Ramajayam Kuppusamy, Ying-Ting Hsu, Yi-Yu Ke, Po-Wei Chang, Yung-Chiao Chang, Hsiao-Fu Chang, Pei-Chen Wang, Yu-Hao Lin, Yu-Chen Huang, Teng-Kuang Yeh, Jian-Ying Chuang, Horace H Loh, Chuan Shih, Chiung-Tong Chen, Shiu-Hwa Yeh, Shau-Hua Ueng
Currently, there is a significant unmet need for novel analgesics with fewer side effects. In this study, we carried out structural modification of a hit compound previously identified in an artificial-intelligence (AI) virtual screening and discovered the potent analgesic, benzo[b]thiophene-2-carboxamide analog (compound 25) with new structural scaffold. We investigated the signaling pathways of opioid receptors mediated by compound 25, and found this racemic compound activated mu-opioid receptor through the cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) and β-arrestin-2-mediated pathways with strong potency and efficacy, and accompanying nociceptin-orphanin FQ opioid peptide and delta-opioid receptors through the cAMP pathway with weak potencies...
August 31, 2022: European Journal of Medicinal Chemistry