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Updated: Aug 11, 2026

High-Throughput Expression and Purification of Human Solute Carriers for Structural and Biochemical Studies
Published on: September 29, 2023
Design and synthesis of promiscuous high-affinity monoamine transporter ligands: unraveling transporter selectivity
Elisabeth Greiner1, Terrence L Boos, Thomas E Prisinzano
1Laboratory of Medicinal Chemistry, NIDDK, National Institutes of Health, DHHS, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, USA.
Abstract:
A series of 4-[2-[bis(4-fluorophenyl)methoxy]ethyl]-piperidines and 4-[2-[(bisphenyl)methoxy]ethyl]-piperidines with different types of substituents in the phenylpropyl side-chain were synthesized and examined for their ability to bind to the dopamine transporter (DAT), the serotonin transporter (SERT), and the norepinephrine transporter (NET). All of the compounds showed high binding affinities for the DAT in the low to subnanomolar range. Their ability to bind to the SERT and the NET, while maintaining their high affinity for the DAT, could be altered by substitution in positions C2 and C3 of the phenylpropyl side-chain. This approach gave rise to a new set of compounds with selectivity for the DAT, the DAT and the SERT, or the DAT and the NET. Six compounds (7, 9, 11, 12, 14, and 20) with relatively low SERT/DAT ratios were selected for additional study in biogenic amine uptake inhibition assays based on the biogenic amine transporter binding results. Some of the new ligands can serve as pharmacological tools to block DAT or DAT and another transporter simultaneously.
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