Abstract
Drug discovery programs increasingly are focusing on allosteric modulators as a means to modify the activity of G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) targets. Allosteric binding sites are topographically distinct from the endogenous ligand (orthosteric) binding site, which allows for co-occupation of a single receptor with the endogenous ligand and an allosteric modulator that can alter receptor pharmacological characteristics. Negative allosteric modulators (NAMs) inhibit and positive allosteric modulators (PAMs) enhance the affinity and/or efficacy of orthosteric agonists. Established approaches for estimation of affinity and efficacy values for orthosteric ligands are not appropriate for allosteric modulators, and this presents challenges for fully understanding the actions of novel modulators of GPCRs. Metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 (mGlu5) is a family C GPCR for which a large array of allosteric modulators have been identified. We took advantage of the many tools for probing allosteric sites on mGlu5 to validate an operational model of allosterism that allows quantitative estimation of modulator affinity and cooperativity values. Affinity estimates derived from functional assays fit well with affinities measured in radioligand binding experiments for both PAMs and NAMs with diverse chemical scaffolds and varying degrees of cooperativity. We observed modulation bias for PAMs when we compared mGlu5-mediated Ca2+ mobilization and extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 phosphorylation data. Furthermore, we used this model to quantify the effects of mutations that reduce binding or potentiation by PAMs. This model can be applied to PAM and NAM potency curves in combination with maximal fold-shift data to derive reliable estimates of modulator affinities.
Footnotes
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The online version of this article (available at http://molpharm.aspetjournals.org) contains supplemental material.
This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health National Institute of Mental Health [Grant 2R01-MH062646-13]; the National Institutes of Health National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke [Grant 2R01-NS031373-16A2]; the National Institutes of Health National Institute of Drug Abuse [Grant 1R01-DA023947]; the Molecular Libraries Probe Production Centers Network [Grants 5U54-MH84659-03, 5U54-MH84659-03S1]; a National Institutes of Health National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke National Research Service Award [Grant F32-NS071746] (to M.J.N.); a National Institutes of Health National Institute of Mental Health National Research Service Award [Grant F32-MH088234-02] (to J.M.R.); a National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression Maltz Investigator Award (to K.J.G.); an American Australian Association Merck Foundation fellowship (to K.J.G.); and a National Health and Medical Research Council (Australia) overseas biomedical postdoctoral training fellowship (to K.J.G.). P.J.C. is a consultant for Seaside Therapeutics and receives research support from Seaside Therapeutics and Johnson and Johnson/Janssen Pharmaceutica.
Article, publication date, and citation information can be found at http://molpharm.aspetjournals.org.
ABBREVIATIONS:
- mGlu
- metabotropic glutamate receptor
- methoxy-PEPy
- 3-methoxy-5-(pyridin-2-ylethynyl)pyridine
- CDPPB
- 3-cyano-N-(1,3-diphenyl-1H-pyrazol-5-yl)benzamide
- CPPHA
- N-{4-chloro-2-[(1,3-dioxo-1,3-dihydro-2H-isoindol-2-yl)methyl]phenyl}-2-hydroxybenzamide
- DMEM
- Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium
- ERK
- extracellular signal-regulated kinase
- GPCR
- G protein-coupled receptor
- HEK
- human embryonic kidney
- M-5MPEP
- 2-[2-(3-methoxyphenyl)ethynyl]-5-methylpyridine
- MPEP
- 2-methyl-6-(phenylethynyl)pyridine
- MTEP
- 3-[(2-methyl-1,3-thiazol-4-yl)ethynyl]pyridine
- NAM
- negative allosteric modulator
- PAM
- positive allosteric modulator
- SAR
- structure-activity relationship
- SIB-1757
- 6-methyl-2-(phenylazo)-3-pyridinol
- SIB-1893
- (E)-2-methyl-6-(2-phenylethenyl)pyridine
- VU0092273
- 1-{[4-(2-phenylethynyl)phenyl]carbonyl}piperidin-4-ol
- VU0285683
- 3-fluoro-5-[3-(pyridin-2-yl)-1,2,4-oxadiazol-5-yl]benzonitrile
- VU0357121
- 4-butoxy-N-(2,4-difluorophenyl)benzamide
- VU0360172
- N-cyclobutyl-6-[(3-fluorophenyl)ethynyl]nicotinamide hydrochloride
- VU0364289
- 2-{4-[2-(benzyloxy)acetyl]piperazin-1-yl}benzonitrile
- VU0366248
- N-(3-chloro-2-fluorophenyl)-3-cyano-5-fluorobenzamide
- VU0366249
- N-(3-chloro-4-fluorophenyl)-3-cyano-5-fluorobenzamide
- VU0405386
- N-tert-butyl-5-[(3-fluorophenyl)ethynyl]picolinamide
- VU0405398
- [5-[(3-fluorophenyl)ethynyl]pyridin-2-yl](3-hydroxyazetidin-1-yl)methanone
- VU0415051
- N-tert-butyl-6-[2-(3-fluorophenyl)ethynyl]pyridine-3-carboxamide
- VU0366058
- 2-(1,3-benzoxazol-2-ylamino)-4-(4-fluorophenyl)pyrimidine-5-carbonitrile
- VU29
- 4-nitro-N-(1,3-diphenyl-1H-pyrazol-5-yl)benzamide.
- Received June 9, 2012.
- Accepted August 2, 2012.
- Copyright © 2012 The American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics
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