety for the 5-HT receptor, and (2-methoxynaphthyl)-ethylamine. The compounds were synthesized by classical methods and evaluated in binding assays with chicken brain membranes using 2-[125I]iodomelatonin as the radioligand. Preliminary studies on the series of N-acyl-disubstituted phenethylamines showed the favorable role of the methoxy group in the ortho position of the side chain on the affinity for the receptor (Ki = 8 +/- 0.2 nM) for N-[2-(2-methoxy-5-bromophenyl)ethyl]propionamide (3o). This effect was confirmed in a series of the naphthalene derivatives, a bioisosteric moiety of the indole ring, and several potent ligands for melatonin binding sites were prepared such as N-[2-(2-methoxynaphthyl)ethyl]propionamide (4b) (Ki = 0.67 +/- 0.05 nM) and N-[2-(2,7-dimethoxynaphthyl)ethyl]cyclopropylformamide (Ki = 0.05 +/- 0.004 nM) (4k). Structure-activity relationships are discussed with regard to melatonin and bioisosteric naphthalenic compound 2. The Ki value for 4b was affected to a similar extent to that of melatonin by GTP-gamma-S or Mn2+ in competition experiments, suggesting an agonist profile for this compound.

Three-dimensional quantitative structure-activity relationship of melatonin receptor ligands: a comparative molecular field analysis study.

A three-dimensional quantitative structure-activity relationship using the comparative molecular field analysis (CoMFA) paradigm applied to 57 melatonin receptor ligands belonging to diverse structural families was performed. The compounds studied which have been synthesized previously and reported to be active at chicken brain melatonin receptors were divided into a training set of 48 molecules and a test set of 9 molecules. As most of these compounds have a highly flexible ethylamido side chain, the alignments were based on the most sterically constrained molecule which contains a tricyclic phenalene structure. This tricyclic compound can adopt an axial and an equatorial conformation. Two different molecular superpositions representing possible positioning within the receptor site have been suggested previously. CoMFA was tentatively used to discriminate between alternate hypothetical biologically active conformation and between possible positionings. The best 3D quantitative structure-activity relationship model found yields significant cross-validated, conventional, and predictive r2 values equal to 0.798, 0.967, and 0.76, respectively, along with an average absolute error of prediction of 0.25 log units. These results suggest that the active conformation of the most flexible molecules including melatonin is in a folded form if we consider the spatial position of the ethylamido side chain relative to the aromatic ring.

New esters of 4-amino-5-chloro-2-methoxybenzoic acid as potent agonists and antagonists for 5-HT4 receptors.

A number of benzoates derived from 4-amino-5-chloro-2-methoxybenzoic acid and substituted 1-piperidineethanol were synthesized and found to be potent 5-HT4 receptor agonists in the electrically-stimulated myenteric plexus and longitudinal muscle of the guinea pig ileum and the rat esophagus muscle. Monosubstitution of the piperidine ring with Me, OH, NH-Ac, or CONH2 groups gave compounds equipotent to 7a (ML 10302), a 5-HT4 receptor agonist previously reported to have nanomolar affinity. 7a,k were as potent as serotonin (5-HT) but had maximal responses which were only 60-80% of that of 5-HT, suggesting a partial agonist profile for these compounds. Binding assays were performed with [3H]GR 113808 in the rat striatum, and several of these compounds were found to have nanomolar affinity for 5-HT4 receptors (7a, Ki = 1.07 +/- 0.5 nM; 7k, Ki = 1.0 +/- 0.3 nM). The introduction of two methyl groups on the piperidine ring brought about a dramatic change in the pharmacological profile of 2-[(cis- and trans-3,5-dimethylpiperidinyl)ethyl]-4-amino-5-chloro-2- methoxybenzoate, 7g,h. 7g (Ki = 0.26 +/- 0.06 nM) inhibited the relaxant action of 5-HT in the rat esophagus muscle with a pA2 value of 8.6. The advantage of the ester function was demonstrated by comparing the activity of several such compounds at 5-HT4 receptors with those of the corresponding amidic derivatives. This difference was less marked when the basic moiety was sterically constrained as in the quinuclidine and tropane moieties. Structural analyses of 7a,g were performed by determining their X-ray crystal structures and by molecular modeling (SYBYL). A relatively limited number of minimum energy conformers was found for both compounds. They were characterized by the cis folded conformation of the ethyl chain and by the orientation of the lone pair of the nitrogen atom pointing out of the molecule as seen in conformationally-constrained benzamides such as zacopride and renzapride. A hypothetical model for the 5-HT4 receptor with two sites for the binding of agonist and antagonist molecules was proposed.

Synthesis of 2-amido-2,3-dihydro-1H-phenalene derivatives as new conformationally restricted ligands for melatonin receptors.

Tetrahydroanthracene, tetrahydrophenanthrene, and tetrahydrophenalene moieties were used to design novel constrained melatoninergic agents. Compounds 1 and 2 were synthesized from the cyclization of the aryl succinic acids 6a,b followed by catalytic reduction, Curtius degradation to the amino derivatives, and acetylation. The phenalene derivatives 3 were prepared by cyclization of the aza lactones of the corresponding alpha-N-acetyl amino acids. The ketone derivatives were reduced directly by catalytic hydrogenation to produce the compounds 3. The different compounds were evaluated in vitro in binding assays using 2-[125I] iodomelatonin and chicken brain membranes. Melatonin and 2-acetamido-8-methoxytetralin were used as the reference compounds. The results showed the superiority of the dihydrophenalene framework 3 over those of tetrahydroanthracene and tetrahydrophenanthrene. 3a had relatively good affinity for melatonin receptors (Ki = 28.7 nM). Introduction of an additional methoxy group gave a derivative (3c) with nanomolar affinity (Ki = 0.7 nM), confirming the existence of a secondary binding site in the receptor which has been described previously. An increase in the affinity was also observed with the propionamido derivative 3e (Ki = 6.0 nM). The potential agonist properties of the compound 3e were evaluated on the dermal melanocytes of Xenopus laevis tadpoles. At the concentration of 2.3 nM (5 x Ki), melatonin gave a melanophore index value of 1. Similarly to melatonin, 3e was shown to be a potent agonist of the melanosome aggregation.

Structural analysis by the comparative molecular field analysis method of the affinity of beta-adrenoreceptor blocking agents for 5-HT1A and 5-HT1B receptors.

The affinities of 17 beta-adrenoreceptor antagonists for 5-HT1A and 5-HT1B receptors were evaluated in binding assays. A large range of Ki values (2-10,000 nM) was observed and ortho or meta substitution of the aromatic ring carrying the amino chain was implicated in the high affinity Ki values, whereas para substitution elicited a dramatic drop in activity. These variations were analyzed with two molecular design tools: the active analogue approach (AAA) and the new 3D-QSAR (quantitative structure activity relationship) method, comparative molecular field analysis (CoMFA). The AAA method emphasized, by superimposition of selected conformations of the molecules, the favorable and unfavorable volumes implicated in the receptor recognition. CoMFA generated a linear expression between the biological data and the different values of electrostatic and steric fields surrounding the molecules. It predicted the values of selected molecules but also those of new molecules not included in the study. The excellent accuracy of the prediction revealed the potential of the method for the design of new compounds. CoMFA demonstrated the important contribution of steric parameters, evaluated at 92%, compared to the electrostatic field (evaluated at 8%) to explain the affinity for 5-HT1A and 5-HT1B receptors. This study emphasizes also the importance of the occupancy of a hydrophobic pocket in the receptor site located near the area interacting with the aromatic moiety, and subsequently its use for the design of new, potent, specific antagonists of 5-HT1A and 5-HT1B receptors.

Structure-activity relationships for substrates and inhibitors of pineal 5-hydroxytryptamine-N-acetyltransferase: preliminary studies.

Tryptamine, (1-naphthyl)ethylamine and phenethylamine derivatives were tested as substrates of ovine pineal serotonin-N-acetyl transferase (5-HT-NAT), a key enzyme involved in the synthesis of melatonin. Almost all of the indole derivatives possessed affinity similar to that of tryptamine (Km = 0.05 mM), while the substituted naphthalene and phenyl derivatives were less potent. However, the Km values seem be influenced by the steric hindrance and polar properties of the substituent. Vmax values for the naphthyl and phenyl derivatives were generally 10-20-fold higher than those of the indole derivatives and no clear structure-activity relationship was observed. Melatonin and several bioisosteric derivatives were shown to be inhibitors of 5-HT-N-acetyltransferase. Preliminary data suggested that over the 5-50-microM concentration range, melatonin was a competitive inhibitor (IC50 = 10 microM) with a concentration-dependent inhibitory effect on its own synthesis in the pineal gland. However, the bioisosteric naphthalene derivatives were characterized instead as mixed inhibitors. (1-Napthyl)ethylacetamido, a putative melatoninergic antagonist, was also shown to be an inhibitor of 5-HT-N-acetyltransferase (IC50 = 8 microM) and is a promising tool for the regulation of melatonin synthesis and the understanding of its role.

[Hydrosoluble polymers of NAD+ and ADP. Study of their coenzymatic properties as a function of their size]. / Polymères hydrosolubles de NAD+ et d'ADP. Etude de leurs propriétés coenzymatiques en fonction de leur taille.

Hydrosoluble polymers of NAD+ and ADP were synthesized according to a described method with some modifications. The cofactor was bound to the matrix by a spacer group of five atoms at the exocyclic adenine C-6 amino group. Cofactor incorporations were very high. The loading of NAD+ polymers were: 420 mumol NAD+/g polymer and 330 mumol ADP ribose/g polymer arising from degradation of NAD+; the loading of ADP polymers were: 1.40 and 1.43 mmol ADP/g polymer. Each polymer obtained in a same polymerization step was fractionated in two parts by gel filtration in such a manner that these two parts had the same framework but different molecular weights. The biological properties of the fractionated polymers were compared. The small sized polymers of NAD+, assayed with four dehydrogenases, were more reduced enzymatically than the larger ones and had the higher reduction rates relative to free NAD+. In a coupled system (L-lactate dehydrogenase, formate dehydrogenase) with coenzyme regeneration, the rate of production of L-lactate at the steady state of the system using NAD+ polymers of small size was 80% that of the system using free NAD+. The small-sized polymers of ADP were more phosphorylated by pyruvate kinase and creatine kinase than the larger ones. But the relative rates of transformation by pyruvate kinase of large sized polymers were higher than those of smaller ones.