We
recently demonstrated that SB269652 (1) engages one protomer
of a dopamine D2 receptor (D2R) dimer in a bitopic
mode to allosterically inhibit the binding of dopamine at the other
protomer. Herein, we investigate structural determinants for allostery,
focusing on modifications to three moieties within 1.
We find that orthosteric “head” groups with small 7-substituents
were important to maintain the limited negative cooperativity of analogues
of 1, and replacement of the tetrahydroisoquinoline head
group with other D2R “privileged structures”
generated orthosteric antagonists. Additionally, replacement of the
cyclohexylene linker with polymethylene chains conferred linker length
dependency in allosteric pharmacology. We validated the importance
of the indolic NH as a hydrogen bond donor moiety for maintaining
allostery. Replacement of the indole ring with azaindole conferred
a 30-fold increase in affinity while maintaining negative cooperativity.
Combined, these results provide novel SAR insight for bitopic ligands
that act as negative allosteric modulators of the D2R.