Design and Synthesis of Novel Spiro Derivatives as Potent and Reversible Monoacylglycerol Lipase (MAGL) Inhibitors: Bioisosteric Transformation from 3-Oxo-3,4-dihydro-2 H-benzo[ b][1,4]oxazin-6-yl Moiety

J Med Chem. 2021 Aug 12;64(15):11014-11044. doi: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.1c00432. Epub 2021 Jul 30.

Abstract

The therapeutic potential of monoacylglycerol lipase (MAGL) inhibitors in central nervous system-related diseases has attracted attention worldwide. However, the availability of reversible-type inhibitor is still limited to clarify the pharmacological effect. Herein, we report the discovery of novel spiro chemical series as potent and reversible MAGL inhibitors with a different binding mode to MAGL using Arg57 and His121. Starting from hit compound 1 and its co-crystal structure with MAGL, structure-based drug discovery (SBDD) approach enabled us to generate various spiro scaffolds like 2a (azetidine-lactam), 2b (cyclobutane-lactam), and 2d (cyclobutane-carbamate) as novel bioisosteres of 3-oxo-3,4-dihydro-2H-benzo[b][1,4]oxazin-6-yl moiety in 1 with higher lipophilic ligand efficiency (LLE). Optimization of the left hand side afforded 4f as a promising reversible MAGL inhibitor, which showed potent in vitro MAGL inhibitory activity (IC50 6.2 nM), good oral absorption, blood-brain barrier penetration, and significant pharmacodynamic changes (2-arachidonoylglycerol increase and arachidonic acid decrease) at 0.3-10 mg/kg, po. in mice.

MeSH terms

  • Dose-Response Relationship, Drug
  • Drug Design*
  • Enzyme Inhibitors / chemical synthesis
  • Enzyme Inhibitors / chemistry
  • Enzyme Inhibitors / pharmacology*
  • Humans
  • Models, Molecular
  • Molecular Structure
  • Monoacylglycerol Lipases / antagonists & inhibitors*
  • Monoacylglycerol Lipases / metabolism
  • Oxazines / chemistry
  • Oxazines / pharmacology*
  • Spiro Compounds / chemical synthesis
  • Spiro Compounds / chemistry
  • Spiro Compounds / pharmacology*
  • Structure-Activity Relationship

Substances

  • Enzyme Inhibitors
  • Oxazines
  • Spiro Compounds
  • Monoacylglycerol Lipases