Discovery of substituted maleimides as liver X receptor agonists and determination of a ligand-bound crystal structure

Substituted 3-(phenylamino)-1H-pyrrole-2,5-diones were identified from a high throughput screen as inducers of human ATP binding cassette transporter A1 expression. Mechanism of action studies led to the identification of GSK3987 (4) as an LXR ligand. 4 recruits the steroid receptor coactivator-1 to human LXRα and LXRβ with EC50s of 40 nM, profiles as an LXR agonist in functional assays, and activates LXR though a mechanism that is similar to first generation LXR agonists.