Identification of the privileged position in the imidazo[1,2-a]pyridine ring of phosphonocarboxylates for development of Rab geranylgeranyl transferase (RGGT) inhibitors

Members of the Rab GTPase family are master regulators of vesicle trafficking. When disregulated, they are associated with a number of pathological states. The inhibition of RGGT, an enzyme responsible for post-translational geranylgeranylation of Rab GTPases represents one way to control the activity of these proteins. Because the number of molecules modulating RGGT is limited, we combined molecular modeling with biological assays to ascertain how modifications of phosphonocarboxylates, the first reported RGGT inhibitors, rationally improve understanding of their structure–activity relationship. We have identified the privileged position in the core scaffold of the imidazo[1,2-a]pyridine r…