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Orexins are hypothalamic peptides that play an important role in maintaining wakefulness in mammals. Permanent deficit in orexinergic function is a pathophysiological hallmark of rodent, canine and human narcolepsy. Here we report that in rats, dogs and humans, somnolence is induced by pharmacological blockade of both orexin OX(1) and OX(2) receptors. When administered orally during the active period of the circadian cycle, a dual antagonist increased, in rats, electrophysiological indices of both non-REM and, particularly, REM sleep, in contrast to GABA(A) receptor modulators; in dogs, it caused somnolence and increased surrogate markers of REM sleep; and in humans, it caused subjective and objective electrophysiological signs of sleep. No signs of cataplexy were observed, in contrast to the rodent, dog or human narcolepsy syndromes. These results open new perspectives for investigating the role of endogenous orexins in sleep-wake regulation.

Urotensin-II (U-II) was identified as the natural ligand of the G protein-coupled receptor GPR14, which has been correspondingly renamed Urotensin-II receptor (U2R). The tissue distribution of U2R and the pharmacological effects of U-II suggest a novel neurohormonal system with potent cardiovascular effects. We here report the human rhabdomyosarcoma cell line TE-671 as the first natural and endogenous source of functional U2R in an immortalized cell line. In TE-671 cells, U-II stimulated extracellular signal regulated kinase phosphorylation and increased c-fos mRNA expression. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the expression of U2R mRNA and functional U-II high affinity binding sites are serum-responsive and that they are specifically up-regulated by interferon gamma (IFNgamma). We propose that IFNgamma contributes to the previously observed increase of U2R density in the heart tissue of congestive heart failure (CHF) patients and we suggest that U2R up-regulation, as a consequence of an inflammatory response, could lead to a clinical worsening of this disease.

Urotensin-II (U-II), a vasoactive cyclic neuropeptide, was recently identified as the natural ligand for the G-protein coupled receptor GPR14. The expression pattern of U-II and GPR14 are consistent with a role as a neurohormonal regulatory system in cardiovascular homeostasis. Urotensin-II induces a rapid and short-lasting rise in intracellular calcium in recombinant GPR14 expressing cells. In the present study we show that U-II induces signal transduction pathways leading to the long-lasting activation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2) in chinese hamster ovary cells expressing human GPR14 (CHO-GPR14). Furthermore, we observed a growth-stimulating and PD98059 sensitive activity of U-II in CHO-GPR14 cells, but not CHO-K1 cells. The investigation of the GPR14 induced signal transduction pathways leading to ERKI/2 phosphorylation revealed a previously unsuspected role for G(i/o)-protein coupling and showed an involvement of phospatidylinositol-3-kinase, phospholipase C and calcium channel mediated mechanisms. Our results suggest that U-II and its receptor GPR14 may be involved in long-lasting physiological effects such as cardiovascular remodeling.

The competitive endothelin receptor antagonists (ERA) bosentan and ambrisentan, which have long been approved for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension, are characterized by very short (1 min) occupancy half-lives at the ET(A) receptor. The novel ERA macitentan, displays a 20-fold increased receptor occupancy half-life, causing insurmountable antagonism of ET-1-induced signaling in pulmonary arterial smooth muscle cells. We show here that the slow ET(A) receptor dissociation rate of macitentan was shared with a set of structural analogs, whereas compounds structurally related to bosentan displayed fast dissociation kinetics. NMR analysis showed that macitentan adopts a compact structure in aqueous solution and molecular modeling suggests that this conformation tightly fits into a well-defined ET(A) receptor binding pocket. In contrast the structurally different and negatively charged bosentan-type molecules only partially filled this pocket and expanded into an extended endothelin binding site. To further investigate these different ET(A) receptor-antagonist interaction modes, we performed functional studies using ET(A) receptor variants harboring amino acid point mutations in the presumed ERA interaction site. Three ET(A) receptor residues significantly and differentially affected ERA activity: Mutation R326Q did not affect the antagonist activity of macitentan, however the potencies of bosentan and ambrisentan were significantly reduced; mutation L322A rendered macitentan less potent, whereas bosentan and ambrisentan were unaffected; mutation I355A significantly reduced bosentan potency, but not ambrisentan and macitentan potencies. This suggests that--in contrast to bosentan and ambrisentan--macitentan-ET(A) receptor binding is not dependent on strong charge-charge interactions, but depends predominantly on hydrophobic interactions. This different binding mode could be the reason for macitentan's sustained target occupancy and insurmountable antagonism.

Two endothelin receptor antagonists (ERAs), bosentan and ambrisentan, are currently approved for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), a devastating disease involving an activated endothelin system and aberrant contraction and proliferation of pulmonary arterial smooth muscle cells (PASMC). The novel ERA macitentan has recently concluded testing in a Phase III morbidity/mortality clinical trial in PAH patients. Since the association and dissociation rates of G protein-coupled receptor antagonists can influence their pharmacological activity in vivo, we used human PASMC to characterize inhibitory potency and receptor inhibition kinetics of macitentan, ambrisentan and bosentan using calcium release and inositol-1-phosphate (IP(1)) assays. In calcium release assays macitentan, ambrisentan and bosentan were highly potent ERAs with K(b) values of 0.14 nM, 0.12 nM and 1.1 nM, respectively. Macitentan, but not ambrisentan and bosentan, displayed slow apparent receptor association kinetics as evidenced by increased antagonistic potency upon prolongation of antagonist pre-incubation times. In compound washout experiments, macitentan displayed a significantly lower receptor dissociation rate and longer receptor occupancy half-life (ROt(1/2)) compared to bosentan and ambrisentan (ROt(1/2):17 minutes versus 70 seconds and 40 seconds, respectively). Because of its lower dissociation rate macitentan behaved as an insurmountable antagonist in calcium release and IP(1) assays, and unlike bosentan and ambrisentan it blocked endothelin receptor activation across a wide range of endothelin-1 (ET-1) concentrations. However, prolongation of the ET-1 stimulation time beyond ROt(1/2) rendered macitentan a surmountable antagonist, revealing its competitive binding mode. Bosentan and ambrisentan behaved as surmountable antagonists irrespective of the assay duration and they lacked inhibitory activity at high ET-1 concentrations. Thus, macitentan is a competitive ERA with significantly slower receptor dissociation kinetics than the currently approved ERAs. Slow dissociation caused insurmountable antagonism in functional PASMC-based assays and this could contribute to an enhanced pharmacological activity of macitentan in ET-1-dependent pathologies.