Abstract: The glycine-to-aspartic acid missense mutation at the codon 551(G551D) of the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator(CFTR) is one of the five most frequent cystic fibrosis(CF) mutations associated with a severe CF phenotype. To explore the feasibility of pharmacological correction of disrupted activation of CFTR chloride channel caused by G551D mutation, we developed a halide-sensitive fluorescence miniassay for G551D-CFTR in Fisher rat thyroid(FRT) epithelial cells for the discovery of novel activators of G551D-CFTR. A class of bicyclooctane small molecule compounds that efficiently stimulate G551D-CFTR chloride channel activity was identified by high throughput screening via the FRT cell-based assay. This class of compounds selectively activates G551D-CFTR with a high affinity, whereas little effect of the compounds on wildtype CFTR can be seen. The discovery of a class of bicyclooctane G551D-CFTR activators will permit the analysis of structure-activity relationship of the compounds to identify ideal leads for in vivo therapeutic studies.

Key words: Cystic fibrosis, G551D-CFTR, Activators, Cell-based assay, Small molecule, High throughput screening