TY - JOUR A1 - Volpato, Daniela A1 - Holzgrabe, Ulrike T1 - Designing Hybrids Targeting the Cholinergic System by Modulating the Muscarinic and Nicotinic Receptors: A Concept to Treat Alzheimer’s Disease JF - Molecules N2 - The cholinergic hypothesis has been reported first being the cause of memory dysfunction in the Alzheimer’s disease. Researchers around the globe have focused their attention on understanding the mechanisms of how this complicated system contributes to processes such as learning, memory, disorientation, linguistic problems, and behavioral issues in the indicated chronic neurodegenerative disease. The present review reports recent updates in hybrid molecule design as a strategy for selectively addressing multiple target proteins involved in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and the study of their therapeutic relevance. The rationale and the design of the bifunctional compounds will be discussed in order to understand their potential as tools to investigate the role of the cholinergic system in AD. KW - AChE inhibitor KW - Alzheimer’s disease KW - bitopic ligand KW - cholinergic system KW - hybrid molecules KW - muscarinic receptors KW - nicotinic receptors Y1 - 2018 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-197555 SN - 1420-3049 VL - 23 IS - 12 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Matera, Carlo A1 - Kauk, Michael A1 - Cirillo, Davide A1 - Maspero, Marco A1 - Papotto, Claudio A1 - Volpato, Daniela A1 - Holzgrabe, Ulrike A1 - De Amici, Marco A1 - Hoffmann, Carsten A1 - Dallanoce, Clelia T1 - Novel Xanomeline-containing bitopic ligands of muscarinic acetylcholine receptors: design, synthesis and FRET investigation JF - Molecules N2 - In the last few years, fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) receptor sensors have contributed to the understanding of GPCR ligand binding and functional activation. FRET sensors based on muscarinic acetylcholine receptors (mAChRs) have been employed to study dual-steric ligands, allowing for the detection of different kinetics and distinguishing between partial, full, and super agonism. Herein, we report the synthesis of the two series of bitopic ligands, 12-Cn and 13-Cn, and their pharmacological investigation at the M\(_1\), M\(_2\), M\(_4\), and M\(_5\) FRET-based receptor sensors. The hybrids were prepared by merging the pharmacophoric moieties of the M\(_1\)/M\(_4\)-preferring orthosteric agonist Xanomeline 10 and the M\(_1\)-selective positive allosteric modulator 77-LH-28-1 (1-[3-(4-butyl-1-piperidinyl)propyl]-3,4-dihydro-2(1H)-quinolinone) 11. The two pharmacophores were connected through alkylene chains of different lengths (C3, C5, C7, and C9). Analyzing the FRET responses, the tertiary amine compounds 12-C5, 12-C7, and 12-C9 evidenced a selective activation of M\(_1\) mAChRs, while the methyl tetrahydropyridinium salts 13-C5, 13-C7, and 13-C9 showed a degree of selectivity for M\(_1\) and M\(_4\) mAChRs. Moreover, whereas hybrids 12-Cn showed an almost linear response at the M\(_1\) subtype, hybrids 13-Cn evidenced a bell-shaped activation response. This different activation pattern suggests that the positive charge anchoring the compound 13-Cn to the orthosteric site ensues a degree of receptor activation depending on the linker length, which induces a graded conformational interference with the binding pocket closure. These bitopic derivatives represent novel pharmacological tools for a better understanding of ligand-receptor interactions at a molecular level. KW - muscarinic acetylcholine receptors KW - Xanomeline KW - 77-LH-28-1 KW - bitopic hybrid ligands KW - synthesis KW - fluorescence resonance energy transfer Y1 - 2023 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-311249 SN - 1420-3049 VL - 28 IS - 5 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Volpato, Daniela A1 - Kauk, Michael A1 - Messerer, Regina A1 - Bermudez, Marcel A1 - Wolber, Gerhard A1 - Bock, Andreas A1 - Hoffmann, Carsten A1 - Holzgrabe, Ulrike T1 - The Role of Orthosteric Building Blocks of Bitopic Ligands for Muscarinic M1 Receptors JF - ACS Omega N2 - The muscarinic M\(_1\) acetylcholine receptor is an important drug target for the treatment of various neurological disorders. Designing M\(_1\) receptor-selective drugs has proven challenging, mainly due to the high conservation of the acetylcholine binding site among muscarinic receptor subtypes. Therefore, less conserved and topographically distinct allosteric binding sites have been explored to increase M\(_1\) receptor selectivity. In this line, bitopic ligands, which target orthosteric and allosteric binding sites simultaneously, may provide a promising strategy. Here, we explore the allosteric, M1-selective BQCAd scaffold derived from BQCA as a starting point for the design, synthesis, and pharmacological evaluation of a series of novel bitopic ligands in which the orthosteric moieties and linker lengths are systematically varied. Since β-arrestin recruitment seems to be favorable to therapeutic implication, all the compounds were investigated by G protein and β-arrestin assays. Some bitopic ligands are partial to full agonists for G protein activation, some activate β-arrestin recruitment, and the degree of β-arrestin recruitment varies according to the respective modification. The allosteric BQCAd scaffold controls the positioning of the orthosteric ammonium group of all ligands, suggesting that this interaction is essential for stimulating G protein activation. However, β-arrestin recruitment is not affected. The novel set of bitopic ligands may constitute a toolbox to study the requirements of β-arrestin recruitment during ligand design for therapeutic usage. KW - muscarinic M1 receptor Y1 - 2020 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-230548 VL - 5 IS - 49 ER -