The substrate specificity of wild-type and Ser39 → Thr (S39T) secondary alcohol dehydrogenase (SADH) from Thermoanaerobacter ethanolicus was examined. The S39T mutation increases activity for 2-propanol without any significant effect on NADP+ binding. There is no significant effect of the mutation on the primary and secondary alcohol specificity of SADH. However, an effect on the enantiospecificity of SADH by the S39T mutation is demonstrated. Throughout the temperature range from 15 to 55 °C, wild-type SADH exhibits a preference for (S)-2-pentanol. In contrast, a temperature-dependent reversal of enantiospecificity is observed for 2-butanol, with a racemic temperature of 297 K. Throughout the same range of temperatures, S39T SADH exhibits higher enantiospecificity for the (R)-enantiomers of both 2-butanol and 2-pentanol. Examination of individual k cat/K m values for each enantiomer of the chiral alcohols reveals that the effect of the mutation is to decrease (S)-2-butanol specificity, and to preferentially enhance (R)-2-pentanol specificity relative to (S)-2-pentanol. These results are the first step toward expanding the synthetic utility of SADH to allow efficient preparation of a range of (R)-alcohols.

The design and synthesis of the dual peroxisome proliferator activated receptor (PPAR) alpha/gamma agonist (S)-2-methyl-3-[4-[2-(5-methyl-2-thiophen-2-yl-oxazol-4-yl)ethoxy]phenyl]-2-phenoxypropionic acid (2) for the treatment of type 2 diabetes and associated dyslipidemia are described. 2 possesses a potent dual hPPAR alpha/gamma agonist profile (IC(50) = 28 and 10 nM; EC(50) = 9 and 4 nM, respectively, for hPPARalpha and hPPARgamma). In preclinical models, 2 substantially improves insulin sensitivity and potently reverses diabetic hyperglycemia while significantly improving overall lipid homeostasis.

As part of our ongoing efforts to identify novel ligands for the metabotropic glutamate 2 and 3 (mGlu) receptors, we have incorporated substitution at the C3 and C4 positions of the (1S,2R,5R,6R)-2-amino-bicyclo[3.1.0]hexane-2,6-dicarboxylic acid scaffold to generate mGlu antagonists. Exploration of this structure-activity relationship (SAR) led to the identification of (1S,2R,3S,4S,5R,6R)-2-amino-3-[(3,4-difluorophenyl)sulfanylmethyl]-4-hydroxy-bicyclo[3.1.0]hexane-2,6-dicarboxylic acid hydrochloride (LY3020371·HCl, 19f), a potent, selective, and maximally efficacious mGlu antagonist. Further characterization of compound 19f binding to the human metabotropic 2 glutamate (hmGlu) site was established by cocrystallization of this molecule with the amino terminal domain (ATD) of the hmGlu receptor protein. The resulting cocrystal structure revealed the specific ligand-protein interactions, which likely explain the high affinity of 19f for this site and support its functional mGlu antagonist pharmacology. Further characterization of 19f in vivo demonstrated an antidepressant-like signature in the mouse forced-swim test (mFST) assay when brain levels of this compound exceeded the cellular mGlu IC value.