The nuclear hormone receptor retinoic acid receptor-related orphan C2 (RORC2, also known as RORγt) is a promising target for the treatment of autoimmune diseases. A small molecule, inverse agonist of the receptor is anticipated to reduce production of IL-17, a key proinflammatory cytokine. Through a high-throughput screening approach, we identified a molecule displaying promising binding affinity for RORC2, inhibition of IL-17 production in Th17 cells, and selectivity against the related RORA and RORB receptor isoforms. Lead optimization to improve the potency and metabolic stability of this hit focused on two key design strategies, namely, iterative optimization driven by increasing lipophilic efficiency and structure-guided conformational restriction to achieve optimal ground state energetics and maximize receptor residence time. This approach successfully identified 3-cyano-N-(3-(1-isobutyrylpiperidin-4-yl)-1-methyl-4-(trifluoromethyl)-1H-pyrrolo[2,3-b]pyridin-5-yl)benzamide as a potent and selective RORC2 inverse agonist, demonstrating good metabolic stability, oral bioavailability, and the ability to reduce IL-17 levels and skin inflammation in a preclinical in vivo animal model upon oral administration.

中文翻译：

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3-氰基-N-（3-（1-异丁酰基哌啶-4-基）-1-甲基-4-（三氟甲基）-1 H-吡咯并[2,3 - b ]吡啶-5-基）苯甲酰胺的发现：有力，选择性和口服生物可用的视黄酸受体相关的孤儿受体C2反激动剂。

核激素受体视黄酸受体相关的孤儿C2（RORC2，也称为RORγt）是治疗自身免疫性疾病的有希望的靶标。预期该受体的小分子反向激动剂会减少关键的促炎细胞因子IL-17的产生。通过高通量筛选方法，我们鉴定了一种分子，该分子显示出对RORC2的有希望的结合亲和力，抑制Th17细胞中IL-17的产生以及对相关RORA和RORB受体同工型的选择性。铅优化以提高这种命中的效力和代谢稳定性为重点，主要集中在两个关键设计策略上，即，通过提高亲脂性效率和结构指导的构象限制驱动的迭代优化，以实现最佳的基态能量学和最大化受体停留时间。N-（3-（1-异丁酰基哌啶-4-基）-1-甲基-4-（三氟甲基）-1 H-吡咯并[2,3 - b ]吡啶-5-基）苯甲酰胺为强效且选择性的RORC2逆激动剂，在临床前体内动物模型中，口服给药后表现出良好的代谢稳定性，口服生物利用度以及降低IL-17水平和皮肤炎症的能力。