# Discovery of a Novel Chemo-Type for TAAR1 Agonism via Molecular Modeling

## TL;DR

Researchers used molecular modeling to design new compounds that activate TAAR1, a protein with various pharmacological applications.

## Contribution

A novel scaffold of pyrimidinone-benzimidazoles was identified as promising TAAR1 agonists through computational methods.

## Key findings

- Molecular docking studies suggested a 'Y-shape' conformation for effective TAAR1 ligands.
- Compounds 1a–3a showed hTAAR1 EC50 values between 526.3–657.4 nM, indicating agonistic activity.
- Pyrimidinone-benzimidazoles were identified as a novel scaffold for TAAR1 targeting.

## Abstract

The search for novel effective TAAR1 ligands continues to draw great attention due to the wide range of pharmacological applications related to TAAR1 targeting. Herein, molecular docking studies of known TAAR1 ligands, characterized by an oxazoline core, have been performed in order to identify novel promising chemo-types for the discovery of more active TAAR1 agonists. In particular, the oxazoline-based compound S18616 has been taken as a reference compound for the computational study, leading to the development of quite flat and conformationally locked ligands. The choice of a “Y-shape” conformation was suggested for the design of TAAR1 ligands, interacting with the protein cavity delimited by ASP103 and aromatic residues such as PHE186, PHE195, PHE268, and PHE267. The obtained results allowed us to preliminary in silico screen an in-house series of pyrimidinone-benzimidazoles (1a–10a) as a novel scaffold to target TAAR1. Combined ligand-based (LBCM) and structure based (SBCM) computational methods suggested the biological evaluation of compounds 1a–10a, leading to the identification of derivatives 1a–3a (hTAAR1 EC50 = 526.3–657.4 nM) as promising novel TAAR1 agonists.