N-(2-Hydroxyphenyl)-1-[3-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1Hbenzimidazol-1-yl)propyl]piperidine-4-Carboxamide (D2AAK4), a Multi-Target Ligand of Aminergic GPCRs, as a Potential Antipsychotic

N-(2-hydroxyphenyl)-1-[3-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzimidazol -1-yl)propyl]piperidine-4-carboxamide (D2AAK4) is a multitarget ligand of aminergic G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) identified in structure-based virtual screening. Here we present detailed in vitro, in silico and in vivo investigations of this virtual hit. D2AAK4 has an atypical antipsychotic profile and low affinity to off-targets. It interacts with aminergic GPCRs, forming an electrostatic interaction between its protonatable nitrogen atom and the conserved Asp 3.32 of the receptors. At the dose of 100 mg/kg D2AAK4 decreases amphetamine-induced hyperactivity predictive of antipsychotic activity, improves memory consolidation in passive avoidance test and has anxiogenic properties in elevated plus maze test (EPM). Further optimization of the virtual hit D2AAK4 will be aimed to balance its multitarget profile and to obtain analogs with anxiolytic activity.The research was performed under OPUS grant from National Science Center (NCN, Poland), grant number 2017/27/B/NZ7/01767 (to A.A.K). Calculations were partially performed under a computational grant by Interdisciplinary Center for Mathematical and Computational Modeling (ICM), Warsaw, Poland, grant number G30-18 (to A.A.K.), under resources and licenses from CSC, Finland (to A.A.K). In vitro pharmacology assays were performed with support from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO) (grant number SAF2014-57138-C2-1-R to M.C.). A.G.S. acknowledges funding from XUNTA de Galicia (Spain)S

Multi-Target Approach for Drug Discovery against Schizophrenia

Polypharmacology is nowadays considered an increasingly crucial aspect in discovering new drugs as a number of original single-target drugs have been performing far behind expectations during the last ten years. In this scenario, multi-target drugs are a promising approach against polygenic diseases with complex pathomechanisms such as schizophrenia. Indeed, second generation or atypical antipsychotics target a number of aminergic G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) simultaneously. Novel strategies in drug design and discovery against schizophrenia focus on targets beyond the dopaminergic hypothesis of the disease and even beyond the monoamine GPCRs. In particular these approaches concern proteins involved in glutamatergic and cholinergic neurotransmission, challenging the concept of antipsychotic activity without dopamine D2 receptor involvement. Potentially interesting compounds include ligands interacting with glycine modulatory binding pocket on N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptors, positive allosteric modulators of α-Amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid (AMPA) receptors, positive allosteric modulators of metabotropic glutamatergic receptors, agonists and positive allosteric modulators of α7 nicotinic receptors, as well as muscarinic receptor agonists. In this review we discuss classical and novel drug targets for schizophrenia, cover benefits and limitations of current strategies to design multi-target drugs and show examples of multi-target ligands as antipsychotics, including marketed drugs, substances in clinical trials, and other investigational compounds

Current Concepts and Treatments of Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia is a debilitating mental illness which involves three groups of symptoms, i.e., positive, negative and cognitive, and has major public health implications. According to various sources, it affects up to 1% of the population. The pathomechanism of schizophrenia is not fully understood and current antipsychotics are characterized by severe limitations. Firstly, these treatments are efficient for about half of patients only. Secondly, they ameliorate mainly positive symptoms (e.g., hallucinations and thought disorders which are the core of the disease) but negative (e.g., flat affect and social withdrawal) and cognitive (e.g., learning and attention disorders) symptoms remain untreated. Thirdly, they involve severe neurological and metabolic side effects and may lead to sexual dysfunction or agranulocytosis (clozapine). It is generally agreed that the interactions of antipsychotics with various neurotransmitter receptors are responsible for their effects to treat schizophrenia symptoms. In particular, several G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), mainly dopamine, serotonin and adrenaline receptors, are traditional molecular targets for antipsychotics. Comprehensive research on GPCRs resulted in the exploration of novel important signaling mechanisms of GPCRs which are crucial for drug discovery: intentionally non-selective multi-target compounds, allosteric modulators, functionally selective compounds and receptor oligomerization. In this review, we cover current hypotheses of schizophrenia, involving different neurotransmitter systems, discuss available treatments and present novel concepts in schizophrenia and its treatment, involving mainly novel mechanisms of GPCRs signaling

Development and validation of the HPLC method for varenicline determination in pharmaceutical preparation

A simple and accurate reverse phase HPLC method has been developed and validated for quantification of varenicline in bulk drug and pharmaceutical dosage forms. Herein, an isocratic LC analysis was carried out on a Chromolith Performance RP18e column with methanol-buffer solution pH 3.5 (a buffer solution containing sodium benzoate (0.5 mmol/l) adjusted to pH 3.5 with trifluoroacetic acid (20 mmol/l) (55:45, V/V)) at a flow rate of 1.2 ml/min. The detection wavelength was set at 320 nm. The calibration curve was linear (r = 0.9999) in the studied range of concentration (0.2-10 μg/ml). The selectivity and sensitivity of the elaborated method were satisfactory, and the limits of detection and quantification was less than 20% of the specification level. Moreover, the inter- and intra-day precisions was found to be less than 3% (RSD), while the recovery values expressing inter- and intra-day accuracy was varied from 99.73 to 101.23. The varenicline solution was stable over a period of 3 days on storage under refrigeration. The utility of the developed method was examined by analysing the tablets containing VAR. As a result, the method was found to be selective, sensitive, precise and accurate

Synthesis, Structural and Thermal Studies of 3-(1-Benzyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridin-4-yl)-5-ethoxy-1H-indole (D2AAK1_3) as Dopamine D2 Receptor Ligand

Compound D2AAK1_3 was designed as a modification of the lead structure D2AAK1 (an in vivo active multi-target compound with nanomolar affinity to a number of aminergic GPCRs) and synthesized in the reaction of 5-ethoxyindole and 1-benzyl-4-piperidone. This compound has an affinity to the human dopamine D2 receptor with Ki of 151 nM. The aim of these studies was the structural and thermal characterization of the compound D2AAK1_3. In particular; X-ray studies; molecular docking and molecular dynamics as well as thermal analysis were performed. The studied compound crystallizes in orthorhombic system; in chiral space group P212121. The compound has a non-planar conformation. The studied compound was docked to the novel X-ray structure of the human dopamine D2 receptor in the inactive state (PDB ID: 6CM4) and established the main contact between its protonatable nitrogen atom and Asp (3.32) of the receptor. The obtained binding pose was stable in molecular dynamics simulations. Thermal stability of the compound was investigated using the TG-DSC technique in the air atmosphere, while TG-FTIR analyses in air and nitrogen atmospheres were also performed. The studied compound is characterized by good thermal stability. The main volatile products of combustion are the following gases: CO2; H2O toluene and CO while in the case of pyrolysis process in the FTIR spectra; the characteristic bands of NH3; piperidine and indole are additionally observed