Discovery of 2-oxo-1,2-dihydrobenzo[cd]indole-6-sulfonamide derivatives as new RORγ inhibitors using virtual screening, synthesis and biological evaluation

Retinoic acid receptor-related orphan receptor gamma (ROR gamma), a member of the nuclear hormone receptor superfamily, is a promising therapeutic target for treating Th17-mediated autoimmune diseases. We performed structure-based virtual screening targeting the ROR gamma ligand-binding domain. Among the tested compounds, s4 demonstrated ROR gamma antagonistic activities with micromolar IC50 values in both an AlphaScreen assay (20.27 mu M) and a cell-based reporter gene assay (11.84 mu M). Optimization of the s4 compound led to the identification of compounds 7j, 8c, 8k, and 8p, all of which displayed significantly enhanced ROR gamma inhibition with IC50 values of 40-140 nM. These results represent a promising starting point for developing potent small molecule ROR gamma inhibitors. (C) 2014 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.