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Identification and Development of Biphenyl Substituted Iminosugars as Improved Dual Glucosylceramide Synthase/Neutral Glucosylceramidase Inhibitors

Med. Chem. 2014, 57, 21, 9096–9104 Publication Date:September 24, 2014

Abstract:

This work details the evaluation of a number of N-alkylated deoxynojirimycin derivatives on their merits as dual glucosylceramide synthase/neutral glucosylceramidase inhibitors. Building on our previous work, we synthesized a series of dgluco and lido-configured iminosugars N-modified with a variety of hydrophobic functional groups. We found that iminosugars featuring N-pentyloxymethylaryl substituents are considerably more potent inhibitors of glucosylceramide synthase than their aliphatic counterparts. In a next optimization round, we explored a series of biphenyl-substituted iminosugars of both configurations (dgluco and lido) with the aim to introduce structural features known to confer metabolic stability to drug-like molecules. From these series, two sets of molecules emerge as lead series for further profiling. Biphenyl-substituted lido-configured deoxynojirimycin derivatives are selective for glucosylceramidase and the nonlysosomal glucosylceramidase, and we consider these as leads for the treatment of neuropathological lysosomal storage disorders. Their dgluco-counterparts are also potent inhibitors of intestinal glycosidases, and because of this characteristic, we regard these as the prime candidates for type 2 diabetes therapeutics.

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