Discovery of Novel Hybrids of Edaravone and 6-Phenyl-4,5-dihydropyridazin-3(2H)-one with Antiplatelet Aggregation and Neuroprotection for Ischemic Stroke Treatment.

Drugs with anti-platelet aggregation and neuroprotection are of great significance for the treatment of ischemic stroke. A series of edaravone and 6-phenyl-4,5-dihydropyridazin-3(2H)-one hybrids were designed and synthesized. Among them, 6g showed the most effective cytoprotective effect against oxygen-glucose deprivation/reoxygenation-induced damage in BV2 cells and an excellent inhibitory effect on platelet aggregation induced by adenosine diphosphate and arachidonic acid. Additionally, 6g could prevent thrombosis caused by ferric chloride in rats and pose a lower risk of causing bleeding compared with aspirin. It provides better protection against ischemia/reperfusion injury in rats compared with edaravone and alleviates the oxidative stress related to cerebral ischemia/reperfusion by increasing the GSH and SOD levels and decreasing the MDA concentration. Finally, molecular docking results showed that 6g probably acts on PDE3 A and plays an anti-platelet aggregation effect. Overall, 6g could be a potential candidate compound for the treatment of ischemic stroke.

Discovery of LAH-1 as potent c-Met inhibitor for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer.

ABSTRCTDysregulated HGF/c-Met pathway has been implicated in multiple human cancers and has become an attractive target for cancer intervention. Herein, we report the discovery of N-(3-fluoro-4-((2-(3-hydroxyazetidine-1-carboxamido)pyridin-4-yl)oxy)phenyl)-1-(4-fluorophenyl)-4-methyl-6-oxo-1,6-dihydropyridazine-3-carboxamide (LAH-1), which demonstrated nanomolar MET kinase activity as well as desirable antiproliferative activity, especially against EBC-1 cells. Mechanism studies confirmed the effects of LAH-1 on modulation of HGF/c-Met pathway, induction of cell apoptosis, inhibition on colony formation as well as cell migration and invasion. In addition, LAH-1 also showed desirable in vitro ADME properties as well as acceptable in vivo PK parameters. The design, synthesis, and characterisation of LAH-1 are described herein.

Novel 1,3,4-oxadiazole hybrids of 3-n-butylphthalide derivatives as potential anti-ischemic stroke agents.

In continuation of our program to search for novel potential anti-ischemic stroke agents, a series of 1,3,4-oxadiazole and sulfoxide hybrids of phthalide derivatives was designed and synthesized in this study to evaluate their anti-ischemic stroke activity. Among them, compounds 5b, 5d, 5 l, and 5 m exhibited excellent inhibitory effects on platelet aggregation induced by adenosine diphosphate (ADP) and arachidonic acid (AA). In particular, compound 5b possessed considerable antithrombotic activity in animal models, as demonstrated by the effective alleviation of carrageenan-induced and FeCl3-induced thrombosis in tail and carotid arteries, respectively. Notably, intraperitoneal administration of compound 5b could better protect the brain from injury caused by ischemia/reperfusion in rats compared with precursor 3-n-butylphthalide. Further pharmacokinetics, liver microsomal stability, and PAMPA-BBB assays also indicated that compound 5b had relatively high bioavailability, metabolic stability, and BBB permeability. Moreover, compound 5b showed a safety profile that was superior to the clinical drugs clopidogrel, aspirin, and 3-n-butylphthalide in the mouse-tail bleeding assay. Finally, molecular docking predicted that the potential target of the antiplatelet aggregation activity of compound 5b was P2Y12 receptor. This research provides a novel candidate compound for the treatment of ischemic stroke.

Design, synthesis and evaluation of 2, 6, 8-substituted Imidazopyridine derivatives as potent PI3Kα inhibitors.

Inhibition of PI3K pathway has become a desirable strategy for cancer treatment. In this work, a series of 2, 6, 8-substituted Imidazo[1,2-a]pyridine derivatives were designed and screened for their activities against PI3Kα and a panel of PI3Kα-addicted cancer cells. Among them, compound 35 was identified as a PI3Kα inhibitor with nanomolar potency as well as acceptable antiproliferative activity. Flow cytometry analysis confirmed 35 induced cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in T47D cells. In addition, it also showed desirable in vitro ADME properties. The design, synthesis, and SAR exploration of 35 are described within.

Design and synthesis of novel 2,2-dimethylchromene derivatives as potential antifungal agents.

In order to find novel environment-friendly and effective antifungal agents, four series of 2,2-dimethyl-2H-chromene derivatives were designed, synthesized and characterized by spectroscopic analysis. The antifungal activities of all the target compounds against nine phytopathogenic fungi were evaluated in vitro. Preliminary results indicated that most of the target compounds exhibited obvious antifungal activity at the concentration of 50 µg/mL. Among them, compound 4j displayed more promising antifungal potency against Fusarium solani, Pyricularia oryzae, Alternaria brassicae, Valsa mali and Alternaria alternata strains than the two commercially available fungicides chlorothalonil and hymexazol, with the corresponding EC50 values of 6.3, 7.7, 7.1, 7.5, 4.0 µg/mL, respectively. Moreover, the cell experiments results suggested that the target compounds had low cytotoxicity to the PC12 cell. This research will provide theoretical basis for the future application of 2,2-dimethyl-2H-chromenes as botanical fungicides in agriculture. Four series of novel, potent and low-toxicity 2,2-dimethyl-2H-chromene derivatives were designed and synthesized as agricultural antifungal agents. The in vitro antifungal experiments showed that compound 4j exhibited higher antifungal efficacy against five strains than the two commercially-available fungicides chlorothalonil and hymexazol.

Synthesis of Novel 3-Butylphthalide Derivatives Containing Isopentenylphenol Moiety as Potential Antiplatelet Agents for the Treatment of Ischemic Stroke.

In order to find novel antiplatelet drugs for the treatment of ischemic stroke, a series of 3-butylphthalide derivatives containing isopentenylphenol moiety were designed, synthesized and characterized with spectroscopic analyses. The in vitro antiplatelet activity results indicated that compound 3 better inhibited the arachidonic acid (AA) induced platelet aggregation than aspirin (ASP) and 3-butylphthalide (NBP). Additionally, compared with precursor NBP, compound 3 possessed outstanding antithrombotic activity in the animal experiment model, which could effectively alleviate the formation of tail thrombus and carotid artery thrombus in mice. More importantly, intraperitoneal administration of compound 3 can well protected the rats against ischemia/reperfusion-induced brain injury. Further pharmacokinetic (PK) assay indicated that compound 3 had good absorption characteristics and metabolic stability in vivo. Overall, the present research provides a new candidate compound for the treatment of ischemic stroke caused by platelet aggregation.

Design, synthesis and biological evaluation of cajanonic acid A analogues as potent PPAR γ antagonists.

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPAR γ) antagonists are a key instrument of insulin sensitizers since they have the ability to sensitize insulin and can avoid adverse reactions caused by receptor agonist. In this paper, two series of 28 novel Cajanonic acid A (CAA) derivatives were designed and synthesized. The biological activity showed that a novel CAA derivative 9f was identified as a potential PPAR γ antagonist by medicinal chemistry efforts. The results in vitro displayed that compound 9f could improve the PPAR γ antagonist activity (96.2 % / 50.2 % decrease in PPAR γ transactivation at 10 µM / 1 µM, respectively). It also could improve the glucose consumption activity of insulin-resistant HepG2/3T3-L1 cell line (33.27 % / 72.61 % increase in glucose consumption). And in 3 T3-L1 adipocytes, it showed anti-adipogenesis activity (7.04 % increase in oil red staining). Further, in vivo study suggested that compound 9f could improve the oral glucose tolerance in db/db mice. Taken together, derivative 9f served as a promising candidate for anti-diabetic drug discovery and deserve further study.

Design and synthesis of novel n-butyphthalide derivatives as promising botanical fungicides.

In order to obtain novel botanical fungicides, three series of novel 6-substituted n-butyphthalide derivatives have been designed and synthesized via nucleophilic addition, reduction, nitrification, amination, sulfonation, Sandmeyer and Suzuki reaction. The mycelium growth rate method was used to evaluate the inhibition activity against eight phytopathogenic fungi in vitro. Preliminary bioassay tests showed that compounds 6f, 6n, 6p, 6r and 7a exhibited better activity for some fungi at 50 µg/mL than the positive drug hymexazol and lead compound n-butyphthalide (NBP). The preliminary structure-activity relationships indicated that the antifungal activity is significantly affected by the substituents on the benzene ring.

Design, Synthesis and Antifungal Activities of 6-Substituted 3-Butylphthalide Derivatives against Phytopathogenic Fungi.

In order to discover novel potential antifungal agents, a series of 6-substituted 3-butylphthalide derivatives were designed, synthesized and evaluated for their antifungal activities against nine phytopathogenic fungi. Preliminary bioassay tests showed that five 3-butylphthalide derivatives exhibited more potent antifungal activities than hymexazol at the concentration of 50 µg/mL. Especially, 3-butyl-6-nitro-2-benzofuran-1(3H)-one and 3-butyl-6-hydroxy-5-nitro-2-benzofuran-1(3H)-one had significant fungicidal activity against some phytopathogenic fungi. The EC50 of 3-butyl-6-nitro-2-benzofuran-1(3H)-one against FS, FO and FG were 6.6, 9.6 and 16.0 µg/mL, respectively. The EC50 of 3-butyl-6-hydroxy-5-nitro-2-benzofuran-1(3H)-one against BC, PO, VM, SS and AS were 6.3, 5.9, 10.0, 4.5 and 8.4 µg/mL, respectively. The preliminary structure-activity relationships (SARs) of all target compounds were also investigated.