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Naturally occurring compounds such as sesquiterpenes and sesquiterpenoids (SQTs) have been shown to modulate GABA\(_{A}\) receptors (GABA\(_{A}\)Rs). In this study, the modulatory potential of 11 SQTs at GABA\(_{A}\)Rs was analyzed to characterize their potential neurotropic activity. Transfected HEK293 cells and primary hippocampal neurons were functionally investigated using electrophysiological whole-cell recordings. Significantly different effects of β-caryophyllene and α-humulene, as well as their respective derivatives β-caryolanol and humulol, were observed in the HEK293 cell system. In neurons, the concomitant presence of phasic and tonic GABA\(_{A}\)R configurations accounts for differences in receptor modulation by SQTs. The in vivo presence of the γ\(_{2}\) and δ subunits is important for SQT modulation. While phasic GABA\(_{A}\) receptors in hippocampal neurons exhibited significantly altered GABA-evoked current amplitudes in the presence of humulol and guaiol, negative allosteric potential at recombinantly expressed α\(_{1}\)β\(_{2}\)γ\(_{2}\) receptors was only verified for humolol. Modeling and docking studies provided support for the binding of SQTs to the neurosteroid-binding site of the GABA\(_{A}\)R localized between transmembrane segments 1 and 3 at the (\(^{+}\)α)-(\(^{-}\)α) interface. In sum, differences in the modulation of GABA\(_{A}\)R isoforms between SQTs were identified. Another finding is that our results provide an indication that nutritional digestion affects the neurotropic potential of natural compounds.
Inhibition of coronavirus (CoV)‐encoded papain‐like cysteine proteases (PL\(^{pro}\)) represents an attractive strategy to treat infections by these important human pathogens. Herein we report on structure‐activity relationships (SAR) of the noncovalent active‐site directed inhibitor (R)‐5‐amino‐2‐methyl‐N‐(1‐(naphthalen‐1‐yl)ethyl) benzamide (2 b), which is known to bind into the S3 and S4 pockets of the SARS‐CoV PL\(^{pro}\). Moreover, we report the discovery of isoindolines as a new class of potent PL\(^{pro}\) inhibitors. The studies also provide a deeper understanding of the binding modes of this inhibitor class. Importantly, the inhibitors were also confirmed to inhibit SARS‐CoV‐2 replication in cell culture suggesting that, due to the high structural similarities of the target proteases, inhibitors identified against SARS‐CoV PL\(^{pro}\) are valuable starting points for the development of new pan‐coronaviral inhibitors.