Discovery of Nuclear Receptor Ligands and Elucidation of Their Mechanisms of Action.

Discovery of Nuclear Receptor Ligands and Elucidation of Their Mechanisms of Action.
Chem Pharm Bull (Tokyo). 2019;67(7):609-619
Authors: Yamamoto K
Abstract
To develop potent ligands for the vitamin D receptor (VDR), we designed and synthesized a series of vitamin D analogues with and without 22-alkyl substituents. These analogues exhibited agonistic, partial agonistic, or antagonistic activity. To elucidate the mechanism of action of the analogues, we conducted crystal structure analyses of the ligand-binding domain (LBD) of VDR complexed with the analogues. The VDR-LBD/agonist complex exhibited precise interactions, which clearly explained VDR agonism. The VDR-LBD/partial agonist complex showed two conformers (agonist and antagonist binding conformers) in a single crystal, demonstrating that partial agonism could be explained by the sum of the agonistic and antagonistic activities. Antagonist binding to the VDR-LBD structure was elucidated using both crystal structure analysis and in-solution structural analyses with the small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS)-molecular dynamics (MD) and hydrogen/deuterium exchange coupled with mass spectrometry (HDX-MS) methods. Several antagonist-binding structures were detected. We found that the antagonist binding structures differed depending on the structure of the antagonist itself, and those structures clearly explained the VDR antagonism. Furthermore, the apo VDR-LBD structure without the lig...

Source: Chemical and Pharmaceutical Bulletin - July 3, 2019 Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Authors: Yamamoto K Tags: Chem Pharm Bull (Tokyo) Source Type: research