Progress toward a high-affinity allosteric enhancer at muscarinic M1 receptors

Loss of forebrain acetylcholine is an early neurochemical lesion in Alzheimer’s disease (AD). As muscarinic acetylcholine receptors are involved in memory and cognition, a muscarinic agonist could therefore provide a “replacement therapy” in this disease. However, muscarinic receptors occur throughout the CNS and the periphery. A selective locus of action of a muscarinic agonist is therefore crucial in order to avoid intolerable side effects. The five subtypes of muscarinic receptors, M1–M5, have distinct regional distributions with M2 and M3 receptors mediating most of the peripheral effects. M1 receptors are the major receptor subtype in the cortex and hippocampus—the two brain regions most associated with memory and cognition. This localization has led to a, so far unsuccessful, search for a truly M1-selective muscarinic agonist. However, acetylcholinesterase inhibitors, such as donepezil (Aricept), which potentiate cholinergic neurotransmission, do have a therapeutic role in the management of AD and so the M1 receptor remains a viable therapeutic target. Our approach is to develop muscarinic allosteric enhancers—compounds that bind to the receptor at an “allosteric” site, which is distinct from the “primary” site to which ACh binds, and which enhance ACh affinity (or efficacy). Having discovered that a commercially available compound, WIN 62577, is an allosteric enhancer with micromolar potency at M3 receptors, we report here some results of a chemical synthesis project to develop this hit. Modification of WIN 62577 has led to compounds with over 1000-fold increased affinity but, so far, none of these extremely potent compounds are allosteric enhancers.