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    Drugs targeting the orthosteric, primary binding site of G protein-coupled receptors are the most common therapeutics. Allosteric binding sites, elsewhere on the receptors, are less well-defined, and so less exploited clinically. We report the crystal structure of the prototypic β2-adrenergic receptor in complex with an orthosteric agonist and compound-6FA, a positive allosteric modulator of this receptor. It binds on the receptor's inner surface in a pocket created by intracellular loop 2 and transmembrane segments 3 and 4, stabilizing the loop in an α-helical conformation required to engage the G protein. Structural comparison explains the selectivity of the compound for β2- over the β1-adrenergic receptor. Diversity in location, mechanism, and selectivity of allosteric ligands provides potential to expand the range of receptor drugs.
    Allosteric modulator
    Inverse agonist
    Citations (100)
    Allosteric modulation of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) is nowadays one of the hot topics in drug discovery. In particular, allosteric modulators of D2 receptor have been proposed as potential modern therapeutics to treat schizophrenia and Parkinson's disease.To address some subtle structural and stereochemical aspects of allosteric modulation of D2 receptor, we performed extensive in silico studies of both enantiomers of two compounds (compound 1 and compound 2), and one of them (compound 2) was synthesized as a racemate in-house and studied in vitro.Our molecular dynamics simulations confirmed literature reports that the R enantiomer of compound 1 is a positive allosteric modulator of the D2L receptor, while its S enantiomer is a negative allosteric modulator. Moreover, based on the principal component analysis (PCA), we hypothesized that both enantiomers of compound 2 behave as silent allosteric modulators, in line with our in vitro studies. PCA calculations suggest that the most pronounced modulator-induced receptor rearrangements occur at the transmembrane helix 7 (TM7). In particular, TM7 bending at the conserved P7.50 and G7.42 was observed. The latter resides next to the Y7.43, which is a significant part of the orthosteric binding site. Moreover, the W7.40 conformation seems to be affected by the presence of the positive allosteric modulator.Our work reveals that allosteric modulation of the D2L receptor can be affected by subtle ligand modifications. A change in configuration of a chiral carbon and/or minor structural modulator modifications are solely responsible for the functional outcome of the allosteric modulator.
    Allosteric modulator
    Drugs targeting the orthosteric, primary binding site of G protein–coupled receptors are the most common therapeutics. Allosteric binding sites, elsewhere on the receptors, are less well-defined, and so less exploited clinically. We report the crystal structure of the prototypic β 2 -adrenergic receptor in complex with an orthosteric agonist and compound-6FA, a positive allosteric modulator of this receptor. It binds on the receptor’s inner surface in a pocket created by intracellular loop 2 and transmembrane segments 3 and 4, stabilizing the loop in an α-helical conformation required to engage the G protein. Structural comparison explains the selectivity of the compound for β 2 - over the β 1 -adrenergic receptor. Diversity in location, mechanism, and selectivity of allosteric ligands provides potential to expand the range of receptor drugs.
    Allosteric modulator
    Functional selectivity
    Allosteric enzyme
    Inverse agonist
    Citations (76)
    The human Y4 receptor (Y4R) and its cognate ligand, pancreatic polypeptide (PP), are involved in the regulation of energy expenditure, satiety, and food intake. This system represents a potential target for the treatment of metabolic diseases and has been extensively investigated and validated in vivo. Here, we present the compound tBPC (tert-butylphenoxycyclohexanol), a novel and selective Y4R positive allosteric modulator that potentiates Y4R activation in G-protein signaling and arrestin3 recruitment experiments. The compound has no effect on the binding of the orthosteric ligands, implying its allosteric mode of action at the Y4R and evidence for a purely efficacy-driven positive allosteric modulation. Finally, the ability of tBPC to selectively potentiate Y4R agonism initiated by PP was confirmed in mouse descending colon mucosa preparations expressing native Y4R, demonstrating Y4R positive allosteric modulation in vitro.
    Allosteric modulator
    Structure–activity relationship
    Targeting allosteric binding sites represents a powerful mechanism for selectively modulating receptor function. The advent of functional assays as the screening method of choice is leading to an increase in the number of allosteric modulators identified. These include positive allosteric modulators that can increase the affinity of the orthosteric agonist and potentiate the evoked response. A common method for screening for positive allosteric modulators is to examine a concentration-response (C/R) curve to the putative modulator in the presence of a single, low concentration of agonist. The study reported here has used data simulations for positive allosteric modulators according to the allosteric ternary complex model to generate modulator C/R curves. The results are then compared to the mechanistic parameters used to simulate the data. It is clear from the simulations that the potency of a positive modulator C/R curve in a screening assay is the product of both its affinity and positive cooperativity. However, it is often difficult to tell which parameter dominates the response; not knowing the actual affinity or cooperativity of a ligand may have consequences for receptor selectivity. Further modeling demonstrates that the use and choice of single agonist concentration, as well as changes in the agonist curve Hill slope, can have significant effects on the modulator C/R curve. Finally, the quantitative relationship between modulator C/R curves and the allosteric ternary complex model is explored. These simulations emphasize the importance of careful interpretation of screening data and of conducting full mechanism of action studies for positive allosteric modulators.
    Cooperativity
    Allosteric modulator
    Ternary complex
    Cooperative binding
    Citations (8)
    Targeting allosteric sites of the M1 muscarinic acetylcholine receptor (mAChR) is an enticing approach to overcome the lack of receptor subtype selectivity observed with orthosteric ligands. This is a promising strategy for obtaining novel therapeutics to treat cognitive deficits observed in Alzheimer's disease and schizophrenia, while reducing the peripheral side effects such as seen in the current treatment regimes, which are non-subtype selective. We previously described compound 2, the first positive allosteric modulator (PAM) of the M1 mAChR based on a 6-phenylpyrimidin-4-one scaffold, which has been further developed in this study. Herein, we present the synthesis, characterization, and pharmacological evaluation of a series of 6-phenylpyrimidin-4-ones with modifications to the 4-(1-methylpyrazol-4-yl)benzyl pendant. Selected compounds, BQCA, 1, 2, 9i, 13, 14b, 15c, and 15d, were further profiled in terms of their allosteric affinity, cooperativity with acetylcholine (ACh), and intrinsic efficacy. Additionally, 2 and 9i were tested in mouse primary cortical neurons, displaying various degrees of intrinsic agonism and potentiation of the acetylcholine response. Overall, the results suggest that the pendant moiety is important for allosteric binding affinity and the direct agonistic efficacy of the 6-phenylpyrimidin-4-one based M1 mAChR PAMs.
    Allosteric modulator
    This chapter contains sections titled: Introduction The Allosteric Ternary Complex Model, Radioligand Binding, and Affinity Beyond Affinity—Functional Assays, Efficacy, and Allosteric Agonism Allosteric Modulator Titration Curves The Impact of Functional Assay Format on Allosteric Modulator Screening Taking Advantage of Structural Understanding of Allosteric Binding Sites Summary and Future Directions References
    Allosteric modulator
    Ternary complex
    Radioligand