Discovery of thiazolyl-phthalazinone acetamides as potent glucose uptake activators via high-throughput screening

With the aim to discover orally active small molecules that stimulate glucose uptake, high throughput screening of a library of 5000 drug-like compounds was conducted in differentiated skeletal muscle cells in presence of insulin. N-Substituted phthalazinone acetamide was identified as a potential glucose uptake modulator. Several novel derivatives were synthesized to establish structure activity relationships. Identified lead thiazolyl-phthalazinone acetamide (7114863) increased glucose uptake (EC₅₀ of 0.07 ± 0.02 μM) in differentiated skeletal muscle cells in presence of insulin. Furthermore, 7114863 was superior to rosiglitazone under similar experimental conditions without inducing PPAR-γ agonist activity thus making it a very interesting scaffold.     

Corticosterone administration and lipid metabolism in brain regions during development.

Effect of corticosterone on lipid contents of different brain regions and the effect of age on the sensitivity of these regions to corticosterone have been studied. Corticosterone administration (40 mg/kg body wt, sc) to 17-day-old rat for 3 days led to significant decrease in phospholipid content of cerebellum and increase in cholesterol contents of hippocampus and striatum. However, there was no effect on cerebral cortex and brain stem lipids. This alteration in lipids was associated with decrease in [U-14C] glucose incorporation into cholesterol and phospholipids, decrease in plasma beta-hydroxy butyrate levels and increase in beta-hydroxy butyrate dehydrogenase activity in hippocampus and striatum, thereby suggesting that suppression of glucose utilization by corticosterone was compensated by higher utilization of ketone bodies for lipid synthesis in these regions. The sensitivity to corticosterone appears to be age-specific as, at 20-day, cerebellum, hippocampus and striatum were susceptible, at 10-day only hippocampus and at 40- and 90-day none of these regions responded to the treatment.