Identification of potent urease inhibitors via ligand- and structure-based virtual screening and in vitro assays.

A pharmacophore model was developed based on three structurally diverse urease inhibitors by using the GASP program. This model comprises the positions and tolerance for two acceptor atoms (AA1 and AA2), one donor atom (DA1), and one hydrophobic center (HYP1). This derived phamacophore model was employed to screen an in-house database of organic compounds. Hits obtained were evaluated by molecular docking using GOLD software. On the basis of ligand- and structural-based predictions, an in vitro testing of short-listed compounds was conducted and a novel class of urease inhibitors (2-aminothiophines) was identified. The potent in vitro activity and selectivity of these compounds, along with their non-toxic nature against the plant cells indicated that they can serve as leads for solving urease-associated health and agriculture problems.

3D-QSAR CoMFA studies on bis-coumarine analogues as urease inhibitors: a strategic design in anti-urease agents.

A 3D-QSAR study has been performed on thirty (30) bis-coumarine derivatives to correlate their chemical structures with their observed urease inhibitory activity. Due to the absence of information on their active mechanism, comparative molecular field analysis (CoMFA) was used in the study. Two different properties: steric, electrostatic, assumed to cover the major contributions to ligand binding, were used to generate the 3D-QSAR model. Significant cross-validated correlation coefficients q(2) (0.558) and r(2) (0.992) for CoMFA were obtained, indicating the statistical significance of this class of compounds. The red electrostatic contour map highlighting those portion of compounds which may be interacting with nickel metal center in the active site of urease; while the blue contour map indicates positively charged groups in the ligands have improved biological activity and thus lower the IC(50)s. The steric contour map shows that bulkier substitutions at the 'R' position are detrimental to ligand receptor interaction. Actual urease inhibitory activities of this class and the predicted values were in good agreement with the experimental results. Moreover, from the contour maps, the key features vital to ligand binding have been identified, which are important for us to trace the important properties and gain insight into the potential mechanisms of intermolecular interactions between the ligand and receptor.

Withanolides, a new class of natural cholinesterase inhibitors with calcium antagonistic properties.

The withanolides 1-3 and 4-5 isolated from Ajuga bracteosa and Withania somnifera, respectively, inhibited acetylcholinesterase (AChE, EC 3.1.1.7) and butyrylcholinesterase (BChE, EC 3.1.1.8) enzymes in a concentration-dependent fashion with IC50 values ranging between 20.5 and 49,2 microm and 29.0 and 85.2 microm for AChE and BChE, respectively. Lineweaver-Burk as well as Dixon plots and their secondary replots indicated that compounds 1, 3, and 5 are the linear mixed-type inhibitors of AChE, while 2 and 4 are non-competitive inhibitors of AChE with K(i) values ranging between 20.0 and 45.0 microm. All compounds were found to be non-competitive inhibitors of BChE with K(i) values ranging between 27.7 and 90.6 microm. Molecular docking study revealed that all the ligands are completely buried inside the aromatic gorge of AChE, while compounds 1, 3, and 5 extend up to the catalytic triad. A comparison of the docking results showed that all ligands generally adopt the same binding mode and lie parallel to the surface of the gorge. The superposition of the docked structures demonstrated that the non-flexible skeleton of the ligands always penetrates the aromatic gorge through the six-membered ring A, allowing their simultaneous interaction with more than one subsite of the active center. The affinity of ligands with AChE was found to be the cumulative effects of number of hydrophobic contacts and hydrogen bonding. Furthermore, all compounds also displayed dose-dependent (0.005-1.0 mg/mL) spasmolytic and Ca2+ antagonistic potentials in isolated rabbit jejunum preparations, compound 4 being the most active with an ED50 value of 0.09 +/- 0.001 mg/mL and 0.22 +/- 0.01 microg/mL on spontaneous and K+ -induced contractions, respectively. The cholinesterase inhibitory potential along with calcium antagonistic ability and safe profile in human neutrophil viability assay could make compounds 1-5 possible drug candidates for further study to treat Alzheimer's disease and associated problems.

Juliflorine: a potent natural peripheral anionic-site-binding inhibitor of acetylcholinesterase with calcium-channel blocking potential, a leading candidate for Alzheimer's disease therapy.

The alkaloid juliflorine (1) from Prosopis juliflora inhibited acetylcholinesterase (AChE, EC 3.1.1.7) and butyrylcholinesterase (BChE, EC 3.1.1.8) enzymes in a concentration-dependent fashion with IC50 values 0.42 and 0.12 microM, respectively. Lineweaver-Burk as well as Dixon plots and their secondary replots indicated that the nature of inhibition was purely of non-competitive type with Ki values 0.4 and 0.1 microM, against AChE and BChE, respectively. By molecular docking studies compound 1 was found to be ideally spaced inside the aromatic gorge of AChE with rings A/B remaining at the top and rings C/D penetrating deep into the gorge, that might be due to the greater hydrophobicity of rings C/D as compared to rings A/B, allowing their simultaneous interaction with the peripheral anionic and quaternary ammonium-binding sites. The 1-AChE complex was found to be stabilized by hydrophobic contacts, hydrogen bonding, and pi-pi stacking between the compound 1 and amino acid residues of the aromatic gorge of AChE. Amino acid residues Tyr70, Asp72, Tyr121, Trp279, and Tyr334 of the peripheral anionic site (PAS) of AChE were found to be exclusively involved in the hydrophobic contacts with compound 1 that might be responsible for the competitive mode of inhibition. Compound 1 also showed dose-dependent (30-500 microg/mL) spasmolytic and Ca2+-channel blocking activities in isolated rabbit jejunum preparations. The cholinesterase inhibitory potential along with calcium-channel blocking activity of compound 1 and safe profile in human neutrophils viable assay could make it a possible drug candidate for Alzheimer's disease.

Two new diterpene polyesters from Euphorbia decipiens.

Two new myrsinol-type diterpene polyesters 3,5,13,17-tetra-O-acetyl-7-O-benzoyl-15-hydroxymyrsinol (1) and 3,5,13,17-tetra-O-acetyl-7-O-butanoyl-13-hydroxymyrsinol (2), with a tricyclic carbon skeleton have been isolated from Euphorbia decipiens Boiss. & Buhse. The structure elucidation of the isolated compounds was based primarily on HREIMS, EIMS, IR, UV, ID-, and 2D-NMR analyses, including COSY, HMQC, HMBC, and NOESY correlations. Compounds 1 and 2 also showed activity against urease enzyme.