Novel ROCK inhibitors for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension.
Shaw D, Hollingworth G, Soldermann N, Sprague E, Schuler W, Vangrevelinghe E, Duggan N, Thomas M, Kosaka T, Waters N, van Eis MJ.
A novel class of selective inhibitors of ROCK1 and ROCK2 has been identified by structural based drug design. PK/PD experiments using a set of highly selective Rho kinase inhibitors suggest that systemic Rho kinase inhibition is linked to a reversible reduction in lymphocyte counts. These results led to the consideration of topical delivery of these molecules, and to the identification of a lead molecule 7 which shows promising PK and PD in a murine model of pulmonary hypertension after intra-tracheal dosing.