Synthesis and biochemical activity of novel amidine derivatives as m1 muscarinic receptor agonists.

As part of a continuing effort aimed at the development of selective, efficacious, and centrally active m1 muscarinic agonists for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease, a series of amide and hydrazide amidine derivatives (2a-e and 3b-d) was synthesized and examined for muscarinic agonist activity. Preliminary biochemical studies indicated that 2b, 2d, and 3d bound to muscarinic receptors in rat brain and stimulated phosphoinositide (PI) metabolism in rat cerebral cortex. Compounds 2b and 2d were also highly efficacious at m1 muscarinic receptors expressed in cultured A9 L cells. Molecular modeling studies suggest slightly different modes of interaction with m1 receptors for the ester and amide derivatives. Also, hydrogen-bond formation with a Thr residue may be important for m1 muscarinic agonist potency. The data suggest that the amide moiety can replace the ester group found in muscarinic agonists and provide further support for the utility of amidine derivatives in the development of efficacious m1 agonists.

Design, synthesis, and neurochemical evaluation of 5-(3-alkyl-1,2,4- oxadiazol-5-yl)-1,4,5,6-tetrahydropyrimidines as M1 muscarinic receptor agonists.

A series of 5-(3-alkyl-1,2,4-oxadiazol-5-yl)-1,4,5,6-tetrahydropyrimidines+ ++ (7a-h) was synthesized for biological evaluation as selective agonists for M1 receptors coupled to phosphoinositide (PI) metabolism in the central nervous system. Each ligand bound with high affinity to muscarinic receptors from rat brain as measured by inhibition of [3H]-(R)-quinuclidinyl benzilate ([3H]-(R)-QNB) binding. 5-(3-Methyl-1,2,4-oxadiazol-5-yl)-1,4,5,6-tetrahydropyrimidine+ ++ trifluoroacetate (CDD-0098-J;7a) displayed high affinity (IC50 = 2.7 +/- 0.69 microM) and efficacy at muscarinic receptors coupled to PI metabolism in the rat cortex and hippocampus. Increasing the length of the alkyl substituent increased affinity for muscarinic receptors yet decreased activity in PI turnover assays. The hippocampal PI response of 7a was blocked by lower concentrations of pirenzepine (8) or by higher concentrations of either AF-DX 116 (9) or p-fluorohexahydrosiladifenidol (10), suggesting that at low concentrations 7a selectively stimulates PI turnover through M1 receptors.

Guanine nucleotides regulate [3H]substance P binding in rat small intestine.

The binding of [3H]substance P (SP) to membranes of the rat small intestine demonstrates specific binding to receptors having more than one affinity for SP. The values of the binding parameters for the high-affinity site obtained from a non-linear regression analysis are as follows: KD = 0.25 nM, Bmax = 149.5 fmol/mg protein. Inhibition curves of 3H-SP binding using various unlabeled tachykinins show that the high-affinity receptor is of the P-subtype, having the highest affinity for SP and lower affinities for eledoisin and kassinin. Guanine nucleotides and sodium independently reduce the binding of 3H-SP to the high-affinity receptor in a dose-related manner; GTP and GDP are more potent than GMP. The reduction of specific SP binding by GTP can be ascribed primarily to an increase in the off-rate. The effects of guanine nucleotides on 3H-SP binding to membranes of rat small intestine suggest that the high-affinity receptor is linked to an effector by a GTP-binding regulatory protein.