Abstract
Retinoid-related orphan receptor gamma-t (RORγt) belongs to the nuclear receptor superfamily that takes vital roles in the development and maturation of T-helper 17 cell (Th17) and lymph-node genesis. Because Th17 cells have been proved to be major effectors in human autoimmune and inflammatory diseases, the agonists and antagonists of RORγt have been discovered as promising leads for the therapeutics of these diseases. Most of the current studies of RORγt inhibitors have been focused on ligand binding domain (LBD) of RORγt because the structure and binding pockets of LBD have been elucidated and studied in detail. Recent research elucidated that the hinge domain (HD) of RORγt was significantly involved in the SUMOylation of RORγt and thus specifically affecting T cell development but not lymph-node genesis. These discoveries highlighted the potential of HD of RORγt as the target of RORγt inhibitors that could specifically inhibit Th17-related activities without affecting lymph-node genesis. In this study, we utilized a screening system with full-length RORγt including DBD, HD and LBD to evaluate the activities of a synthesized library of tetrahydrobenzo[4,5]thieno[2,3-d]pyrimidine derivatives. We identified a potent lead compound (28) that effectively inhibited Th17 cell differentiation. Docking and structure-activity relationship (SAR) studies showed that compound 28 may not bind in the binding pocket as most of the known inhibitors, but may bind in the pocket closed to Gln223 and Leu244 in HD. Our studies showed evidence that the HD of RORγt could afford a binding pocket for Th17 specific inhibitors and this domain should be further studied to discover potent and specific RORγt inhibitors.