Novel allosteric agonists of M1 muscarinic acetylcholine receptors induce brain region-specific responses that correspond with behavioral effects in animal models.
M(1) muscarinic acetylcholine receptors (mAChRs) represent a viable target for treatment of multiple disorders of the central nervous system (CNS) including Alzheimer's disease and schizophrenia. The recent discovery of highly selective allosteric agonists of M(1) receptors has provided a major breakthrough in developing a viable approach for the discovery of novel therapeutic agents that target these receptors. Here we describe the characterization of two novel M(1) allosteric agonists, VU0357017 and VU0364572, that display profound differences in their efficacy in activating M(1) coupling to different signaling pathways including Ca(2+) and β-arrestin responses. Interestingly, the ability of these agents to differentially activate coupling of M(1) to specific signaling pathways leads to selective actions on some but not all M(1)-mediated responses in brain circuits. These novel M(1) allosteric agonists induced robust electrophysiological effects in rat hippocampal slices, but showed lower efficacy in striatum and no measureable effects on M(1)-mediated responses in medial prefrontal cortical pyramidal cells in mice. Consistent with these actions, both M(1) agonists enhanced acquisition of hippocampal-dependent cognitive function but did not reverse amphetamine-induced hyperlocomotion in rats. Together, these data reveal that M(1) allosteric agonists can differentially regulate coupling of M(1) to different signaling pathways, and this can dramatically alter the actions of these compounds on specific brain circuits important for learning and memory and psychosis.
Department of Pharmacology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee 37232, USA.
Gregory J
GJ
Digby
Meredith J
MJ
Noetzel
Michael
M
Bubser
Thomas J
TJ
Utley
Adam G
AG
Walker
Nellie E
NE
Byun
Evan P
EP
Lebois
Zixiu
Z
Xiang
Douglas J
DJ
Sheffler
Hyekyung P
HP
Cho
Albert A
AA
Davis
Natali E
NE
Nemirovsky
Sarah E
SE
Mennenga
Bryan W
BW
Camp
Heather A
HA
Bimonte-Nelson
Jacob
J
Bode
Kimberly
K
Italiano
Ryan
R
Morrison
J Scott
JS
Daniels
Colleen M
CM
Niswender
M Foster
MF
Olive
Craig W
CW
Lindsley
Carrie K
CK
Jones
P Jeffrey
PJ
Conn
D000818:Animals; D019390:Arrestins / Q000378:metabolism; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000187:drug effects*; D001549:Benzamides / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001713:Biphenyl Compounds / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001921:Brain / Q000187:drug effects*; D016466:CHO Cells; D002118:Calcium / Q000378:metabolism; D002460:Cell Line; D003342:Corpus Striatum / Q000502:physiology; D006224:Cricetinae; D003412:Cricetulus; D048049:Extracellular Signal-Regulated MAP Kinases / Q000378:metabolism; D005110:Extracellular Space / Q000502:physiology; D005239:Fear / Q000523:psychology; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D018782:Maze Learning; D008564:Membrane Potentials / Q000502:physiology; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D018721:Muscarinic Agonists / Q000494:pharmacology*; D010766:Phosphorylation; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000502:physiology; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D043643:Receptor, Muscarinic M1 / Q000819:agonists*
D019390:Arrestins; D001549:Benzamides; D001713:Biphenyl Compounds; D018721:Muscarinic Agonists; D043643:Receptor, Muscarinic M1; C574616:VU0357017; C574617:VU0364572; D048049:Extracellular Signal-Regulated MAP Kinases; D002118:Calcium