Development of Riluzole Analogs with Improved Use-Dependent Inhibition of Skeletal Muscle Sodium Channels

• Published in: ACS medicinal chemistry letters Vol. 14; no. 7; pp. 999 - 1008
• Main Authors: Farinato, Alessandro, Cavalluzzi, Maria Maddalena, Altamura, Concetta, Campanale, Carmen, Laghetti, Paola, Saltarella, Ilaria, Delre, Pietro, Barbault, Arthur, Tarantino, Nancy, Milani, Gualtiero, Rotondo, Natalie Paola, Di Cesare Mannelli, Lorenzo, Ghelardini, Carla, Pierno, Sabata, Mangiatordi, Giuseppe Felice, Lentini, Giovanni, Desaphy, Jean-François
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: WASHINGTON American Chemical Society 13.07.2023; Amer Chemical Soc
• Subjects: Chemistry, Medicinal; Life Sciences & Biomedicine; Pharmacology & Pharmacy; Science & Technology; anti-nociceptive effect; sodium-channel blockers; myotonia; use-dependence; benzothiazole; riluzole; BLOCKERS; DISCLOSES; LUBELUZOLE; MOLECULAR DETERMINANTS; anti-nociceptiveeffect; RAT MODEL
• ISSN: 1948-5875; 1948-5875
• DOI: 10.1021/acsmedchemlett.3c00224

Several commercially available and newly synthesized riluzole analogs were evaluated in vitro as voltage-gated skeletal muscle sodium-channel blockers. Data obtained from the patch-clamp technique demonstrated that potency is well correlated with lipophilicity and the introduction of a protonatable amino function in the benzothiazole 2-position enhances the use-dependent behavior. The most interesting compound, the 2-piperazine analog of riluzole (14), although slightly less potent than the parent compound in the patch-clamp assay as well as in an in vitro model of myotonia, showed greater use-dependent Nav1.4 blocking activity. Docking studies allowed the identification of the key interactions that 14 makes with the amino acids of the local anesthetic binding site within the pore of the channel. The reported results pave the way for the identification of novel compounds useful in the treatment of cell excitability disorders.