AGE-RELATED MACULAR DEGENERATION (AMD): FROM METABOLOMICS APPROACH TO THE INHIBITION OF PDK AS A NEW THERAPEUTIC TARGET

Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD) is a leading cause of vision loss in the western world among people aged 50 or older. 90% of all vision loss due to AMD results from the exudative form, which is characterized by choroidal neovascularization (CNV). Age-related changes that induce pathologic CNV are incompletely understood. A successful application of anti-VEGF approaches in the clinic is obviously a turning point in AMD treatment. Nevertheless, despite such important advances, critical issues remain to be addressed. To better understand the aetiology of this pathology, we used and improved a murine model of laser-induced choroidal neovascularization and applied a 1H NMR metabolomics study. This approach leads to the emergence of different putative biomarkers and to the validation of the CNV model for an experimental study of AMD. Among these “biomarkers”, lactate appears to be clearly involved in the development of AMD. The modulation of their plasma concentration by treatment of the animals with synthetic compounds and more specifically Pyruvate Dehydrogenase Kinase inhibitors (PDK) significantly decrease the impact of laser induced CNV. Starting from these results, the development of new PDHK inhibitors could open the way to innovative treatment opportunities in AMD diseas

3-Methyl-4H-pyrido[2,3-e]-1,2,4-thiadiazine 1,1-Dioxide

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N-Aryl-N'-(chroman-4-yl)ureas and thioureas display in vitro anticancer activity and selectivity on apoptosis-resistant glioblastoma cells: screening, synthesis of simplified derivatives, and structure-activity relationship analysis.

A series of chroman derivatives previously reported as potassium channel openers, as well as some newly synthesized simplified structures, were examined for their in vitro effects on the growth of three human high-grade glioma cell lines: U373, T98G, and Hs683. Significant in vitro growth inhibitory activity was observed with 2,2-dimethylchroman-type nitro-substituted phenylthioureas, such as compounds 4o and 4p. Interestingly, most tested phenylureas were found to be slightly less active, but more cell selective (normal versus tumor glial cells, such as 3d, 3e, and 3g), thus less toxic, than the corresponding phenylthioureas. No significant differences were observed in terms of chroman-derivative-induced growth inhibitory effects between glioma cells sensitive to pro-apoptotic stimuli (Hs683 glioma cells) and glioma cells associated with various levels of resistance to pro-apoptotic stimuli (U373 and T98G glioma cells), a feature that suggests non-apoptotic-mediated growth inhibition. Flow cytometry analyses confirmed the absence of pro-apoptotic effects for phenylthioureas and phenylureas when analyzed in U373 glioma cells and demonstrated U373 cell cycle arrest in the G0/G1 phase. Computer-assisted phase-contrast videomicroscopy revealed that 3d and 3g displayed cytostatic effects, while 3e displayed cytotoxic ones. As a result, this work identified phenylurea-type 2,2-dimethylchromans as a new class of antitumor agents to be further explored for an innovative therapeutic approach for high-grade glioma and/or for a possible new mechanism of action

New Fluorinated 1,2,4-Benzothiadiazine 1,1-Dioxides: Discovery of an Orally Active Cognitive Enhancer Acting through Potentiation of the 2-Amino-3-(3-hydroxy-5-methylisoxazol-4-yl)propionic Acid Receptors

In the search of a potent cognitive enhancer, a series of 3,4-dihydro-2H-1,2,4-benzothiadiazine 1,1-dioxides have been synthesized and evaluated as positive allosteric modulators of the AMPA receptors. In the present work, we focused our efforts on the insertion of mono- or polyfluoro- substituted alkyl chains at the 4-position of the thiadiazine ring in an attempt to enhance the pharmacokinetic behavior of previously described compounds. Among all the described compounds, 7-chloro-4-(2-fluoroethyl)-3,4-dihydro-2H-1,2,4-benzothiadiazine 1,1-dioxide, 12b, was shown to exert a strong activity on AMPA receptors in vitro and a marked cognitive-enhancing effect in vivo after oral administration to Wistar rats. Considering its in vivo activity, the metabolic degradation of 12b was studied and compared to that of its nonfluorinated analogue 9b. Taken together, results of this study clearly validated the positive impact of the fluorine atom on the alkyl chain at the 4-position of benzothiadiazine dioxides on activity and metabolic stability

Exploring thienothiadiazine dioxides as isosteric analogues of benzo-and pyridothiadiazine dioxides in the search of new AMPA and kainate receptor positive allosteric modulators

peer reviewedThe synthesis and biological evaluation on AMPA and kainate receptors of new examples of 3,4-dihydro-2H-1,2,4-thieno[3,2-e]-1,2,4-thiadiazine 1,1-dioxides is described. The introduction of a cyclopropyl chain instead of an ethyl chain at the 4-position of the thiadiazine ring was found to dramatically improve the potentiator activity on AMPA receptors, with compound 32 (BPAM395) expressing in vitro activity on AMPARs (EC2x = 0.24 μM) close to that of the reference 4-cyclopropyl-substituted benzothiadiazine dioxide 10 (BPAM344). Interestingly, the 4-allyl-substituted thienothiadiazine dioxide 27 (BPAM307) emerged as the most promising compound on kainate receptors being a more effective potentiator than the 4-cyclopropyl-substituted thienothiadiazine dioxide 32 and supporting the view that the 4-allyl substitution of the thiadiazine ring could be more favorable than the 4-cyclopropyl substitution to induce marked activity on kainate receptors versus AMPA receptors. The thieno-analogue 36 (BPAM279) of the clinically tested S18986 (11) was selected for in vivo evaluation in mice as a cognitive enhancer due to a safer profile than 32 after massive per os drug administration. Compound 36 was found to increase the cognition performance in mice at low doses (1 mg/kg) per os suggesting that the compound was well absorbed after oral administration and able to reach the central nervous system. Finally, compound 32 was selected for co-crystallization with the GluA2-LBD (L504Y,N775S) and glutamate to examine the binding mode of thienothiadiazine dioxides within the allosteric binding site of the AMPA receptor. At the allosteric site, this compound established similar interactions as the previously reported BTD-type AMPA receptor modulators

Novel dipyrazoles acting as glutamate modulators

Knowing the potential therapeutic interest of AMPA potentiation, patents have been published for 15 years relating the discovery of novel compounds able to allosterically bind to the AMPA receptors and leading to a potentiation of the AMPA signals. Besides this classical approach, a new target for the medicinal chemist has been defined due to the recent findings describing the modulation of AMPA receptors by neuronal proteins, and has led to the design of dipyrazole compounds by Aventis. These new dipyrazole derivatives may be considered as `indirect AMPApams', constituting a new pharmacological class. Based on their in vitro activity, it is probable that these compounds could be of therapeutic value for the treatment of cognitive disorders, schizophrenia or depression

Recent advances in drugs acting as tissue selective potassium channel openers

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Therapeutic and chemical developments of cholecystokinin receptor ligands

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Inhibition of PDH Kinase as a new therapeutic target for Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD)

Metabolomics is one of the most recent technologies in the world of Omics sciences. It aims at studying metabolome, which is composed of small molecular weight organic molecules (called metabolites) of a cell, an organism or a biological system. This approach gives rise to a growing number of applications in many areas, such as biomarkers discovery, clinical studies, drug efficacy and toxicity evaluation, diagnostic tools, quality control. One of the most interesting features of metabolomics is its capability to extract biochemical information reflecting biological events and then to be a powerful tool in the knowledge of the aetiology of some pathologies. Indeed, it is clear that every disease could alter more or less drastically the metabolic profile of the patients. Then a metabolomics approach could highlight the biochemical pathways affected and could allow the identification of new putative therapeutic strategies or targets that could be useful in a new drug discovery strategy. As proteomics, metabolomics approach represents a new and powerful tool for Medicinal Chemistry. Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD) is a leading cause of vision loss in the western world among people aged 50 or older. 90% of all vision loss due to AMD results from the exudative form, which is characterized by choroidal neovascularization (CNV). Age-related changes that induce pathologic CNV are incompletely understood. A successful application of anti-VEGF approaches in the clinic is obviously a turning point in AMD treatment. Nevertheless, despite such important advances, critical issues remain to be addressed. To better understand the aetiology of this pathology, we used and improved a murine model of laser-induced choroidal neovascularization and applied a 1H NMR metabolomics study. This approach leads to the emergence of different putative biomarkers and to the validation of the CNV model for an experimental study of AMD. Among these “biomarkers”, lactate appears to be clearly involved in the development of AMD. The modulation of their plasma concentration by treatment of the animals with synthetic compounds and more specifically Pyruvate DesHydrogenase Kinase inhibitors (PDHK) significantly decrease the impact of laser induced CNV. Starting from these results, the development of new PDHK inhibitors could open the way to innovative treatment opportunities in AMD disease.Design and synthesis of new pyruvate pehydrogenase kinase inhibitors (PDHK