BAY 41-2272

BAY 41-2272 is an activator of nitric oxide-sensitive guanylyl cyclase (NO-sensitive GC) with EC50 values of 0.3 μmol/L and 3 μmol/L in the presence and absence of 100 nmol/L DEA-NO, respectively [1].

NO-sensitive GC catalyzes the cGMP formation. It is generally considered as the most important receptor of the signaling molecule NO. The NO/cGMP pathway plays a role in many physiological processes such as the inhibition of platelet aggregation and the relaxation of smooth muscle [1].

In platelets, GSNO at 3 μmol/L (a submaximally effective concentration) was used to assess a possible sensitizing effect of BAY 41-2272 on NO-sensitive GC. The cGMP response resulted from the application of NO at this concentration in the absence of BAY 41-2272 was only marginal. In the presence of BAY 41-2272 at 100 μmol/L, treatment with GSNO at 3 μmol/L resulted in a rapid increase in cGMP up to 1000 pmol/109 platelets [1].

The sGC/NO system was implicated in the pathogenesis of erectile dysfunction. Intravenous treatment with BAY 41-2272 at 1 mg/kg induced only a very weak erection in rabbits, with a maximal length of exposed mucosa of about 3mm at 10 min, and the effect lasted for approximate 30 minutes. SNP is a NO donor. Simultaneous administration of SNP potentiated the effect of BAY 41-2272. Intravenous treatment with SNP at 0.2 mg/kg resulted in a short-lasting erection of about 5~10 minutes, and a peak length of uncovered penile mucosa of 5 mm. Administration with BAY 41-2272 at 1 mg/kg IV followed by SNP at 0.2 mg/kg IV 5 minutes later, resulted in lengths of ensuing erection with a mean of 15 mm, longer than lengths resulted from treatments with two compounds separately [2].

References:
[1].  Mullershausen F, Russwurm M, Friebe A, et al. Inhibition of phosphodiesterase type 5 by the activator of nitric oxide-sensitive guanylyl cyclase BAY 41-2272. Circulation, 2004, 109(14): 1711-1713.
[2].  Bischoff E, Schramm M, Straub A, et al. BAY 41-2272: a stimulator of soluble guanylyl cyclase induces nitric oxide-dependent penile erection in vivo. Urology, 2003, 61(2): 464-467.

Soluble Guanylate Cyclase Modulators, BAY 41-2272 and BAY 60-2770, Inhibit Human and Rabbit Prostate Contractility.[Pubmed:27131967]

Urology. 2016 Aug;94:312.e9-312.e15.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the inhibitory effect of soluble guanylate cyclase (sGC) stimulator, BAY 41-2272 (5-cyclopropyl-2-[1-(2-fluorobenzyl)- 1H-pyrazolo[3,4-b]pyridine-3-yl]pyrimidin-4-ylamine) or activator, BAY 60-2770 (4-({(4- carboxybutyl) [2- (5-fluoro-2-{[40-(trifluoromethyl) biphenyl- 4-yl]methoxy}phenyl)ethyl] amino}methyl)benzoic acid), in human and rabbit prostate smooth muscle contractility. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In rabbit or human prostate, contractions induced by electrical field stimulation or phenylephrine (PE) were carried out in the presence of sGC stimulator, BAY 41-2272, or sGC activator, BAY 60-2770. The potency (pEC50) and maximal response (Emax) values were determined. Immunohistochemistry analysis for sGC alpha1-subunit and quantification of intracellular levels of cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) were also performed. RESULTS: In rabbit prostate, BAY 60-2770 (30 and 300 nM) inhibited the contractions induced by PE and electrical field stimulation. The coincubation with sGC inhibitor, ODQ, produced greater inhibitions on PE-induced contractions in comparison with BAY 60-2770 alone, mainly due to greater cGMP accumulation (70- and 5.7-fold, respectively). BAY 41-2272 (300 nM) increased and decreased, respectively, cGMP levels and PE-induced contractions, but in the presence of ODQ these effects were reversed. In human prostate, immunohistochemistry analysis revealed the presence of sGC alpha1-subunit on the transition zone. BAY 60-2770 (300 nM) reduced significantly Emax induced by PE in human prostate. CONCLUSION: sGC activator seems to be a promising alternative to treat benign prostatic hyperplasia because it increases cGMP levels even when sGC is oxidized.

BAY 41-2272 Treatment Improves Acetylcholine-Induced Aortic Relaxation in L-NAME Hypertensive Rats.[Pubmed:27895434]

Int J Angiol. 2016 Dec;25(4):235-240.

Hypertension, an emerging problem of recent era, and many pathophysiological factors are participating to produce the disease. Nitric oxide (NO) is an important constituent to ameliorate hypertensive condition. Inhibition of endogenous NO synthase by L-N(G)-Nitroarginine methyl ester (L-NAME) was responsible for generating hypertension in rats. BAY 41-2272 (5-cyclopropyl-2-[1-(2-fluoro-benzyl)-1H-pyrazolo[3,4-b]pyridine-3-yl]-pyrimidin- 4-ylamine), a soluble guanylyl cyclase activator, restricts rise of blood pressure and shows cardioprotective activity. The aim of the present study was to analyze effect of short-term BAY 41-2272 treatment on blood pressure and vascular function. Male Wistar rats were randomly divided into three groups such as control (group-A), hypertensive (group-B), and BAY 41-2272-treated hypertensive (group-C) rats. Normal saline was administered intramuscularly to control rats for last 3 days (days 40, 41, and 42) of total 42 days treatment, whereas rats of group-B and group-C were treated with L-NAME hydrochloride in drinking water at 50 mg/kg body weight daily for 42 days. Also, normal saline and BAY 41-2272 were administered for last 3 days at two different dosages at 1 and 3 mg/kg body weight/day intramuscularly to group-B and group-C rats, respectively. Administration of BAY 41-2272 for 3 days was not sufficient enough to decrease mean arterial pressure of hypertensive rats significantly. BAY at both the treatment dosages significantly ameliorate acetylcholine-induced maximal aortic relaxation compared with BAY-untreated hypertensive rats. Findings of the present study indicate that even shorter period of BAY 41-2272 treatment (3 days) improves vascular relaxation.

Antenatal BAY 41-2272 reduces pulmonary hypertension in the rabbit model of congenital diaphragmatic hernia.[Pubmed:26873974]

Am J Physiol Lung Cell Mol Physiol. 2016 Apr 1;310(7):L658-69.

Infants with congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) fail to adapt at birth because of persistent pulmonary hypertension (PH), a condition characterized by excessive muscularization and abnormal vasoreactivity of pulmonary vessels. Activation of soluble guanylate cyclase by BAY 41-2272 prevents pulmonary vascular remodeling in neonatal rats with hypoxia-induced PH. By analogy, we hypothesized that prenatal administration of BAY 41-2272 would improve features of PH in the rabbit CDH model. Rabbit fetuses with surgically induced CDH at day 23 of gestation were randomized at day 28 for an intratracheal injection of BAY 41-2272 or vehicle. After term delivery (day 31), lung mechanics, right ventricular pressure, and serum NH2-terminal-pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) levels were measured. After euthanasia, lungs were processed for biological or histological analyses. Compared with untouched fetuses, the surgical creation of CDH reduced the lung-to-body weight ratio, increased mean terminal bronchial density, and impaired lung mechanics. Typical characteristics of PH were found in the hypoplastic lungs, including increased right ventricular pressure, higher serum NT-proBNP levels, thickened adventitial and medial layers of pulmonary arteries, reduced capillary density, and lower levels of endothelial nitric oxide synthase. A single antenatal instillation of BAY 41-2272 reduced mean right ventricular pressure and medial thickness of small resistive arteries in CDH fetuses. Capillary density, endothelial cell proliferation, and transcripts of endothelial nitric oxide synthase increased, whereas airway morphometry, lung growth, and mechanics remained unchanged. These results suggest that pharmacological activation of soluble guanylate cyclase may provide a new approach to the prenatal treatment of PH associated with CDH.

BAY 41-2272 activates host defence against local and disseminated Candida albicans infections.[Pubmed:25742266]

Mem Inst Oswaldo Cruz. 2015 Feb;110(1):75-85.

In our previous study, we have found that 5-cyclopropyl-2-[1-(2-fluoro-benzyl)-1H-pyrazolo[3,4-b]pyridine-3-yl]-pyrimidin-4 -ylamine (BAY 41-2272), a guanylate cyclase agonist, activates human monocytes and the THP-1 cell line to produce the superoxide anion, increasing in vitro microbicidal activity, suggesting that this drug can be used to modulate immune functioning in primary immunodeficiency patients. In the present work, we investigated the potential of the in vivo administration of BAY 41-2272 for the treatment of Candida albicans and Staphylococcus aureus infections introduced via intraperitoneal and subcutaneous inoculation. We found that intraperitoneal treatment with BAY 41-2272 markedly increased macrophage-dependent cell influx to the peritoneum in addition to macrophage functions, such as spreading, zymosan particle phagocytosis and nitric oxide and phorbol myristate acetate-stimulated hydrogen peroxide production. Treatment with BAY 41-2272 was highly effective in reducing the death rate due to intraperitoneal inoculation of C. albicans, but not S. aureus. However, we found that in vitro stimulation of peritoneal macrophages with BAY 41-2272 markedly increased microbicidal activities against both pathogens. Our results show that the prevention of death by the treatment of C. albicans-infected mice with BAY 41-2272 might occur primarily by the modulation of the host immune response through macrophage activation.

The soluble guanylate cyclase stimulator BAY 41-2272 inhibits vascular smooth muscle growth through the cAMP-dependent protein kinase and cGMP-dependent protein kinase pathways.[Pubmed:21825001]

J Pharmacol Exp Ther. 2011 Nov;339(2):394-402.

Vascular smooth muscle (VSM) proliferation and migration are key components in vessel remodeling. Cyclic nucleotide signaling is protective and has long-served as a therapeutic target against undesired VSM growth. The present work analyzed the effects of the soluble guanylate cyclase (sGC) stimulator 3-(4-amino-5-cyclopropylpyrimidine-2-yl)-1-(2-fluorobenzyl)-1H-pyrazolo[3,4-b]pyr idine [BAY 41-2272 (BAY)] on VSM growth, and we hypothesize that BAY has the capacity to reduce proliferation and migration via cyclic nucleotide-driven kinase signaling. Perivascular BAY postballoon injury reduced neointimal growth by approximately 40% compared with vehicle controls after 2 weeks. In VSM cells, BAY (10 muM) reduced proliferation by approximately 40% after 72 h and migration by approximately 40% after 6 h and approximately 60% after 18 h without deleterious effects on cell viability. cGMP content peaked (248 x) 20 min after BAY treatment and remained elevated (140 x) through 60 min; however, BAY did not affect cAMP levels compared with controls. Conventional and In-Cell Western analyses showed increases in vasodilator-stimulated phosphoprotein (VASP) phosphorylation (pVASP) at serines 239 (3 x) and 157 (2 x), respective markers of cGMP- and cAMP-directed protein kinases (PKG and PKA, respectively). The PKG inhibitor YGRKKRRQRRRPPLRKKKKKH peptide (DT-2) completely reversed BAY-mediated increases in pVASPSer(239) and BAY-mediated inhibition of migration. In comparison, the PKA inhibitor peptide PKI further potentiated BAY-stimulated pVASPSer(157) and pVASPSer(239) and partially reversed the antiproliferative effects of BAY. This is the first report demonstrating the effectiveness of BAY in reducing neointimal growth with direct evidence for PKG-specific antimigratory and PKA-specific antiproliferative mechanisms. Conclusively, the sGC stimulator BAY reduces VSM growth through cGMP-dependent PKG and PKA processes, providing support for continued evaluation of its clinical utility.

NO-independent regulatory site on soluble guanylate cyclase.[Pubmed:11242081]

Nature. 2001 Mar 8;410(6825):212-5.

Nitric oxide (NO) is a widespread, potent, biological mediator that has many physiological and pathophysiological roles. Research in the field of NO appears to have followed a straightforward path, and the findings have been progressive: NO and cyclic GMP are involved in vasodilatation; glycerol trinitrate relaxes vascular smooth muscles by bioconversion to NO; mammalian cells synthesize NO; and last, NO mediates vasodilatation by stimulating the soluble guanylate cyclase (sGC), a heterodimeric (alpha/beta) haem protein that converts GTP to cGMP2-4. Here we report the discovery of a regulatory site on sGC. Using photoaffinity labelling, we have identified the cysteine 238 and cysteine 243 region in the alpha1-subunit of sGC as the target for a new type of sGC stimulator. Moreover, we present a pyrazolopyridine, BAY 41-2272, that potently stimulates sGC through this site by a mechanism that is independent of NO. This results in antiplatelet activity, a strong decrease in blood pressure and an increase in survival in a low-NO rat model of hypertension, and as such may offer an approach for treating cardiovascular diseases.

Discovery of riociguat (BAY 63-2521): a potent, oral stimulator of soluble guanylate cyclase for the treatment of pulmonary hypertension.[Pubmed:19263460]

ChemMedChem. 2009 May;4(5):853-65.

Soluble guanylate cyclase (sGC) is a key signal-transduction enzyme activated by nitric oxide (NO). Impairments of the NO-sGC signaling pathway have been implicated in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular and other diseases. Direct stimulation of sGC represents a promising therapeutic strategy particularly for the treatment of pulmonary hypertension (PH), a disabling disease associated with a poor prognosis. Previous sGC stimulators such as the pyrazolopyridines BAY 41-2272 and BAY 41-8543 demonstrated beneficial effects in experimental models of PH, but were associated with unfavorable drug metabolism and pharmacokinetic (DMPK) properties. Herein we disclose an extended SAR exploration of this compound class to address these issues. Our efforts led to the identification of the potent sGC stimulator riociguat, which exhibits an improved DMPK profile and exerts strong effects on pulmonary hemodynamics and exercise capacity in patients with PH. Riociguat is currently being investigated in phase III clinical trials for the oral treatment of PH.