Pancreatic ␤-cell dysfunction is a hallmark event in the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes. Injectable peptide agonists of the glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) receptor have shown significant promise as antidiabetic agents by virtue of their ability to amplify glucose-dependent insulin release and preserve pancreatic ␤-cell mass. These effects are mediated via stimulation of cAMP through ␤-cell GLP-1 receptors. We report that the G␣ s -coupled receptor GPR119 is largely restricted to insulin-producing ␤-cells of pancreatic islets. Additionally, we show here that GPR119 functions as a glucose-dependent insulinotropic receptor. Unlike receptors for GLP-1 and other peptides that mediate enhanced glucose-dependent insulin release, GPR119 was suitable for the development of potent, orally active, small-molecule agonists. The GPR119-specific agonist AR231453 significantly increased cAMP accumulation and insulin release in both HIT-T15 cells and rodent islets. In both cases, loss of GPR119 rendered AR231453 inactive. AR231453 also enhanced glucose-dependent insulin release in vivo and improved oral glucose tolerance in wild-type mice but not in GPR119-deficient mice. Diabetic KK/A y mice were also highly responsive to AR231453. Orally active GPR119 agonists may offer significant promise as novel antihyperglycemic agents acting in a glucose-dependent fashion. (Endocrinology

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G protein-coupled receptor 119 (GPR119) is largely restricted to pancreatic insulin-producing beta-cells and intestinal glucagon-like peptide-1-producing L-cells. Synthetic agonists of this receptor elicit glucose-dependent release of these endocrine factors, thereby enhancing glycemic control. Oleoylethanolamide also activates GPR119, but it remains unclear whether endogenous production of this lipid modulates GPR119 activity under normal or dysglycemic conditions. We show here that a relatively diverse set of lipid amides activate GPR119. Among these, the endovallinoid N-oleoyldopamine (OLDA) stimulated cAMP accumulation in GPR119-transfected cells as effectively as oleoylethanolamide and the previously described synthetic agonist AR231453. None of these lipid amides increased cAMP in control-transfected cells or in cells transfected with a number of other G protein-coupled receptors. OLDA stimulated both cAMP accumulation and insulin release in HIT-T15 cells, which express GPR119 endogenously, and in GPR119-transfected RIN-5F cells. Oral administration of OLDA to C57bl/6 mice elicited significant improvement in glucose tolerance, whereas GPR119-deficient mice were essentially unresponsive. OLDA also acutely elevated plasma gastric inhibitory peptide levels, a known hallmark of GPR119 activation. OLDA represents a possible paracrine modulator of GPR119 in pancreatic islets, where markers of dopamine synthesis correlated well with GPR119 expression. However, no such correlation was seen in the colon. Collectively, these studies indicate that multiple, distinct classes of lipid amides, acting via GPR119, may be important modulators of glucose homeostasis.

GPR119 is a rhodopsin-like GPCR expressed in pancreatic beta-cells and incretin releasing cells in the GI tract. As with incretins, GPR119 increases cAMP levels in these cell types, thus making it a highly attractive potential target for the treatment of diabetes. The discovery of the first reported potent agonist of GPR119, 2-fluoro-4-methanesulfonyl-phenyl)-{6-[4-(3-isopropyl-[1,2,4]oxadiazol-5-yl)-piperidin-1-yl]-5-nitro-pyrimidin-4-yl}-amine (8g, AR231453), is described starting from an initial inverse agonist screening hit. Compound 8g showed in vivo activity in rodents and was active in an oral glucose tolerance test in mice following oral administration.

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APD334 was discovered as part of our internal effort to identify potent, centrally available, functional antagonists of the S1P 1 receptor for use as next generation therapeutics for treating multiple sclerosis (MS) and other autoimmune diseases. APD334 is a potent functional antagonist of S1P 1 and has a favorable PK/PD profile, producing robust lymphocyte lowering at relatively low plasma concentrations in several preclinical species. This new agent was efficacious in a mouse experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) model of MS and a rat collagen induced arthritis (CIA) model and was found to have appreciable central exposure.

The kinetics of drug-receptor interactions can profoundly influence in vivo and in vitro pharmacology. In vitro, the potencies of slowly associating agonists may be underestimated in assays capturing transient signaling events. When divergent receptormediated signaling pathways are evaluated using combinations of equilibrium and transient assays, potency differences driven by kinetics may be erroneously interpreted as biased signaling. In vivo, drugs with slow dissociation rates may display prolonged physiologic effects inconsistent with their pharmacokinetic profiles. We evaluated a panel of 5-hydroxytryptamine 2B (5-HT 2B ) receptor agonists in kinetic radioligand binding assays and in transient, calcium flux assays, and inositol phosphate accumulation assays; two functional readouts emanating from Ga qmediated activation of phospholipase C. In binding studies, ergot derivatives demonstrated slow receptor association and dissociation rates, resulting in significantly reduced potency in calcium assays relative to inositol phosphate accumulation assays. Ergot potencies for activation of extracellular signalregulated kinases 1 and 2 were also highly time-dependent. A number of ergots produced wash-resistant 5-HT 2B signaling that persisted for many hours without appreciable loss of potency, which was not explained simply by slow receptordissociation kinetics. Mechanistic studies indicated that persistent signaling originated from internalized or sequestered receptors. This study provides a mechanistic basis for the long durations of action in vivo and wash-resistant effects in ex vivo tissue models often observed for ergots. The 5-HT 2B agonist activity of a number of ergot-derived therapeutics has been implicated in development of cardiac valvulopathy in man. The novel, sustained nature of ergot signaling reported here may represent an additional mechanism contributing to the valvulopathic potential of these compounds.