THE CONCISE GUIDE TO PHARMACOLOGY 2021/22: Catalytic receptors

The Concise Guide to PHARMACOLOGY 2021/22 is the fifth in this series of biennial publications. The Concise Guide provides concise overviews, mostly in tabular format, of the key properties of nearly 1900 human drug targets with an emphasis on selective pharmacology (where available), plus links to the open access knowledgebase source of drug targets and their ligands (www.guidetopharmacology.org), which provides more detailed views of target and ligand properties. Although the Concise Guide constitutes over 500 pages, the material presented is substantially reduced compared to information and links presented on the website. It provides a permanent, citable, point-in-time record that will survive database updates. The full contents of this section can be found at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/bph.15541. Catalytic receptors are one of the six major pharmacological targets into which the Guide is divided, with the others being: G protein-coupled receptors, ion channels, nuclear hormone receptors, enzymes and transporters. These are presented with nomenclature guidance and summary information on the best available pharmacological tools, alongside key references and suggestions for further reading. The landscape format of the Concise Guide is designed to facilitate comparison of related targets from material contemporary to mid-2021, and supersedes data presented in the 2019/20, 2017/18, 2015/16 and 2013/14 Concise Guides and previous Guides to Receptors and Channels. It is produced in close conjunction with the Nomenclature and Standards Committee of the International Union of Basic and Clinical Pharmacology (NC-IUPHAR), therefore, providing official IUPHAR classification and nomenclature for human drug targets, where appropriate.

Phosphotyrosine isosteres: past, present and future

Tyrosine phosphorylation is a critical component of signal transduction for multicellular organisms, particularly for pathways that regulate cell proliferation and differentiation. While tyrosine kinase inhibitors have become FDA-approved drugs, inhibitors of the other important components of these signaling pathways have been harder to develop. Specifically, direct phosphotyrosine (pTyr) isosteres have been aggressively pursued as inhibitors of Src homology 2 (SH2) domains and protein tyrosine phosphatases (PTPs). Medicinal chemists have produced many classes of peptide and small molecule inhibitors that mimic pTyr. However, balancing affinity with selectivity and cell penetration has made this an extremely difficult space for developing successful clinical candidates. This review will provide a comprehensive picture of the field of pTyr isosteres, from early beginnings to the current state and trajectory. We will also highlight the major protein targets of these medicinal chemistry efforts, the major classes of peptide and small molecule inhibitors that have been developed, and the handful of compounds which have been tested in clinical trials.

THE CONCISE GUIDE TO PHARMACOLOGY 2019/20: Catalytic receptors

The Concise Guide to PHARMACOLOGY 2019/20 is the fourth in this series of biennial publications. The Concise Guide provides concise overviews of the key properties of nearly 1800 human drug targets with an emphasis on selective pharmacology (where available), plus links to the open access knowledgebase source of drug targets and their ligands (www.guidetopharmacology.org), which provides more detailed views of target and ligand properties. Although the Concise Guide represents approximately 400 pages, the material presented is substantially reduced compared to information and links presented on the website. It provides a permanent, citable, point-in-time record that will survive database updates. The full contents of this section can be found at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/bph.14751. Catalytic receptors are one of the six major pharmacological targets into which the Guide is divided, with the others being: G protein-coupled receptors, ion channels, nuclear hormone receptors, enzymes and transporters. These are presented with nomenclature guidance and summary information on the best available pharmacological tools, alongside key references and suggestions for further reading. The landscape format of the Concise Guide is designed to facilitate comparison of related targets from material contemporary to mid-2019, and supersedes data presented in the 2017/18, 2015/16 and 2013/14 Concise Guides and previous Guides to Receptors and Channels. It is produced in close conjunction with the International Union of Basic and Clinical Pharmacology Committee on Receptor Nomenclature and Drug Classification (NC-IUPHAR), therefore, providing official IUPHAR classification and nomenclature for human drug targets, where appropriate.

Benzofuran derivatives and their anti-tubercular, anti-bacterial activities

Benzofuran is a fundamental structural unit in a variety of biologically active natural products, and its derivatives display various biological properties. Some benzofuran derivatives possess unique anti-tubercular and anti-bacterial action mechanism, and exhibit excellent in vitro and in vivo activities against both drug-sensitive and drug-resistant pathogens. Moreover, several benzofuran derivatives have already used in clinics for the treatment of various diseases. Thus, benzofuran is a useful pharmacophore to develop new anti-tubercular and anti-bacterial drugs. This review covers the recent advances of benzofuran derivatives as potential anti-tubercular and anti-bacterial agents, and the structure-activity relationship is also discussed to pave the way for the further rational development of this kind of derivatives.

Novel Mixed-Type Inhibitors of Protein Tyrosine Phosphatase 1B. Kinetic and Computational Studies

The Atlas of Diabetes reports 415 million diabetics in the world, a number that has surpassed in half the expected time the twenty year projection. Type 2 diabetes is the most frequent form of the disease; it is characterized by a defect in the secretion of insulin and a resistance in its target organs. In the search for new antidiabetic drugs, one of the principal strategies consists in promoting the action of insulin. In this sense, attention has been centered in the protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B (PTP1B), a protein whose overexpression or increase of its activity has been related in many studies with insulin resistance. In the present work, a chemical library of 250 compounds was evaluated to determine their inhibition capability on the protein PTP1B. Ten molecules inhibited over the 50% of the activity of the PTP1B, the three most potent molecules were selected for its characterization, reporting Ki values of 5.2, 4.2 and 41.3 µM, for compounds 1, 2, and 3, respectively. Docking and molecular dynamics studies revealed that the three inhibitors made interactions with residues at the secondary binding site to phosphate, exclusive for PTP1B. The data reported here support these compounds as hits for the design more potent and selective inhibitors against PTP1B in the search of new antidiabetic treatment.

Recent advances in the development of protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B inhibitors for Type 2 diabetes

Diabetes mellitus is the most serious and prevalent metabolic disorders worldwide, complications of which can decrease significantly the quality of life and contribute to premature death. Resistance to insulin is a predominant pathophysiological factor of Type 2 diabetes (T2D). Protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B (PTP1B) is an important negative factor of insulin signal and a potent therapeutic target in T2D patients. This review highlights recent advances (2012-2015) in research related to the role of PTP1B in signal transduction processes implicated in pathophysiology of T2D, and novel PTP1B inhibitors with an emphasis on their chemical structures and modes of action.

Novel PTP1B inhibitors identified by DNA display of fragment pairs

DNA display of PNA-encoded libraries was used to pair fragments containing different phosphotyrosine surrogates with diverse triazoles. Microarray-based screening of the combinatorially paired fragment sets (62,500 combinations) against a prototypical phosphatase, PTP1B, was used to identify the fittest fragments. A focused library (10,000 members) covalently pairing identified fragments with linkers of different length and geometry was synthesized. Screening of the focused library against PTP1B and closely related TCPTP revealed orthogonal inhibitors. The selectivity of the identified inhibitors for PTP1B versus TCPT was confirmed by enzymatic inhibition assay.

Identification of Bidentate Salicylic Acid Inhibitors of PTP1B

PTP1B is a master regulator in the insulin and leptin metabolic pathways. Hyper-activated PTP1B results in insulin resistance and is viewed as a key factor in the onset of type II diabetes and obesity. Moreover, inhibition of PTP1B expression in cancer cells dramatically inhibits cell growth in vitro and in vivo. Herein, we report the computationally guided optimization of a salicylic acid-based PTP1B inhibitor 6, identifying new and more potent bidentate PTP1B inhibitors, such as 20h, which exhibited a > 4-fold improvement in activity. In CHO-IR cells, 20f, 20h, and 20j suppressed PTP1B activity and restored insulin receptor phosphorylation levels. Notably, 20f, which displayed a 5-fold selectivity for PTP1B over the closely related PTPσ protein, showed no inhibition of PTP-LAR, PRL2 A/S, MKPX, or papain. Finally, 20i and 20j displayed nanomolar inhibition of PTPσ, representing interesting lead compounds for further investigation.