Urolinin: The First Linear Peptidic Urotensin-II Receptor Agonist

J Med Chem. 2016 Nov 23;59(22):10100-10112. doi: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.6b00164. Epub 2016 Nov 4.

Abstract

This study investigated the role of individual U-II amino acid positions and side chain characteristics important for U-IIR activation. A complete permutation library of 209 U-II variants was studied in an activity screen that contained single substitution variants of each position with one of the other 19 proteinogenic amino acids. Receptor activation was measured using a cell-based high-throughput fluorescence calcium mobilization assay. We generated the first complete U-II substitution map for U-II receptor activation, resulting in a detailed view into the structural features required for receptor activation, accompanied by complementary information from receptor modeling and ligand docking studies. On the basis of the systematic SAR study of U-II, we created 33 further short and linear U-II variants from eight to three amino acids in length, including d- and other non-natural amino acids. We identified the first high-potency linear U-II analogues. Urolinin, a linear U-II agonist (nWWK-Tyr(3-NO2)-Abu), shows low nanomolar potency as well as improved metabolic stability.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Cells, Cultured
  • HEK293 Cells
  • Humans
  • Models, Molecular
  • Molecular Conformation
  • Oligopeptides / chemistry
  • Oligopeptides / metabolism
  • Oligopeptides / pharmacology*
  • Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled / agonists*
  • Structure-Activity Relationship

Substances

  • Oligopeptides
  • Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled
  • UTS2R protein, human
  • urolinin