Mutated Toll-like receptor 9 increases Alzheimer's disease risk by compromising innate immunity protection.

The development of Alzheimer's disease (AD) involves central and peripheral immune deregulation. Gene identification and studies of AD genetic variants of peripheral immune components may aid understanding of peripheral-central immune crosstalk and facilitate new opportunities for therapeutic intervention. In this study, we have identified in a Flanders-Belgian family a novel variant p.E317D in the Toll-like receptor 9 gene (TLR9), co-segregating with EOAD in an autosomal dominant manner. In human, TLR9 is an essential innate and adaptive immune component predominantly expressed in peripheral immune cells. The p.E317D variant caused 50% reduction in TLR9 activation in the NF-κB luciferase assay suggesting that p.E317D is a loss-of-function mutation. Cytokine profiling of human PBMCs upon TLR9 activation revealed a predominantly anti-inflammatory response in contrast to the inflammatory responses from TLR7/8 activation. The cytokines released upon TLR9 activation suppressed inflammation and promoted phagocytosis of Aß42 oligomers in human iPSC-derived microglia. Transcriptome analysis identified upregulation of AXL, RUBICON and associated signaling pathways, which may underline the effects of TLR9 signaling-induced cytokines in regulating the inflammatory status and phagocytic property of microglia. Our data suggest a protective role of TLR9 signaling in AD pathogenesis, and we propose that TLR9 loss-of-function may disrupt a peripheral-central immune crosstalk that promotes dampening of inflammation and clearance of toxic protein species, leading to the build-up of neuroinflammation and pathogenic protein aggregates in AD development.

Post-translational insertion of boron in proteins to probe and modulate function.

Boron is absent in proteins, yet is a micronutrient. It possesses unique bonding that could expand biological function including modes of Lewis acidity not available to typical elements of life. Here we show that post-translational Cß-Bγ bond formation provides mild, direct, site-selective access to the minimally sized residue boronoalanine (Bal) in proteins. Precise anchoring of boron within complex biomolecular systems allows dative bond-mediated, site-dependent protein Lewis acid-base-pairing (LABP) by Bal. Dynamic protein-LABP creates tunable inter- and intramolecular ligand-host interactions, while reactive protein-LABP reveals reactively accessible sites through migratory boron-to-oxygen Cß-Oγ covalent bond formation. These modes of dative bonding can also generate de novo function, such as control of thermo- and proteolytic stability in a target protein, or observation of transient structural features via chemical exchange. These results indicate that controlled insertion of boron facilitates stability modulation, structure determination, de novo binding activities and redox-responsive 'mutation'.

Hydrogen Bonding Phase-Transfer Catalysis with Ionic Reactants: Enantioselective Synthesis of γ-Fluoroamines.

Ammonium salts are used as phase-transfer catalysts for fluorination with alkali metal fluorides. We now demonstrate that these organic salts, specifically azetidinium triflates, are suitable substrates for enantioselective ring opening with CsF and a chiral bis-urea catalyst. This process, which highlights the ability of hydrogen bonding phase-transfer catalysts to couple two ionic reactants, affords enantioenriched γ-fluoroamines in high yields. Mechanistic studies underline the role of the catalyst for phase-transfer, and computed transition state structures account for the enantioconvergence observed for mixtures of achiral azetidinium diastereomers. The N-substituents in the electrophile influence the reactivity, but the configuration at nitrogen is unimportant for the enantioselectivity.

3,3-Difluoro-3,4,5,6-tetrahydropyridin-2-amines: Potent and permeable BACE-1 inhibitors.

Since its discovery in 1999, BACE-1, a membrane anchored aspartyl protease expressed primarily in the CNS, has been the target of numerous medicinal chemistry research programs. These efforts have produced highly potent inhibitors with nanomolar affinity and ever-increasing structural complexity. However, only a handful of these molecules have been able to combine in vitro potency with CNS permeability and progressed to the clinic. Herein, we describe a set of novel piperidine-based inhibitors. This investigation culminated with the identification of 43, a highly potent (IC50: 1.5 nM), permeable BACE-1 inhibitor with a low susceptibility to Pgp-mediatedefflux.

Bench-Stable Transfer Reagent Facilitates the Generation of Trifluoromethyl-sulfonimidamides.

Sulfonimidamides are an emerging bioisosteric replacement in medicinal chemistry projects, and therefore new chemistries are necessary to access this functionality. The general synthesis of CF3-sulfonimidamides from an activated bench-stable transfer reagent is described. A diverse reaction scope is demonstrated, with a wide range of nucleophilic amines being tolerated in this transformation. The CF3-sulfonimidamides obtained contain an additional diversity point, in the form a protected imine, that could be unmasked to allow late stage modifications.

The Synthesis of Trifluoromethyl-sulfonimidamides from Sulfinamides.

A general synthesis of CF3-sulfonimidamides from sulfinamides under both batch and continuous flow conditions is described. The reaction proceeds via a sulfonimidoyl fluoride intermediate. A reaction scope showing good group variation on the substituents of both nitrogen atoms is also presented.

The evolution of amidine-based brain penetrant BACE1 inhibitors.

Beta site amyloid precursor protein cleaving enzyme 1 (BACE1) inhibitors hold great potential as disease modifying anti-Alzheimer's drugs. This digest provides an overview of the amidine containing class of BACE1 inhibitors, of which multiple examples are now progressing through clinical trials. The various structural modifications highlight the struggle to combine potency with the optimal properties for a brain penetrant BACE1 inhibitor, and illustrate the crowded competitive landscape. This overview concludes with a summary of potential issues including substrate and target selectivity and a synopsis of the status of the current and past clinical assets.

Anilinotriazoles as potent gamma secretase modulators.

The design and synthesis of a novel series of potent gamma secretase modulators is described. Exploration of various spacer groups between the triazole ring and the aromatic appendix in 2 has led to anilinotriazole 28, which combined high in vitro and in vivo potency with an acceptable drug-like profile.

Structural basis for the oligomerization-facilitated NLRP3 activation.

The NACHT-, leucine-rich-repeat-, and pyrin domain-containing protein 3 (NLRP3) is a critical intracellular inflammasome sensor and an important clinical target against inflammation-driven human diseases. Recent studies have elucidated its transition from a closed cage to an activated disk-like inflammasome, but the intermediate activation mechanism remains elusive. Here we report the cryo-electron microscopy structure of NLRP3, which forms an open octamer and undergoes a ~ 90° hinge rotation at the NACHT domain. Mutations on open octamer's interfaces reduce IL-1ß signaling, highlighting its essential role in NLRP3 activation/inflammasome assembly. The centrosomal NIMA-related kinase 7 (NEK7) disrupts large NLRP3 oligomers and forms NEK7/NLRP3 monomers/dimers which is a critical step preceding the assembly of the disk-like inflammasome. These data demonstrate an oligomeric cooperative activation of NLRP3 and provide insight into its inflammasome assembly mechanism.

Copper-mediated radical trifluoromethylation of unsaturated potassium organotrifluoroborates.

Copper-mediated trifluoromethylation of unsaturated organotrifluoroborates with the Langlois reagent (NaSO2CF3) and TBHP allows the introduction of trifluoromethyl groups into a variety of organic substructures. The reactions are easy to set up, the conditions are mild and general, and the process provides access to trifluoromethylated alkynes, alkenes, arenes, and heteroarenes in fair to good yields.

Synthesis and minisci reactions of organotrifluoroborato building blocks.

Copper-catalyzed borylation of a variety of organic halides with bis(pinacolato)diboron allows the preparation of diverse potassium organotrifluoroborates. The reactions are mild and general, providing access to a variety of interesting, boron-containing building blocks, including those containing piperidine, pyrrole, azetidine, tetrahydropyran, and oxetane substructures. Representative Minisci reactions are reported for select examples.

Design and synthesis of bicyclic heterocycles as potent γ-secretase modulators.

The evolution of amide 3 into conformationally restricted bicyclic triazolo-piperidine 14-S as a γ-secretase modulator is described. This is a potential disease modifying anti-Alzheimer's drug which demonstrated high in vitro and in vivo potency against Aß42 peptide, reduced lipophilicity and enhanced brain free fraction compared to the previous series.

Suzuki coupling of potassium cyclopropyl- and alkoxymethyltrifluoroborates with benzyl chlorides.

Efficient Csp(3)-Csp(3) Suzuki couplings have been developed with both potassium cyclopropyl- and alkoxymethyltrifluoroborates. Moderate to good yields have been achieved in the cross-coupling of potassium cyclopropyltrifluoroborate with benzyl chlorides possessing electron-donating or electron-withdrawing substituents. Benzyl chloride was also successfully cross-coupled to potassium alkoxymethyltrifluoroborates derived from primary, secondary, and tertiary alcohols.

Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling of potassium alkoxyethyltrifluoroborates: access to aryl/heteroarylethyloxy motifs.

The introduction of an alkoxyethyl moiety onto aromatic substructures has remained a long-standing challenge for synthetic organic chemists. The main reasons are the inherent instability of alkoxyethylmetallic species and the lack of general procedures to access them. A new method utilizing a cross-coupling strategy based on the exceptional properties of organotrifluoroborates has been developed, and the method allows an easy and efficient installation of this unit on a broad range of aryl and heteroaryl bromides.

Reductive site-selective atypical C,Z-type/N2-C2 cleavage allows C-terminal protein amidation.

Biomolecule environments can enhance chemistries with the potential to mediate and modulate self-modification (e.g., self-cleavage). While these enhanced modes are found in certain biomolecules (e.g., RNA ribozymes), it is more rare in proteins. Targeted proteolytic cleavage is vital to physiology, biotechnology, and even emerging therapy. Yet, purely chemically induced methods for the site-selective cleavage of proteins remain scarce. Here, as a proof of principle, we designed and tested a system intended to combine protein-enhanced chemistry with tag modification to enable synthetic reductive protein chemistries promoted by diboron. This reductively driven, single-electron chemistry now enables an operationally simple, site-selective cleavage protocol for proteins directed to readily accessible dehydroalanine (Dha) residues as tags under aqueous conditions and in cell lysates. In this way, a mild, efficient, enzyme-free method now allows not only precise chemical proteolysis but also simultaneous use in the removal of affinity tags and/or protein-terminus editing to create altered N- and C-termini such as protein amidation (─CONH2).

A Brain-Penetrant and Bioavailable Pyrazolopiperazine BACE1 Inhibitor Elicits Sustained Reduction of Amyloid ß In Vivo.

We recently disclosed a set of heteroaryl-fused piperazine inhibitors of BACE1 that combined nanomolar potency with good intrinsic permeability and low Pgp-mediated efflux. Herein we describe further work on two prototypes of this family of inhibitors aimed at modulating their basicity and reducing binding to the human ether-a-go-go-related gene (hERG) channel. This effort has led to the identification of compound 36, a highly potent (hAß42 cell IC50 = 1.3 nM), cardiovascularly safe, and orally bioavailable compound that elicited sustained Aß42 reduction in mouse and dog animal models.

Scaffold Hopping to Imidazo[1,2-a]pyrazin-8-one Positive Allosteric Modulators of Metabotropic Glutamate 2 Receptor.

Glutamate hyperfunction is implicated in multiple neurological and psychiatric diseases. Activation of the mGlu2 receptor results in reduced glutamate release and decreased excitability representing a promising novel therapeutic agent for the treatment of disorders such as epilepsy, schizophrenia, mood, anxiety, and other neuropsychiatric disorders. We have previously reported substantial efforts leading to potent and selective mGlu2 PAMs from different chemical series. Herein, the discovery and optimization of a novel series of imidazopyrazinone mGlu2 PAMs are reported. This new scaffold originated from computational searching of fragment databases and comparison with our previously explored scaffolds. Optimization guided by our robust understanding of SAR from former series led to potent, selective, and brain-penetrant compounds.

Scaffold hopping from pyridones to imidazo[1,2-a]pyridines. New positive allosteric modulators of metabotropic glutamate 2 receptor.

Imidazo[1,2-a]pyridines were identified via their shape and electrostatic similarity as novel positive allosteric modulators of the metabotropic glutamate 2 receptor. The subsequent synthesis and SAR are described. Potent, selective and metabolically stable compounds were found representing a promising avenue for current further studies.

Small Molecule Binding to Alzheimer Risk Factor CD33 Promotes Aß Phagocytosis.

Polymorphism in the microglial receptor CD33 gene has been linked to late-onset Alzheimer disease (AD), and reduced expression of the CD33 sialic acid-binding domain confers protection. Thus, CD33 inhibition might be an effective therapy against disease progression. Progress toward discovery of selective CD33 inhibitors has been hampered by the absence of an atomic resolution structure. We report here the crystal structures of CD33 alone and bound to a subtype-selective sialic acid mimetic called P22 and use them to identify key binding residues by site-directed mutagenesis and binding assays to reveal the molecular basis for its selectivity toward sialylated glycoproteins and glycolipids. We show that P22, when presented on microparticles, increases uptake of the toxic AD peptide, amyloid-ß (Aß), into microglial cells. Thus, the sialic acid-binding site on CD33 is a promising pharmacophore for developing therapeutics that promote clearance of the Aß peptide that is thought to cause AD.