1-Deoxy-d-xylulose 5-phosphate reductoisomerase as target for anti Toxoplasma gondii agents: crystal structure, biochemical characterization and biological evaluation of inhibitors.

Toxoplasma gondii is a widely distributed apicomplexan parasite causing toxoplasmosis, a critical health issue for immunocompromised individuals and for congenitally infected foetuses. Current treatment options are limited in number and associated with severe side effects. Thus, novel anti-toxoplasma agents need to be identified and developed. 1-Deoxy-d-xylulose 5-phosphate reductoisomerase (DXR) is considered the rate-limiting enzyme in the non-mevalonate pathway for the biosynthesis of the isoprenoid precursors isopentenyl pyrophosphate and dimethylallyl pyrophosphate in the parasite, and has been previously investigated for its key role as a novel drug target in some species, encompassing Plasmodia, Mycobacteria and Escherichia coli. In this study, we present the first crystal structure of T. gondii DXR (TgDXR) in a tertiary complex with the inhibitor fosmidomycin and the cofactor NADPH in dimeric conformation at 2.5 Šresolution revealing the inhibitor binding mode. In addition, we biologically characterize reverse α-phenyl-ß-thia and ß-oxa fosmidomycin analogues and show that some derivatives are strong inhibitors of TgDXR which also, in contrast with fosmidomycin, inhibit the growth of T. gondii in vitro. Here, ((3,4-dichlorophenyl)((2-(hydroxy(methyl)amino)-2-oxoethyl)thio)methyl)phosphonic acid was identified as the most potent anti T. gondii compound. These findings will enable the future design and development of more potent anti-toxoplasma DXR inhibitors.

Synthesis and In vitro evaluation of bichalcones as novel anti-toxoplasma agents.

Toxoplasmosis is a zoonotic disease caused by Toxoplasma gondii, an apicomplexan parasite that infects approximately a third of the world's human population. This disease can cause serious complications during pregnancy and can be fatal in immunocompromised hosts. The current treatment options for toxoplasmosis face several limitations. Thus, to address the urgent medical need for the discovery of novel anti-toxoplasma potential drug candidates, our research focused on exploring a series of monomeric and dimeric chalcones, polyphenolic molecules belonging to the class of flavonoids. Chalcones 1aa-1bg and axially chiral A-A'-connected bichalcones 2aa-2bg were evaluated in vitro against the proliferation of the parasite in a cell-based assay. A comparison of the efficacy demonstrated that, in several cases, bichalcones exhibited increased bioactivity compared to their corresponding monomeric counterparts. Among these compounds, a bichalcone with a phenyl substituent and a methyl moiety 2ab showed the most potent and selective inhibitory activity in the nanomolar range. Both enantiomers of this bichalcone were synthesized using an axially chiral biphenol building block. The biaryl bond was forged using Suzuki cross-coupling in water under micellar catalysis conditions. Separation of the atropisomers of this biphenol building block was conducted by chiral HPLC on a preparative scale. The biological evaluation of the enantiomers revealed that the (R a)-enantiomer (R a)-2ab is the eutomer. These studies suggest that bichalcones may be important drug candidates for further in vivo evaluations for the discovery of anti-toxoplasma drugs.

Reverse N-Substituted Hydroxamic Acid Derivatives of Fosmidomycin Target a Previously Unknown Subpocket of 1-Deoxy-d-xylulose 5-Phosphate Reductoisomerase (DXR).

Reverse analogs of the phosphonohydroxamic acid antibiotic fosmidomycin are potent inhibitors of the nonmevalonate isoprenoid biosynthesis enzyme 1-deoxy-d-xylulose 5-phosphate reductoisomerase (DXR, IspC) of Plasmodium falciparum. Some novel analogs with large phenylalkyl substituents at the hydroxamic acid nitrogen exhibit nanomolar PfDXR inhibition and potent in vitro growth inhibition of P. falciparum parasites coupled with good parasite selectivity. X-ray crystallographic studies demonstrated that the N-phenylpropyl substituent of the newly developed lead compound 13e is accommodated in a subpocket within the DXR catalytic domain but does not reach the NADPH binding pocket of the N-terminal domain. As shown for reverse carba and thia analogs, PfDXR selectively binds the S-enantiomer of the new lead compound. In addition, some representatives of the novel inhibitor subclass are nanomolar Escherichia coli DXR inhibitors, whereas the inhibition of Mycobacterium tuberculosis DXR is considerably weaker.

Modular Approach for the Synthesis and Bioactivity Profiling of 8,8'-Biflavones.

In this work, we report the scalable and modular synthesis of a library of 55 monomeric and dimeric flavonoids including 14 8,8'-biflavones. The sterically demanding tetra-ortho-substituted axis of an acetophenone dimer key intermediate was constructed in a regioselective manner using Fe-mediated oxidative coupling. This step was systematically optimized and performed on up to multigram scale. The biological activities of this compound library were evaluated, including cytotoxicity against healthy and malignant human cell lines, antimicrobial activity against the apicomplexan parasite Toxoplasma gondii, and antioxidant capacity. A marked increase in activity for the 8,8'-dimeric structures compared to that of their monomeric counterparts was observed. Several biflavones were identified with high selectivity indices (low cytotoxicity and high antiprotozoal activity), showing that this class of natural products may serve as lead structures for further investigations.

In Vitro Biological Activity of Natural Products from the Endophytic Fungus Paraboeremia selaginellae against Toxoplasma gondii.

Toxoplasma gondii is an apicomplexan pathogen able to infect a wide range of warm-blooded animals, including humans, leading to toxoplasmosis. Current treatments for toxoplasmosis are associated with severe side-effects and a lack efficacy to eradicate chronic infection. Thus, there is an urgent need for developing novel, highly efficient agents against toxoplasmosis with low toxicity. For decades, natural products have been a useful source of novel bioactive compounds for the treatment of infectious pathogens. In the present study, we isolated eight natural products from the crude extract of the endophytic fungus Paraboeremia selaginellae obtained from the leaves of the plant Philodendron monstera. The natural products were tested for inhibiting Toxoplasma gondii proliferation, and their cytotoxicity was evaluated in different human cell lines. Six natural products showed antitoxoplasma activity with low or no cytotoxicity in human cell lines. Together, these findings indicate that biphenyl ethers, bioxanthracenes, and 5S,6S-phomalactone from P. selaginellae are potential candidates for novel anti-toxoplasma drugs.

Fluorescent Indolo[3,2-a]phenazines against Toxoplasma gondii: Concise Synthesis by Gold-Catalyzed Cycloisomerization with 1,2-Silyl Migration and ipso-Iodination Suzuki Sequence.

A gold-catalyzed cycloisomerization of 2-indolyl-3-[(trimethylsilyl)ethynyl)]quinoxalines with concomitant 1,2-silyl shift forms 6-(trimethylsilyl)indolo[3,2-a]phenazines in moderate to excellent yield. These silylated heterocycles are readily transformed into 6-aryl-indolo[3,2-a]phenazines in moderate to good yield by one-pot ipso-iodination Suzuki coupling. The title compounds represent a novel type of tunable luminophore. Structure-property relationships for 6-aryl-indolo[3,2-a]phenazines obtained from Hammett correlations with σp+ substituent parameters indicate that emission maxima, Stokes shifts, and fluorescence quantum yields can be fine-tuned by the remote para-aryl substituent. Furthermore, indolo[3,2-a]phenazines were found to exhibit interesting activities against medically relevant pathogens such as the Apicomplexa parasite Toxoplasma gondii with an IC50 of up to 0.67±0.13 µM. Thus, these compounds are promising candidates for novel anti-parasitic therapies.