MODELING OF COMPETITIVE PHOSPHONO AMINO-ACID NMDA RECEPTOR ANTAGONISTS

A pharmacophore for the phosphono amino acid antagonists of the NMDA receptor has been developed using computer-based molecular modeling techniques. An important feature of this model is that a single binding site is proposed for the phosphonic acid moiety. All competitive antagonists we have examined incorporating amino acid and phosphonate groups in their structure fit the pharmacophore in energetically accessible conformations.