Structure-based design of a new series of N-(piperidin-3-yl)pyrimidine-5-carboxamides as renin inhibitors

Abstract The action of the aspartyl protease renin is the rate-limiting initial step of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system. Therefore, renin is a particularly promising target for blood pressure as well as onset and progression of cardiovascular and renal diseases. New pyrimidine derivatives 5 – 14 were designed in an attempt to enhance the renin inhibitory activity of compound 3 identified by our previous fragment-based drug design approach. Introduction of a basic amine essential for interaction with the two aspartic acids in the catalytic site and optimization of the S1/S3 binding elements including an induced-fit structural change of Leu114 (‘Leu-in’ to ‘Leu-out’) by a rational structure-based drug design approach led to the discovery of N -(piperidin-3-yl)pyrimidine-5-carboxamide 14 , a 65,000-fold more potent renin inhibitor than compound 3 . Surprisingly, this remarkable enhancement in the inhibitory activity of compound 14 has been achieved by the overall addition of only seven heavy atoms to compound 3 . Compound 14 demonstrated excellent selectivity over other aspartyl proteases and moderate oral bioavailability in rats.