Multivalent Ligands for the Serotonin 5-HT4 Receptor

5-HT4 receptors are known to form constitutive dimers in membranes. To explore whether multivalency can enhance ligand interactions and/or efficacy in 5-HT4 receptors, the structure of the partial agonist ML10302 was modified with oligo(ethylene glycol) chains, thus generating, by a gradual approach, short and long tethered bivalent or tetravalent ligands and the corresponding spanner-linked monovalent controls. Both bivalent and tetravalent ligands displayed a 10-20-fold increase in binding affinity compared to appropriate controls, but no multivalent ligand showed greater binding energy than ML10302 itself. Furthermore, the direct assessment of receptor-Gs interaction and studies of cAMP signalling indicated that multivalency does not enhance the efficacy of ML10302.