Predicting oral absorption and bioavailability.
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to Barry C Jones.
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The design, synthesis, and pharmacological evaluation of a novel class of neurokinin-2 (NK2) antagonists 1-alkyl-5-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)-5-[2-[(3-substituted)-1-azetidinyl]ethyl]-2-piperidones (5-44) are described. These compounds are formally derived from 2 by incorporating the metabolically vulnerable N-methylamide function into a more stable six-membered ring lactam 4, resulting in increased stability in human liver microsome (HLM) preparations relative to 2 (T1/2(HLM) of 30 min vs <10 min for 2). This series was further optimized by replacing the 4,4-disubstituted piperidine functionality found in 4 with simple 3-substituted azetidines. This series, exemplified by 1-benzyl-5-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)-5-[2-[3-(4-morpholinyl)-1-azetidinyl]ethyl]-2-piperidone 5, was found to possess excellent functional potency for the NK2 receptor in the Rabbit pulmonary artery (RPA) assay (pA2 = 9.3) and increased in vitro metabolic stability (T1/2(HLM) = 70 min) relative to 4. Metabolic route identification studies revealed that N-benzyl oxidation was a major route in this relatively lipophilic lead (log D = 3.2). Further exploration of the N-lactam substituent SAR targeting reduced lipophilicity to attenuate P-450 metabolism revealed that incorporation of a cyclopropylmethyl group in this region of the molecule gave a balance of good potency and high metabolic stability. For example, the significantly less lipophilic analogue 29 (log D = 2.3) possessed both good functional potency (RPA, pA2 = 8.1) and high in vitro metabolic stability (T1/2(HLM) = 120 min). Optimization in this N-cyclopropylmethyllactam series by modification of the nature of the azetidine 3-substituent as a strategy to further increase potency and moderate log D led to the identification of sulfamide analogue 33, which possessed both excellent metabolic stability in vitro (T1/2(HLM) >120 min) and high potency in both RPA (pA2 = 8.9) and human bladder smooth muscle (pK(b) = 8.9) functional assays. In addition, NK2 antagonist 33 (IC50 = 4 nM) showed excellent selectivity over both the related human neurokinin receptors h-NK1 (IC50 = 7.9 microM) and h-NK3 (IC50 = 1.8 microM) in radioligand binding studies.
A combined protein and pharmacophore model for cytochrome P450 2C9 (CYP2C9) has been derived using various computational chemistry techniques. A combination of pharmacophore modeling (using 31 metabolic pathways for 27 substrates), protein modeling (using the rabbit CYP2C5/3 crystal structure), and molecular orbital calculations was used to derive a model that incorporated steric, electronic, and chemical stability properties. The initial pharmacophore model (based on a subset of 17 metabolic pathways for 16 substrates) and the protein model used to construct the combined model were derived independently and showed a large degree of complementarity. The combined model is in agreement with experimental results concerning the substrates used to derive the model and with site-directed mutagenesis data available for CYP2C9. The model has been successfully used to predict the metabolism of substrates not used to construct the model, of which four examples are discussed in detail. The model has also been successful in explaining the differences in substrate specificity between CYP2C9 and CYP2C19.