High-performance liquid chromatography assay with fluorescence detection for the evaluation of inhibitors against human recombinant monoacylglycerol lipase

A fluorescent assay for the evaluation of inhibitors of monoacylglycerol lipase (MAGL) is described. 1,3-Dihydroxypropan-2-yl 4-pyren-1-ylbutanoate was designed and synthesized as novel fluorogenic substrate. Activity of human recombinant MAGL was determined in the presence of the surfactant Triton X-100 without further sample cleanup by measuring the amount of 4-pyren-1-ylbutanoic acid released by the enzyme with reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and fluorescence detection. The known covalent binding MAGL inhibitors methyl arachidonyl fluorophosphonate (MAFP), 4-nitrophenyl 4-[bis(1,3-benzodioxol-5-yl)hydroxymethyl]piperidine-1-carboxylate (JZL184), and [4-(5-methoxy-2-oxo-1,3,4-oxadiazol-3-yl)-2-methylphenyl]carbamic acid benzyl ester ( CAY10499) were used to validate the test system. Applying an incubation time of 15 min, the IC 50 values obtained for these compounds were 0.16, 3.7, and 1.1 μM, respectively. A prolongation of the incubation to 45 min results in a two- to threefold decrease of the IC 50 values.