1. Bioisosteric Modification of To042: Synthesis and Evaluation of Promising Use‐Dependent Inhibitors of Voltage‐Gated Sodium Channels
- Author
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Antonio Carrieri, Alessia Carocci, Elisabetta Casalino, Marilena Muraglia, Carlo Franchini, Filomena Corbo, Maria Maddalena Cavalluzzi, Mariagrazia Perrone, Jean-François Desaphy, Nicola Antonio Colabufo, Antonella Santoro, Gualtiero Milani, Giovanni Lentini, Concetta Altamura, and Isabella Pisano
- Subjects
Pharmacology ,Molecular model ,Stereochemistry ,Sodium channel ,Organic Chemistry ,HEK 293 cells ,Ligand (biochemistry) ,Biochemistry ,In vitro ,chemistry.chemical_compound ,Sodium channel blocker ,Membrane ,chemistry ,Drug Discovery ,Molecular Medicine ,General Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics ,Lead compound - Abstract
Three analogues of To042, a tocainide-related lead compound recently reported for the treatment of myotonia, were synthesized and evaluated in vitro as skeletal muscle sodium channel blockers possibly endowed with enhanced use-dependent behavior. Patch-clamp experiments on hNav1.4 expressed in HEK293 cells showed that N -[(naphthalen-1-yl)methyl]-4-[(2,6-dimethyl)phenoxy]butan-2-amine, the aryloxyalkyl bioisoster of To042, exerted a higher use-dependent block than To042 thus being able to preferentially block the channels in over-excited membranes while preserving healthy tissue function. It also showed the lowest active transport across BBB according to the results of P-glycoprotein (P-gp) interacting activity evaluation and the highest cytoprotective effect on HeLa cells. Quantum mechanical calculations and dockings gave insights on the most probable conformation of the aryloxyalkyl bioisoster of To042 in solution and the target residues involved in the binding, respectively. Both approaches indicated the conformations that might be both adopted in both the unbound and bound state of the ligand. Overall, N -[(naphthalen-1-yl)methyl]-4-[(2,6-dimethyl)phenoxy]butan-2-amine exhibits an interesting toxico-pharmacological profile and deserves further investigation.
- Published
- 2021
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