AlphaScreen Assay: The compounds of the present invention can be evaluated by using an aggrecanase ADAMTS-4 and ADAMTS-5 AlphaScreen assay (Miller J. A., et al. Anal. Biochem. 2003, 314, 260-265), with the following modifications: Typically 3 or 4 nM ADAMTS-4 or 2.1 nM ADAMTS-5 is incubated with 80 nM 43-mer peptide substrate+/- inhibitors (1% final DMSO concentration) for 3 hours at room temperature in a white non-binding surface 96 well plate (Corning 3990). Inhibitors are serially diluted 3-fold and tested at final starting concentrations of up to approximately 100 uM. The assay is then quenched with a cocktail containing EDTA (62.5 mM), 50 mM Tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane (Tris), (pH 7.5), 10 mM calcium chloride, 100 mM sodium chloride, 0.2% Brij 35 (main component of polyoxyethylene (23) lauryl ether), 0.1% Bovine Serum Albumin (BSA), BC3 monoclonal antibody hybridoma supernatant (1:2000 final dilution), streptavidin conjugated donor beads and anti-mouse IgG conjugated acceptor beads.
Shift AlphaScreen Assay : The AlphaScreen Assay is modified to include the testing of inhibitors against ADAMTS-5 in the presence of 50% Lewis rat plasma in order to determine the effects of plasma protein binding on inhibitor potency. The ratio between the IC50 of the inhibitor against ADAMTS-5 in 50% Lewis rat plasma versus the IC50 of the inhibitor in buffer is calculated and is described as the plasma shift of the inhibitor. The assay is completed in the same manner using 10 nM ADAMTS-5 instead of 2.1 nM. A similar assay is used with dog ADAMTS-4 in the presence of 25% dog plasma.