Synthesis and biological evaluation against Leishmania donovani of novel hybrid molecules containing indazole-based 2-pyrone scaffolds.

A series of novel indazole-pyrone hybrids were synthesized by a one pot reaction between N-alkyl-6(5)-nitroindazoles and 2-pyrone (4-hydroxy-6-methyl-2H-pyran-2-one) using indium or stannous chloride as the reducing system in the presence of acetic acid in tetrahydrofuran. The hybrid molecules were obtained in good to excellent yields (72-92%) and characterized by NMR and single crystal X-ray diffraction. Nineteen compounds were tested in vitro against both Leishmania donovani (MHOM/ET/67/HU3, also called LV9) axenic and intramacrophage amastigotes. Among all, five compounds showed anti-leishmanial activity against intracellular L. donovani with an IC50 in the range of 2.25 to 62.56 µM. 3-(1-(3-Chloro-2-ethyl-2H-indazol-6-ylamino)ethylidene)-6-methyl-3H-pyran-2,4-dione 6f was found to be the most active compound for axenic amastigotes and intramacrophage amastigotes of L. donovani with IC50 values of 2.48 ± 1.02 µM and 2.25 ± 1.89 µM, respectively. However, the cytotoxicity of the most promising compound justifies further pharmacomodulations.

A molecular model for cinnamyl alcohol dehydrogenase, a plant aromatic alcohol dehydrogenase involved in lignification.

The plant aromatic alcohol dehydrogenase, cinnamyl alcohol dehydrogenase (CAD2 from Eucalyptus) was found by sequence analysis of its cloned gene to be homologous to a range of dehydrogenases including alcohol dehydrogenases, L-threonine-3-dehydrogenase, D-xylose reductase and sorbitol dehydrogenase. A homology model of CAD2 was built using the X-ray crystallographic coordinates of horse-liver alcohol dehydrogenase to provide the template, with additional modelling input from other analogous regions of structure from similar enzymes where necessary. The structural model thus produced rationalised the Zn-binding properties of CAD2, indicated the possession of a Rossmann fold (GXGXXG motif), and explained the class A stereospecificity (pro-R hydrogen removal from substrate alcohol) and aromatic substrate specificity of the enzyme. A range of potential ligands was designed based on the homology model and tested as inhibitors of CAD2 and horse liver alcohol dehydrogenase.

Kinetic and inhibition studies of cinnamoyl-CoA reductase 1 from Arabidopsis thaliana.

Cinnamoyl coenzyme A reductase (CCR, EC 1.2.1.44), one of the key enzymes in the biosynthesis of lignin monomers, catalyzes the NADPH-dependent reduction of cinnamoyl-CoA esters to their corresponding cinnamaldehydes. AtCCR1, one of the two distinct isoforms isolated from Arabidopsis thaliana, was shown to be involved in lignin biosynthesis during development. Here, we report on the purification of the recombinant AtCCR1 protein expressed in Escherichia coli and the subsequent determination of its kinetic properties (K(m) and k(cat)/K(m) values) towards its main substrates i.e. feruloyl-CoA, sinapoyl-CoA, and p-coumaroyl-CoA esters. In addition, the potential inhibitory effect of five substrate-like analogs possessing an N-acetylcysteamine thioester group was tested on CCR activity using either feruloyl-CoA or sinapoyl-CoA as substrates. The K(i) values were in the range of 4.4-502 microM and the type of inhibition was found to be either uncompetitive or noncompetitive. Interestingly, for compounds 3 and 5, the type of inhibition was found to be different depending on the substrate used to monitor the enzyme activity. The best inhibitors were those possessing the feruloyl (compound 3) and sinapoyl (compound 5) aromatic moiety (4.1 and 7.1 microM) while the enzyme activity was monitored using the corresponding substrates.

Cinnamic acid derivatives as anticancer agents-a review.

Cinnamic acid and its phenolic analogues are natural substances. Chemically, in cinnamic acids the 3-phenyl acrylic acid functionality offers three main reactive sites; substitution at the phenyl ring, addition at the α,ß- unsaturation and the reactions of the carboxylic acid functionality. Owing to these chemical aspects cinnamic acid derivatives received much attention in medicinal research as traditional as well as recent synthetic antitumor agents. We observed that in spite of their rich medicinal tradition, cinnamic acid derivatives and their anticancer potentials remained underutilized for several decades since the first published clinical use in 1905. In last two decades, there has been huge attention towards various cinnamoyl derivatives and their antitumor efficacy. This review provides a comprehensive and unprecedented literature compilation concerning the synthesis and biological evaluation of various cinnamoyl acids, esters, amides, hydrazides and related derivatives in anticancer research. We envisage that our effort in this review contributes a much needed and timely addition to the literature of medicinal research.

Site-directed mutagenesis of a serine residue in cinnamyl alcohol dehydrogenase, a plant NADPH-dependent dehydrogenase, affects the specificity for the coenzyme.

Using recombinant cinnamyl alcohol dehydrogenase isoform 2 (CAD2, EC 1.1.1.195), an NADPH-dependent aromatic alcohol dehydrogenase involved in lignification in vascular plants, we have investigated the detailed steady-state kinetic mechanism of CAD2 and the role of a serine residue in determining the cofactor specificity of CAD2. Site-directed mutagenesis (S212D) and overexpression of the WT and mutant S212D forms of CAD2 in Escherichia coli, followed by kinetic studies on the purified WT and mutant proteins, confirmed the involvement of S212D in recognizing the phosphate group of NADPH and provided information on the structural requirements for NADPH specificity. From substrate kinetic patterns and product inhibition studies both WT and S212D mutant forms of CAD2 have been shown to follow rapid equilibrium random bireactant kinetics with the value of the interaction factor (alpha) for WT (0.25) being significantly less than that for S212D CAD2 (0.45). The changes in binding energy arising from the mutation on the binding of the 2'-phosphate site of the coenzyme were assessed. A marked degree of physical interaction was detected between the enzymatic binding sites of the coniferyl alcohol substrate and the 2'-phosphate binding region, which are quite distant in the three-dimensional structure. The inhibition by 2',5'-ADP and 5'-AMP was found to be weak for both WT and S212D CAD2. Strong substrate inhibition was detected for CAD2, and its implications for plant physiological studies were assessed.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Rational inhibitor design, synthesis and NMR spectroscopic study by transferred nuclear overhauser spectroscopy of novel inhibitors of cinnamyl alcohol dehydrogenase, a critical enzyme in lignification.

Cinnamyl alcohol dehydrogenase is one of the enzymes controlling the first two committed steps of lignification. Using a 3-dimensional similarity model of this enzyme, a series of novel phosphonates (1-5) was designed as potential inhibitors. Phosphonates 1-5 were synthesized in good yield by reaction of the corresponding cinnamaldehydes with tetraethylmethylene diphosphonate. Monophosphonic acids 6 and 7 were obtained by basic hydrolysis of the corresponding phosphonates while phosphonamidate 8 was synthesized by reacting benzylamine with the iminium salt intermediate of the monophosphonic acid. Using recombinant cinnamyl alcohol dehydrogenase (CAD, EC 1.1.1.195) the inhibitory activity of these compounds was evaluated and compared with that of the carbonyl analogues. Inhibition kinetic studies showed compounds 2 and 3 to be mixed type linear inhibitors while compound 4 was uncompetitive. 1H NMR studies of inhibitor 2, for which Ki and Ki' were 20 and 86 microM, respectively, in the presence of CAD based on selective line-broadening showed an increased interaction of the 3-OMe group of the aromatic ring of the inhibitor with the active site of the CAD. A transferred nuclear overhauser effect spectroscopy (TRNOESY) experiment for inhibitor 2 with CAD was used to determine the conformation of this compound bound to CAD. These results were found to be consistent with the 3-dimensional structural model of the enzyme.