1,2,4-oxadiazole benzoic acid compositions and their use in bioassays

1. A method for testing whether a compound increases activity of a protein encoded by an mRNA that contains a premature stop codon, comprising:

(a) contacting a composition comprising a cell extract or cell lysate and the mRNA with an effective amount of a compound of the formula:

 or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, wherein:

Z is substituted or unsubstituted aryl, substituted or unsubstituted heteroaryl, substituted or unsubstituted cycloalkyl, substituted or unsubstituted alkyl, substituted or unsubstituted alkenyl, substituted or unsubstituted heterocycle, substituted or unsubstituted arylalkyl;

R 1 is hydrogen, substituted or unsubstituted alkyl, substituted or unsubstituted cycloalkyl, substituted or unsubstituted heterocycloalkyl, substituted or unsubstituted aryl, substituted or unsubstituted heteroaryl, —(CH 2 CH 2 O) n R 6 or any biohydrolyzable group;

R 2 , R 3 , R 4 , R 5 and R 6 are independently hydrogen, substituted or unsubstituted alkyl, substituted or unsubstituted alkenyl, substituted or unsubstituted alkynyl; substituted or unsubstituted cycloalkyl, substituted or unsubstituted heterocycloalkyl, substituted or unsubstituted aryl, substituted or unsubstituted heteroaryl, alkoxy, aryloxy, heteroaryloxy, halogen, CF 3 , OCF 3 , OCHF 2 , CN, COOH, COOR 7 , SO 2 R 7 , NO 2 , NH 2 , or N(R 7 ) 2 ;

each occurrence of R 7 is independently hydrogen. substituted or unsubstituted alkyl, substituted or unsubstituted alkenyl, substituted or unsubstituted alkynyl; substituted or unsubstituted cycloalkyl, substituted or unsubstituted heterocycloalkyl, substituted or unsubstituted aryl, substituted or unsubstituted heteroaryl, alkoxy, aryloxy, heteroaryloxy, halogen or CF 3 ; and

n is an integer from 1 to 7; and

(b) detecting the activity of the protein, wherein a compound that increases the activity of the protein is detected if there is an increase in the activity of the protein in the presence of the compound relative to the absence of the compound.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the compound has the formula:

or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof wherein:

Z is substituted or unsubstituted aryl, substituted or unsubstituted heteroaryl, substituted or unsubstituted cycloalkyl, substituted or unsubstituted alkyl, substituted or unsubstituted alkenyl, substituted or unsubstituted heterocycle, substituted or unsubstituted arylalkyl; and R is hydrogen or halogen.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the compound is:

3-[5-(4-Chloromethyl-phenyl)-[1,2,4]oxadiazol-3-yl]-benzoic acid;

3-[5-(2-Fluoro-phenyl)-[1,2,4]oxadiazol-3-yl]-benzoic acid;

3-[5-(3,4-Difluoro-phenyl)-[1,2,4]oxadiazol-3-yl]-benzoic acid;

3-[5-(4-Methoxy-phenyl)-[1,2,4]oxadiazol-3-yl]-benzoic acid;

3-[5-(4-Ethyl-phenyl)-[1,2,4]oxadiazol-3-yl]-benzoic acid;

3-[5-(2-Chloro-phenyl)-[1,2,4]oxadiazol-3-yl]-benzoic acid;

3-[5-(3-Fluoro-phenyl)-[1,2,4]oxadiazol-3-yl]-benzoic acid;

3-[5-(4-tert-Butyl-phenyl)-[1,2,4]oxadiazol-3-yl]-benzoic acid;

3-[5-(2-Methoxy-phenyl)-[1,2,4]oxadiazol-3-yl]-benzoic acid;

3-[5-(2,5-Difluoro-phenyl)-[1,2,4]oxadiazol-3-yl]-benzoic acid;

3-[5-(2,4-Difluoro-phenyl)-[1,2,4]oxadiazol-3-yl]-benzoic acid;

3-[5-(3-Chloro-phenyl)-[1,2,4]oxadiazol-3-yl]-benzoic acid;

3-[5-(4-Trifluoromethyl-phenyl)-[1,2,4]oxadiazol-3-yl]-benzoic acid;

3-[5-(4-Fluoro-phenyl)-[1,2,4]oxadiazol-3-yl]-benzoic acid;

3-[5-(3-Methoxy-phenyl)-[1,2,4]oxadiazol-3-yl]-benzoic acid;

3-[5-(2,6-Difluoro-phenyl)-[1,2,4]oxadiazol-3-yl]-benzoic acid;

3-[5-(3-Dimethylamino-phenyl)-[1,2,4]oxadiazol-3-yl]-benzoic acid;

3-[5-(4-Dimethylamino-phenyl)-[1,2,4]oxadiazol-3-yl]-benzoic acid;

3-[5-(2-Trifluoromethyl-phenyl)-[1,2,4]oxadiazol-3-yl]-benzoic acid;

3-[5-(3,5-Bis-trifluoromethyl-phenyl)-[1,2,4]oxadiazol-3-yl]-benzoic acid;

3-[5-(3,4-Dimethoxy-phenyl)-[1,2,4]oxadiazol-3-yl]-benzoic acid;

3-[5-(3-Trifluoromethoxy-phenyl)-[1,2,4]oxadiazol-3-yl]-benzoic acid;

3-[5-(4-Pentyloxy-phenyl)-[1,2,4]oxadiazol-3-yl]-benzoic acid:

3-[5-(3,4,5-Trimethoxy-phenyl)-[1,2,4]oxadiazol-3-yl]-benzoic acid:

3-[5-(4-Isobutyl-phenyl)-[1,2,4]oxadiaiol-3-yl]-benzoic acid;

3-[5-(2,3-Difluoro-phenyl)-[1,2,4]oxadiazol-3-yl]-benzoic acid;

3-[5-(2-Fluoro-5-methyl-phenyl)-[1,2,4]oxadiazol-3-yl]-benzoic acid;

4-Fluoro-3-[5-(4-fluoro-phenyl)-[1,2,4]oxadiazol-3-yl]benzoic cid;

2-Fluoro-5-[5-(4-fluoro-phenyl)-[1,2,4]oxadiazol-3-yl]-benzoic acid;

3-[5-(4-Chloro-2-fluoro-phenyl)-[1,2,4]oxadiazol-3-yl]-benzoic acid;

3-[5-(4-Bromo-2-fluoro-phenyl)-[1,2,4]oxadiazol-3-yl]-benzoic acid;

3-[5-(2-Fluoro-phenyl)-[1,2,4]oxadiazol-3-yl]-benzoic acid sodium salt;

3-[5-(4-Fluoro-phenyl)-[1,2,4]oxadiazol-3-yl]-benzoic acid methyl ester;

5-[5-(4-Fluoro-phenyl)-[1,2,4]oxadiazol-3-yl]-2-methoxy-benzoic acid;

3-[5-(2-Fluoro-6-hydroxy-phenyl)-[1,2,4]oxadiazol-3-yl]-benzoic acid;

3-[5-(2-Fluoro-phenyl)-[1,2,4]oxadiazol-3-yl]-benzoic acid methyl ester;

3-[5-(2-Fluoro-phenyl)-[1,2,4]oxadiazol-3-yl]-benzoic acid 2-methoxy-ethyl ester;

3-[5-(2-Fluoro-phenyl)-[1,2,4]oxadiazol-3-yl]-benzoic acid 2-(2-methoxy-ethoxy)-ethyl ester;

3-[5-(2-Fluoro-phenyl)-[1,2,4]oxadiazol-3-yl]-benzoic acid 2-[2-(2-methoxy-ethoxy)-ethoxy ]-ethyl ester;

3-[5-(2-Fluoro-phenyl)-[1,2,4]oxadiazol-3-yl]-benzoic acid 2-{2-[2-(2-methoxy-ethoxy)-ethoxy]-ethoxy}-ethyl ester;

3-[5-(2-Fluoro-phenyl)-[1,2,4]oxadiazol-3-yl]-benzoic acid 2-(2-{2-[2-(2-methoxy-ethoxy)-ethoxy]-ethoxy}-ethoxy)-ethyl ester;

3-[5-(2-Fluoro-phenyl)-[1,2,4]oxadiazol-3-yl]-benzoic acid 2-[2-(2-{2-[2-(2-hydroxy-ethoxy)-ethoxy]-ethoxy}-ethoxy)-ethoxy]-ethyl ester;

3-[5-(4-Amino-phenyl)-[1,2,4]oxadiazol-3-yl]-benzoic acid;

3-[5-(4-Azido-phenyl)-[1,2,4]oxadiazol-3-yl]-benzoic acid; and

3-[5-(4-Benzyloxy-phenyl)-[1,2,4]oxadiazol-3-yl]-benzoic acid and pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the compound is 3-[5-(2-fluoro-phenyl)-[1,2,4]oxadiazol-3-yl]-benzoic acid, having the structure: