Acetylenic inhibitors of ADAM10 and ADAM17: In silico analysis of potency and selectivity
The matrix metalloproteinase family has been a pharmaceutical target for most of the last three decades, but success has been hampered by unwanted side effects caused by lack of selectivity, poor oral bioavailability and decreased potency in vivo. The surface-expressed metalloproteinases ADAM10 and ADAM17, the latter also referred to as TACE, play important roles in various physiological processes, especially involving tissue repair and development. Because of its role in the release of the cytokine TNF-? TACE has been a key target for pharmaceutical intervention in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. An extensive body of structural activity data has been developed for a series of small molecule inhibitors of TACE based on a sulfonamide scaffold containing key acetylenic substituents. We have undertaken an extensive molecular modeling study of select members of this ligand group to better understand the structural nuances involved in the development of ever more potent TACE inhibitors, and identify those elements of structure-based design that would enhance the selectivity of such inhibitors for TACE over ADAM10. Results include the identification of a flexible loop, comparable to that found in other MMPs that plays a subtle, yet significant, role in determining inhibitor potency.
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