Development and preclinical evaluation of [18F]FBVM as a new potent PET tracer for vesicular acetylcholine transporter.

Age-related neurodegenerative diseases have in common the occurrence of cognitive impairment, a highly incapacitating process that involves the cholinergic neurotransmission system. The vesicular acetylcholine transporter (VAChT) positron emission tomography (PET) tracer [18F]fluoroethoxybenzovesamicol ((-)-[18F]FEOBV) has recently demonstrated its high value to detect alterations of the cholinergic system in Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and dementia with Lewy body. We present here the development of the new vesamicol derivative tracer (-)-(R,R)-5-[18F]fluorobenzovesamicol ((-)[18F]FBVM) that we compared to (-)[18F]FEOBV in the same experimental conditions. We show that: i) in vitro affinity for the VAChT was 50-fold higher for (-)FBVM (Ki = 0.9 ± 0.3 nM) than for (-)FEOBV (Ki = 61 ± 2.8 nM); ii) in vivo in rats, a higher signal-to-noise specific brain uptake and a lower binding to plasma proteins and peripheral defluorination were obtained for (-)[18F]FBVM compared to (-)[18F]FEOBV. Our findings demonstrate that (-)[18F]FBVM is a highly promising PET imaging tracer which could be sufficiently sensitive to detect in humans the cholinergic denervation that occurs in brain areas having a low density of VAChT such as the cortex and hippocampus.

Design, Synthesis and SAR in 2,4,7-Trisubstituted Pyrido[3,2-d]Pyrimidine Series as Novel PI3K/mTOR Inhibitors.

This work describes the synthesis, enzymatic activities on PI3K and mTOR, in silico docking and cellular activities of various uncommon 2,4,7 trisubstituted pyrido[3,2-d]pyrimidines. The series synthesized offers a chemical diversity in C-7 whereas C-2 (3-hydroxyphenyl) and C-4 groups (morpholine) remain unchanged, in order to provide a better understanding of the molecular determinants of PI3K selectivity or dual activity on PI3K and mTOR. Some C-7 substituents were shown to improve the efficiency on kinases compared to the 2,4-di-substituted pyrimidopyrimidine derivatives used as references. Six novel derivatives possess IC50 values on PI3Kα between 3 and 10 nM. The compounds with the best efficiencies on PI3K and mTOR induced micromolar cytotoxicity on cancer cell lines possessing an overactivated PI3K pathway.

Bis(het)aryl-1,2,3-triazole quinuclidines as α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor ligands: Synthesis, structure affinity relationships, agonism activity, [18F]-radiolabeling and PET study in rats.

In this paper we describe the design and synthesis of bis(Het)Aryl-1,2,3-triazole quinuclidine α7R ligands using an efficient three-step sequence including a Suzuki-Miyaura cross coupling reaction with commercially available and home-made boron derivatives. The exploration of SAR required the preparation of uncommon boron derivatives. Forty final drugs were tested for their ability to bind the target and nine of them exhibited Ki values below nanomolar concentrations. The best scores were always obtained when the 5-phenyl-2-thiophenyl core was attached to the triazole. The selectivity of these compounds towards the nicotinic α4ß2 and serotoninergic 5HT3 receptors was assessed and their brain penetration was quantified by the preparation and in vivo evaluation of two [18F] radiolabelled derivatives. It can be expected from our results that some of these compounds will be suitable for further developments and will have effects on cognitive disorders.

Rational Design, Pharmacomodulation, and Synthesis of Dual 5-Hydroxytryptamine 7 (5-HT7)/5-Hydroxytryptamine 2A (5-HT2A) Receptor Antagonists and Evaluation by [(18)F]-PET Imaging in a Primate Brain.

We report the synthesis of 46 tertiary amine-bearing N-alkylated benzo[d]imidazol-2(3H)-ones, imidazo[4,5-b]pyridin-2(3H)-ones, imidazo[4,5-c]pyridin-2(3H)-ones, benzo[d]oxazol-2(3H)-ones, oxazolo[4,5-b]pyridin-2(3H)-ones and N,N'-dialkylated benzo[d]imidazol-2(3H)-ones. These compounds were evaluated against 5-HT7R, 5-HT2AR, 5-HT1AR, and 5-HT6R as potent dual 5-HT7/5-HT2A serotonin receptors ligands. A thorough study of the structure-activity relationship of the aromatic rings and their substituents, the alkyl chain length and the tertiary amine was conducted. 1-(4-(4-(4-Fluorobenzoyl)piperidin-1-yl)butyl)-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-2(3H)-one (79) and 1-(6-(4-(4-fluorobenzoyl)piperidin-1-yl)hexyl)-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-2(3H)-one (81) were identified as full antagonist ligands on cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP, KB = 4.9 and 5.9 nM, respectively) and inositol monophosphate (IP1, KB = 0.6 and 16 nM, respectively) signaling pathways of 5-HT7R and 5-HT2AR. Both antagonists crossed the blood-brain barrier as evaluated with [(18)F] radiolabeled compounds [(18)F]79 and [(18)F]81 in a primate's central nervous system using positron emission tomography. Both radioligands showed standard uptake values ranging from 0.8 to 1.1, a good plasmatic stability, and a distribution consistent with 5-HT7R and 5-HT2AR in the CNS.