Structure and pharmacology of 4,5,6,7-tetrahydroisothiazolo [5,4-c]pyridin-3-ol (Thio-THIP), an agonist/antagonist at GABA(A) receptors

L. Brehm, B. Ebert, U. Kristiansen, K. A. Wafford, J. A. Kemp, P. Krogsgaard-Larsen*

*Corresponding author for this work

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14 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

4,5,6,7-Tetrahydroisothiazolo [5,4-c]pyridin-3-ol (Thio-THIP), an analogue of the potent and efficacious partial GABA(A) agonist, 4,5,6,7-tetrahydroisoxazoIo [5,4-c] pyridin-3-ol (THIP), shows rather potent agonist effects at spinal GABA(A) receptors in vivo, but remarkably low affinity for brain GABA(A) receptors in vitro. 2-Methyl-4,5,6,7- tetrahydropyrazolo[5,4-c]pyridin-3-ol (2-Me-Aza-THIP) does not bind detectably to GABA(A) receptors. The conformation of the molecule of Thio-THIP, which has now been determined by an X-ray crystallographic analysis, is very similar to those previously described for THIP and 2-Me-Aza-THIP. At human GABA(A) receptors of α3β2γ2 or α5β3γ2 subunit configurations, expressed in Xenopus oocytes, at which THIP shows low- (44%) or high-efficacy (99%) GABA(A) agonism, respectively, Thio-THIP was shown to be a competitive antagonist. At GABA(A) receptors in cultured cerebellar granule cells, Thio-THIP turned out to be a weak low-efficacy (2-9%) partial GABA(A) agonist.

Original languageEnglish
JournalEuropean Journal of Medicinal Chemistry
Volume32
Issue number4
Pages (from-to)357-363
Number of pages7
ISSN0223-5234
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1997

Keywords

  • Cellular electrophysiology
  • GABA(A) antagonists
  • GABA(A) partial agonists
  • GABA(A) receptors
  • Heterocyclic carboxyl bioisosteres
  • Molecular pharmacology
  • Receptor subunits
  • Recombinant receptors
  • Structure-activity studies
  • X-ray crystallography

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