Biochemical and structural evaluation of highly selective 2-arylbenzoxazole-based transthyretin amyloidogenesis inhibitors.
Johnson, S.M., Connelly, S., Wilson, I.A., Kelly, J.W.(2008) J Med Chem 51: 260-270
- PubMed: 18095641 
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/jm0708735
- Primary Citation of Related Structures:  
2QGB, 2QGC, 2QGD, 2QGE - PubMed Abstract: 
To develop potent transthyretin (TTR) amyloidogenesis inhibitors that also display high binding selectivity in blood, it proves useful to systematically optimize each of the three substructural elements that comprise a typical inhibitor: the two aryl rings and the linker joining them. In the first study, described herein, structural modifications to one aryl ring were evaluated by screening a library of 2-arylbenzoxazoles bearing thyroid hormone-like aryl substituents on the 2-aryl ring. Several potent and highly selective amyloidogenesis inhibitors were identified that exhibit minimal thyroid hormone nuclear receptor and COX-1 binding. High resolution crystal structures (1.3-1.5 A) of three inhibitors (2f, 4f, and 4d) in complex with TTR were obtained to characterize their binding orientation. Collectively, the results demonstrate that thyroid hormone-like substitution patterns on one aryl ring lead to potent and highly selective TTR amyloidogenesis inhibitors that lack undesirable thyroid hormone receptor or COX-1 binding.
Organizational Affiliation: 
Department of Chemistry, The Scripps Research Institute, BCC 265, 10550 North Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla, California 92037, USA.