A New Class of Potent N-Methyl-D-Aspartate Receptor Inhibitors: Sulfated Neuroactive Steroids with Lipophilic D-Ring Modifications

J Med Chem. 2015 Aug 13;58(15):5950-66. doi: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.5b00570. Epub 2015 Jul 29.

Abstract

N-Methyl-D-aspartate receptors (NMDARs) are glutamate-gated ion channels that play a crucial role in excitatory synaptic transmission. However, the overactivation of NMDARs can lead to excitotoxic cell damage/death, and as such, they play a role in numerous neuropathological conditions. The activity of NMDARs is known to be influenced by a wide variety of allosteric modulators, including neurosteroids, which in turn makes them promising therapeutic targets. In this study, we describe a new class of neurosteroid analogues which possess structural modifications in the steroid D-ring region. These analogues were tested on recombinant GluN1/GluN2B receptors to evaluate the structure-activity relationship. Our results demonstrate that there is a strong correlation between this new structural feature and the in vitro activity, as all tested compounds were evaluated as more potent inhibitors of NMDA-induced currents (IC50 values varying from 90 nM to 5.4 μM) than the known endogeneous neurosteroid-pregnanolone sulfate (IC50 = 24.6 μM).

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • HEK293 Cells
  • Humans
  • Lipids / chemistry*
  • Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate / antagonists & inhibitors*
  • Steroids / chemistry
  • Steroids / pharmacology*
  • Sulfates / chemistry

Substances

  • Lipids
  • Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate
  • Steroids
  • Sulfates