Structure–Activity Relationships of Truncated 1′-Homologated Carbaadenosine Derivatives as New PPARγ/δ Ligands: A Study on Sugar Puckering Affecting Binding to PPARs

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs) are associated with the regulation of metabolic homeostasis. Based on a previous report that 1 '-homologated 4 '- thionucleoside acts as a dual PPAR gamma/delta modulator, carbocyclic nucleosides 2-5 with various sugar conformations were synthe-sized to determine whether sugar puckering affects binding to PPARs. (S)-conformer 2 was synthesized using Charette asymmetric cyclopropanation, whereas (N)-conformer 3 was synthesized using stereoselective Simmons-Smith cyclopropana-tion. All synthesized nucleosides did not exhibit binding affinity to PPAR alpha but exhibited significant binding affinities to PPAR gamma/delta. The binding affinity of final nucleosides to PPAR gamma did not differ significantly based on their conformation, but their affinity to PPAR delta depended greatly on their conformation, correlated with adiponectin production. (N)-conformer 3h was discovered to be the most potent PPAR delta antagonist with good adiponectin production, which exhibited the most effective activity in inhibiting the mRNA levels of LPS-induced IL-1 beta expression in RAW 264.7 macrophages, implicating its anti-inflammatory activity.