The Use of Three‐Dimensional Shape and Electrostatic Similarity Searching in the Identification of a Melanin‐Concentrating Hormone Receptor 1 Antagonist

To aid in the identification of novel melanin‐concentrating hormone receptor 1 (MCHr1) antagonists, a unique virtual library of readily synthesized molecules was designed and assembled based on 323 monomer compounds containing reactive moieties in combination with 30 core molecules having diamine functionality. The resulting library of 3 129 870 molecules was searched using three‐dimensional shape similarity measures that were complimented with a novel electrostatic distribution similarity‐matching algorithm. One of the top scoring hits in this library was synthesized and characterized for MCHr1 antagonism, where it exhibited at least a threefold improvement in binding affinity and cellular potency relative to the parent MCHr1 ligand. This work demonstrates that the use of shape and electrostatic similarity matching in combination with a well‐designed virtual library can be used to augment standard medicinal chemistry techniques.