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Identification and Optimization of RNA-Splicing Modulators as Huntingtin Protein-Lowering Agents for the Treatment of Huntington’s Disease

Liu, Longbin; Malagu, Karine; Haughan, Alan F; Khetarpal, Vinod; Stott, Andrew J; Esmieu, William; Vater, Huw D; ... Dominguez, Celia; + view all (2023) Identification and Optimization of RNA-Splicing Modulators as Huntingtin Protein-Lowering Agents for the Treatment of Huntington’s Disease. Journal of Medicinal Chemistry , 66 (18) pp. 13205-13246. 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.3c01173.

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Abstract

Huntington’s disease (HD) is caused by an expanded CAG trinucleotide repeat in exon 1 of the huntingtin (HTT) gene. We report the design of a series of HTT pre-mRNA splicing modulators that lower huntingtin (HTT) protein, including the toxic mutant huntingtin (mHTT), by promoting insertion of a pseudoexon containing a premature termination codon at the exon 49-50 junction. The resulting transcript undergoes nonsense-mediated decay, leading to a reduction of HTT mRNA transcripts and protein levels. The starting benzamide core was modified to pyrazine amide and further optimized to give a potent, CNS-penetrant, and orally bioavailable HTT-splicing modulator 27. This compound reduced canonical splicing of the HTT RNA exon 49-50 and demonstrated significant HTT-lowering in both human HD stem cells and mouse BACHD models. Compound 27 is a structurally diverse HTT-splicing modulator that may help understand the mechanism of adverse effects such as peripheral neuropathy associated with branaplam.

Type: Article
Title: Identification and Optimization of RNA-Splicing Modulators as Huntingtin Protein-Lowering Agents for the Treatment of Huntington’s Disease
Location: United States
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.3c01173
Publisher version: http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acs.jmedchem.3c01173
Language: English
Additional information: This document is the Accepted Manuscript version of a Published Work that appeared in final form in the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, copyright © 2023 American Chemical Society, after peer review and technical editing by the publisher. To access the final edited and published work see https://pubs.acs.org/articlesonrequest/AOR-SFFV3S5PJ9ND9M8B7WD6. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions.
Keywords: Science & Technology, Life Sciences & Biomedicine, Chemistry, Medicinal, Pharmacology & Pharmacy, MOTOR-NEURON 2, MUTANT HUNTINGTIN, DISCOVERY, SURVIVAL, CHEMISTRY, MODIFIERS, DESIGN, LIGAND
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology > Department of Neuromuscular Diseases
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10184398
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