URB754 is a potent and noncompetitive inhibitor of monoacylglycerol lipase (MAGL), exhibiting an IC50 value of 200 nM for the recombinant rat brain enzyme. However, it does not inhibit human recombinant, rat brain, or mouse brain MAGL at concentrations up to 100 μM. There is evidence that the MAGL inhibitory activity of URB754 may be attributed to the impurity bis(methylthio)mercurane (IC50 = 11.9 nM for rat recombinant MAGL) that is found in commercial preparations. URB754 inhibits rat brain fatty acyl amide hydrolase (FAAH) with an IC50 value of 32 μM and binds weakly to the rat central cannabinoid (CB1) receptor with an IC50 value of 3.8 μM. It does not inhibit COX-1 or COX-2 at concentrations up to 100 μM. Inhibition of MAGL hydrolysis of 2-arachidonoyl glycerol (2-AG) is associated with enhanced stress-induced analgesia and may represent a novel drug target in pain and stress management.
N-(1-(3,4-Dihydroxyphenyl)propan-2-yl)oleamide binds to the cannabinoid 1 (CB1) receptor with a Ki value of 365 nM in a radioligand binding assay using rat brain homogenate. It has an EC50 value of 698 nM for the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor α (PPARα) in a luciferase reporter assay and, in rats, it decreases food intake. It does not inhibit fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH).
JNJ-40413269 is a competitive inhibitor of fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH), which demonstrates robust central target engagement, and shows efficacious in a rat model of neuropathic pain.
Fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH), an enzyme responsible for the hydrolysis and inactivation of fatty acid amides like anandamide and oleamide, has been identified as a target by the potent FAAH inhibitor PHOP. PHOP demonstrates remarkable inhibitory activity with K_i values as low as 0.094 nM for human FAAH and 0.2 nM for ratFAAH. Additionally, through a proteomics assay focusing on the serine hydrolase enzyme family, to which FAAH belongs, PHOP's selectivity was evaluated, presenting IC_50 values of 1.1 nM against FAAH, 1.4 nM against triacylglycerol hydrolase (TGH), and greater than 100 µM against an uncharacterized hydrolase (KIAA1363). This specificity profile of PHOP underscores its potential for yielding precise outcomes in studies involving complex biological systems.