Design, development and bio-evaluation of a novel radio-ligand 99mTc-THQ-DTPA as a sigma 2 receptor specific breast tumor imaging agent.

Over-expression of sigma-2 receptor in cancer cells provides an opportunity to develop molecular probes for diagnosis, even for non-receptor specific malignancies like triple negative breast cancers. In this work, a novel sigma-2 receptor ligand [THQ-DTPA] has been synthesized and characterized using 6,7-dimethoxy-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroisoquinoline (THQ) and diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (DTPA). The ligand is further chelated with 99mTc for application as metal based radiotracer [99mTc-THQ-DTPA]. Radiolabelling with 99mTc was achieved in an excellent yield of 98.0 ± 0.5% using stannous chloride as a reducing agent. The radioligand was found to be stable in human serum up-to 24 h, bio-compatible with less than 4% hemolysis, and exhibited high binding with sigma receptors isolated from rat liver membrane (Kd of 16.32 ± 4.93 nM and Bmax of 0.5232 ± 0.06 pmol/mg). Bio-distribution studies in triple-negative breast tumor bearing nude mice showed high tumor uptake after 30 min of injection with tumor/muscle (T/M) ratio of 3.58 ± 0.09. At 240 min, the T/M ratio (2.84 ± 0.20) decreased by 35% when administered in sigma blocked tumor bearing mice (1.81 ± 0.16) suggesting the selectivity of the ligand. Tumor imaging in gamma camera indicated a contrast of 3.56 at 30 min p.i. The above findings indicate that the ligand 99mTc-THQ-DTPA binds to sigma-2 receptors with high affinity and has potential for triple-negative breast tumor imaging.

5-HT1A targeting PARCEST agent DO3AM-MPP with potential for receptor imaging: Synthesis, physico-chemical and MR studies.

Contrast enhancement in MRI using magnetization or saturation transfer techniques promises better sensitivity, and faster acquisition compared to T1 or T2 contrast. This work reports the synthesis and evaluation of 5-HT1A targeted PARACEST MRI contrast agent using 1,4,7,10-tetraazacycloDOdecane-4,7,10-triacetAMide (DO3AM) as the bifunctional chelator, and 5-HT1A-antagonist methoxyphenyl piperazine (MPP) as a targeting unit. The multi-step synthesis led to the MPP conjugated DO3AM with 60% yield. CEST-related physicochemical parameters were evaluated after loading DO3AM-MPP with paramagnetic MRI active lanthanides: Gadolinium (Gd-DO3AM-MPP) and Europium (Eu-DO3AM-MPP). Luminescence lifetime measurements with Eu-DO3AM-MPP and computational DFT studies using Gd-DO3AM-MPP revealed the coordination of one water molecule (q = 1.43) with metal-water distance (rM-H2O) of 2.7 Å and water residence time (τm) of 0.23 ms. The dissociation constant of Kd 62 ± 0.02 pM as evaluated from fluorescence quenching of 5-HT1A (protein) and docking score of -4.81 in theoretical evaluation reflect the binding potential of the complex Gd-DO3AM-MPP with the receptor 5-HT1A. Insights of the docked pose reflect the importance of NH2 (amide) and aromatic ring in Gd-DO3AM-MPP while interacting with Ser 374 and Phe 370 in the antagonist binding pocket of 5-HT1A. Gd-DO3AM-MPP shows longitudinal relaxivity 5.85 mM-1s-1 with a water residence lifetime of 0.93 ms in hippocampal homogenate containing 5-HT1A. The potentiometric titration of DO3AM-MPP showed strong selectivity for Gd3+ over physiological metal ions such as Zn2+ and Cu2+. The in vitro and in vivo studies confirmed the minimal cytotoxicity and presential binding of Gd-DO3AM-MPP with 5-HT1A receptor in the hippocampus region of the mice. Summarizing, the complex Gd-DO3AM-MPP can have a potential for CEST imaging of 5-HT1A receptors.

Virtual screening of quinoline derived library for SARS-COV-2 targeting viral entry and replication.

The COVID-19 pandemic infection has claimed many lives and added to the social, economic, and psychological distress. The contagious disease has quickly spread to almost 218 countries and territories following the regional outbreak in China. As the number of infected populations increases exponentially, there is a pressing demand for anti-COVID drugs and vaccines. Virtual screening provides possible leads while extensively cutting down the time and resources required for ab-initio drug design. We report structure-based virtual screening of a hundred plus library of quinoline drugs with established antiviral, antimalarial, antibiotic or kinase inhibitor activity. In this study, targets having a role in viral entry, viral assembly, and viral replication have been selected. The targets include: 1) RBD of receptor-binding domain spike protein S 2) Mpro Chymotrypsin main protease 3) Ppro Papain protease 4) RNA binding domain of Nucleocapsid Protein, and 5) RNA Dependent RNA polymerase from SARS-COV-2. An in-depth analysis of the interactions and G-score compared to the controls like hydroxyquinoline and remdesivir has been presented. The salient results are (1) higher scoring of antivirals as potential drugs (2) potential of afatinib by scoring as better inhibitor, and (3) biological explanation of the potency of afatinib. Further MD simulations and MM-PBSA calculations showed that afatinib works best to interfere with the the activity of RNA dependent RNA polymerase of SARS-COV-2, thereby inhibiting replication process of single stranded RNA virus. Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.