Athenex Inc., Conventus Building, Buffalo, New York 14203, United States.
Institute of Molecular Biology and Biophysics, ETH Zürich, Otto-Stern-Weg 5, 8093 Zürich, Switzerland.
J Med Chem. 2022 Jan 13;65(1):191-216. doi: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.1c01272. Epub 2021 Dec 20.
Targeted concurrent inhibition of intestinal drug efflux transporter P-glycoprotein (P-gp) and drug metabolizing enzyme cytochrome P450 3A4 (CYP3A4) is a promising approach to improve oral bioavailability of their common substrates such as docetaxel, while avoiding side effects arising from their pan inhibitions. Herein, we report the discovery and characterization of potent small molecule inhibitors of P-gp and CYP3A4 with encequidar (minimally absorbed P-gp inhibitor) as a starting point for optimization. To aid in the design of these dual inhibitors, we solved the high-resolution cryo-EM structure of encequidar bound to human P-gp. The structure guided us to prudently decorate the encequidar scaffold with CYP3A4 pharmacophores, leading to the identification of several analogues with dual potency against P-gp and CYP3A4. , dual P-gp and CYP3A4 inhibitor improved the oral absorption of docetaxel by 3-fold as compared to vehicle, while itself remained poorly absorbed.
靶向抑制肠道药物外排转运蛋白 P-糖蛋白(P-gp)和药物代谢酶细胞色素 P450 3A4(CYP3A4)是提高其共同底物(如多西他赛)口服生物利用度的一种有前途的方法,同时避免由于泛抑制而产生的副作用。在此,我们报道了以恩赛奎达(吸收最小的 P-gp 抑制剂)为起点进行优化的强效小分子 P-gp 和 CYP3A4 抑制剂的发现和表征。为了帮助设计这些双重抑制剂,我们解析了与人 P-gp 结合的恩赛奎达的高分辨率冷冻电镜结构。该结构指导我们谨慎地用 CYP3A4 药效团修饰恩赛奎达支架,从而鉴定出几种对 P-gp 和 CYP3A4 均具有双重活性的类似物。与载体相比,双重 P-gp 和 CYP3A4 抑制剂显著提高了多西他赛的口服吸收,而自身的吸收仍然较差。