PUBLICATION
Discovery of Brain-Penetrative Negative Allosteric Modulators of NMDA Receptors Using FEP-Guided Structure Optimization and Membrane Permeability Prediction
- Authors
- Zhao, F., Jiang, L., Xie, J., Liu, N., Gao, Z., Yang, Y., Wang, Y., Huang, B., Kang, D., Zhan, P., Yi, F., Liu, X.
- ID
- ZDB-PUB-250115-4
- Date
- 2025
- Source
- Journal of chemical information and modeling : (Journal)
- Registered Authors
- Keywords
- none
- MeSH Terms
-
- Blood-Brain Barrier*/drug effects
- Blood-Brain Barrier*/metabolism
- Drug Discovery
- Animals
- Cell Membrane Permeability/drug effects
- Brain/drug effects
- Brain/metabolism
- Zebrafish*
- Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate*/antagonists & inhibitors
- Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate*/metabolism
- Allosteric Regulation/drug effects
- Thermodynamics
- PubMed
- 39809515 Full text @ J Chem Inf Model
Citation
Zhao, F., Jiang, L., Xie, J., Liu, N., Gao, Z., Yang, Y., Wang, Y., Huang, B., Kang, D., Zhan, P., Yi, F., Liu, X. (2025) Discovery of Brain-Penetrative Negative Allosteric Modulators of NMDA Receptors Using FEP-Guided Structure Optimization and Membrane Permeability Prediction. Journal of chemical information and modeling. :.
Abstract
N-Methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptors, a subtype of ionotropic glutamate receptors in the central nervous system (CNS), have garnered attention for their role in brain disorders. Specifically, GluN2A-containing NMDA receptors have emerged as a potential therapeutic target for the treatment of depressive disorders and epilepsy. However, the development of GluN2A-containing NMDA receptor-selective antagonists, represented by N-(4-(2-benzoylhydrazine-1-carbonyl)benzyl)-3-chloro-4-fluorobenzenesulfonamide (TCN-201) and its derivatives, faces a significant challenge due to their limited ability to penetrate the blood-brain barrier (BBB), hampering their in vivo characterization and further advancement. In this study, we reported a series of 2-((5-(phemylamino)-1,3,4-thiadiazol-2-yl)thio)-N-(cyclohexylmethyl)acetamide derivatives, achieved through a structure-guided optimization strategy using free energy perturbation (FEP) and BBB permeability estimation. Through systematic exploration of various phenyl substitutions, compound 1f emerged as a standout compound, demonstrating substantially enhanced inhibitory activity compared with the lead compound TCN-213. Compound 1f not only displayed satisfactory BBB permeability but also showed antidepressant-like potency in the hydrocortisone-induced zebrafish depression-like model. All results position it as a promising candidate for developing innovative therapeutics for NMDA receptor-related disorders.
Genes / Markers
Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping