Ligand pharmacophore

NMR 3D structure of the undecapeptide U-II generated a ligand pharmacophore hypothesis that served as query for the virtual screening of the Aventis in-house compound repository. Active leads from six different chemical classes could be identihed by the 3D search, for example, compound 17 (ECso = 400nM Fig. 16.2) [91]. 

Atoms in molecules are first classified into different pharmacophoric types by the GRID force field parametrization. Features considered are hydrophobicity, hydrogen-bond donor and acceptor capabilities, and charge. Then, all accessible geometries for all the combinations of three or four features are calculated and encoded in the final vector. Fingerprints can be calculated both for ligands and proteins. In small ligands, pharmacophores are defined by triplets or quartets of atoms, vhich have critical interactions with a receptor. 

Generate the database search query, either ligand pharmacophore hypotheses or receptor-binding pockets. 

Ilustrate the ligand pharmacophore database search and use the UNITY program as... 

Flexible 3D alignment of a set of ligands binding to the same target and/or CoMFA analysis allowing the perception of a pharmacophore for this target. 

Nonbenzodiazepine Benzodiazepine Receptor Ligands. The simultaneous discovery of the molecular target for the BZs, the GABA /BZ receptor complex, by two teams of workers (34,35) resulted ia the identification of a number of atypical or anxioselective anxiolytics that, whereas not having the BZ pharmacophore, interacted direcdy with the central BZ receptor. The anxioselective nature of such agents was considered to be... 

Fig. 10. Pharmacophores for angiotension-converting enzyme. Distances in nm. (a) The stmcture of a semirigid inhibitor and distances between essential atoms from which one pharmacophore was derived (79). (b) In another pharmacophore, atom 1 is a potential zinc ligand (sulfhydryl or carboxylate oxygen), atom 2 is a neutral hydrogen bond acceptor, atom 3 is an anion (deprotonated sulfur or charged oxygen), atom 4 indicates the direction of a hydrogen bond to atom two, and atom 5 is the central atom of a carboxylate, sulfate, or phosphate of which atom 3 is an oxygen, or atom 5 is an unsaturated carbon when atom 3 is a deprotonated sulfur. The angle 1- -2- -3- -4 is —135 to —180° or 135 to 180°, and 1- -2- -3- -5 is —90 to 90°.

Figure 3 The chemical structures of the ligands used in the molecular modeling study of the Di dopamine receptor. The ligands were divided into two groups (active and inactive) based on their pharmacological properties. The hypothesized pharmacophoric elements are shown in bold.

The essential feature of the AAA is a comparison of active and inactive molecules. A commonly accepted hypothesis to explain the lack of activity of inactive molecules that possess the pharmacophoric conformation is that their molecular volume, when presenting the pharmacophore, exceeds the receptor excluded volume. This additional volume apparently is filled by the receptor and is unavailable for ligand binding this volume is termed the receptor essential volume [3]. Following this approach, the density maps for each of the inactive compounds (in their pharm conformations superimposed with that of active compounds) were constructed the difference between the combined inactive compound density maps and the receptor excluded volume represents the receptor essential volume. These receptor-mapping techniques supplied detailed topographical data that allowed a steric model of the D[ receptor site to be proposed. 

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