Dynamic extracellular vestibule of human SERT: Unveiling druggable potential with high-affinity allosteric inhibitors

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  • Kristine Salomon
  • Ara M. Abramyan
  • Per Plenge
  • Lingle Wang
  • Christoffer Bundgaard
  • Benny Bang-Andersen
  • Løland, Claus Juul
  • Lei Shi

The serotonin transporter (SERT) tightly regulates synaptic serotonin levels and has been the primary target of antidepressants. Binding of inhibitors to the allosteric site of human SERT (hSERT) impedes the dissociation of antidepressants bound at the central site and may enhance the efficacy of such antidepressants to potentially reduce their dosage and side effects. Here, we report the identification of a series of high-affinity allosteric inhibitors of hSERT in a unique scaffold, with the lead compound, Lu AF88273 (3-(1-(2-(1H-indol-3-yl)ethyl)piperidin-4-yl)-6-chloro-1H-indole), having 2.1 nM allosteric potency in inhibiting imipramine dissociation. In addition, we find that Lu AF88273 also inhibits serotonin transport in a noncompetitive manner. The binding pose of Lu AF88273 in the allosteric site of hSERT is determined with extensive molecular dynamics simulations and rigorous absolute binding free energy perturbation (FEP) calculations, which show that a part of the compound occupies a dynamically formed small cavity. The predicted binding location and pose are validated by site-directed mutagenesis and can explain much of the structure–activity relationship of these inhibitors using the relative binding FEP calculations. Together, our findings provide a promising lead compound and the structural basis for the development of allosteric drugs targeting hSERT. Further, they demonstrate that the divergent allosteric sites of neurotransmitter transporters can be selectively targeted.

Original languageEnglish
Article numbere2304089120
JournalProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Volume120
Issue number41
Number of pages10
ISSN0027-8424
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2023

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Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © 2023 the Author(s).

    Research areas

  • allosteric binding site, allosteric modulator, free energy perturbation, molecular dynamics, serotonin transporter

ID: 371290102