Use of the hydantoin isostere to produce inhibitors showing selectivity toward the vesicular glutamate transporter versus the obligate exchange transporter system xc-

Evidence was acquired prior to suggest that the vesicular glutamate transporter (VGLUT) but not other glutamate transporters were inhibited by structures containing a weakly basic α-amino group. To test this hypothesis, a series of analogs using a hydantoin (pKa∼9.1) isostere were synthesized and analyzed as inhibitors of VGLUT and the obligate cystine–glutamate transporter (system xc-). Of the hydantoin analogs tested, a thiophene-5-carboxaldehyde analog 2l and a bis-hydantoin 4b were relatively strong inhibitors of VGLUT reducing uptake to less than 6% of control at 5mM but few inhibited system xc- greater than 50% of control. The benzene-2,4-disulfonic acid analog 2b and p-diaminobenzene analog 2e were also good hydantoin-based inhibitors of VGLUT reducing uptake by 11% and 23% of control, respectively, but neither analog was effective as a system xc- inhibitor. In sum, a hydantoin isostere adds the requisite chemical properties needed to produce selective inhibitors of VGLUT.