Discovery of selective NaV1.8 inhibitors based on 5-chloro-2-(4,4-difluoroazepan-1-yl)-6-methyl nicotinamide scaffold for the treatment of pain

  • Eur J Med Chem. 2023 Jun 5;254:115371. doi: 10.1016/j.ejmech.2023.115371.
Hui Qin  1 ,  Aihuan Wei  2 ,  Yunqi Wang  3 ,  Linlin Wang  3 ,  Haiyan Xu  4 ,  Yan Zhan  5 ,  Xuechen Tian  2 ,  Yueming Zheng  6 ,  Zhaobing Gao  7 ,  Youhong Hu  8
Affiliations
  • 1. State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 555 ZuChongZhi Road, Shanghai, 201203, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 19 Yuquan Road, Beijing, 100039, China.
  • 2. State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 555 ZuChongZhi Road, Shanghai, 201203, China.
  • 3. School of Chinese Materia Medica, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, 210046, China; Center for Neurological and Psychiatric Research and Drug Discovery, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 201203, China.
  • 4. Center for Neurological and Psychiatric Research and Drug Discovery, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 201203, China.
  • 5. Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 501 Haike Road, Shanghai, 201203, China.
  • 6. State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 555 ZuChongZhi Road, Shanghai, 201203, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 19 Yuquan Road, Beijing, 100039, China; Center for Neurological and Psychiatric Research and Drug Discovery, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 201203, China. Electronic address: [email protected].
  • 7. State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 555 ZuChongZhi Road, Shanghai, 201203, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 19 Yuquan Road, Beijing, 100039, China; School of Chinese Materia Medica, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, 210046, China; Center for Neurological and Psychiatric Research and Drug Discovery, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 201203, China. Electronic address: [email protected].
  • 8. State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 555 ZuChongZhi Road, Shanghai, 201203, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 19 Yuquan Road, Beijing, 100039, China. Electronic address: [email protected].
PMID: 37084597 DOI: 10.1016/j.ejmech.2023.115371
Abstract

The NaV1.8 channel is a genetically validated target for pain and it is mostly expressed in the peripheral nervous system. Based on the disclosed structures of NaV1.8-selective inhibitors, we designed and synthesized a series of compounds by introducing bicyclic aromatic fragments based on the nicotinamide scaffold. In this research, a systematic structure-activity relationship study was carried out. While compound 2c possessed moderate inhibitory activity (IC50 = 50.18 ± 0.04 nM) in HEK293 cells stably expressing human NaV1.8 channels, it showed potent inhibitory activity in DRG neurons and isoform selectivity (>200-fold against human NaV1.1, NaV1.5 and NaV1.7 channels). Moreover, the analgesic potency of compound 2c was identified in a post-surgical mouse model. These data demonstrate that compound 2c can be further evaluated as a non-addictive analgesic agent with reduced cardiac liabilities.

Keywords
Bicyclic aromatic groups; Na(V)1.8-selective inhibitors; Non-addictive analgesics; Pain.
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