Substituted Purines as High-Affinity Histamine H<sub>3</sub> Receptor Ligands

oleh: Christian Espinosa-Bustos, Luisa Leitzbach, Tito Añazco, María J. Silva, Andrea del Campo, Alejandro Castro-Alvarez, Holger Stark, Cristian O. Salas

Format: Article
Diterbitkan: MDPI AG 2022-05-01

Deskripsi

Continuing with our program to obtain new histamine H<sub>3</sub> receptor (H<sub>3</sub>R) ligands, in this work we present the synthesis, H<sub>3</sub>R affinity and in silico studies of a series of eight new synthetically accessible purine derivatives. These compounds are designed from the isosteric replacement of the scaffold presented in our previous ligand, pyrrolo[2,3-<i>d</i>]pyrimidine ring, by a purine core. This design also considers maintaining the fragment of bipiperidine at C-4 and aromatic rings with electron-withdrawing groups at N-9, as these fragments are part of the proposed pharmacophore. The in vitro screening results show that two purine derivatives, <b>3d</b> and <b>3h</b>, elicit high affinities to the H<sub>3</sub>R (Ki values of 2.91 and 5.51 nM, respectively). Both compounds are more potent than the reference drug pitolisant (K<sub>i</sub> 6.09 nM) and show low toxicity with in vitro models (IC<sub>50</sub> > 30 µM on HEK-293, SH-SY5Y and HepG2 cell lines). Subsequently, binding modes of these ligands are obtained using a model of H<sub>3</sub>R by docking and molecular dynamics studies, thus determining the importance of the purine ring in enhancing affinity due to the hydrogen bonding of Tyr374 to the N-7 of this heterocycle. Finally, in silico ADME properties are predicted, which indicate a promising future for these molecules in terms of their physical–chemical properties, absorption, oral bioavailability and penetration in the CNS.