2. Academic Validation
  3. Discovery of Novel NO-Donor Containing hCA II Inhibitors with Retinal Ganglion Cell-Protective Effects for the Efficient Treatment of Glaucoma

Discovery of Novel NO-Donor Containing hCA II Inhibitors with Retinal Ganglion Cell-Protective Effects for the Efficient Treatment of Glaucoma

  • J Med Chem. 2026 Jan 8;69(1):593-624. doi: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.5c03033.
Xin Wang 1,  Junshi Dai 2 3,  Jihong Han 4,  Yixiao Zhao 1,  Yitong Wang 1,  Zhongyu Liu 1,  Mengbi Guo 1,  Zhongzuo Yan 1,  Chun Cao 1,  Jia Lu 1,  Min Zhao 3,  Yanhua Mou 4,  Zhuang Hou 1,  Cheng Peng 3,  Chun Guo 1
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Key Laboratory of Structure-Based Drugs Design and Discovery (Ministry of Education), School of Pharmaceutical Engineering, Shenyang Pharmaceutical University, Shenyang 110016, China.
  • 2 Department of Ophthalmology, Xinqiao Hospital, Army Medical University, Xinqiao Road, Shapingba District, Chongqing 400037, China.
  • 3 Department of Ophthalmology, the Fourth Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang 110016, China.
  • 4 School of Life Sciences and Biopharmaceutics, Shenyang Pharmaceutical University, Shenyang 110016, China.
PMID: 41408653 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.5c03033
Abstract

Glaucoma-induced blindness primarily results from RGC Apoptosis. A medication capable of effectively reducing IOP while simultaneously preventing RGC Apoptosis could offer a holistic approach to glaucoma treatment. In this study, novel NO-donor containing hCA II inhibitors were developed to achieve dual functionality: lowering IOP by decreasing aqueous humor production (via hCA II inhibition) and enhancing outflow (via NO release). The experimental results indicated that the dual-target compound A1 outperformed its single-target counterpart and the reference drug brinzolamide in both acute and chronic high IOP models, demonstrating superior IOP-lowering efficacy without notable in vitro or in vivo toxicity. Of particular interest, compound A1 reduced RGC Apoptosis through mechanisms involving decreased oxidative stress and the suppression of astrocyte and NLRP3 inflammasome activation. Ocular metabolism studies further clarified the in vivo metabolic pathway of compound A1. With its synergistic antiglaucoma and RGCs-protective effects, compound A1 represents a promising candidate for comprehensive glaucoma therapy.

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