Fatty acid ethanolamides such as palmitoylethanolamide (PEA) and oleoylethanolamide (OEA) are lipid-derived mediators that potently inhibit pain and inflammation by ligating type-α peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPAR-α). These bioactive substances are preferentially degraded by the cysteine hydrolase, N-acylethanolamine acid amidase (NAAA), which is highly expressed in macrophages. Here we describe a new class of β-lactam derivatives that are potent, selective and systemically active inhibitors of intracellular NAAA activity. The prototype of this class deactivates NAAA by covalently binding the enzyme's catalytic cysteine, and exerts profound anti-inflammatory effects in both mouse models and human macrophages. This agent may be used to probe the functions of NAAA in health and disease and as a starting point to discover better anti-inflammatory drugs.

Acid ceramidase (AC) is an intracellular cysteine amidase that catalyzes the hydrolysis of the lipid messenger ceramide. By regulating ceramide levels in cells, AC may contribute to the regulation of cancer cell proliferation and senescence and to the response to cancer therapy. We recently identified the antitumoral agent carmofur (4a) as the first nanomolar inhibitor of intracellular AC activity (rat AC, IC 50 = 0.029 μM). In the present work, we expanded our initial structure−activity relationship (SAR) studies around 4a by synthesizing and testing a series of 2,4-dioxopyrimidine-1-carboxamides. Our investigations provided a first elucidation of the structural features of uracil derivatives that are critical for AC inhibition and led us to identify the first single-digit nanomolar inhibitors of this enzyme. The present results confirm that substituted 2,4-dioxopyrimidine-1-carboxamides are a novel class of potent inhibitors of AC. Selected compounds of this class may represent useful probes to further characterize the functional roles of AC.

N-Acylethanolamine acid amidase (NAAA) is a lysosomal cysteine hydrolase involved in the degradation of saturated and monounsaturated fatty acid ethanolamides (FAEs), a family of endogenous lipid agonists of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-α, which include oleoylethanolamide (OEA) and palmitoylethanolamide (PEA). The β-lactone derivatives (S)-N-(2-oxo-3-oxetanyl)-3-phenylpropionamide (2) and (S)-N-(2-oxo-3-oxetanyl)-biphenyl-4-carboxamide (3) inhibit NAAA, prevent FAE hydrolysis in activated inflammatory cells, and reduce tissue reactions to pro-inflammatory stimuli. Recently, our group disclosed ARN077 (4), a potent NAAA inhibitor that is active in vivo by topical administration in rodent models of hyperalgesia and allodynia. In the present study, we investigated the structure−activity relationship (SAR) of threonine-derived β-lactone analogues of compound 4. The main results of this work were an enhancement of the inhibitory potency of β-lactone carbamate derivatives for NAAA and the identification of (4-phenylphenyl)-methyl-N-[(2S,3R)-2-methyl-4-oxo-oxetan-3-yl]carbamate (14q) as the first single-digit nanomolar inhibitor of intracellular NAAA activity (IC 50 = 7 nM on both rat NAAA and human NAAA).

[reaction: see text] An unprecedented copper phosphoramidite catalyzed enantioselective alkylative ring-opening reaction of oxabenzonorbornadiene derivatives with dialkylzinc reagents is reported. The reaction shows high levels of anti-stereoselectivity (up to anti/syn >99:1), complementary to the Pd(0)-catalyzed syn-selective ring-opening protocol, allowing a new entry to anti-dihydronaphthols with high enantioselectivity (up to 99% ee).

Deletion of phenylalanine at position 508 (F508del) in the CFTR chloride channel is the most frequent mutation in cystic fibrosis (CF) patients. F508del impairs the stability and folding of the CFTR protein, thus resulting in mistrafficking and premature degradation. F508del-CFTR defects can be overcome with small molecules termed correctors. We investigated the efficacy and properties of VX-445, a newly developed corrector, which is one of the three active principles present in a drug (Trikafta®/Kaftrio®) recently approved for the treatment of CF patients with F508del mutation. We found that VX-445, particularly in combination with type I (VX-809, VX-661) and type II (corr-4a) correctors, elicits a large rescue of F508del-CFTR function. In particular, in primary bronchial epithelial cells of CF patients, the maximal rescue obtained with corrector combinations including VX-445 was close to 60–70% of CFTR function in non-CF cells. Despite this high efficacy, analysis of ubiquitylation, resistance to thermoaggregation, protein half-life, and subcellular localization revealed that corrector combinations did not fully normalize F508del-CFTR behavior. Our study indicates that it is still possible to further improve mutant CFTR rescue with the development of corrector combinations having maximal effects on mutant CFTR structural and functional properties.

The role of neuropeptide FF (NPFF) and its analogs in pain modulation is ambiguous. Although NPFF was first characterized as an antiopioid peptide, both antinociceptive and pronociceptive effects have been reported, depending on the route of administration. Currently, two NPFF receptors, termed FF1 and FF2, have been identified and cloned, but their roles in pain modulation remain elusive because of the lack of availability of selective compounds suitable for systemic administration in in vivo models. Ligand-binding studies confirm ubiquitous expression of both subtypes in brain, whereas only FF2 receptors are expressed spinally. This disparity in localization has served as the foundation of the hypothesis that FF1 receptors mediate the pronociceptive actions of NPFF. We have identified novel small molecule NPFF receptor agonists and antagonists with varying degrees of FF2/FF1 functional selectivity. Using these pharmacological tools in vivo has allowed us to define the roles of NPFF receptor subtypes as pertains to the modulation of nociception. We demonstrate that selective FF2 agonism does not modulate acute pain but instead ameliorates inflammatory and neuropathic pains. Treatment with a nonselective FF1/FF2 agonist potentiates allodynia in neuropathic rats and increases sensitivity to noxious thermal and to non-noxious mechanical stimuli in normal rats in an FF1 antagonist-reversible manner. Treatment with FF1 antagonists reversed established mechanical allodynia, indicating the possibility of increased NPFF tone through FF1 receptors. In conclusion, we provide evidence for the opposing roles of NPFF receptors and highlight selective FF2 agonism and/or selective FF1 antagonism as potential targets warranting further investigation.

We report the discovery and initial characterization of a novel class of selective NPFF2 agonists. HTS screening using R-SAT, a whole cell based functional assay, identified a class of aryliminoguanidines as NPFF1 and NPFF2 ligands. Subsequent optimization led to molecules exhibiting selective NPFF2 agonistic activity. Systemic administration showed that selective NPFF2 agonists (1 and 3) are active in various pain models in vivo, whereas administration of a nonselective NPFF1 and NPFF2 agonist (9) increases sensitivity to noxious and non-noxious stimuli.

ABSTRACT:The cysteine amidase N-acylethanolamine acid amidase (NAAA) is a member of the N-terminal nucleophile class of enzymes and a potential target for anti-inflammatory drugs. We investigated the mechanism of inhibition of human NAAA by substituted β-lactones. We characterized pharmacologically a representative member of this class, ARN077, and showed, using high-resolution liquid chromatography−tandem mass spectrometry, that this compound forms a thioester bond with the N-terminal catalytic cysteine in human NAAA. KEYWORDS: NAAA, cysteine amidase, covalent inhibitors, high resolution mass spectrometry, proteomics T he fatty acid ethanolamides (FAEs) are a family of bioactive lipid molecules that have attracted considerable interest due to their potential role in the control of pain, inflammation, and energy metabolism. Two structurally and functionally distinct classes of FAEs have been described. Polyunsaturated FAEs, such as arachidonoylethanolamide (anandamide) and eicosapentaenoylethanolamide, are endogenous agonists of G protein-coupled cannabinoid receptors. 1,2 These compounds are thought to act as retrograde messengers at synapses of the central nervous system and as local mediators in peripheral tissues. In the brain, anandamide-mediated signaling at CB 1 type cannabinoid receptors has been implicated in the regulation of anxiety, 3 depression, 4,5 stress-induced analgesia, 6 and nausea. 7 Outside the brain, anandamide released at sites of tissue injury is thought to control the initiation of emerging pain signals, 8,9 presumably by reducing the local release of proalgesic and proinflammatory factors from nociceptive nerve terminals. 10 The biological actions of anandamide are interrupted by a two-step deactivation process consisting of carriermediated transport into cells 11,12 followed by intracellular hydrolysis, which is catalyzed by the membrane-bound serine hydrolase, fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH). Inhibitors of this enzyme protect anandamide from deactivation and selectively magnify its intrinsic actions, producing an array of pharmacological effects that include reduced anxiety, depression, and pain. 13 Saturated and monounsaturated FAEs, which include oleoylethanolamide (OEA) and palmitoylethanolamide (PEA), do not productively interact with cannabinoid receptors. These compounds are, however, potent or moderately potent agonists of nuclear peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-α (PPAR-α), which is responsible for most of their analgesic and anti-inflammatory properties. 14−16 OEA and PEA are produced in many mammalian tissues, including neurons 17 and innate immune cells, 18 where a selective phospholipase D releases them by cleaving the membrane precursor, N-acyl-phosphatidylethanolamine. 19 They are deactivated either by FAAH, which prefers anandamide and OEA over PEA, or by NAAA, which conversely prefers PEA and OEA over anandamide. 20 Despite its functional similarity with FAAH, NAAA shares no homology with this or other enzymes of the same "amidase signature" family. Rather,...