De Novo Design, Synthesis, and Biological Evaluation of 3,4-Disubstituted Pyrrolidine Sulfonamides as Potent and Selective Glycine Transporter 1 Competitive Inhibitors

J Med Chem. 2018 Sep 13;61(17):7486-7502. doi: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.8b00295. Epub 2018 Jul 17.

Abstract

The development of glycine transporter 1 (GlyT1) inhibitors may offer putative treatments for schizophrenia and other disorders associated with hypofunction of the glutaminergic N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor. Herein, we describe the synthesis and biological evaluation of a series of 3,4-disubstituted pyrrolidine sulfonamides as competitive GlyT1 inhibitors that arose from de novo scaffold design. Relationship of chemical structure to drug-drug interaction (DDI) and bioactivation was mechanistically investigated. Murine studies were strategically incorporated into the screening funnel to provide early assessments of in vivo target occupancy (TO) by ex vivo binding studies. Advanced compounds derived from iterative structure-activity relationship (SAR) studies possessed high potency in ex vivo binding studies and good brain penetration, promising preliminary in vivo efficacy, acceptable preclinical pharmacokinetics, and manageable DDI and bioactivation liabilities.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Brain / drug effects*
  • Brain / metabolism
  • Chemistry Techniques, Synthetic
  • Dogs
  • Dose-Response Relationship, Drug
  • Drug Design
  • Glycine Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins / antagonists & inhibitors*
  • Glycine Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins / metabolism
  • Humans
  • Madin Darby Canine Kidney Cells
  • Male
  • Mice, Inbred Strains
  • Microsomes, Liver / drug effects
  • Motor Activity / drug effects
  • Oocytes / drug effects
  • Oocytes / metabolism
  • Pyrrolidines / chemistry*
  • Pyrrolidinones / adverse effects
  • Rats, Sprague-Dawley
  • Structure-Activity Relationship
  • Sulfonamides / chemistry*
  • Xenopus

Substances

  • Glycine Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins
  • Pyrrolidines
  • Pyrrolidinones
  • SLC6A9 protein, human
  • Slc6a9 protein, mouse
  • Sulfonamides
  • L 687414