COMPOUNDS USEFUL IN CFTR ASSAYS AND METHODS THEREWITH

1 . A method for evaluating the ability of a compound to increase the number of CFTR on a cell, comprising the steps of:

(i) contacting said cell with said compound under a first suitable conditions;

(ii) contacting said cell with a compound of formula I under a second suitable conditions; and

(iii) comparing the activity of CFTR on said cell in the presence and absence of said compound;

wherein said compound of formula I is:

wherein:

Ar 1 is a 5-6 membered aromatic monocyclic ring having 0-4 heteroatoms independently selected from nitrogen, oxygen, or sulfur, wherein said ring is optionally fused to a 5-12 membered monocyclic or bicyclic, aromatic, partially unsaturated, or saturated ring, wherein each ring contains 0-4 heteroatoms independently selected from nitrogen, oxygen, or sulfur,

wherein Ar 1 has m substituents, each independently selected from —WR W ;

W is a bond or is an optionally substituted C 1 -C 6 alkylidene chain wherein up to two methylene units of W are optionally and independently replaced by —CO—, —CS—, —COCO—, —CONR′—, —CONR′NR′—, —CO 2 —, —OCO—, —NR′CO 2 —, —O—, —NR′CONR′—, —OCONR′—, —NR′NR′, —NR′NR′CO—, —NR′CO—, —S—, —SO, —SO 2 —, —NR′—, —SO 2 NR′—, NR′SO 2 —, or —NR′SO 2 NR′—;

R W is independently R′, halo, NO 2 , CN, CF 3 , or OCF 3 ;

m is 0-5;

each of R 1 , R 2 , R 3 , R 4 , and R 5 is independently —X—R X ;

X is a bond or is an optionally substituted C 1 -C 6 alkylidene chain wherein up to two methylene units of X are optionally and independently replaced by —CO—, —CS—, —COCO—, —CONR′—, —CONR′NR′—, —CO 2 —, —OCO—, —NR′CO 2 —, —O—, —NR′CONR′—, —OCONR′—, —NR′NR′, —NR′NR′CO—, —NR′CO—, —S—, —SO, —SO 2 —, —NR′—, —SO 2 NR′—, NR′SO 2 —, or —NR′SO 2 NR′—;

R X is independently R′, halo, NO 2 , CN, CF 3 , or OCF 3 ;

R 6 is hydrogen, CF 3 , —OR′, —SR′, or an optionally substituted C 1-6 aliphatic group;

R 7 is hydrogen or a C 1-6 aliphatic group optionally substituted with —X—R X ;

R′ is independently selected from hydrogen or an optionally substituted group selected from a C 1 -C 8 aliphatic group, a 3-8-membered saturated, partially unsaturated, or fully unsaturated monocyclic ring having 0-3 heteroatoms independently selected from nitrogen, oxygen, or sulfur, or an 8-12 membered saturated, partially unsaturated, or fully unsaturated bicyclic ring system having 0-5 heteroatoms independently selected from nitrogen, oxygen, or sulfur; or two occurrences of R′ are taken together with the atom(s) to which they are bound to form an optionally substituted 3-12 membered saturated, partially unsaturated, or fully unsaturated monocyclic or bicyclic ring having 0-4 heteroatoms independently selected from nitrogen, oxygen, or sulfur.

2 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein said first suitable conditions are suitable for a correction assay.

3 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein said first suitable conditions are suitable for an assay suitable to detect a modulator of heat shock proteins.

4 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein said first suitable conditions are suitable for gene therapy.

5 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein said second suitable conditions are suitable for a potentiator assay.

6 . A method for screening a plurality of compounds, said method comprising the steps of:

(i) contacting each of said plurality of compounds with a cell under a first suitable conditions, wherein said cell has a mutant or wild type CFTR;

(ii) contacting said cell with a compound of formula I under a second suitable conditions; and

(iii) comparing the activity of said mutant or wild type CFTR on said cell in the presence and absence of said compound;

wherein said compound of formula I is according to claim 1 .

7 . The method according to claim 6 , wherein said first suitable conditions are according to any one of claims 2 - 5 .

8 . The method according to claim 7 , wherein said mutant is a Class I mutation, Class II mutation, Class III mutation, Class IV mutation, or a Class V mutation.

9 . The method according to claim 8 , wherein said mutant is ΔF508-CFTR.

10 . The method according to claim 7 , wherein said mutant CFTR is a mutation other than ΔF508-CFTR.

11 . A method of measuring the CFTR activity in a cell resulting from contacting said cell with a compound capable of increasing the number of CFTR on the membrane of said cell, said method comprising the step of contacting said cell with a compound of formula I; wherein said compound of formula I is according to claim 1 .

12 . A potentiator assay employing a compound of formula I according to claim 1 , wherein said assay is used to measure activity of any residual CFTR in a cell membrane.

13 . The method according to claim 12 , wherein said assay is used to identify and/or classify CF patients according to their clinical phenotype.

14 . The method according to claim 12 , wherein said assay is used for selecting patients for clinical trials or for designing a therapeutic regimen appropriate for the degree of activity in a CF patient.

15 . The method according to claim 12 , wherein said assay is used to monitor CFTR activity in intact tissue isolated from the nose, trachea, lungs, intestine, eyes, liver, pancreas, skin or any other tissue known to express CFTR using a variety of functional, biochemical, and molecular biological assays, including but not limited to electrophysiological, biochemical, radiolabel, antibody, fluorescent imaging and/or microscopy techniques.

16 . The method according to claim 12 , wherein said assay is used to identify and validate the expression of CFTR in any tissue and its function in regulating cellular and/or tissue function using a variety of functional, biochemical, and molecular biological assays, including but not limited to electrophysiological, biochemical, radiolabel, antibody, fluorescent imaging and/or microscopy techniques.

17 . The method according to claim 12 , wherein said assay is used to evaluate the physiological role(s) of CFTR in modulating the activity of other ion channels or proteins expressed in recombinant cell expression systems, frog oocytes, lipid bilayers, primary cell cultures, and/or tissues.

18 . The method according to claim 12 , wherein said assay is used to evaluate the efficacy of potentiation and/or its PK/PD parameters to determine and set optimal dosing regimens.

19 . The method according to claim 12 , wherein said assay is used to identify, quantitate and validate the expression of CFTR in the lung tissue (or any other) following gene therapy in humans (or any other animals) using innovative gene delivery systems, or vectors.