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In Vitro and In Vivo Pharmacological Characterization of a Novel TRPM8 Inhibitor Chemotype Identified by Small-Scale Preclinical Screening.

Nunzio IraciCarmine OstacoloAlicia Medina-PerisTania CiagliaAnton M NovoselovAndrea AltieriRafael MaldonadoAsia Fernández-CarvajalPietro CampigliaIsabel Maria Gomez-MonterreyAlessia BertaminoAlexander V Kurkin
Published in: International journal of molecular sciences (2022)
Transient receptor potential melastatin type 8 (TRPM8) is a target for the treatment of different physio-pathological processes. While TRPM8 antagonists are reported as potential drugs for pain, cancer, and inflammation, to date only a limited number of chemotypes have been investigated and thus a limited number of compounds have reached clinical trials. Hence there is high value in searching for new TRPM8 antagonistic to broaden clues to structure-activity relationships, improve pharmacological properties and explore underlying molecular mechanisms. To address this, the EDASA Scientific in-house molecular library has been screened in silico, leading to identifying twenty-one potentially antagonist compounds of TRPM8. Calcium fluorometric assays were used to validate the in-silico hypothesis and assess compound selectivity. Four compounds were identified as selective TRPM8 antagonists, of which two were dual-acting TRPM8/TRPV1 modulators. The most potent TRPM8 antagonists ( BB 0322703 and BB 0322720 ) underwent molecular modelling studies to highlight key structural features responsible for drug-protein interaction. The two compounds were also investigated by patch-clamp assays, confirming low micromolar potencies. The most potent compound ( BB 0322703 , IC 50 1.25 ± 0.26 μM) was then profiled in vivo in a cold allodinya model, showing pharmacological efficacy at 30 μM dose. The new chemotypes identified showed remarkable pharmacological properties paving the way to further investigations for drug discovery and pharmacological purposes.
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