Synthesis and characterization of a quinolinonic compound activating ATP-sensitive K+ channels in endocrine and smooth muscle tissues

Article abstract of DOI:10.1038/sj.bjp.0704266

1. Original quinolinone derivatives structurally related to diazoxide were synthesized and their effects on insulin secretion from rat pancreatic islets and the contractile activity of rat aortic rings determined. 2. A concentration-dependent decrease of insulin release was induced by 6-chloro-2-methylquinolin4(1H)-one (HEI 713). The average IC₅₀ values were 16.9±0.8 μM for HEI 713 and 18.4±2.2μM for diazoxide. 3. HEI 713 increased the rate of ⁸⁶Rb outflow from perifused pancreatic islets. This effect persisted in the absence of external Ca²⁺ but was inhibited by glibenclamide, a K_ATP channel blocker. Inside-out patch-clamp experiments revealed that HEI 713 increased K_ATP channel openings. 4. HEI 713 decreased ⁴⁵Ca outflow, insulin output and cytosolic free Ca²⁺ concentration in pancreatic islets and islet cells incubated in the presence of 16.7 or 20 mM glucose and extracellular Ca²⁺. The drug did not affect the K⁺(50 mM)-induced increase in ⁴⁵Ca outflow. 5. In aortic rings, the vasorelaxant effects of HEI 713, less potent than diazoxide, were sensitive to glibenclamide and to the extracellular K⁺ concentration. 6. The drug elicited a glibenclamide-sensitive increase in ⁸⁶Rb outflow from perifused rat aortic rings. 7. Our data describe an original compound which inhibits insulin release with a similar potency to diazoxide but which has fewer vasorelaxant effects. 8. Our results suggest that, in both aortic rings and islet tissue, the biological effects of HEI 713 mainly result from activation of K_ATP channels ultimately leading to a decrease in Ca²⁺ inflow.

Full text of DOI:10.1038/sj.bjp.0704266

British Journal of Pharmacology (2001) 134, 375 ± 385
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Synthesis and characterization of a quinolinonic compound
activating ATP-sensitive K+ channels in endocrine and
smooth muscle tissues
1
3
1B. Becker, M.-H. Antoine, 1Q.-A. Nguyen, 2B. Rigo, 3K.E. Cosgrove, 3P.D. Barnes, M.J. Dunne,
4B. Pirotte & *,1P. Lebrun
1Laboratory of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine (CP 617), Universite Libre de Bruxelles, Route de Lennik 808, B-1070
Brussels, Belgium; Laboratory of Molecular Engineering, Ecole des Hautes Etudes Industrielles, Lille, France; Institute of
2
3
4
Molecular Physiology and Department of Biomedical Science, University of Sheeld and Department of Medicinal Chemistry,
Institute of Pharmacy, Universite de Liege, Belgium
1
Original quinolinone derivatives structurally related to diazoxide were synthesized and their
e€ects on insulin secretion from rat pancreatic islets and the contractile activity of rat aortic rings
determined.
2
A concentration-dependent decrease of insulin release was induced by 6-chloro-2-methylquinolin-
4(1H)-one (HEI 713). The average IC50 values were 16.9+0.8 mM for HEI 713 and 18.4+2.2 mM for
diazoxide.
3
HEI 713 increased the rate of 86Rb out¯ow from perifused pancreatic islets. This e€ect persisted
in the absence of external Ca2+ but was inhibited by glibenclamide, a KATP channel blocker. Inside-
out patch-clamp experiments revealed that HEI 713 increased KATP channel openings.
4
HEI 713 decreased 45Ca out¯ow, insulin output and cytosolic free Ca2+ concentration in
pancreatic islets and islet cells incubated in the presence of 16.7 or 20 mM glucose and extracellular
Ca2+. The drug did not a€ect the K+(50 mM)-induced increase in 45Ca out¯ow.
5
In aortic rings, the vasorelaxant e€ects of HEI 713, less potent than diazoxide, were sensitive to
glibenclamide and to the extracellular K+ concentration.
The drug elicited a glibenclamide-sensitive increase in 86Rb out¯ow from perifused rat aortic
rings.
6
7 Our data describe an original compound which inhibits insulin release with a similar potency to
diazoxide but which has fewer vasorelaxant e€ects.
8
Our results suggest that, in both aortic rings and islet tissue, the biological e€ects of HEI 713
mainly result from activation of KATP channels ultimately leading to a decrease in Ca2+ in¯ow.
British Journal of Pharmacology (2001) 134, 375 ± 385
Keywords: Contractile activity; insulin secretion; KATP channels; quinolinone
Abbreviations: [Ca2+]i, cytosolic free Ca2+ concentration; FOR, fractional out¯ow rate; HEI 712, 6-¯uoro-2-methylquinolin-
4(1H)-one; HEI 713, 6-chloro-2-methylquinolin-4(1H)-one; KATP, ATP-sensitive K+; Kir, inwardly rectifying
K+ channel; SUR, sulphonylurea receptor
Introduction
ATP-sensitive potassium (KATP) channels were ®rst dis-
covered in cardiac muscle (Noma, 1983) and later found in a
wide variety of tissues, including pancreatic b-cells (Ashcroft
et al., 1984; Cook & Hales, 1984; Rorsman & Trube, 1985),
smooth muscle (Standen et al., 1989) and brain (Ashford et
al., 1988). Recent data also revealed the existence of such
ionic channels on the inner mitochondrial membrane (Inoue
et al., 1991). The activity of plasma membrane KATP
channels is controlled by the intracellular ATP/ADP ratio
in such a way that an increase of the ratio closes KATP
channels whereas a decrease opens them (see Aguilar-Bryan
& Bryan, 1999; Ashcroft & Ashcroft, 1990; Seino, 1999;
Miki et al., 1999; Nichols & Lederer, 1991). By coupling cell
metabolism to membrane potential, KATP channels play an
important role in the control of many physiological
processes.
KATP channels are octameric structures consisting of two
types of subunit: an inwardly rectifying K+ channel subunit
(Kir6.x) and a sulphonylurea receptor subunit (SURx) which
is a member of the ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter
protein family (Ashcroft & Gribble, 1998; Aguilar-Bryan &
Bryan, 1999; Seino, 1999). The pancreatic b-cell KATP
channel is formed by Kir6.2 and SUR1 subunits, the
cardiac and skeletal muscle types by Kir6.2 and SUR2A
subunits and the smooth muscle type by Kir6.1/Kir6.2 and
SUR2B subunits (Seino, 1999). The Kir6.1 subunit is also
present on the inner membrane of mitochondria (Suzuki et
al., 1997; Szewczyk & Marban, 1999). In each case, SUR
and Kir subunits are physically associated in
a 4 : 4
stoichiometry to form functional KATP channels (Aguilar-
Bryan & Bryan, 1999). Di€erent combinations of the SUR
*Author for correspondence; E-mail: plebrun@ulb.ac.be

376
B. Becker et al
Quinolinone and K
channels
ATP
and Kir subunits constitute KATP channels with distinct
nucleotide sensitivities and pharmacological properties
(Seino, 1999).
Measurements of insulin release from incubated
pancreatic islets
Diazoxide
(7-chloro-3-methyl-2H-1,2,4-benzothiadiazine
Experiments were performed with pancreatic islets isolated by
the collagenase method from fed Wistar rats (Lacy &
Kostianowsky, 1967). The laboratory animal care was
approved by the ethics committee of the Universite Libre
de Bruxelles.
1,1-dioxide), a compound which activates KATP channels, is
known to possess not only vasodilator properties but also
potent hyperglycaemic actions (Quast
& Cook, 1989).
Therefore, this drug has been used for the treatment of
hypertensive emergencies and for the treatment of various
forms of hypoglycaemia (Gerber & Nies, 1990; Lebrun et al.,
1992). Diazoxide exhibits a weak tissue selectivity between
vascular smooth muscle and pancreatic b-cells (Antoine et al.,
1992; de Tullio et al., 1996).
Recently, we have developed original quinolinonic
compounds (Figure 1) structurally related to diazoxide
but chemically di€erent from the pyrido- and benzothia-
diazine dioxides that we have previously synthesized (de
Tullio et al., 1996; Lebrun et al., 1996, 2000; Pirotte et
al., 2000). Our ultimate goal is to generate new chemical
Groups of 10 islets, each from the same batch, were
preincubated for 30 min at 378C in 1 ml of a bicarbonate-
bu€ered solution (in mM): NaCl 115, KCl 5, CaCl2 2.56,
MgCl2 1, NaHCO3 24, supplemented with 2.8 mM glucose,
0.5% (w v71) dialysed albumin (fraction V; Sigma Chemical
Co, U.S.A.) and equilibrated with a mixture of O2 (95%) and
CO2 (5%). The islets were then incubated at 378C for a
further 90 min in 1 ml of the same bicarbonate-bu€ered
medium containing 16.7 mM glucose and, in addition,
increasing concentrations of diazoxide, HEI712 or HEI713.
Experiments were repeated on di€erent islets populations.
Insulin release was expressed as percentage of the value
recorded in control experiments (100%), i.e. in the absence of
drug and presence of 16.7 mM glucose. The release of insulin
was measured radioimmunologically, as previous reported
(Leclercq-Meyer et al., 1985).
entities with
a
powerful, and hopefully selective,
biological activity on insulin secreting cells. Such
compounds could be valuable drugs for the treatment
of several metabolic disorders (Lebrun et al., 2000). This
study was made in order to document the activity of
these new quinolinonic derivatives on insulin secretion
from rat pancreatic islets and on the contractile activity
of rat aortic rings. Radioisotopic, ¯uorimetric and
electrophysiological approaches have been used to char-
acterize the mechanism of action of the most potent
compound.
Measurements of 86Rb, 45Ca outflow and insulin release
from perifused pancreatic islets
The methods used to measure 86Rb (42K substitute) out¯ow,
45Ca out¯ow and insulin release from rat perifused pancreatic
islets have been described previously (Lebrun et al., 1982;
1996). Groups of 100 islets were incubated for 60 min in a
bicarbonate bu€ered medium (in mM): NaCl 115, KCl 5,
CaCl2 2.56, MgCl2 1, NaHCO3 24, containing 16.7 mM
glucose and either 86Rb ion (0.15 ± 0.25 mM; 50 mCi.ml71) or
45Ca ion (0.02 ± 0.04 mM; 100 mCi.ml71). After incubation, the
islets were washed four times with a non-radioactive medium
and then placed in a perifusion chamber. The perifusate was
delivered at a constant rate (1.0 ml.min71). From the 31st to
the 90th min of perifusion, the e‚uent was continuously
collected over successive periods of 1 min each. An aliquot of
the e‚uent (0.5 ml) was used for scintillation counting while
the remainder was stored at 7208C for insulin radio-
immunoassay (Leclercq-Meyer et al., 1985). At the end of
the perifusion, the radioactive content of the islets was also
Methods
Partition coefficient determinations
The partition coecients in 1-octanol/phosphate bu€er
(pH 7.4) were determined by shake-¯ask technique (Cloux
et al., 1988), using 5.1075 M stock solutions of drugs in 1-
octanol or in phosphate bu€er. Drug concentration after
partition was determined by u.v. spectrophotometry at the
maximum absorbance (HEI 712: bu€er, l=234 nm; octanol,
l=236 nm; HEI 713: bu€er, l=238 nm; octanol, l=240 nm;
Diazoxide: bu€er, l=265 nm; octanol, l=268 nm) (experi-
ments were performed in triplicate from the 1-octanol stock
solution and in triplicate from the bu€er stock solution). The
results were expressed as the logarithm of the partition
coecient (log P').
determined. The out¯ow of 86Rb or 45Ca ion (c.p.m: min71
)
was expressed as a fractional out¯ow rate (per cent of
instantaneous islet content min71, FOR). The validity of 86Rb
Figure 1 Chemical structure of diazoxide and tautomeric forms of HEI 712 and HEI 713.
British Journal of Pharmacology vol 134 (2)

B. Becker et al
Quinolinone and K
channels
377
ATP
as a tracer for the study of K+ handling in pancreatic islets
has been previously assessed (Malaisse et al., 1978).
5 mm) and adhering fat and connective tissue was removed.
After removal of the endothelium, the segments were
suspended under 2 g load in an organ bath containing Krebs
bicarbonate-bu€ered solution (20 ml; (mM): NaCl 118, KCl
4.7, CaCl2 2.5, NaHCO3 25, KH2PO4 1.2, MgSO4 1.2,
glucose 5). The solution maintained at 378C was continuously
oxygenated with a mixture of 95% O2 and 5% CO2. After
equilibration for 60 min, isometric contractions were mea-
Electrophysiological measurements
Pancreatic islets were isolated from human cadaver donors
or, post-operatively, from the non-focal region of a patient
with focal hyperinsulinism of infancy (Kane et al., 1996;
Verkarre et al., 1998). The islets were mechanically dispersed
and isolated cells maintained under standard tissue culture
conditions using RPMI 1640 medium (Sigma, Poole, U.K.)
sured with
a force-displacement transducer. Contractile
activity was induced by increasing the extracellular concen-
tration of K+ (30 or 80 mM KCl). When a plateau of tension
was reached, drugs were added to the preparation cumula-
supplemented with 10% (v v71
)
foetal calf serum,
100 IU ml71 penicillin G and 100 mg ml71 streptomycin.
Experiments were carried out using human b-cells or NES2Y
b-cells (MacFarlane et al., 2000) transfected with cDNA
encoding Kir6.2DC26 (Tucker et al., 1997). Single channel
currents were recorded using the cell-free, inside-out patch-
clamp con®guration (Hamill et al., 1981). Micropipettes (5 ±
10 MO) were ®lled with a Na+-rich solution of the following
ionic composition (in mM): NaCl 140, KCl 4.7, MgCl2 1.13,
CaCl2 2.5, glucose 2.5, HEPES 10, pH 7.4. The internal face
of membrane was bathed with a K+-rich solution containing
(in mM): KCl 140, NaCl 10, MgCl2 1.13, EGTA 1, 2.5
glucose and HEPES 10, pH 7.2. Ion channel experiments
were carried out at room temperature and changes in KTAP
channel activity have been expressed as either changes in
open-state probability (Pod) or as a function of NO where N
is the number of operational channels (Lebrun et al., 1996).
tively to a maximum concentration of 300 mM. Some
experiments were repeated in the continuous presence of 1
or 10 mM glibenclamide.
Measurements of 86Rb outflow from perifused aorta rings
Experiments were performed with thoracic rat aorta rings
(%2 mm length) isolated from fed Wistar rats.
The aorta rings were preincubated for 30 min in
a
bicarbonate bu€ered medium (in mM): NaCl 115, KCl 5,
CaCl2 2.56, MgCl2 1, NaHCO3 24, containing 5 mM glucose.
Following preincubation, the aorta rings were incubated for
60 min in bicarbonate bu€ered medium containing 86Rb ion
(0.15 ± 0.25 mM; 50 mCi.ml71). Experiments were then per-
formed using the protocol described above for 86Rb out¯ow
from perifused pancreatic islets. The experiments were
conducted in the presence of 30 mM extracellular KCl to mimic
the experimental conditions used to measure muscle tension.
Although the use of 86Rb as a tracer for the study of K+
handling in aorta rings underestimates the drugs-induced
increases in K+ permeability the 86Rb method is valid in this
tissue at drug concentrations 50.1 mM (Antoine et al., 1992;
Quast & Baumlin, 1988; Lebrun et al., 1990).
Measurements of fura-2 fluorescence from single
pancreatic islet cells
Rat pancreatic islets were disrupted in a Ca2+-deprived
medium (mM): NaCl 124, KCl 5.4, MgSO4 0.8, Na2HPO4 1,
HEPES 10, glucose 2.8, NaHCO3 14.3 and EGTA 1 (modi®ed
from Pipeleers et al., 1985) and then centrifuged to remove
debris and dead cells. Cells were seeded onto glass coverslips
and maintained in tissue culture for 72 h before use. Islet cells
were cultured in RPMI 1640 culture medium (Life Technol-
ogies, Europe) supplemented with 10% (v v71) newborn calf
serum and containing glutamine (2.3 mM), glucose (16.7 mM),
penicillin G (100 IU ml71) and streptomycin (100 mg ml71).
The cells were then incubated with fura-2 AM (2 mM)
(Molecular Probes, U.S.A.) for 1 h and, after fura-2 solution
elimination, the coverslips with the cells were mounted as the
bottom of an open chamber (1 ml) placed on the stage of the
microscope. The medium used to perifuse the cells contained
(in mM): NaCl 115, KCl 5, CaCl2 2.56, MgCl2 1, NaHCO3 24,
glucose 2.8 and was gassed with O2(95%)/CO2(5%). Fura-2
¯uorescence of single loaded cells was measured by use of
dual-excitation micro¯uorimetry with Spex photometric
system (Optilas, Alphen aan den Rijn, The Netherlands).
The excitation wavelengths (340 and 380 nm) were alternated
at the frequency of 1 Hz. The emission wavelength was set
Drugs
The quinolinone derivatives were synthesized at the Labora-
tory of Molecular Engineering, Ecole des Hautes Etudes
Industrielles, Lille, France.
Brie¯y, (Figure 2), 6-Fluoro-2-methylquinolin-4(1H)-one
(HEI 712) and 6-chloro-2-methylquinolin-4(1H)-one (HEI
713) were obtained according to a synthetic process adapted
from Mallams & Israelstam (1964). A stirred mixture of ethyl
acetoacetate (1.3 g, 0.01 mol) and 4-chloroaniline (1.28 g,
0.01 mol) or 4-¯uoroaniline (1.11 g, 0.01 mol) in polypho-
sphoric acid (5 g) was heated at 1308C for 1 h. After cooling,
the solution was neutralized with 2 M NaOH. The solid
obtained was collected by ®ltration and washed with water.
The crude product was puri®ed by dissolution in a 5% w v71
aqueous solution of NaOH and the alkaline solution was
treated with charcoal, ®ltered and adjusted to pH 7 with 6 M
HCl. The ®nal precipitate was collected by ®ltration, washed
with water and dried.
at 510 nm. [Ca2+
] was calculated as previously described
i
(Lebrun et al., 1996). Individual experiments were repeated
at least four times, on di€erent cell populations.
6-Fluoro-2-methylquinolin-4(1H)-one (HEI 712), yields:
1.21 g, 68%; m.p.: 2688C [lit.: 2668C (Franchi & Vigni,
1
1967)]; IR(KBr) 3280, 1650, 1610, 1560, 1520, 1470 cm71; H-
Measurements of tension in aorta rings
NMR (CDCl3) d ppm 2.78 (s, 3H, CH3), 7.07 (bs, 1H, 3-H),
7.74 (td, J=8.4, 2.7 Hz, 8-H), 7.85 ± 8.01 (m, 2H, 5-H+7-H);
anal. (C10H8FNO) calcd.: C: 67.79; H: 4.55; N: 7.91; F:
10.72; found: C: 67.58; H: 4.73; N: 7.73; F: 10.36.
Adult fed Wistar rats were stunned and exsanguinated. The
thoracic aorta was removed, cut into transverse rings (4 ±
British Journal of Pharmacology vol 134 (2)

378
B. Becker et al
Quinolinone and K
channels
ATP
6-Chloro-2-methylquinolin-4(1H)-one (HEI 713), yields:
1.23 g, 63%; m.p.: 43008C [lit.: 3218C (Desai & Desai,
Results
1
1967)]; IR(KBr) 3250, 1640, 1600, 1555, 1510, 1465 cm71; H-
Effects of diazoxide, HEI 712 and HEI 713 on the
glucose-induced insulin release from incubated rat
pancreatic islets
NMR (CDCl3+CF3CO2H) d ppm 2.77 (s, 3H, CH3), 7.07
(bs, 1H, 3-H), 7.81 (d, J=9.1 Hz, 1H, 8-H), 7.92 (dd, J=9.1,
2.3 Hz, 1H, 7-H); 8.31 (d, J=2.3 Hz, 1H, 5-H); anal.
(C10H8ClNO) calcd.: C: 62.03; H: 4.16; N: 7.23; Cl: 18.31;
found: C: 62.10; H: 4.22; N: 7.19; Cl: 18.26.
In some experiments, extracellular Ca2+ was eliminated by
the omission of CaCl2 from the physiological medium and
the addition of 0.5 mM ethylene glycol-bis (b-aminoethyl
ether) N,N'-tetraacetic acid (EGTA; Sigma Chemical Co).
According to the experiments, the media were enriched with
glucose (Merck, Darmstadt, Germany), glibenclamide (ICN
Biomedicals, Inc. Ohio, U.S.A.), diazoxide (Sigma Chemical
Co), HEI 712 or HEI 713.
Glibenclamide, diazoxide, HEI 712 and HEI 713 were
dissolved in dimethylsulphoxide which was added to both
control and test media. At the ®nal concentrations used
(50.1% for insulin secreting cells and 50.8% for aortic
rings), dimethylsulphoxide fails to a€ect islet function and
smooth muscle contractility (Antoine et al., 1992; B. Becker
et al., unpublished observations; Lebrun & Atwater, 1985;
Lebrun et al., 1996). When high concentrations of
extracellular K+ (430 mM) were used, the concentration
of extracellular NaCl was lowered to keep osmolarity
constant.
The addition of increasing concentrations of HEI 713 to
pancreatic islets incubated in the presence of 16.7 mM glucose
provoked a concentration-dependent decrease in insulin
release. After the addition of 1, 10 and 50 mM HEI 713 to
the incubation medium, the insulin release was, respectively,
97.52+4.31% (P40.5); 76.20+3.14% (P50.05) and
5.11+0.66% (P50.001) of the control value. The IC50 value
for HEI 713 averaged 16.9+0.8 mM (Table 1).
The presence of diazoxide in the incubation medium also
reduced the glucose-induced insulin release. Thus, in the
presence of 1, 10, 50, 100 and 500 mM diazoxide, the release
of insulin averaged, respectively, 82.52+3.08% (P50.05),
71.66+2.77%
(P50.001),
27.89+1.54%
(P50.001),
14.76+0.98% (P50.001) and 8.52+0.70% (P50.001) of
that recorded in the presence of glucose (16.7 mM) but
absence of drug. The IC50 value for diazoxide averaged
18.4+2.2 mM (Table 1).
According to the IC50 values (Table 1), the inhibitory e€ect
of diazoxide on insulin output was not signi®cantly di€erent
(P40.5) from that of HEI 713.
HEI 712 (IC50 75.5+1.7 (n=24)), the 6-¯uoroquinolinone
derivative, was less potent than HEI 713 and diazoxide
(P50.05) at inhibiting the secretory response to glucose
(Table 1).
Calculations
Results are expressed as the mean+s.e.mean. The magnitude
of the increase in 86Rb out¯ow was estimated in each
individual experiment from the integrated out¯ow of 86Rb
observed during stimulation (45th ± 68th min) after correction
for basal value (40th ± 44th min). The inhibitory e€ect of HEI
713 on 45Ca out¯ow and insulin release was taken as the
di€erence between the mean value for 45Ca out¯ow or insulin
output recorded in each individual experiment between the
40th ± 44th and 60th ± 68th min of perifusion. The IC50 value
for insulin release (concentration giving a 50% reduction of
the secretory response to 16.7 mM glucose) and ED50 values
for rat aortic rings (drug concentrations inducing half-
maximum inhibition of the plateau phase induced by KCl)
were assessed from concentration-response curves using
Datanalyst software (EMKA Technologies, France). The
statistical signi®cance of the di€erences between mean data
was assessed by use of Student's t-test or by analysis of
variance followed by a Sche€e test procedure.
Table 1 E€ect of HEI 712, HEI 713 and diazoxide on
insulin release from rat pancreatic islets, on the contractile
activity of rat aortic rings and on the log P' value
IC50 (mM)
pancreatic islets
ED50 (mM)
aortic rings
log P'
Diazoxide
HEI 713
HEI 712
18.4+2.2 (38)
16.9+0.8 (22)
75.5+1.7 (24)
23.8+2.4 (10)
42.5+2.3 (13)
223.0+17.6 (6)
1.21
41.50
1.29
Rat pancreatic islets were incubated in the presence of
16.7 mM glucose and rat aortic rings were depolarized by
K+ (30 mM). IC50 and ED50 values are expressed as
means+s.e.mean with the number of samples or individual
experiments in parentheses. IC50 is the drug concentration
eliciting 50% reduction in insulin release whilst EC50 is the
drug concentration (mM) eliciting 50% relaxation of the
30 mM KCl-induced contraction.
Figure 2 Chemical synthesis of HEI 712 and HEI 713.
British Journal of Pharmacology vol 134 (2)

B. Becker et al
Quinolinone and K
channels
379
ATP
Effects of HEI 713 on 86Rb, 45Ca outflow and insulin
release from perifused rat pancreatic islets
In the presence of 16.7 mM glucose and extracellular Ca2+
in the perifusing medium, the addition of HEI 713 (50 mM)
elicited an immediate and sustained inhibition of both 45Ca
out¯ow and insulin release (Figure 4, upper and lower panel).
During exposure to HEI 713 (60th ± 68th min), the 45Ca
out¯ow and the release of insulin was, respectively,
44.3+7.1% (n=6, P50.001) and 23.1+3.8% (n=6,
P50.001) of that recorded before the administration of the
drug (40th ± 44th min). The withdrawal of HEI 713 from the
perifusate was accompanied by a rapid increase in both 45Ca
out¯ow and insulin release (Figure 4). The latter increases
probably re¯ect relief from inhibitory e€ects of the drug.
The addition of HEI 713 (50 mM) to islets exposed to
16.7 mM glucose and Ca2+ deprived media did not provoke
any reduction in 45Ca FOR (data not shown).
To further investigate the e€ect of HEI 713 on 45Ca
out¯ow, additional experiments were performed at non-
insulinotropic glucose concentration. In islets exposed
throughout to 2.8 mM glucose, HEI 713 (50 mM) elicited a
biphasic and sustained increase in the rate of 45Ca out¯ow
(Figure 5). This stimulatory e€ect of HEI 713 was reversible
and slightly more marked in islets exposed to Ca2+ deprived
In the presence of 5.6 mM glucose in the basal medium, and
whether the experiments were performed in the presence or
absence of extracellular Ca2+, the addition of HEI 713
(50 mM) provoked a fast, sustained and rapidly reversible
increase in the rate of 86Rb out¯ow from prelabelled and
perifused rat pancreatic islets (Figure 3, upper panel). The
increment in 86Rb FOR averaged 2.76+0.22% min71 (n=4)
in the absence and 1.93+0.13% min71 (n=4) in the presence
of external Ca2+ (P50.05).
In another series of experiments, we characterized the e€ect
of glibenclamide on the cationic response to HEI 713 in islets
exposed throughout to 5.6 mM glucose and extracellular
Ca2+. When the perifusate was enriched with the hypogly-
caemic sulphonylurea glibenclamide (10 mM), the capacity of
HEI 713 (50 mM) to stimulate 86Rb out¯ow was signi®cantly
reduced but not totally abolished (Figure 3, lower panel).
Thus, the rise in 86Rb FOR averaged 1.88+0.16% min71
(n=4) in the absence and 0.20+0.01% min71 (n=5) in the
presence of glibenclamide throughout (P50.001).
Figure 3 Upper panel: E€ect of HEI 713 (50 mM) on 86Rb out¯ow
from pancreatic islets perifused throughout in the presence of 5.6 mM
glucose. Basal media contained extracellular Ca2+ or were deprived
of Ca2+ and enriched with EGTA. Lower panel: E€ect of HEI 713
(50 mM) on 86Rb out¯ow from pancreatic islets perifused throughout
in the absence or presence of glibenclamide (10 mM). Basal media
contained extracellular Ca2+ and 5.6 mM glucose. Mean values
(+s.e.mean) refer to 4 ± 5 individual experiments.
Figure 4 E€ect of HEI 713 (50 mM) on 45Ca out¯ow (upper panel)
and insulin release (lower panel) from pancreatic islets perifused
throughout in the presence of 16.7 mM glucose. Basal media
contained extracellular Ca2+. Mean values (+s.e.mean) refer to six
individual experiments.
British Journal of Pharmacology vol 134 (2)

380
B. Becker et al
Quinolinone and K
channels
ATP
Figure 6 E€ect of a rise in the extracellular concentration of K+
from 5 to 50 mM on 45Ca out¯ow from pancreatic islets perifused
throughout in the absence or presence of HEI 713 (50 mM). Basal
media contained 2.8 mM glucose and extracellular Ca2+. Mean values
(+s.e.mean) refer to six individual experiments.
Figure 5 E€ect of HEI 713 (50 mM) on 45Ca out¯ow from
pancreatic islets perifused throughout in the presence of 2.8 mM
glucose. Basal media contained extracellular Ca2+ or were deprived
of Ca2+ and enriched with EGTA. Mean values (+s.e.mean) refer to
four individual experiments.
media (P40.05) (Figure 5). When HEI 713 (50 mM) was
administered to islets perifused in the presence of 5.6 mM
glucose and absence of extracellular Ca2+, the drug again
provoked a sustained and reversible rise in 45Ca FOR (data
not shown).
In the ®nal series of experiments, we examined the e€ect of
HEI 713 (50 mM) on the KCl-induced changes in 45Ca
out¯ow. A rise in the extracellular concentration of K+ from
5 ± 50 mM provoked a rapid and marked increase in 45Ca
FOR from pancreatic islets perifused in the presence of
2.8 mM glucose and extracellular Ca2+ (Figure 6). When the
same experiments were repeated in the presence of HEI 713
(50 mM), the basal rate of 45Ca out¯ow was higher (P50.05).
The presence of HEI 713 (50 mM) in the basal medium failed,
however, to counteract the cationic response to high
extracellular K+ concentration (Figure 6).
and 3.12+0.51 after the addition of diazoxide (200 mM)
(P40.05) (Figure 7b).
The role of SUR1 and Kir6.2 in mediating the actions of
HEI 713 on KATP channel was examined using the human b-
cell line, NES2Y. These cells lack KATP channels due to
defects in SUR1 (MacFarlane et al., 2000) and were
transfected with Kir6.2CD26 cDNA; which produces Kir6.2
channel activity independently of SUR1 function (Tucker et
al., 1997). In these cells, ATP (500 mM) inhibited Kir6.2
channel activity (n=7) whereas the further addition of
diazoxide (200 mM) was without e€ect (n=6). Furthermore,
addition of HEI 713 (200 mM) in the absence (n=7) or
presence (n=5) of ATP (500 mM), also failed to activate
Kir6.2 channel activity (data not shown).
Effect of HEI 713 on the cytosolic free Ca2+
concentration of single rat pancreatic islet cells
Effect of HEI 713 on individual KATP channels
The addition of HEI 713 (50 mM) to a physiological medium
containing 2.8 mM glucose and extracellular Ca2+ provoked a
small but sustained increase in the cytosolic free Ca2+
concentration ([Ca2+]i) (Figure 8, upper panel). Similar
experiments were performed in the absence of extracellular
Ca2+. Under this experimental condition, HEI 713 (50 mM)
still increased the [Ca2+]i (data not shown). This enhancing
e€ect of HEI 713 on [Ca2+]i was slowly reversible on removal
of the drug (data not shown).
Spontaneous KATP channel activity recorded in the inside-
out patch-clamp con®guration was reduced by the addition
of ATP (100 mM) in the bathing medium (data not shown).
In the absence and presence of ATP (100 mM), calculated
N.Po values were 2.2 and 1.1, respectively. In the
continued presence of ATP, addition of HEI 713 (25 mM)
reversed the e€ect of the nucleotide (N.Po=4.3, data not
shown).
Figure 7 illustrates the e€ect of HEI 713 and diazoxide on
KATP channel activity. In the presence of ATP (500 mM) on
the inside face of the b-cell membrane (N.Po=0.46+0.29),
both HEI 713 (200 mM) and diazoxide (200 mM) provoked a
marked increase in KATP channel openings. A quantitative
analysis revealed that, under these experimental conditions,
N.Po averaged 1.99+0.26 after addition of HEI 713 (200 mM)
A rise in the extracellular glucose concentration from 2.8 to
20.0 mM provoked, after
a
small initial decrease,
]
a
(Figure 8, lower
pronounced biphasic increase in [Ca2+
i
panel). The subsequent addition of HEI 713 (50 mM) reduced
the glucose-induced rise in the cytosolic free Ca2+ concentra-
tion (Figure 8, lower panel). The inhibitory e€ect of the drug
was sustained and rapidly reversible.
British Journal of Pharmacology vol 134 (2)

B. Becker et al
Quinolinone and K
channels
381
ATP
Figure 7 E€ect of HEI 713 and diazoxide on KATP channels channels. (A upper and lower panels): Channel activity in the
presence and in the absence of ATP in the bathing medium. Middle panels: E€ects of diazoxide or HEI 713 in the continuous
presence of ATP. Data were obtained from the same inside-out patch of membrane with upward de¯ections from the base line
(dotted lines) representing outward currents. (B) Quantitative analysis of the e€ects of diazoxide and HEI 713 on KATP channel
activity. Mean values (+s.e.mean) refer to four individual experiments.
Effect of HEI 712 and HEI 713 on the contractile activity
of rat aortic rings
In rat aortic rings exposed to 30 mM K+, the cumulative
application of HEI 713 or diazoxide (1077 ± 3.1074 M)
induced concentration-dependent relaxations. According to
the ED50 values (Table 1), HEI 713 was roughly half as
potent than diazoxide at reducing the vascular tone. By
comparison, HEI 712, the 6-¯uoroquinolinonic compound,
was poorly active on aortic muscle tension (Table 1).
Figure 9 clearly indicates that the vasorelaxant e€ect of
HEI 713 on K+(30 mM)-induced contractile activity was
counteracted by glibenclamide. ED50 amounted to
42.1+2.5 mM (n=6) in the absence, 111.2+17.3 mM (n=5)
(P50.01) in the presence of 1 mM and 164.6+32.3 mM (n=4)
(P50.01) in the presence of 10 mM glibenclamide in the
physiological medium. The presence of glibenclamide (1076
,
1075 M) in the medium did not a€ect the baseline tension or
the contractile responses to KCl (30 mM).
In the next series of experiments, contractile activity was
elicited by high concentrations of extracellular K+ (80 mM).
Under such experimental conditions, the vasorelaxant proper-
ties of HEI 713 were markedly reduced. The ED50 value for
HEI 713 on 80 mM K+-induced contraction averaged
160.7+24.5 mM (n=5).
Effect of HEI 713 on 86Rb outflow from rat aortic rings
perifused in the presence and absence of glibenclamide
HEI 713 (100 mM) provoked a rapid, sustained and rapidly
reversible increase in the rate of 86Rb out¯ow from
prelabelled and perifused rat aortic rings (Figure 10). The
capacity of HEI 713 to stimulate 86Rb out¯ow was almost
completely abolished when glibenclamide (10 mM) was added
to the perifusate (Figure 10). Indeed, the increment in 86Rb
FOR averaged 1.29+0.08% min71 (n=6) in the absence and
Figure 8 (Upper panel) E€ect of HEI 713 (50 mM) on the [Ca2+]i of
a single pancreatic islet cell perifused in the presence of 2.8 mM
glucose. (Lower panel) E€ect of HEI 713 (50 mM) on glucose-induced
increase in [Ca2+]i. Basal media contained extracellular Ca2+. Each
graph is a representative experiment conducted on a single cell.
British Journal of Pharmacology vol 134 (2)

382
B. Becker et al
Quinolinone and K
channels
ATP
Figure 10 E€ect of HEI 713 (100 mM) on 86Rb out¯ow from aortic
rings perifused throughout in the absence or presence of glibencla-
mide (10 mM). Basal media contained 30 mM K+ and extracellular
Ca2+. Mean values (+s.e.mean) refer to six individual experiments.
Figure 9 E€ect of HEI 713 on the mechanical activity of rat aortic
rings. Concentration-response curves were carried out after the
addition of 30 or 80 mM K+ and in absence or presence of
glibenclamide (1 and 10 mM). ED50 is the HEI 713 concentration
eliciting 50% relaxation of the KCl-induced concentration. The upper
edges of bars represent the means whilst the line at the top of bars
corresponds to the s.e.mean. Figures in parentheses are numbers of
individual experiments.
drug-receptor interactions (de Tullio et al., 1996). Thus, the
quinolin-4(1H)-one form of HEI 713 and its ¯uorinated
analogue HEI 712, but not the 4-hydroxyquinoline form of
the two drugs, can also be expected to represent the preferred
conformation for optimal binding site interactions.
0.07+0.02% min71 (n=6) in the presence of glibenclamide in
the basal medium (P50.001).
The biological activity of both quinolinonic compounds
was tested on insulin secreting cells and on vascular smooth
muscle cells. HEI 712 and HEI 713 a€ected the pancreatic
and the vascular tissues but the ¯uorinated derivative (HEI
712) was much less potent than the chlorinated derivative
(HEI 713) on both insulin release from pancreatic islets and
smooth muscle contractile activity from aortic rings. Such a
feature could be explained, at least in part, by the fact that
the presence of a ¯uorine atom, rather than a chlorine atom,
at the 6-position should have a negative impact on the
electronic distribution and on lipophilicity. A chlorine atom
at the 6-position could allow a better interaction of the
molecule with a putative hydrophobic pocket located at the
binding site.
HEI 713 was as potent as diazoxide at inhibiting insulin
release from rat pancreatic islets but less potent than
diazoxide at evoking vasodilator activity. According to the
ED50 (contractile activity in aortic rings)/IC50 (insulin release
from pancreatic islets) ratio, the quinolinone derivative
appeared to be 2 fold more selective for the insulin secreting
cells than diazoxide; the latter compound exhibiting no
apparent selectivity.
Lipophilicity of diazoxide, HEI 712 and HEI 713
In order to compare the lipophilicity of diazoxide with that
of the two quinolinonic compounds, we determined the log P'
value (logarithm of the partition coecient between 1-octanol
and a phosphate bu€er at pH 7.40) of each drug by means of
the shake-¯ask method (Cloux et al., 1988) (Table 1). The log
P' value for diazoxide and HEI 712 was found to be 1.21 and
1.29, respectively. We were unable to establish with an
optimal precision the log P' value of HEI 713, but a log P'
value higher than 1.5 can be predicted. Since the replacement
of a ¯uorine atom on an aromatic ring by a chlorine atom
should lead to an increased log P' value of 0.5 ± 0.6 units
(based on the respective Hansch p values of the two
substituents) (Hansch et al., 1973), a theoretical log P' value
around 1.8 might be attributed to HEI 713.
Discussion
Additional experiments suggest that the mechanism of HEI
713-induced inhibition of insulin release may be the result of
changes in transmembrane ionic permeability. HEI 713 was
shown to provoke a fast, sustained and rapidly reversible rise
in 86Rb out¯ow (42K substitute) from prelabelled and
perifused rat pancreatic islets. This ®nding can be interpreted
as the result of an increase in membrane K+ permeability
(Malaisse et al., 1978; Henquin et al., 1992; Lebrun et al.,
1992; 1996).
Our observations suggest that the stimulatory e€ect of HEI
713 on 86Rb out¯ow could re¯ect the activation of ATP-
sensitive K+ (KATP) channels, since the ionic response of the
pancreatic islets was sensitive to the hypoglycaemic sulpho-
The compound HEI 713 is structurally related to diazoxide
but with the SO2-N=moiety isosterically replaced by a CO-
CH=fragment (Figure 1). It is now well established that the
preferential conformation adopted by diazoxide in the solid
state (Bandoli & Nicolini, 1977) as well as in solution
(Jakobsen & Treppendahl, 1979) is the 4H-tautomeric form
(Figure 1). Since HEI 713 may be viewed as an isosteric
analogue of diazoxide, the drug should preferentially adopt
the quinolin-4(1H)-one rather than the 4-hydroxyquinoline
tautomeric conformation in solution (Katritzky, 1985).
The presence of a N-H group in the 4-position of diazoxide
was found to be critical for biological activity and optimal
British Journal of Pharmacology vol 134 (2)

B. Becker et al
Quinolinone and K
channels
383
ATP
nylurea glibenclamide, a KATP channel blocker (Ashcroft &
Rorsman, 1989; Malaisse & Lebrun, 1990). When glibencla-
mide was added to the basal medium, the capacity of HEI
713 to stimulate 86Rb out¯ow was strongly reduced. In
addition, the absence of extracellular Ca2+ failed to reduce
the stimulatory e€ect of HEI 713 on 86Rb FOR. This
86Rb out¯ow from prelabelled and perifused rat aortic rings;
suggesting that the drug provoked a rise in the membrane K+
permeability (Quast & Baumlin, 1988, Lebrun et al., 1990).
The capacity of HEI 713 to stimulate 86Rb out¯ow was
reduced when glibenclamide was added to the perifusate.
Finally, the myorelaxant e€ect of HEI 713 was markedly
decreased in aortic rings exposed to K+ 80 mM. In vascular
smooth muscle cells, like in a variety of other cell types, KATP
channel openers are capable of inhibiting the contractile
activity evoked by a `low' but not a `high' extracellular K+
concentration (Lebrun et al., 1990; Edwards & Weston, 1993;
Magnon et al., 1998). Taken as a whole, these data suggest
that HEI 713 also activates KATP channels in vascular
smooth muscle. Although HEI 713 shares vasodilator
properties with diazoxide, the quinolinone derivative was
signi®cantly less potent than diazoxide in relaxing vascular
smooth muscle. Incidentally, the remaining slight vasorelax-
ant e€ect of HEI 713 on aortic rings exposed to K+ 80 mM
could suggest the involvement of additional mechanism(s) not
linked to K+ channel opening (Quast, 1993).
In addition to e€ects on the plasma membrane KATP
channels, HEI 713 also appears to interact, at least to a small
extent, with an intracellular target. In both cell types, the
compound elicited a glibenclamide-resistant modality of 86Rb
extrusion. Whether or not the physiological medium
contained extracellular Ca2+, the drug provoked an increase
in 45Ca FOR and [Ca2+]i from pancreatic islets or islets cells
perifused at non-insulinotropic glucose concentrations. These
®ndings suggest that HEI 713 might promote an intracellular
translocation of Ca2+ (Antoine et al., 1991) which, in turn,
could activate a Ca2+-sensitive and glibenclamide-resistant
modality of 86Rb out¯ow. The high lipophilicity of HEI 713
suggests that the compound could penetrate the plasma
membrane and interfere with some intracellular binding sites
such as the mitochondrial KATP channels. Indeed, previous
data revealed that the activation of KATP channels located on
the inner membrane of mitochondria elicited a mitochondrial
Ca2+ release (Szewczyk & Marban, 1999).
observation implies that the drug mainly acts upon a Ca2+
-
insensitive modality of 86Rb extrusion (Lebrun et al., 1992;
Antoine et al., 1993). Further evidence supporting an e€ect of
HEI 713 on KATP channels comes from patch-clamp
recordings. In the inside-out patch con®guration, the
compound was shown to increase the open state probability
of KATP channels. Under identical experimental conditions,
the KATP channel opener diazoxide also increased channel
activity. Furthermore, these studies indicate that SUR1
mediates the e€ect of both the quinolinone derivative and
diazoxide. In cells lacking SUR1 but expressing the ATP-
sensitive Kir6.2CD26 channels, both HEI 713 and diazoxide
failed to modify the channel open state probability.
Opening of K+ channels would hyperpolarize the b-cell
membrane and, in turn, inhibit the voltage-sensitive Ca2+
channels, reduce the cytosolic free Ca2+ concentration
([Ca2+]i) and, ultimately, impair the insulin secretory process.
In agreement with this physiological sequence, HEI 713 was
shown to inhibit both 45Ca out¯ow and insulin release from
pancreatic islets exposed to a medium containing 16.7 mM
glucose and extracellular Ca2+. This inhibitory e€ect of HEI
713 on 45Ca out¯ow can be interpreted as the result of a
reduction in 40Ca2+ entry into the islets cells (Lebrun et al.,
1982; 1996; Antoine et al., 1993). In agreement with this, the
decrease in 45Ca out¯ow mediated by the quinolinonic
compound did not occur when the islets were perifused in
the absence of extracellular Ca2+. Furthermore, calcium
¯uorimetry experiments revealed that the drug was able to
counteract the glucose-induced increase in [Ca2+]i. In
summary, these data suggest that the inhibitory e€ect of
HEI 713 on insulin release results from KATP channel
activation, leading to a decrease in Ca2+ entry and [Ca2+]i.
The failure of HEI 713 to counteract the increase in 45Ca
In conclusion, we have designed an original quinolinone
derivative which activates plasma membrane KATP channels.
The compound (HEI 713) inhibits glucose-induced insulin
release and exhibits some vasorelaxant properties. However,
compared with diazoxide, which is devoid of tissue selectivity
(pancreatic islets vs aortic rings), HEI 713 was slightly more
potent on the endocrine than on the vascular tissue.
out¯ow provoked by
a
rise in the extracellular K+
concentration further indicates that the primary action of
the drug is to raise the K+ permeability of the pancreatic b-
cells. Indeed, the 45Ca response to a high K+ concentration,
which is mediated by the opening of voltage-sensitive Ca2+
channels and inhibited by drugs acting at the Ca2+ channel
level, is known to be una€ected by K+ channel openers
(Lebrun et al., 1982; 1989; 2000; Henquin et al., 1992).
Several observations also indicate that the vasorelaxant
e€ect of HEI 713 on rat aortic rings mainly results from the
activation of KATP channels.
The e€ect of HEI 713 on K+ (30 mM)-induced contraction
was sensitive to glibenclamide. Previous studies have revealed
the ability of glibenclamide to reduce the myorelaxant e€ect
of KATP channel openers (Quast & Baumlin, 1988; Lebrun et
al., 1990; Antoine et al., 1992). Secondly, HEI 713 increased
The authors are indebted to J. Sergooris, A.-M. Vanbellinghen and
M. Hermann for expert technical assistance. This study was
supported in part by grants from the National Fund for Scienti®c
Research (Belgium; P. Lebrun and B. Pirotte), the Universite Libre
de Bruxelles (B. Becker and Q.-A. Nguyen), Glaxo-Wellcome (M.J.
Dunne), and the Diabetes U.K. (M.J. Dunne). We thank Drs R.
James and S. Swift at the University of Leicester and K. Hinchli€e
at Sheeld University for their help in the preparation of human b
cells.
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(Received April 2, 2001
Revised June 6, 2001
Accepted June 29, 2001)
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