Binding kinetics of ZM241385 derivatives at the human adenosine A2A receptor

Classical drug design and development rely mostly on affinity- or potency-driven structure-activity relationships (SAR). Thus far, a given compound's binding kinetics have been largely ignored, the importance of which is now being increasingly recognized. In the present study, we performed an extensive structure-kinetics relationship (SKR) study in addition to a traditional SAR analysis at the adenosine A2A receptor (A2A R). The ensemble of 24 A2A R compounds, all triazolotriazine derivatives resembling the prototypic antagonist ZM241385 (4-(2-((7-amino-2-(furan-2-yl)-[1,2,4]triazolo[1,5-a][1,3,5]triazin-5-yl)amino)ethyl)phenol), displayed only minor differences in affinity, although they varied substantially in their dissociation rates from the receptor. We believe that such a combination of SKR and SAR analyses, as we have done with the A2A R, will have general importance for the superfamily of G protein-coupled receptors, as it can serve as a new strategy to tailor the interaction between ligand and receptor.