Currently
employed histamine H2 receptor (H2R) radioligands
possess several drawbacks, for example, high non-specificity,
insurmountable binding, or short half-life. We report the synthesis
and the chemical and pharmacological characterization of the highly
stable carbamoylguanidine-type radioligand [3H]UR-KAT479
([3H]23), a subtype selective histamine H2 receptor G protein-biased agonist. [3H]23 was characterized by saturation, kinetic, and competition binding
assays at the human, guinea pig, and mouse H2 receptors
(co-)expressed in HEK293(T) cells. [3H]23 reversibly
bound to the respective H2Rs with moderate to high affinity
(human/guinea pig/mouse K
d: 24/28/94 nM).
In order to investigate the applicability of carbamoylguanidine-type
ligands in animal studies elucidating the role of the H2R in the brain, we performed a preliminary partitioning experiment
in the whole human/mouse blood, which indicated a low binding of [3H]23 to red blood cells. These properties turn
[3H]23 into a powerful tool for the determination
of binding affinities and demonstrate the promising pharmacokinetic
profile of carbamoylguanidine-type ligands.