We previously reported Chalcone-4 (1) that binds the chemokine CXCL12, not its cognate receptors CXCR4 or CXCR7, and neutralizes its biological activity. However, this neutraligand suffers from limitations such as poor chemical stability, solubility, and oral activity. Herein, we report on the discovery of pyrimidinone 57 (LIT-927), a novel neutraligand of CXCL12 which displays a higher solubility than 1 and is no longer a Michael acceptor. While both 1 and 57 reduce eosinophil recruitment in a murine model of allergic airway hypereosinophilia, 57 is the only one to display inhibitory activity following oral administration. Thereby, we here describe 57 as the first orally active CXCL12 neutraligand with anti-inflammatory properties. Combined with a high binding selectivity for CXCL12 over other chemokines, 57 represents a powerful pharmacological tool to investigate CXCL12 physiology in vivo and to explore the activity of chemokine neutralization in inflammatory and related diseases.
An efficient solution-phase synthesis of aza-diketopiperazines (aza-DKP, triazinediones) is reported. A structurally diverse collection of c-[aza-alkylGly-Pro] derivatives and yet unreported 2,4,5-trisubstituted-1,2,4-triazine-3,6-diones has been synthesized starting from Fmoc-l-Pro-OH and various Fmoc-l-amino acids. To extend the practical value of this class of dipeptidomimetics, a general solid-phase synthesis approach amenable to library production was developed on both Wang-PS and HMBA-PS resins. The final acidic treatment of the resins in TFA/water mixture at room temperature enabled the rapid and quantitative cyclization/release highly pure triazinediones. The conformational preferences and the spatial organization of the three substituents of a representative 2,4,5-trisubstituted-1,2,4-triazine-3,6-dione were investigated by X-ray diffraction and (1)H NMR spectroscopy.
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