Antiprotozoal Activity of Benzoylthiourea Derivatives against Trypanosoma cruzi: Insights into Mechanism of Action.

For decades, only two nitroheterocyclic drugs have been used as therapeutic agents for Chagas disease. However, these drugs present limited effectiveness during the chronic phase, possess unfavorable pharmacokinetic properties, and induce severe adverse effects, resulting in low treatment adherence. A previous study reported that N-(cyclohexylcarbamothioyl) benzamide (BTU-1), N-(tert-butylcarbamothioyl) benzamide (BTU-2), and (4-bromo-N-(3-nitrophenyl) carbamothioyl benzamide (BTU-3) present selective antiprotozoal activity against all developmental forms of Trypanosoma cruzi Y strain. In this study, we investigated the mechanism of action of these compounds through microscopy and biochemical analyses. Transmission electron microscopy analysis showed nuclear disorganization, changes in the plasma membrane with the appearance of blebs and extracellular arrangements, intense vacuolization, mitochondrial swelling, and formation of myelin-like structures. Biochemical results showed changes in the mitochondrial membrane potential, reactive oxygen species content, lipid peroxidation, and plasma membrane fluidity. In addition, the formation of autophagic vacuoles was observed. These findings indicate that BTU-1, BTU-2, and BTU-3 induced profound morphological, ultrastructural, and biochemical alterations in epimastigote forms, triggering an autophagic-dependent cell death pathway.

Proteasome as a Drug Target in Trypanosomatid Diseases.

Some diseases caused by trypanosomatid parasites, like Leishmaniasis, Chagas Disease, and Human African Trypanosomiasis (HTA), are challenging to manage, mainly concerning pharmacological therapy because they are associated with vulnerable populations. Unfortunately, there is a lack of significant investments in the search for new drugs. Therefore, one of the strategies to aid the discovery of new drugs is to identify and inhibit molecular targets essential to the parasite's survival, such as the proteasome, which degrades most proteins in the parasite cells. Our study has presented several proteasome inhibitors with various pharmacophoric cores, and two of them, 5, and 13, have stood out in the clinical phase of treatment for leishmaniasis.

Molecular Targets for Chalcones in Antileishmanial Drug Discovery.

Leishmaniases are infectious diseases caused by flagellated protozoan parasites belonging to the genus Leishmania that infect cells of the mononuclear phagocytic system. These parasites are transmitted to humans by biting an infected female sandfly belonging to the genera Phlebotomus in the Old World and Lutzomyia in the New World. Despite representing a major public health problem, the therapeutic options are old and have several disadvantages. Given this scenario, developing vaccines or drugs for oral administration is necessary. Therefore, integrating computational and experimental strategies into the studies on molecular targets essential for the survival and virulence of the parasite is fundamental in researching and developing new treatments for leishmaniasis. In the effort to develop new vaccines and drugs, molecular docking methods are widely used as they explore the adopted conformations of small molecules within the binding sites of macromolecular targets and estimate the free energy of target-ligand binding. Privileged structures have been widely used as an effective model in medicinal chemistry for drug discovery. Chalcones are a common simple scaffold found in many compounds of natural and synthetic origin, where studies demonstrate the great pharmacological potential in treating leishmaniasis. This review is based on scientific articles published in the last ten years on molecular docking of chalcone derivatives for essential molecular targets of Leishmania. Thus, this review emphasizes how versatile chalcone derivatives can be used in developing new inhibitors of important molecular targets involved in the survival, growth, cell differentiation, and infectivity of the parasites that cause leishmaniasis.

CYP1B1: A Promising Target in Cancer Drug Discovery.

CYP1B1 plays an essential role in cancer's pathogenesis since it activates procarcinogens. Significantly, this enzyme catalyzes the hydroxylation of 17ß-estradiol, leading to carcinogenic metabolites involved in carcinogenesis and cancer progression. Therefore, the inhibition of CYP1B1 activity is considered a therapeutic target for chemotherapy. In addition, CYP1B1 is overexpressed in hormone-dependent cancer cells and could be related to resistance to anticancer drugs. However, the activity of CYP1B1 in the tumor microenvironment can metabolize and activate prodrugs in cancer cells, providing more selectivity and being useful for chemoprevention or chemotherapy strategies. Furthermore, due to its importance in anticancer drug design, recent studies have reported using computational methods to understand the intermolecular interactions between possible ligands and CYP1B1. Therefore, in this perspective, we highlight recent findings in developing CYP1B1 inhibitors (flavonoids, trans-stilbenes, estradiol derivatives, and carbazoles) and CYP1B1-activated prodrugs (a chalcone DMU-135 and an oxime DMAKO-20). Finally, we have analyzed their possible molecular interactions with this enzymatic target by molecular docking, which can help to design new active substances.

In silico approaches and in vitro assays identify a coumarin derivative as antiviral potential against SARS-CoV-2.

COVID-19, a disease caused by SARS-CoV-2, was declared a pandemic in 2020 and created a global crisis in health systems, with more than 545 million confirmed cases and 6.33 million deaths. In this sense, this work aims to identify possible inhibitors of the SARS-CoV-2 RdRp enzyme using in silico approaches. RdRp is a crucial enzyme in the replication and assembly cycle of new viral particles and a critical pharmacological target in the treatment of COVID-19. We performed a virtual screening based on molecular docking from our in-house chemical library, which contains a diversity of 313 structures from different chemical classes. Nine compounds were selected since they showed important interactions with the active site from RdRp. Next, the ADME-Tox in silico predictions served as a filter and selected the three most promising compounds: a coumarin LMed-052, a hydantoin LMed-087, and a guanidine LMed-250. Molecular dynamics simulations revealed details such as changes in the positions of ligands and catalytic residues during the simulations compared to the complex from molecular docking studies. Binding free energy analysis was performed using the MMGBSA method, demonstrating that LMed-052 and LMed-087 have better affinities for the RdRp by energetic contributions to the stability of the complexes when compared to LMed-250. Furthermore, LMed-052 showed significant in vitro inhibition against MHV-3, decreasing 99% of viral titers. Finally, these findings are useful to guide structural modifications aiming to improve the potential of these compounds to act as inhibitors of SARS-CoV-2.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.

Thiohydantoins and hydantoins derived from amino acids as potent urease inhibitors: Inhibitory activity and ligand-target interactions.

We report the investigation of hydantoins and thiohydantoins derived from L and d-amino acids as inhibitors against the Canavalia ensiformis urease (CEU). The biochemical in vitro assay against CEU revealed a promising inhibitory potential for most thiohydantoins with six of them showing %I higher than the reference inhibitor thiourea (56.5%). In addition, thiohydantoin derived from l-valine, 1b, as well as the hydantoin 2d, derived from l-methionine, were identified as the most potent inhibitors with %I = 90.5 and 85.9 respectively. Enzyme kinetic studies demonstrated a mixed and uncompetitive inhibition profile for these compounds with Ki values of 0.42 mM for 1b and 0.99 mM for 2d. These kinetic parameters, obtained from traditional colorimetric assay, were strictly related to the KD values measured spectroscopically by the Saturation Transfer Difference (STD) technique for the urease complex. STD was also used to evince the moieties of the ligands responsible for the binding with the enzyme. Molecular docking studies showed that the thiohydantoin and hydantoin rings can act as a pharmacophoric group due to their binding affinity by hydrogen bonding interactions with critical amino acid residues in the enzyme active and/or allosteric site. These findings agreed with the experimental alpha values, demonstrating that 1b has affinity by free enzyme, and 2d derivative, an uncompetitive inhibitor, has great binding affinity at the allosteric site. The results for the thiohydantoin 1a, derived from d-valine, demonstrated a drastic stereochemical influence on inhibition, kinetics, and binding parameters in comparison to its enantiomer 1b.