STRUCTURE-ACTIVITY RELATIONSHIP: STUDY OF LEI-401 AS INHIBITOR OF NAPE-PLD BY PHARMACOPHORE MODEL

N-acyl-phosphatidylethanolamine phospholipase D (NAPE–PLD) is considered to be the principal enzyme that produces N-acylethanolamines (NAEs), a family of signaling lipids. NAEs are involved in numerous physiological processes such as appetite, satiety, pain, inflammation, fertility, stress, and anxiety. Furthermore, aberrant NAE levels are associated with metabolic syndrome and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). Several inhibitors for NAPE–PLD have been reported. But most of the inhibitors showed poor to moderate potency for NAPE–PLD in vitro. Recently, Mario van der Stelt et al describe the SAR of NAPE–PLD inhibitors that afforded LEI–401 in vitro. However, no attempt was instigated to produce a consensus pharmacophore model of LEI–401 as inhibitors of NAPE–PLD. Pharmacophore modeling is an efficient and useful approach to identify important patterns in a series of molecules for optimizations. The consensus pharmacophore model revealed the importance of structural features and their correlation with the biological activity.