The gonadotropin receptors (luteinising hormone receptor; LHR and follicle-stimulating hormone receptor; FSHR) are G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) that play an important role in the endocrine control of reproduction. Thus genetic mutations that cause impaired function of these receptors have been implicated in a number of reproductive disorders. Disease-causing genetic mutations in GPCRs frequently result in intracellular retention and degradation of the nascent protein through misfolding and subsequent recognition by cellular quality control machinery. The discovery and development of novel compounds termed pharmacological chaperones (pharmacoperones) that can stabilise misfolded receptors and restore trafficking and plasma membrane expression are therefore of great interest clinically, and promising in vitro data describing the pharmacoperone rescue of a number of intracellularly retained mutant GPCRs has provided a platform for taking these compounds into in vivo trials. Thienopyrimidine small molecule allosteric gonadotropin receptor agonists (Org 42599 and Org 41841) have been demonstrated to have pharmacoperone activity. These compounds can rescue cell surface expression and in many cases, hormone responsiveness, of a range of retained mutant gonadotropin receptors. Should gonadotropin receptor selectivity of these compounds be improved, they could offer therapeutic benefit to subsets of patients suffering from reproductive disorders attributed to defective gonadotropin receptor trafficking.
Keywords: Follicle-stimulating hormone receptor; Gonadotropin receptors; Intracellular retention; Luteinising hormone receptors; Org 41841; Org 42599; Org 43553; Pharmacoperones; Thienopyrimidines.