Synthesis and Characterization of a Bidirectional Photoswitchable Antagonist Toolbox for Real-Time GPCR Photopharmacology

J Am Chem Soc. 2018 Mar 28;140(12):4232-4243. doi: 10.1021/jacs.7b11422. Epub 2018 Mar 14.

Abstract

Noninvasive methods to modulate G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) with temporal and spatial precision are in great demand. Photopharmacology uses photons to control in situ the biological properties of photoswitchable small-molecule ligands, which bodes well for chemical biological precision approaches. Integrating the light-switchable configurational properties of an azobenzene into the ligand core, we developed a bidirectional antagonist toolbox for an archetypical family A GPCR, the histamine H3 receptor (H3R). From 16 newly synthesized photoswitchable compounds, VUF14738 (28) and VUF14862 (33) were selected as they swiftly and reversibly photoisomerize and show over 10-fold increased or decreased H3R binding affinities, respectively, upon illumination at 360 nm. Both ligands combine long thermal half-lives with fast and high photochemical trans-/ cis conversion, allowing their use in real-time electrophysiology experiments with oocytes to confirm dynamic photomodulation of H3R activation in repeated second-scale cycles. VUF14738 and VUF14862 are robust and fatigue-resistant photoswitchable GPCR antagonists suitable for spatiotemporal studies of H3R signaling.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Azo Compounds / chemical synthesis
  • Azo Compounds / chemistry
  • Azo Compounds / pharmacology*
  • Humans
  • Ligands
  • Molecular Structure
  • Photochemical Processes
  • Photons
  • Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled / antagonists & inhibitors*
  • Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled / metabolism

Substances

  • Azo Compounds
  • Ligands
  • Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled
  • VUF14738
  • azobenzene