Chemical inhibition of fatty acid absorption and cellular uptake limits lipotoxic cell death

Chronic elevation of plasma free fatty acid (FFA) levels is commonly associated with obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and some cancers. Experimental evidence indicates FFA and their metabolites contribute to disease development through lipotoxicity. Previously, we identified a specific fatty acid transport inhibitor CB16.2, a.k.a. Lipofermata, using high throughput screening methods. In this study, efficacy of transport inhibition was measured in four cell lines that are models for myocytes (mmC2C12), pancreatic ß-cells (rnINS-1E), intestinal epithelial cells (hsCaco-2), and hepatocytes (hsHepG2), as well as primary human adipocytes. The compound was effective in inhibiting uptake with IC50s between 3 and 6 μM for all cell lines except human adipocytes (39 μM). Inhibition was specific for long and very long chain fatty acids but had no effect on medium chain fatty acids (C6-C10), which are transported by passive diffusion. Derivatives of Lipofermata were evaluated to understand structural contributions to activity. Lipofermata prevented palmitate-mediated oxidative stress, induction of BiP and CHOP, and cell death in a dose-dependent manner in hsHepG2 and rnINS-1E cells, suggesting it will prevent induction of fatty acid-mediated cell death pathways and lipotoxic disease by channeling excess fatty acids to adipose tissue and away from liver and pancreas. Importantly, mice dosed orally with Lipofermata were not able to absorb 13C-oleate demonstrating utility as an inhibitor of fatty acid absorption from the gut

Identification of Specific Ligand–Receptor Interactions That Govern Binding and Cooperativity of Diverse Modulators to a Common Metabotropic Glutamate Receptor 5 Allosteric Site

A common metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 (mGlu₅) allosteric site is known to accommodate diverse chemotypes. However, the structural relationship between compounds from different scaffolds and mGlu₅ is not well understood. In an effort to better understand the molecular determinants that govern allosteric modulator interactions with mGlu₅, we employed a combination of site-directed mutagenesis and computational modeling. With few exceptions, six residues (P654, Y658, T780, W784, S808, and A809) were identified as key affinity determinants across all seven allosteric modulator scaffolds. To improve our interpretation of how diverse allosteric modulators occupy the common allosteric site, we sampled the wealth of mGlu₅ structure–activity relationship (SAR) data available by docking 60 ligands (actives and inactives) representing seven chemical scaffolds into our mGlu₅ comparative model. To spatially and chemically compare binding modes of ligands from diverse scaffolds, the ChargeRMSD measure was developed. We found a common binding mode for the modulators that placed the long axes of the ligands parallel to the transmembrane helices 3 and 7. W784 in TM6 not only was identified as a key NAM cooperativity determinant across multiple scaffolds, but also caused a NAM to PAM switch for two different scaffolds. Moreover, a single point mutation in TM5, G747V, altered the architecture of the common allosteric site such that 4-nitro-<i>N</i>-(1,3-diphenyl-1<i>H</i>-pyrazol-5-yl)­benzamide (VU29) was noncompetitive with the common allosteric site. Our findings highlight the subtleties of allosteric modulator binding to mGlu₅ and demonstrate the utility in incorporating SAR information to strengthen the interpretation and analyses of docking and mutational data

Tetrahydronaphthyridine and Dihydronaphthyridinone Ethers As Positive Allosteric Modulators of the Metabotropic Glutamate Receptor 5 (mGlu₅)

Positive allosteric modulators (PAMs) of metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 (mGlu₅) represent a promising therapeutic strategy for the treatment of schizophrenia. Starting from an acetylene-based lead from high throughput screening, an evolved bicyclic dihydronaphthyridinone was identified. We describe further refinements leading to both dihydronaphthyridinone and tetrahydronaphthyridine mGlu₅ PAMs containing an alkoxy-based linkage as an acetylene replacement. Exploration of several structural features including western pyridine ring isomers, positional amides, linker connectivity/position, and combinations thereof, reveal that these bicyclic modulators generally exhibit steep SAR and within specific subseries display a propensity for pharmacological mode switching at mGlu₅ as well as antagonist activity at mGlu₃. Structure–activity relationships within a dihydronaphthyridinone subseries uncovered <b>12c</b> (VU0405372), a selective mGlu₅ PAM with good in vitro potency, low glutamate fold-shift, acceptable DMPK properties, and in vivo efficacy in an amphetamine-based model of psychosis