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Updated: Mar 24, 2026

A Kinetic Fluorescence-based Ca2+ Mobilization Assay to Identify G Protein-coupled Receptor Agonists, Antagonists, and Allosteric Modulators
Published on: February 20, 2018
Discovery of G Protein-Biased EP2 Receptor Agonists
Seiji Ogawa1, Toshihide Watanabe2, Isamu Sugimoto2
1Medicinal Chemistry Research Laboratories, Department of Biology & Pharmacology, and Discovery Research Alliance, Ono Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., 3-1-1 Sakurai, Shimamoto-cho, Mishima-gun, Osaka 618-8585, Japan; Department of Chemistry, Graduate School of Pure and Applied Sciences, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennodai, Tsukuba 305-8571, Japan.
Abstract:
To identify G protein-biased and highly subtype-selective EP2 receptor agonists, a series of bicyclic prostaglandin analogues were designed and synthesized. Structural hybridization of EP2/4 dual agonist 5 and prostacyclin analogue 6, followed by simplification of the ω chain enabled us to discover novel EP2 agonists with a unique prostacyclin-like scaffold. Further optimization of the ω chain was performed to improve EP2 agonist activity and subtype selectivity. Phenoxy derivative 18a showed potent agonist activity and excellent subtype selectivity. Furthermore, a series of compounds were identified as G protein-biased EP2 receptor agonists. These are the first examples of biased ligands of prostanoid receptors.
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