The current agonists and positive allosteric modulators ofα7 nAChR for CNS indications in clinical trials

The alpha-7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor(α7 nAChR), consisting of homomeric α7 subunits, is a ligand-gated Ca^(2+)-permeable ion channel implicated in cognition and neuropsychiatric disorders. Enhancement of α7 nAChR function is considered to be a potential therapeutic strategy aiming at ameliorating cognitive deficits of neuropsychiatric disorders such as Alzheimer's disease(AD) and schizophrenia. Currently, a number of α7 nAChR modulators have been reported and several of them have advanced into clinical trials. In this brief review, we outline recent progress made in understanding the role of the α7 nAChR in multiple neuropsychiatric disorders and the pharmacological effects of α7 nAChR modulators used in clinical trials.

Sonogashira coupling reaction in the synthesis of novel positive allosteric modulators ofα7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors

A series of 2-arylamino-1,3,5-triazine derivatives(4a–4g),which were designed and synthesized via Sonogashira coupling reaction,were evaluated using two-electrode voltage clamp(TEVC)recordings of humanα7 nAChR expressed in Xenopus ooctyes.Compound 4g as a positive allosteric modulator(PAM)showed better efficacy than lead compound 3(HZZ-A-11)with an EC50 value of 1.23±0.41μM.Further pharmacological evaluation of compound 4g might lead to the developmental potential for therapy of cognitive deficits commonly shared by neuropsychiatric disorders,such as schizophrenia and Alzheimer’s disease.

Therapeutic potential of α7 nicotinic receptor agonists to regulate neuroinflammation in neurodegenerative diseases

Neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer＇s, Parkinson＇s and Huntington＇s diseases, are all character- ized by a component of innate immunity called neuroinflammation. Neuronal loss and neuroinflammation are two phenomena closely linked. Hence, the neuroinflammation is a relevant target for the management of the neurodegenerative diseases given that, to date, there is no treatment to stop neuronal loss. Several studies have investigated the potential effects of activators of alpha 7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors in animal models of neurodegenerative diseases. These receptors are widely distributed in the central nervous system. After activation, they seem to mediate the cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway in the brain. This anti-inflammatory pathway, first described in periphery, regulates activation of microglial cells considered as the resident macrophage population of the central nervous system. In this article, we shortly review the agonists of the alpha 7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors that have been evaluated in vivo and we focused on the selective positive allosteric modulators of these receptors. These compounds represent a key element to enhance receptor activity only in the presence of the endogenous agonist.

The design, synthesis and α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors positive allosteric modulative evaluation of 3H-quinazolin-4-one derivatives

A series of new 6-substituted 3 H-quinazolin-4-ones（3 a-3 d） were designed, synthesized and evaluated as the type I positive allosteric modulators（PAMs） of human α7 n ACh R expressed in Xenopus ooctyes by two-electrode voltage clamp. However, no compound showed a better efficacious PAM than lead compound 2 in the presence of acetylcholine（100 μM）. The structure-activity relationship（SAR） analysis suggested that thiazolo[4,5-d]pyrimidin-7（6 H）-one was the key biological skeleton.