Nuclear factor of activated T cells 5 (NFAT5) has been implicated in the pathogenesis of various human diseases, including cancer and arthritis. However, therapeutic agents inhibiting NFAT5 activity are currently unavailable. To discover NFAT5 inhibitors, a library of > 40,000 chemicals was screened for the suppression of nitric oxide, a direct target regulated by NFAT5 activity, through high-throughput screening. We validated the anti-NFAT5 activity of 198 primary hit compounds using an NFAT5-dependent reporter assay and identified the novel NFAT5 suppressor KRN2, 13-(2-fluoro)-benzylberberine, and its derivative KRN5. KRN2 inhibited NFAT5 upregulation in macrophages stimulated with lipopolysaccharide and repressed the formation of NF-κB p65-DNA complexes in the NFAT5 promoter region. Interestingly, KRN2 selectively suppressed the expression of pro-inflammatory genes, including Nos2 and Il6, without hampering high-salt-induced NFAT5 and its target gene expressions. Moreover, KRN2 and KRN5, the latter of which exhibits high oral bioavailability and metabolic stability, ameliorated experimentally induced arthritis in mice without serious adverse effects, decreasing pro-inflammatory cytokine production. Particularly, orally administered KRN5 was stronger in suppressing arthritis than methotrexate, a commonly used anti-rheumatic drug, displaying better potency and safety than its original compound, berberine. Therefore, KRN2 and KRN5 can be potential therapeutic agents in the treatment of chronic arthritis.

The reductive cyclizations of various ketones tethered to activated olefins such as a,/3-unsaturated esters, nitriles, sulfoxides, and sulfides were mediated by magnesium in dry methanol in the presence of mercuric chloride. When treated with magnesium in dry methanol at -23 6C all of the ketones except nitrile 9 (42%) and 5-oxa-8-keto-2-enoate 5 (13%) gave excellent yields (79-98%) of monoand bicyclic alcohol products resulting from carbon-carbon bond formation between the /3-carbon of the activated olefin and the carbonyl carbon. The reaction was accelerated by the catalytic amount of mercuric chloride, although the stereoselectivity was not affected by the catalyst. For all the substrates except 8-keto-2-enoate 3 and 5-aza-8-keto-2-enoate 6, the configuration of the major product was trans between the hydroxy and (methoxycarbonyl)methyl groups. The product isomer ratios were independent of the substrate geometry (25 or Z). In contrast to the ketones, aldehydes tethered to a,/3-unsaturated esters gave products of simple reduction of the double bond and/or saturated alcohols instead of the cyclized products. When the reaction temperature was lowered, the yields of cyclized product were significantly affected by the production of appreciable amounts of saturated product, but the stereoselectivity was not improved. Under the same reaction conditions a,/3-unsaturated sulfoxide 16 gave deoxygenated sulfide 18 (85%) as the major product along with a small amount (9%) of cyclized product 19t. In contrast, sulfone 17 underwent desulfonylation instead of cyclization to give olefin 20 (54%). With excess magnesium (15 equiv), however, a,/Sunsaturated sulfoxide 16 gave cyclized sulfide 19t (95 %) via deoxygenated sulfide 18. Both 16Z and 1625 afforded product 19t as a single isomer. It is suggested that the reductive cyclization of the a,/3-unsaturated esters and nitriles proceed by means of nucleophilic attack of a /3-carbon radical anion, formed by initial electron transfer from magnesium metal to the activated olefin, on the carbonyl group. The cyclization of the a,/3-unsaturated sulfide proceeds by nucleophilic attack of the ketyl on the olefinic double bond.

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