Synthesis and Characterization of a Bidirectional Photoswitchable Antagonist Toolbox for Real-Time GPCR Photopharmacology

  • J Am Chem Soc. 2018 Mar 28;140(12):4232-4243. doi: 10.1021/jacs.7b11422.
Niels J Hauwert  1 ,  Tamara A M Mocking  1 ,  Daniel Da Costa Pereira  1 ,  Albert J Kooistra  1 ,  Lisa M Wijnen  1 ,  Gerda C M Vreeker  1 ,  Eléonore W E Verweij  1 ,  Albertus H De Boer  1 ,  Martine J Smit  1 ,  Chris De Graaf  1 ,  Henry F Vischer  1 ,  Iwan J P de Esch  1 ,  Maikel Wijtmans  1 ,  Rob Leurs  1
Affiliations
  • 1. Division of Medicinal Chemistry, Amsterdam Institute for Molecules, Medicines and Systems, Faculty of Science , Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam , De Boelelaan 1108 , 1081 HZ Amsterdam , The Netherlands.
PMID: 29470065 DOI: 10.1021/jacs.7b11422
Abstract

Noninvasive methods to modulate G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) with temporal and spatial precision are in great demand. Photopharmacology uses photons to control in situ the biological properties of photoswitchable small-molecule ligands, which bodes well for chemical biological precision approaches. Integrating the light-switchable configurational properties of an azobenzene into the ligand core, we developed a bidirectional antagonist toolbox for an archetypical family A GPCR, the histamine H3 receptor (H3R). From 16 newly synthesized photoswitchable compounds, VUF14738 (28) and VUF14862 (33) were selected as they swiftly and reversibly photoisomerize and show over 10-fold increased or decreased H3R binding affinities, respectively, upon illumination at 360 nm. Both ligands combine long thermal half-lives with fast and high photochemical trans-/ cis conversion, allowing their use in real-time electrophysiology experiments with oocytes to confirm dynamic photomodulation of H3R activation in repeated second-scale cycles. VUF14738 and VUF14862 are robust and fatigue-resistant photoswitchable GPCR antagonists suitable for spatiotemporal studies of H3R signaling.

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