Potent 5-HT2C Receptor Agonists Research Articles

Identification of Novel 1-O-Substituted Aporphine Analogues as Potent 5-HT2C Receptor Agonists.

The 5-HT2C receptor has emerged as a promising target in the treatment of a variety of central nervous system disorders. We have first identified aporphines as a new class of 5-HT2C receptor agonists. Structure-activity relationship results indicate that the aporphine core may be required for 5-HT2C receptor activity, and substitutions at its C1 position are important for 5-HT2C receptor activity. Our efforts to optimize our hit 15781 lead to the identification of the highly potent and selective 5-HT2C agonist 18b (MQ02-439) with an EC50 value of 104 nM and weak antagonism at the 5-HT2A and 5-HT2B receptors. The findings may serve as good starting points for the development of more potent and selective 5-HT2C agonists as valuable pharmacological tools or potential drug candidates.

Selective 5-HT2C receptor agonists: Design and synthesis of pyridazine-fused azepines

Heterocycle-fused azepines are discussed as potent 5-HT2C receptor agonists with excellent selectivity over 5-HT2B agonism. Synthesis and structure activity relationships are outlined for a series of bicyclic pyridazino[3,4-d]azepines. By comparison with earlier published work, in vitro assays predict a high probability for achieving CNS penetration for a potent and selective compound 15a, a pre-requisite to achieve in vivo efficacy.

Synthesis and SAR of potent and selective tetrahydropyrazinoisoquinolinone 5-HT2C receptor agonists

The 5-HT2C receptor has been implicated as a critical regulator of appetite. Small molecule activation of the 5-HT2C receptor has been shown to affect food intake and regulate body weight gain in rodent models and more recently in human clinical trials. Therefore, 5-HT2C is a well validated target for anti-obesity therapy. The synthesis and structure–activity relationships of a series of novel tetrahydropyrazinoisoquinolinone 5-HT2C receptor agonists are presented. Several members of this series were identified as potent 5-HT2C receptor agonists with high functional selectivity against the 5-HT2A and 5-HT2B receptors and reduced food intake in an acute rat feeding model upon oral dosing.