Apoptosis signal-regulating kinase 1 (ASK1) is one of the key mediators of the cellular stress response that regulates inflammation and apoptosis. To probe the therapeutic value of modulating this pathway in preclinical models of neurological disease, we further optimized the profile of our previously reported inhibitor 3. This effort led to the discovery of 32, a potent (cell IC₅₀ = 25 nM) and selective ASK1 inhibitor with suitable pharmacokinetic and brain penetration (rat Cl/Cl_u = 1.6/56 L/h/kg and K_p,uu = 0.46) for proof-of-pharmacology studies. Specifically, the ability of 32 to inhibit ASK1 in the central nervous system (CNS) was evaluated in a human tau transgenic (Tg4510) mouse model exhibiting elevated brain inflammation. In this study, transgenic animals treated with 32 (at 3, 10, and 30 mg/kg, BID/PO for 4 days) showed a robust reduction of inflammatory markers (e.g., IL-1β) in the cortex, thus confirming inhibition of ASK1 in the CNS.

中文翻译：

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发现在体内调节脑炎症的强效、选择性和脑渗透性细胞凋亡信号调节激酶 1 (ASK1) 抑制剂

细胞凋亡信号调节激酶 1 (ASK1) 是调节炎症和细胞凋亡的细胞应激反应的关键介质之一。为了探索在神经系统疾病的临床前模型中调节该通路的治疗价值，我们进一步优化了我们先前报道的抑制剂3 的特征。这一努力导致了32的发现，这是一种有效的（细胞 IC ₅₀ = 25 nM）和选择性的 ASK1 抑制剂，具有合适的药代动力学和脑渗透性（大鼠 Cl/Cl _u = 1.6/56 L/h/kg 和K _p,uu = 0.46) 用于药理学研究的证明。具体来说，32的能力在表现出升高的脑部炎症的人类 tau 转基因 (Tg4510) 小鼠模型中评估了抑制中枢神经系统 (CNS) 中 ASK1 的作用。在这项研究中，用32（3、10 和 30 毫克/千克，BID/PO 持续 4 天）处理的转基因动物的皮层中的炎症标志物（例如IL-1β）显着减少，从而证实了抑制中枢神经系统中的 ASK1。