Lead Series (lead + series)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


A flexible approach to the design of new potent substance P receptor ligands

JOURNAL OF PHARMACY AND PHARMACOLOGY: AN INTERNATI ONAL JOURNAL OF PHARMACEUTICAL SCIENCE, Issue 7 2001
R. Millet
The development of small-molecule antagonists of the substance-P-preferring tachykinin NK1 receptor offers an excellent opportunity to exploit these molecules as novel therapeutic agents in diverse pathologies such as depression, emesis or asthma. GR71251 has previously been identified as a potent and selective substance-P-receptor antagonist. We have therefore undertaken the synthesis of new pseudopeptidic analogues based on the C-terminal sequence of GR71251. The evaluation of binding affinities toward NK1 and NK2 receptors has enabled us to propose new selective NK1 ligands with high affinity. Structure-activity relationships showed that the Trp-OBzl(CF3)2 moiety is essential for NK1 affinity and that the introduction of building units such as spirolactam, lactam or proline, leading to a constrained peptide, increased selectivity for NK1 receptors. These compounds constitute a useful starting point for new substance P antagonists and represent an attractive lead series for further studies on the design of specific NK1 antagonists. [source]


New Allosteric Modulators of Metabotropic Glutamate Receptor 5 (mGluR5) Found by Ligand-Based Virtual Screening

CHEMBIOCHEM, Issue 4 2005
Steffen Renner
Ligand-based pharmacophore searching identified new allosteric modulators of metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 (mGluR5), a class III G protein-coupled receptor. This virtual-screening approach can be seen as a working alternative to more demanding structure-based design techniques with the main aim of developing novel lead series. [source]


Discovery and Design of Novel HSP90 Inhibitors Using Multiple Fragment-based Design Strategies

CHEMICAL BIOLOGY & DRUG DESIGN, Issue 1 2007
Jeffrey R. Huth
The molecular chaperone HSP90 has been shown to facilitate cancer cell survival by stabilizing key proteins responsible for a malignant phenotype. We report here the results of parallel fragment-based drug design approaches in the design of novel HSP90 inhibitors. Initial aminopyrimidine leads were elaborated using high-throughput organic synthesis to yield nanomolar inhibitors of the enzyme. Second site leads were also identified which bound to HSP90 in two distinct conformations, an ,open' and ,closed' form. Intriguingly, linked fragment approaches targeting both of these conformations were successful in producing novel, micromolar inhibitors. Overall, this study shows that, with only a few fragment hits, multiple lead series can be generated for HSP90 due to the inherent flexibility of the active site. Thus, ample opportunities exist to use these lead series in the development of clinically useful HSP90 inhibitors for the treatment of cancers. [source]


Improved 2,4-Diarylthiazole-Based Antiprion Agents: Switching the Sense of the Amide Group at C5 Leads to an Increase in Potency

CHEMMEDCHEM, Issue 9 2010

Abstract Amide derivatives of 2,4-diarylthiazole-5-carboxylic acids were synthesised and tested for efficacy in a cell line model of prion disease. A number of compounds demonstrating antiprion activity were thereby identified from the screening libraries, showing improved potency and reproducibility of results relative to amide derivatives of the related 2,4-diphenyl-5-aminothiazole, which have been documented previously. Thus, 'switching' the sense of the amide bond at thiazole C5 revealed a more promising lead series of potential prion disease therapeutics. Furthermore, 3,5-diaryl-1,2,4-thiadiazoles isolated as by-products during library synthesis provided a handful of additional examples possessing an antiprion effect, thereby augmenting the set of newly identified active compounds. Evaluation of binding to cellular prion protein (PrPC) showed only weak affinities at best, suggesting that the newly identified antiprion agents do not mediate their biological effect through direct interaction with PrPC. [source]