Novel Bone Antiresorptive Agents that Selectively Inhibit the Osteoclast V‐H+‐ATPase

Abstract The vacuolar proton pump (V-ATPase) located on the plasma membrane of the osteoclast is a potential molecular target for the discovery of novel bone antiresorptive agents useful for the treatment of osteoporosis. In order to design novel compounds able to selectively inhibit the osteoclast V-ATPase we firstly identified the minimal structural requirements of bafilomycin A1, a macrolide antibiotic which potently inhibits all V-ATPases. This information allowed the design of 2-(indole)pentadienamide derivatives whose optimization led to a novel class of potent inhibitors that demonstrated a high degree of selectivity for the osteoclast V-ATPase. The most interesting derivative, SB-242784, was able to inhibit bone resorption by human osteoclasts in vitro and to completely prevent ovariectomy-induced bone loss in rats when administered orally at 10 mg kg −1 day −1 . Structure activity relationships of this class of compounds were investigated further by replacing the 2,4-pentadienoyl chain with suitable spacers able to maintain the correct orientation and distance between the indole ring and the amide moiety.