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NEUROPHARMACOLOGY
Department of Pharmacology and Vanderbilt Institute of Chemical Biology Program in Drug Discovery, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee (K.H., Y.N., A.E.B., Q.L., C.M.N., P.J.C.); and Institute for Neurodegenerative Disorders, New Haven, Connecticut (H.D.C., G.D.T.)
Received November 14, 2006; accepted April 5, 2007.
| Abstract |
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q and phospholipase C, whereas group II and group III mGluRs couple to G
i (Conn and Pin, 1997
Group II mGluRs (mGluR2/3) are abundantly expressed in forebrain regions, such as cortex, hippocampus, striatum, and amygdala (Ohishi et al., 1998
). Activation of group II mGluRs by group-selective agonists, including (-)-2-oxa-4-aminobicyclo[3.1.0]hexane-4,6-dicarboxylate (LY379268) and methyl substitution of 2-aminobicyclo[3.1.0]hexane 2,6-dicarboxylate (LY354740), leads to robust anxiolytic-like effects and antipsychotic-like activity in rodents (Carter et al., 2004
; Linden et al., 2005
) and has also shown anxiolytic activity in humans (Grillon et al., 2003
). Whereas the therapeutic significance of group II mGluR antagonists has not been widely investigated, recent studies of selective competitive group II mGluR antagonists, including 2S-2-amino-2-(1S,2S-2-carboxycyclopropan-1-yl)-3-(xanth-9-yl)propionic acid (LY341495) and (1R,2R,3R,5R,6R)-2-amino-3-(3, 4-dichlorobenzyloxy)-6-fluorobicyclo[3.1.0] hexane-2,6-dicarboxylic acid (MGS0039), have suggested that these compounds exhibit antidepressant-like activity and antiobsessive-compulsive disorder-like effects in animal models (Chaki et al., 2004
; Shimazaki et al., 2004
; Palucha and Pilc, 2005
).
Due to the high level of conservation of the orthosteric binding site of mGluRs, it has proven difficult to develop subtype-specific ligands for these receptors. As such, the most widely used orthosteric antagonists for group II mGluRs show some level of activity at all mGluR subtypes (Kingston et al., 1998
). However, major advances have been made in developing highly selective antagonists of group I mGluRs by targeting allosteric sites on the receptor to non-competitively block receptor function (Gasparini et al., 1999
; Lavreysen et al., 2003
). The ability to achieve higher selectivity with these compounds is probably due to the fact that they bind within the seven-transmembrane (TM)-spanning domain of the mGluR, which is less highly conserved than the glutamate binding pocket. Moreover, allosteric antagonists may provide other advantages in that their activity is not altered by the presence of competing orthosteric agonists.
Recently, the discovery of two highly selective allosteric potentiators of mGluR2, N-(4-(2-methoxyphenoxy)phenyl)-N-(2,2,2-trifluoroethylsulfonyl)pyrid-3-ylmethylamine (LY487379) (Johnson et al., 2003
) and biphenyl-indanone A (BINA) (Galici et al., 2006
), has provided excellent tools to selectively activate this group II mGluR subtype. Less progress has been achieved with the discovery of negative allosteric modulators (allosteric antagonists) of group II mGluRs. However, preliminary report presented in abstract form suggested that a series of dihydro-benzo[1,4]diazepin-2-one derivatives may have allosteric activity at the group II mGluRs (Gatti et al., 2001
). Based on this finding, we synthesized a series of compounds based on the scaffold described by Adam et al. (2003
) and determined the activity of these molecules at group II mGluRs. Here we report that these compounds provide a novel family of potent and negative allosteric modulators that are active at both group II mGluR subtypes but are without effects on group I and group III mGluRs. These compounds are useful in both cell lines and in blocking electrophysiological effects of group II mGluRs in brain slices. Interestingly, these compounds do not alter binding to the orthosteric site and may act at an allosteric site that is distinct from that of recently described positive allosteric modulators that are selective for mGluR2.
| Materials and Methods |
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MNI-135. [3-(7-iodo-4-oxo-4,5-dihydro-3H-benzo[1,4]diazepin-2-yl)-benzonitrile]. Under N2, trifluoroacetic acid (30 mmol) was slowly added at 0°C to a solution of [4-iodo-2-[3-(2-cyano-pyridin-4-yl)-3-oxo-propionylamino]-phenyl]-carbamic acid tert-butyl ester (1.9 mmol) in dichloromethane (20 ml). The reaction was stirred 7 h at room temperature. The mixture was washed with 10% aqueous NaHCO3, the organic layer was dried over Na2SO4, and the solvent was removed on the rotary evaporator. The residue was purified by flash chromatography on silica gel using 60:40 hexane-ethyl acetate to yield 610 mg (80%) of MNI-135 as a white solid. Mp: 226°C; 1H NMR (DMSO),
ppm: 3.60 (2H, s), 7.21 (1H,d, J = 9.2 Hz), 7.557.57 (2H, m), 7.74 (1H,t, J = 7.6 Hz), 8.03 (1H,d, J = 7.6 Hz), 8.35 (1H, d, J = 8 Hz), 8.46 (1H, s), 10.62 (1H, s); 13C NMR (DMSO)
ppm: 40.0, 91.4, 112.1, 118.3, 129.8, 130.0, 130.2, 131.2, 131.6, 132.1, 132.7, 134.5, 138.0, 138.6, 157.2, 165.9; Anal. (C16H10IN3O) C, H, N, MS: 388.3 (M + 1).
MNI-136. [7-bromo-4-(3-pyridin-3-yl-phenyl)-1,3-dihydro-benzo [1,4] diazepin-2-one]. Under N2, N-(4-bromo-2-nitro-phenyl)-3-oxo-3-(3-pyridin-3-yl-phenyl)-propionamide (1.9 mmol) was dissolved in ethanol, and tin chloride (5.7 mmol) was added. The mixture was stirred 7 h at reflux. The solvent was evaporated, and the residue was basified with 1 N NaOH (pH 78) and extracted with ethyl acetate. The organic layer was dried over Na2SO4, and the solvent was removed on the rotary evaporator. The residue was purified by chromatography on silica gel using 70:30 hexane-ethyl acetate to yield 650 mg (86%) of MNI-136 as a white solid. Mp: 218°C; 1H NMR (DMSO)
ppm 3.66 (2H, s), 7.16 (1H,d, J = 8.8 Hz), 7.46 (1H, dd, J = 6 Hz, J = 9.2 Hz), 7.537.56 (1H, m), 7.64 (1H,d, J = 2.3 Hz), 7.69 (1H,t, J = 7.6 Hz), 7.95 (1H, d, 8.8 Hz), 8.12 (1H,d, J = 7.6 Hz), 8.18 (1H,d, J = 8 Hz), 8.36 (1H, s), 8.628.64 (1H, m), 8.978.99 (1H, m), 10.71 (1H, s); 13C NMR (DMSO)
ppm: 40.1, 115.8, 123.9, 124.0, 126.2, 127.3, 128.9, 129.6, 129.7, 129.8, 129.9, 134.3, 135.0, 137.6, 137.8, 140.7, 147.8, 148.9, 159.5, 166.0; Anal. (C20H14BrN3O) C, H, N, MS: 393.6 (M + 1).
MNI-137. [4-(7-bromo-4-oxo-4,5-dihydro-3H-benzo[1,4]diazepin-2-yl)-pyridine-2-carbonitrile]. Under N2, trifluoroacetic acid (30 mmol) was slowly added at 0°C to a solution of [4-bromo-2-[3-(2-cyanopyridin-4-yl)-3-oxo-propionylamino]-phenyl]-carbamic acid tert-butyl ester (3 mmol) in dichloromethane (20 ml). The reaction was stirred 7 h at room temperature. The mixture was washed with 10% NaHCO3, the organic layer was dried over Na2SO4, and the solvent was removed on the rotary evaporator. The residue was purified by chromatography on silica gel using 60:40 hexane-ethyl acetate to yield 610 mg (80%) of MNI-137 as a white solid. Mp: 238°C; 1H NMR (DMSO)
ppm: 3.65 (2H, s), 7.42 (3H, m), 8.25 (1H, dd, J = 1 Hz, J = 5 Hz), 8.54 (1H, s), 8.92 (1H,d, J = 5 Hz), 10.79 (1H, s); 13C NMR (DMSO),
ppm 40.2, 117.3, 119.5, 124.2, 125.1, 126.6, 127.1, 130.1, 131.7, 133.6, 137.8, 145.2, 152.3, 155.7, 165.7; Anal. (C15H9BrN4O) C, H, N, MS: 342.3 (M + 1).
Cell Culture and Transfections. Baby hamster kidney cells stably expressing the rat mGluR1a (rmGluR1a) were generously provided by Dr. Betty Haldeman (Zymogenetics, Seattle, WA). Cells were grown in Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium (DMEM) containing 5% heat-inactivated fetal bovine serum (FBS), 2 mM L-glutamine (GlutaMAX I; Invitrogen), antibiotic-antimycotic (100 U of penicillin, 100 µg of streptomycin, and 0.25 µg of amphotericin B), 1 mM sodium pyruvate, 20 mM HEPES, and 250 nM methotrexate. Rat mGluR2 and the promiscuous G protein, Gqi5, were cotransfected into HEK293A cells using Lipofectamine 2000 (Invitrogen) and were grown in DMEM containing 10% heat-inactivated FBS, 2 mM L-glutamine, antibiotic-antimycotic, 0.1 mM nonessential amino acids, and 20 mM HEPES. Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells stably expressing human mGluR2 (hmGluR2), which were transiently transfected with Gqi5, and CHO cells stably expressing both the hmGluR4 and Gqi5 were grown in DMEM containing 10% heat-inactivated dialyzed FBS, 2 mM L-glutamine, antibiotic-antimycotic, 1 mM sodium pyruvate, 20 mM HEPES, 5 nM methotrexate, and 20 µg/ml L-proline. CHO cells stably expressing the rmGluR3 were grown in DMEM containing 10% heat-inactivated FBS, 2 mM L-glutamine, 100 U of penicillin, 100 µg of streptomycin, 1 mM sodium pyruvate, 0.1 mM nonessential amino acids, and 20 mM HEPES. The rat mGluR8/Gqi9/CHO cell line was a generous gift of Jarda Wroblewska (Georgetown University, Washington, DC) and was maintained in 90% DMEM, 10% FBS, 100 U/ml penicillin/streptomycin, 20 mM HEPES (pH 7.3), 1 mM sodium pyruvate, and 2 mM glutamine supplemented with 800 µg/ml G418. HEK cells stably expressing rat mGluR7a were grown in 45% DMEM, 45% Ham's F12, 10% FBS, 100 U/ml penicillin/streptomycin, 20 mM HEPES (pH 7.3), 1 mM sodium pyruvate, 2 mM glutamine, 600 ng/ml puromycin dihydrochloride, and 700 µg/ml G418 at 37°C in the presence of 5% CO2.
Functional Calcium Mobilization Assay for mGluRs 1, 2, 4, and 5. Recombinant cell lines, including mGluR1, 2, 4, and 5, were plated at a seeding density of 7 to 8 x 105 cells/well in clear-bottomed, poly-D-lysine-coated 96-well plates. Cells were then incubated in glutamate/glutamine-free medium overnight at 37°C in an atmosphere of 95% O2/5%CO2, with the exception of baby hamster kidney cells stably expressing rmGluR1a, which were maintained in regular medium. Cells were loaded with calcium indicator dye (Calcium 3 Assay Kit) at 37°C for 1 h. Dye was removed and replaced with the appropriate volume of assay buffer containing 1x Hanks' balanced salt solution (HBSS), 20 mM HEPES, and 2.5 mM probenecid, pH 7.4. At this stage, cells were used for the calcium mobilization assay.
All test compounds were dissolved in 100% DMSO and then serially diluted into assay buffer containing 0.1% bovine serum albumin fora5x stock. The stock solution was added to the assay plate to a final DMSO concentration of 0.1%. Glutamate and L-AP4 were prepared as a 10x stock solution in assay buffer before addition to assay plates. Calcium mobilization was measured using the FLEXstation II (Molecular Devices). The signal amplitude was normalized as a percentage of the response to the nearly maximal concentration of glutamate (EC80) or as a percentage of the maximal response to glutamate (10 µM).
Functional Calcium Mobilization Assay for mGluR8. The rat mGluR8/Gqi9/CHO cell lines were plated at a seeding density of 4 x 105 cells/well in clear-bottomed, poly-D-lysine-coated 384-well plates (black-walled) in DMEM containing 10% FBS, 100 U/ml penicillin/streptomycin and 20 mM HEPES. Cells were plated in the morning and incubated at 42°C for 2 h in the afternoon before analysis ("heat shock") and then incubated overnight at 37°C in the presence of 5% CO2. On the day of the assay, the medium was removed, and 0.9 µM indicator dye fluo-4 was added in HBSS containing 20 mM HEPES, pH 7.3 (20 µl/well). Cells were incubated for 1 h at room temperature, and the dye was replaced with 20 µl/well HBSS. Test compounds were dissolved as a 10 mM stock in 100% DMSO and serially diluted in DMSO. Test compound plates were prepared in HBSS at 2.5x their final concentration in 0.25% DMSO; L-AP4 was at 5x the final concentration to be assayed in HBSS. Cell plates and compound plates were loaded onto a Hamamatsu FDSS 6000 kinetic imaging plate reader (Hamamatsu Corporation, Bridgewater, NJ). The assay was initiated by collecting 10 images at 1 Hz before the addition of the test compound. Test compound (20 µl/well) was then added, and data were collected for 5 min. After this 5-min period, 10 µl of vehicle or agonist was added, and data were collected for an additional 2 min. Functional response was quantified using Microsoft Excel by calculating the maximal fluorescence generated during the time window after agonist addition and subtracting the fluorescence obtained in the vehicle control wells. The signal amplitude was then normalized as the percentage of the response to the EC80 concentration of L-AP4.
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Radioligand Binding Studies. After thawing, the hmGluR2 membranes were resuspended and homogenized in ice-cold binding buffer as described above using a Dounce glass homogenizer. Binding experiments were prepared as described previously (Johnson et al., 1999
). Test compounds were dissolved in 100% DMSO and then serially diluted in binding buffer to yield a 5x stock. The stock solution was added to the assay plate to a final DMSO concentration of 0.1%. All binding reactions were performed in 96-well deep plates in a final volume of 100 µl. [3H]LY341495 binding assay mixtures contained 15 µg of membrane protein, 1 nM [3H]LY341495, and various concentrations of test compounds. The assay mixtures were incubated on ice for 30 min. Nonspecific binding was determined in the presence of 1 mM glutamate.
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[35S]GTP
S Binding Studies. rmGluR3 membranes were thawed and homogenized using a glass homogenizer in ice-cold binding buffer containing 50 mM Tris-HCl, pH 7.4, 5 mM MgCl2, 150 mM NaCl, 1 mM EDTA, 10 µg/ml saponin, and 1 µM GDP. Assay mixtures contained 10 µg of membrane protein, test compound, glutamate, 0.1 nM [35S]GTP
S, and assay buffer to yield a total volume of 100 µl. Nonspecific binding was determined in the presence of 10 µM unlabeled guanosine 5'-3-O-(thio)triphosphate. The assay mixtures were incubated at 30°C for 60 min. The reaction was terminated in a manner similar to that described above in radioligand binding studies.
Site-Directed Mutagenesis. The cDNA encoding human mGluR2 in the pGTh backbone (Grinnell et al., 1991
) was generously provided by Dr. M. Baez (Eli Lilly & Co., Indianapolis, IN). Point mutations were generated using the QuikChange site-directed mutagenesis kit (Stratagene) according to the manufacturer's instructions. Complimentary oligonucleotides were designed to contain the desired mutations and a novel restriction site, which does not alter the amino acid sequence, to be used for screening purposes. Sense and antisense oligonucleotides were based on the following sequences and were used to introduce three point mutations into the human mGluR2 sequence. 5'-CTGCCTGGCACTTATACTAGTCCAGCTGCTCATCGTG-3' was used for generation of two consecutive point mutations (S688L, G689V) along with a novel SpeI site, and 5'-GGCTCGCTGGCCTACGACGTCCTCCTCATCGCGCTC-3' was used to introduce a third single mutation (N735D) in combination with a novel AatII site. PCR amplification was performed using Pfu Ultra high-fidelity DNA polymerase. The mutated hmGluR2 sequence was dropped out of the pGTh backbone using flanking SalI sites and subcloned into the pcDNA 3.1+ vector from Invitrogen at the complimentary XhoI site. Final constructs were verified by sequencing using an Applied Biosciences DNA analysis system at the Vanderbilt University DNA sequencing facility.
Field Potential Recording in Hippocampus Slice. Hippocampal brain slices were prepared from 3 to 4-week-old male Sprague-Dawley rats as described previously with minor modifications (Macek et al., 1996
, 1998
). Brains were rapidly removed and submerged in an ice-cold sucrose replacement solution containing 200 mM sucrose, 2.5 mM KCl, 1.2 mM NaH2PO4, 1.3 mM MgCl2, 8 mM MgSO4, 20 mM glucose, and 46 mM NaHCO3, equilibrated with 95% O2/5% CO2. Coronal hippocampal slices (400-µm thick) were made using a microtome (Leica Microsystems Inc., Bannockburn, IL). The slices were placed in a holding chamber containing artificial cerebrospinal fluid (ACSF) comprising 124 mM NaCl, 2.5 mM KCl, 1.3 mM MgSO4, 1.0 mM NaH2PO4, 2 mM CaCl2, 20 mM glucose, and 26 mM NaHCO3, equilibrated with 95% O2/5% CO2, which was maintained at room temperature. To increase slice viability, 5 µM glutathione, 500 µM pyruvate, and 250 µM kynurenic acid were added to the sucrose replacement buffer, maintaining ACSF buffer in all experiments.
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. A bipolar tungsten electrode (FHC, Bowdoinham, ME) and recording electrode were placed in the middle third layer of the molecular layer at the dentate gyrus for stimulation of the medial perforant path (MPP) fibers. Stimuli (0.1 ms in duration) were delivered at 0.05 Hz using Grass S48 stimulator and Grass isolator (Grass Technologies, West Warrick, RI). In each experiment, an input-output curve was performed, and the stimulus intensity was adjusted to produce a field excitatory postsynaptic potential (fEPSP) approximately 50 to 70% of the maximal response. The fEPSPs were recorded by an Axon MultiClamp 700B amplifier (Molecular Devices) in current clamp mode. Data were filtered at 2 kHz, digitized with DigiData 1322A (Molecular Devices), and acquired by the pClampex 9.2 program (Molecular Devices). The fEPSP slope was measured by pClampfit 9.2 program (Molecular Devices). The starting six consecutive slopes were averaged to define the baseline fEPSP slope value for a given experiment. The subsequent fEPSP slopes in the experiment were normalized to the baseline fEPSP slope value and expressed as a percentage. Six consecutive fEPSP slopes after 12 min of application of DCG-IV were averaged and defined as the value of applying DCG-IV. All normalized fEPSP slopes for each concentration of DCG-IV were then expressed as the mean ± S.E.M. All compounds were dissolved in double deionized water with 1 N sodium hydroxide, with the exception of MNI-137, which was dissolved in DMSO, and was then diluted with ACSF to the desired concentration. All compounds were added to the recording chamber via addition to the perfusion solution.
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S binding studies, data analysis was performed using GraphPad Prism 3.0 (GraphPad Software Inc., San Diego, CA). Concentration-response curves were analyzed using a nonlinear regression analysis and were generated from the means of three separate experiments. Inhibition curves were fitted by nonlinear regression analysis using the one-site competition equation. Error bars represent the mean ± S.E.M. For the electrophysiology experiments, data were analyzed using pClampfit 9.2. All results are expressed as mean ±S.E.M., and statistical significance was determined using Student's t test. | Results |
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S binding studies to measure activation of rmGluR3 overexpressed in CHO cells, as [35S]GTP
S binding was attenuated in these cells following an application of test compounds (Fig. 1B). Inhibitory effects of these compounds on calcium mobilization were also observed in CHO cells stably expressing hmGluR2 (Fig. 2A). For the calcium mobilization assay, a highly significant positive correlation (r2 = 0.958, p < 0.0001) was observed between the IC50 values obtained from cells expressing rmGluR2 and hmGluR2 (Fig. 2B), suggesting that there is no species specificity exhibited within this series.
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S activation in cells expressing hmGluR2 (Fig. 3A). Comparison of these data with the effects of these compounds on rmGluR3 (Fig. 3B), as assessed by [35S]GTP
S binding, revealed that these compounds were slightly more potent at inhibiting glutamate-induced activation of mGluR3 relative to mGluR2. However, none of the compounds provided sufficient selectivity between the group II mGluRs to be useful for differentiating between the group II mGluR subtypes. To further characterize the selectivity of these compounds, we used the calcium mobilization assay with cells expressing mGluR1, 4, 5, or 8, as well as a cyclase inhibition assay with cells expressing mGluR7. None of these compounds exhibited inhibitory activity induced by activation of any of these receptor subtypes at concentrations up to 10 µM (Fig. 4, AE).
MNI-135, MNI-136, and MNI-137 Are Noncompetitive Group II mGluR Antagonists. To characterize the mechanism of inhibition of the novel negative allosteric modulators, the effect of one single concentration (31.6 nM) of each of these compounds on the glutamate concentration-response curves was assessed. In cells expressing rmGluR2, all three compounds shifted glutamate concentration-response curves in a calcium mobilization assay to the right with a concomitant decrease in the maximal response (Fig. 5). These results are consistent with a noncompetitive mode of action. To confirm that these compounds act as noncompetitive antagonists, we determined their ability to bind to the orthosteric site by measuring their ability to displace the binding of [3H]LY341495, a potent orthosteric antagonist of group II mGluRs. [3H]LY341495 binding was measured in CHO cell membranes stably expressing hmGluR2. As shown in Fig. 6A, the three compounds tested had no effect on binding of 1 nM [3H]LY341495 at concentrations up to 10 µM, whereas radioactive LY341495 potently displaced binding of the radioligand. The ability of glutamate to displace the binding of 1 nM [3H]LY341495 was not altered in the presence of these compounds (Fig. 6B). For comparison, the potency of inhibition of all test compounds on glutamate-induced responses for both calcium mobilization and [35S]GTP
S binding assay are summarized in Table 1.
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MNI-137 Inhibits Group II mGluR Agonist-Mediated Responses at Medial Perforant Path-Dentate Gyrus Synapses in Rat Hippocampal Slices. Previous findings revealed that group II mGluRs, the predominant subtype at the medial perforant path-dentate granule cell synapse (MPP-DG) inhibits excitatory synaptic transmission by reducing glutamate release from presynaptic terminals (Macek et al., 1996
, 1998
). Thus, the MPP-DG synapses of the rat hippocampus were employed as a native system for determining the effects of MNI-137, a representative novel negative allosteric modulator identified in this study, on group II mGluR-mediated responses.
To assess the effects of activation of group II mGluRs on synaptic transmission at the MPP-DG synapse, extracellular field potentials were recorded from the middle third of the molecular layer in the dentate gyrus. Consistent with our previous results, bath application of the group II agonist DCG-IV induced a concentration-dependent decrease in fEP-SPs at this synapse (data not shown) (Galici et al., 2006
). 1 µM DCG-IV inhibited the fEPSP slope by 60.31 ± 2.58% (n = 12) (Fig. 7, A and C). In addition, the effect of 1 µM DCG-IV was blocked by the orthosteric mGlu2/3 receptor antagonist LY341495 (1 µM), (data not shown). Consistent with the finding that MNI-137 inhibited glutamate-induced increases in [35S]GTP
S binding in cells expressing hmGluR2, with a maximal effect in the low micromolar range, 3 µM MNI-137 significantly blocked the effect of 1 µM DCG-IV on fEPSP slope (16.84 ± 3.01%; n = 8; *, p < 0.01) (Fig. 7, B and C).
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We first examined the enhancing property of LY487379 in HEK293A cells transiently expressing wild-type hmGluR2 or mutant hmGluR2 containing a single (N735D in TM V), double (S688L/G689V in TM IV), or triple (S688L/G689V/N735D) point mutation in the presence of single concentration of LY487379 (1 µM) as a control experiment. Consistent with previous studies, LY487379 induced parallel shifts of the glutamate concentration-response curve approximately 6 to 7-fold to the left in HEK293A cells transiently expressing wild-type hmGluR2 (Fig. 8A, left). The single point mutation, N735D, in TM V of hmGluR2 markedly attenuated the potentiation activity of LY487379 compared with wild type (Fig. 8A, right). In addition, approximately 30 and 85% reduction of the potentiation by LY487379 of glutamate-induced calcium mobilization was observed in mutant hm-GluR2 containing the double mutation (S688L/G689V) or triple mutation (S688L/G689V/N735D), respectively (data not shown). These results suggest that residue Asn735 plays a critical role for the enhancing activity of this modulator. Based on this finding, we sought to examine whether this residue was also critical for potentiation activity of a structurally distinct newly reported positive allosteric modulator of mGluR2, BINA. Similar to LY487379, BINA induced parallel shifts of the glutamate concentration-response curve approximately 11-fold to the left in HEK293A cells transiently expressing wild-type hmGluR2 (Fig. 8B, left) (data were from Galici et al. (2006
). Potentiation activity of BINA was almost completely abolished in mutant hmGluR2 containing N735D (Fig. 8B, right).
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| Discussion |
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These compounds were found to be noncompetitive antagonists of glutamate action on group II mGluRs, and they did not displace [3H]LY341495 from its binding site. Interestingly, the affinity of glutamate to displace the binding of [3H]LY341495 was not affected in the presence of these compounds, suggesting that they do not act by allosterically regulating binding of agonists to the orthosteric site. This is similar to the effects of previously identified allosteric antagonists of group I mGluRs, which do not alter glutamate binding but may act by altering conformational changes of the seven-transmembrane domain that in turn can inhibit coupling to G proteins (Kuhn et al., 2002
).
Importantly, these novel compounds did not inhibit glutamate- or L-AP4-induced function in cell lines expressing mGluR1, 4, 5, or 8 by using calcium mobilization assay or mGluR7 by using a cyclase inhibition assay, suggesting that they are selective group II mGluR antagonists. However, it is important to note that the calcium fluorescence assay used for measuring mGluR4 and mGluR8 activity relies on coupling to a promiscuous G protein that is not the native G protein to which these receptors normally couple. Although unlikely, it is conceivable that this could affect the response of these receptors to antagonists
These novel compounds identified in the present study the most selective noncompetitive antagonists of group II mGluRs available to date. The most commonly used antagonist of these receptors is LY341495, which acts as a competitive antagonist at the orthosteric glutamate binding site (see Schoepp et al., 1999
for review). Although selective for group II mGluRs relative to other mGluR subtypes, this compound has antagonist activity at all known mGluRs and blocks mGluR8 with a potency similar to its potency at mGluR2 and mGluR3 (Kingston et al., 1998
). The present findings are consistent with a growing body of literature suggesting that allosteric antagonists provide a novel approach for developing both antagonists and potentiators for mGluRs that have higher subtype selectivity than traditional orthosteric ligands. With the group I and group III mGluRs, this has extended to the discovery of ligands that differentiate between members within a group (Kuhn et al., 2002
; Marino et al., 2003
; Mitsukawa et al., 2005
). Unfortunately, the present compounds did not exhibit selectivity that would distinguish between mGluR2 and mGluR3. Furthermore, there was no indication from the present studies that the structure-activity relationship within this series could lead to subtype-specific compounds that differentiate among these closely related subtypes.
An especially interesting finding in the current studies was preliminary evidence suggesting that two structurally distinct allosteric potentiators of mGluR2 may share a common binding site and that mutations that disrupt activity of these potentiators are without effect on the response to the new allosteric antagonists. Recent findings by Schaffhauser et al. (2003
) suggest that residues Ser688, Gly689, and Asn735 are part of the binding pocket for a novel positive allosteric modulator for mGluR2, LY487379, and are important for its potentiation activity. Therefore, we next sought to investigate whether these residues are also critical for the inhibitory activity of our novel negative allosteric modulators. Consistent with this previous report, the enhancing effect of LY487379 on glutamate-induced calcium mobilization was markedly abolished by the single point mutation N735D, whereas the double mutation S688L/G689V induced a slight reduction. Moreover, the triple mutation, S688L/G689V/N735D, further abolished LY487379-induced responses compared with the single N735D mutant, suggesting that residue Asn735 plays a critical role for the enhancing activity of this allosteric modulator. Interestingly, we also found that residue Asn735 is also critical for potentiation activity of a newly reported selective allosteric potentiator of mGluR2, BINA. These data suggest that these two chemically unrelated allosteric potentiators of mGluR2, LY487379, and BINA may share a common binding site. In contrast, the single mutation N735D failed to block the inhibitory effect of our novel negative allosteric modulators of group II mGluRs. These studies are consistent with growing evidence that other mGluR subtypes can contain multiple allosteric regulatory sites. For instance, we recently reported that two families of allosteric potentiators of mGluR1 share a common binding site and that this site is distinct from the binding site that is common to multiple allosteric antagonists of mGluR1 (Hemstapat et al., 2006
). Furthermore, we have provided evidence that N-{4-chloro-2-[(1,3-dioxo-1,3-dihydro-2H-isoindol-2-yl)methyl]phenyl}-2-hydroxybenzamide, an allosteric potentiator of mGluR5, acts at a site that is distinct from that of the site for the allosteric antagonist 2-methyl-6-(phenylethynyl)-pyridine (O'Brien et al., 2004
). However, it is also clear that other classes of compounds can bind to the 2-methyl-6-(phenylethynyl)-pyridine site with a range of activities, including positive and negative allosteric modulators as well as neutral ligands (O'Brien et al., 2003
; Kinney et al., 2005
; Rodriguez et al., 2005
).
In summary, we have thoroughly characterized a novel family of negative allosteric modulators of group II mGluRs. Although few reports have described the therapeutic significance of group II mGluR antagonists, recent studies have demonstrated that they may exhibit antidepressant-like activity and antiobsessive-compulsive disorder-like effects (Chaki et al., 2004
; Shimazaki et al., 2004
). Our current finding of negative allosteric modulators of group II mGluRs suggests that targeting of allosteric sites provides a viable approach for developing highly selective antagonists of these receptors.
| Acknowledgements |
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| Footnotes |
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Article, publication date, and citation information can be found at http://jpet.aspetjournals.org.
ABBREVIATIONS: mGluR, metabotropic glutamate receptor; CHO, Chinese hamster ovary; HEK, human embryonic kidney; TM, transmembrane; DCG-IV, (2S,2'R,3'R)-2-(2',3'-dicarboxycyclopropyl)glycine; LY341495, 2S-2-amino-2-(1S,2S-2-carboxycyclopropan-1-yl)-3-(xanth-9-yl)propionic acid; LY487379, N-(4-(2-methoxyphenoxy)-phenyl-N-(2,2,2-trifluoroetylsulfonyl)-pyrid-3-ylmethylamine; BINA, biphenyl-indanone A or 3'-(((2-cyclopropyl-6,7-dimethl-1-oxo2,3-dihydro-1H-inden-5-yl)oxy)methyl)biphenyl-4-carboxylic acid; DMSO, dimethyl sulfoxide; [35S]GTP
S, guanosine 5'-O-(3-[35S]thio)triphosphate; ACSF, artificial cerebrospinal fluid; L-AP4, L(+)-2-amino-4-phosphonobutyric acid; FBS, fetal bovine serum; DMEM, Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium; MPP, medial perforant path; fEPSP, field excitatory postsynaptic potential; LY379268, (-)-2-oxa-4-aminobicyclo[3.1.0]hexane-4,6-dicarboxylate; LY354740, (1S,2S,5R,6S)-2-aminobicyclo[3.1.0]hexane-2,6-dicarboxylic acid; MGS0039, (1R,2R,3R,5R,6R)-2-amino-3-(3,4-dichlorobenzyloxy)-6-fluorobicyclo[3.1.0]hexane-2,6-dicarboxylic acid; MNI-135, 3-(7-iodo-4-oxo-4,5-dihydro-3H-benzo[b][1,4]diazepin-2-yl)-benzonitrile; MNI-136, 7-bromo-4-(3-pyridin-3-yl-phenyl)-1,3-dihydro-benzo[b][1,4]diazepin-2-one; MNI-137, 4-(7-bromo-4-oxo-4,5-dihydro-3H-benzo[b][1,4]diazepin-2-yl)-pyridine-2-carbonitrile; HBSS, Hanks' balanced salt solution; DG, dentate granule; hmGluR, human GluR; rmGluR, rat GluR.
Address correspondence to: Dr. P. Jeffrey Conn, Department of Pharmacology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, 23rd Avenue South at Pierce, 417-D Preston Research Building, Nashville, TN 37232-6600. E-mail: jeff.conn{at}vanderbilt.edu
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