A fluorinated quinuclidine benzamide named LMA 10203 acts as an agonist of insect nicotinic acetylcholine receptors

In the present study, we take advantage of the fact that cockroach dorsal unpaired median neurons express different nicotinic acetylcholine receptor subtypes to demonstrate that simple quinuclidine benzamides such as the 2-fluorinated benzamide LMA 10203, could act as an agonist of cockroach alpha-bungarotoxin-insensitive nicotinic acetylcholine receptor subtype, called nAChR2. Indeed, 1 mM LMA 10203 induced ionic currents which were partially blocked by 0.5 muM alpha-bungarotoxin and methyllycaconitine and completely blocked by 5 muM mecamylamine. Moreover, the current-voltage curve revealed that the ionic current induced by LMA 10203 increased from -30 mV to +20 mV confirming that it acted as an agonist of alpha-bungarotoxin-insensitive nAChR2. In addition, 1 mM LMA 10203 induced a depolarization of the sixth abdominal ganglion and this neuroexcitatory activity was completely blocked by 5 muM mecamylamine. These data suggest that nAChR2 was also expressed at the postsynaptic level on the synapse between the cercal afferent nerve and the giant interneurons. Interestingly, despite LMA 10203 being an agonist of cockroach nicotinic receptors, it had a poor insecticidal activity. We conclude that LMA 10203 could be used as an interesting compound to identify specific insect nAChR subtypes

Pharmacological profile of zacopride and new quaternarized fluorobenzamide analogues on mammalian α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor

From quaternarization of quinuclidine enantiomers of 2-fluoro benzamide LMA10203 in dichloromethane, the corresponding N-chloromethyl derivatives LMA10227 and LMA10228 were obtained. Here, we compared the agonist action of known zacopride and its 2-fluoro benzamide analogues, LMA10203, LMA10227 and LMA10228 against mammalian homomeric α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor expressed in Xenopus oocytes. We found that LMA10203 was a partial agonist of α7 receptor with a pEC50 value of 4.25±0.06μM whereas LMA10227 and LMA10228 were poorly active on α7 homomeric nicotinic receptor. LMA10227 and LMA10228 were identified as antagonists of acetylcholine-induced currents with IC50 values of 28.4μM and 39.3μM whereas LMA10203 and zacopride possessed IC50 values of 8.07μM and 7.04μM, respectively. Moreover, despite their IC50 values, LMA10227 was the most potent inhibitor of nicotine-induced current amplitudes (65.7±2.1% inhibition). LMA10203 and LMA10228 had the same inhibitory effects (26.5±7.5% and 33.2±4.1%, respectively), whereas zacopride had no significant inhibitory effect (4.37±4%) on nicotine-induced responses. Our results revealed different pharmacological properties between the four compounds on acetylcholine and nicotine currents. The mode of action of benzamide compounds may need to be reinterpreted with respect to the potential role of α7 receptor

Quinuclidine compounds differently act as agonists of Kenyon cell nicotinic acetylcholine receptors and induced distinct effect on insect ganglionic depolarizations

We have recently demonstrated that a new quinuclidine benzamide compound named LMA10203 acted as an agonist of insect nicotinic acetylcholine receptors. Its specific pharmacological profile on cockroach dorsal unpaired median neurons (DUM) helped to identify alpha-bungarotoxin-insensitive nAChR2 receptors. In the present study, we tested its effect on cockroach Kenyon cells. We found that it induced an inward current demonstrating that it bounds to nicotinic acetylcholine receptors expressed on Kenyon cells. Interestingly, LMA10203-induced currents were completely blocked by the nicotinic antagonist alpha-bungarotoxin. We suggested that LMA10203 effect occurred through the activation of alpha-bungarotoxin-sensitive receptors and did not involve alpha-bungarotoxin-insensitive nAChR2, previously identified in DUM neurons. In addition, we have synthesized two new compounds, LMA10210 and LMA10211, and compared their effects on Kenyon cells. These compounds were members of the 3-quinuclidinyl benzamide or benzoate families. Interestingly, 1 mM LMA10210 was not able to induce an inward current on Kenyon cells compared to LMA10211. Similarly, we did not find any significant effect of LMA10210 on cockroach ganglionic depolarization, whereas these three compounds were able to induce an effect on the central nervous system of the third instar M. domestica larvae. Our data suggested that these three compounds could bind to distinct cockroach nicotinic acetylcholine receptors

Similar Comparative Low and High Doses of Deltamethrin and Acetamiprid Differently Impair the Retrieval of the Proboscis Extension Reflex in the Forager Honey Bee (Apis mellifera)

In the present study, the effects of low (10 ng/bee) and high (100 ng/bee) doses of acetamiprid and deltamethrin insecticides on multi-trial learning and retrieval were evaluated in the honey bee Apis mellifera. After oral application, acetamiprid and deltamethrin at the concentrations used were not able to impair learning sessions. When the retention tests were performed 1 h, 6 h, and 24 h after learning, we found a significant difference between bees after learning sessions when drugs were applied 24 h before learning. Deltamethrin-treated bees were found to be more sensitive at 10 ng/bee and 100 ng/bee doses compared to acetamiprid-treated bees, only with amounts of 100 ng/bee and at 6 h and 24 h delays. When insecticides were applied during learning sessions, none of the tested insecticides was able to impair learning performance at 10 ng/bee or 100 ng/bee but retention performance was altered 24 h after learning sessions. Acetamiprid was the only one to impair retrieval at 10 ng/bee, whereas at 100 ng/bee an impairment of retrieval was found with both insecticides. The present results therefore suggest that acetamiprid and deltamethrin are able to impair retrieval performance in the honey bee Apis mellifera

Imidacloprid and thiacloprid neonicotinoids bind more favourably to cockroach than to honeybee alpha6 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor: insights from computational studies

The binding interactions of two neonicotinoids, imidacloprid (IMI) and thiacloprid (THI) with the extracellular domains of cockroach and honeybee alpha6 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) subunits in an homomeric receptor have been studied through docking and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The binding mode predicted for the two neonicotinoids is validated through the good agreement observed between the theoretical results with the crystal structures of the corresponding complexes with Ac-AChBP, the recognized structural surrogate for insects nAChR extracellular ligand binding domain. The binding site of the two insect alpha6 receptors differs by only one residue of loop D, a serine residue (Ser83) in cockroach being replaced by a lysine residue (Lys108) in honeybee. The docking results show very close interactions for the two neonicotinoids with both alpha6 nAChR models, in correspondence to the trends observed in the experimental neonicotinoid-Ac-AChBP complexes. However, the docking parameters (scores and energies) are not significantly different between the two insect alpha6 nAChRs to draw clear conclusions. The MD results bring distinct trends. The analysis of the average interaction energies in the two insects alpha6 nAChRs shows indeed better affinity of neonicotinoids bound to alpha6 cockroach compared to honeybee nAChR. This preference is explained by tighter contacts with aromatic residues (Trp and Tyr) of the binding pocket. Interestingly, the non-conserved residue Lys108 of loop D of alpha6 honeybee nAChR interacts through van der Waals contacts with neonicotinoids, which appear more favourable than the direct or water mediated hydrogen-bond interaction between the OH group of Ser83 of alpha6 cockroach nAChR and the electronegative terminal group of the two neonicotinoids (nitro in IMI and cyano in THI). Finally, in both insects nAChRs, THI is consistently found to bind more favourably than IMI

Efficient stereoselective syntheses of natural alkaloids : (-)-Nicotine and (-)-Lobeline

Communication par affiche intitulée (présentée par M. Mathé-Allainmat : Efficient stereoselective syntheses of natural alkaloids : (-)-Nicotine and (-)-Lobelin