Novel quinolinepiperazinyl-aryltetrazoles targeting the blood stage of Plasmodium falciparum.

The emergence of drug resistance against the frontline antimalarials is a major challenge in the treatment of malaria. In view of emerging reports on drug-resistant strains of Plasmodium against artemisinin combination therapy, a dire need is felt for the discovery of novel compounds acting against novel targets in the parasite. In this study, we identified a novel series of quinolinepiperazinyl-aryltetrazoles (QPTs) targeting the blood stage of Plasmodium. In vitro anti-plasmodial activity screening revealed that most of the compounds showed IC50 < 10 µM against chloroquine-resistant PfINDO strain, with the most promising lead compounds 66 and 75 showing IC50 values of 2.25 and 1.79 µM, respectively. Further, compounds 64-66, 68, 75-77 and 84 were found to be selective (selectivity index >50) in their action against Pf over a mammalian cell line, with compounds 66 and 75 offering the highest selectivity indexes of 178 and 223, respectively. Explorations into the action of lead compounds 66 and 75 revealed their selective cidal activity towards trophozoites and schizonts. In a ring-stage survival assay, 75 showed cidal activity against the early rings of artemisinin-resistant PfCam3.1R539T. Further, 66 and 75 in combination with artemisinin and pyrimethamine showed additive to weak synergistic interactions. Of these two in vitro lead molecules, only 66 restricted rise in the percentage of parasitemia to about 10% in P. berghei-infected mice with a median survival time of 28 days as compared to the untreated control, which showed the percentage of parasitemia >30%, and a median survival of 20 days. Promising antimalarial activity, high selectivity, and additive interaction with artemisinin and pyrimethamine indicate the potential of these compounds to be further optimized chemically as future drug candidates against malaria.

An efficient one-pot synthesis and docking studies of bioactive new antiproliferative dispiro[oxindole/acenaphthylenone‒benzofuranone] pyrrolidine scaffolds.

A new and efficient method has been developed to synthesize dispiro[oxindole/acenaphthylenone-benzofuranone]pyrrolidine compounds. This is done by triggering the 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reaction of azomethine ylides by reacting isatin/acenaphthoquinone with L-picolinic acid/L-proline/sarcosine/L-thioproline/tetrahydroisoquinolines, in a highly regioselective manner in an ionic liquid [DBU][Ac] with 4'-chloro-auron[2-(4-chlorobenzylidene)benzofuran-3(2H)-one]. Single-crystal X-ray diffraction data support the proposed structures of the new compounds. The heterocycles derived from amino acids such as L-picolinic acid, L-proline, and L-thioproline showed significant inhibitory effects against six human solid tumors, including lung, breast, cervix, colon, and others. These new structures were also tested in the active sites of the MDM2 receptor to further study their antiproliferative effects.

Selection of Suitable Protein Structure from Protein Data Bank: An Important Step in Structure-based Drug Design Studies.

The selection of a protein structure is an important step for the success of the drug discovery process using structure-based design. Selection of the right crystal structure is critical as multiple crystal structures are available for the same protein in the Protein Data Bank (PDB). In this communication, we have discussed a systematic approach for selecting the right type of protein structure. Selecting crystal structures of TACE, 11ß-HSD1, DprE1, and SARS-CoV-2 Mpro enzymes for some case studies have been discussed for illustration.

Design, synthesis and evaluation of 4,7-disubstituted 8-methoxyquinazoline derivatives as potential cytotoxic agents targeting ß-catenin/TCF4 signaling pathway.

Overactivation of Wnt/ß-catenin signaling by accumulated ß-catenin in the nucleus has been shown to play a crucial role in the etiology of cancer. Interaction of ß-catenin with Transcription factor 4 (TCF4) is a key step for the activation of Wnt genes in response to upstream signals of the Wnt/ß-catenin pathway. Hence, down regulation of Wnt/ß-catenin signaling or targeting downstream events by selective ß-catenin/TCF4 protein-protein interaction inhibitors could be a potential therapeutic strategy against such cancers. In this study structure-based drug design approach was followed to design novel 4,7-disubstituted 8-methoxyquinazoline-based derivatives which could act as potential cytotoxic agents inhibiting the ß-catenin/TCF4 protein-protein interactions. Fifteen compounds possessing 4,7-disubstituted 8-methoxyquinazoline scaffold were synthesized. Cytotoxic potential of the synthesised derivatives were determined against constitutively activated ß-catenin/TCF4 signaling pathway cancer cells (HCT116 and HepG2) using the sulforhodamine B assay. The most potent compound (18B) was selected for detailed biological evaluation. Cell morphology, Hoechst 33342 and Annexin V/PI staining were used to detect apoptosis, while inhibition of cell migration was assessed by in vitro wound healing assay against HCT116 and HepG2 cells. Effect on ß-catenin/TCF mediated transcriptional activity was assessed by TOPFlash/FOPFlash assay, TCF4 and ß-catenin protein expression by immunocytofluorescence, and Wnt target genes (like c-MYC and Cyclin D1) mRNA levels by RT-PCR against HCT116 cells. Cytotoxic potency of the most potential compound (18B) against primary human gallbladder cancer cells was also evaluated. The derivatives showed interactions with active site residues of ß-catenin and were capable of hindering the TCF4 binding, thereby disrupting ß-catenin/TCF4 interactions. Cytotoxic potencies (IC50) of these derivatives ranged from 5.64 ± 0.68 to 23.18 ± 0.45 µM against HCT116 and HepG2 cells respectively. Compound (18B), the most potent compound among the series, induced apoptosis and inhibited cell migration against HCT116 and HepG2 cells. Mechanistic studies indicated that compound (18B) downregulated ß-catenin/TCF4 signaling pathway, ß-catenin and TCF4 protein expression, and mRNA levels of c-MYC andCyclin D1 in HCT116 cells and showed cytotoxicity against primary human gallbladder cancer cells with IC50 value of 8.50 ± 1.44 µM. Thus, novel 4,7-disubstituted 8-methoxyquinazoline derivatives were identified as potential cytotoxic agents with potencies comparable to that of imatinib mesylate. Compound (18B) represents a promising lead molecule as anticancer agent against colon, hepatocellular and gallbladder cancers targeting ß-catenin/TCF4 signaling pathway.

Design and synthesis of novel N-[3-(benzimidazol-2-ylamino)phenyl]amine and N-[3-(benzoxazol-2-ylamino)phenyl]amine derivatives as potential anticancer agents.

In this contribution, we report the design, synthesis and cytotoxicity studies of a series of N-[3-(benzimidazol-2-yl-amino)phenyl]amine and N-[3-(benzoxazol-2-ylamino)phenyl]amine derivatives. In vitro cytotoxicity assay of 26 selected compounds was carried out at National Cancer Institute (NCI), USA. Out of them, compounds 10e (NSC D-762842/1) and 11s (NSC D-764942/1) have shown remarkable cytotoxicity with GI50 values ranging between "0.589-14.3 µM" and "0.276-12.3 µM," respectively, in the representative nine subpanels of human tumor cell lines. Further, flow cytometry analysis demonstrated that compound 10e exerted cell cycle arrest at G2/M phase and showed dose-dependent enhancement in apoptosis in K-562 leukemia cancer cells.

Further Studies on Cationic Gemini Amphiphiles as Carriers for Gene Delivery-The Effect of Linkers in the Structure and Other Factors Affecting the Transfection Efficacy of These Amphiphiles.

Gene therapy has the therapeutic potential to address a multitude of health problems, and it also has utility in different domains of science. However, its applications are plagued due to the absence of a suitable, safe, efficient, selective, and universal vector, which could help in delivering the desired nucleic acid cargo to the site of action. Though viral vectors are efficient, they pose various health risks. Different types of synthetic agents have been tried as nucleic acid vectors by researchers but with limited success. Gemini amphiphiles (GAs) are a class of synthetic surfactants having biscationic heads with attached hydrophilic and lipophilic groups. Herein, we synthesized two classes of GAs differing in the chemical nature and length of the linkers, head groups, and lipophilic chains. The resulting compounds were evaluated for their efficiency to transfect A549 and HeLa cell lines with a ß-galactosidase reporter plasmid. A 3-oxypentyl linker, a monohydroxyethyl head group, and a tetradecyl moiety as the lipophilic chain offered the best transfection efficiency (compound 10BIII). Dioleoylphosphatidylethanolamine (DOPE) as the helper lipid improved the transfection efficacy of the GAs in the absence of serum. In the presence of serum, DOPE and cholesterol, as the helper lipids, improved the transfection efficacy of the resulting formulations. The synthesized GAs showed concentration-dependent toxicity in the MTT assay. Biodistribution studies using 99mTc-labeled lipoplexes indicated that the lipoplexes got concentrated in some vital organs such as the spleen, liver, and lungs.

Recent developments and strategies for the discovery of TACE inhibitors.

INTRODUCTION: TNF-α plays a central role in certain autoimmune diseases as well as in inflammation. The current strategy for excluding TNF-α from circulation is to selectively inhibit TNF-α converting enzyme (TACE), an enzyme that cleaves mTNF-α to active TNF-α. Various TACE inhibitors have been discovered by using different strategies to control inflammatory diseases, cancer, and cardiac hypertrophy. AREAS COVERED: The present article summarizes the design and discovery of novel TACE inhibitors that have been reported in the literature since 2012 onwards. It also includes some reports concerning the new role that TACE plays in cancer and cardiac hypertrophy. EXPERT OPINION: So far, undertaken studies that have looked to design and develop small TACE inhibitors have been discouraging due to the failure of any TACE inhibitors to hit the market. However, some of the latest developments, such as with tartrate-based inhibitors, has given hope to the potentiality of a viable novel selective TACE inhibitor therapeutic in the future. Indeed, some of the novel peptidomimetics and monoclonal antibodies have great potential to pave the way for an effective and safe therapy by selectively inhibiting TACE enzyme.

New pyrazolyl-dibenzo[b,e][1,4]diazepinones: room temperature one-pot synthesis and biological evaluation.

Several new (5-aryloxy-pyrazolyl)- and (5-aryl/olefin-sulfanyl-pyrazolyl)-dibenzo[b,e] [1,4] diazepinone scaffolds have been synthesized, by assembling 5-substituted 3-methyl-1-phenyl-pyrazole-4-carbaldehydes of varied nature with different cyclic diketones and aromatic diamines successfully in the presence of indium chloride in acetonitrile, at room temperature. Desired products are excellent in the purity and isolated without chromatography. All new structures are confirmed, on the basis of single-crystal X-ray diffraction data of representative 29e. Compounds reported in the present work revealed good antioxidant, antimicrobial and antiproliferative activities with promising FRAP (ferric reducing antioxidant power), bacterial resistance and human solid tumor cell growth inhibitory values, respectively. Compounds 25c and 29e, overall, registered good to moderate activity against A549 (lung), HeLa (cervix), SW1573 (lung) T-47D (breast) and WiDr (colon) cell lines, with GI50 values in the 2.6-5.1 µM and 1.8-7.5 µM ranges, respectively. Molecular docking was carried out to elucidate the binding modes of the compounds (25c, 29e) to topoisomerase I and II.

Novel Multitarget Directed Triazinoindole Derivatives as Anti-Alzheimer Agents.

The multifaceted nature of Alzheimer's disease (AD) demands treatment with multitarget-directed ligands (MTDLs) to confront the key pathological aberrations. A novel series of triazinoindole derivatives were designed and synthesized. In vitro studies revealed that all the compounds showed moderate to good anticholinesterase activity; the most active compound 23e showed an IC50 value of 0.56 ± 0.02 µM for AChE and an IC50 value of 1.17 ± 0.09 µM for BuChE. These derivatives are also endowed with potent antioxidant activity. To understand the plausible binding mode of the compound 23e, molecular docking studies and molecular dynamics simulation studies were performed, and the results indicated significant interactions of 23e within the active sites of AChE as well as BuChE. Compound 23e successfully diminished H2O2-induced oxidative stress in SH-SY5Y cells and displayed excellent neuroprotective activity against H2O2 as well as Aß-induced toxicity in SH-SY5Y cells in a concentration dependent manner. Furthermore, it did not show any significant toxicity in neuronal SH-SY5Y cells in the cytotoxicity assay. Compound 23e did not show any acute toxicity in rats at doses up to 2000 mg/kg, and it significantly reversed scopolamine-induced memory deficit in mice model. Additionally, compound 23e showed notable in silico ADMET properties. Taken collectively, these findings project compound 23e as a potential balanced MTDL in the evolution process of novel anti-AD drugs.

Gemini Amphiphile-Based Lipoplexes for Efficient Gene Delivery: Synthesis, Formulation Development, Characterization, Gene Transfection, and Biodistribution Studies.

Some quaternary gemini amphiphiles (GAs) were synthesized as nonviral gene delivery carriers. The critical miceller concentration values of these amphiphiles are indicative of their superior surface-active properties. All of the synthesized GAs, alone or along with lipids like cholesterol and/or dioleoylphosphatidyl ethanolamine (DOPE), were formulated as liposomes. Formulations of GAs with DOPE showed average particle diameters of 326-400 nm with positive ζ-potential (30.1-46.4 mV). The lipoplexes of theses formulations showed complete pDNA retention at the base at a N/P ratio higher than 1.0 in gel retardation study. The GAs were effective in condensing pDNA into a ψ-phase, as indicated by circular dichroism study, and provided complete protection of the pDNA against the enzyme DNase at a N/P ratio more than 1. In vitro cell line studies showed that GA liposomal formulations caused ß-gal expression and offered a higher transfection efficiency than that of liposomes prepared with the help of N-[1-(2,3-dioleoyloxy)propyl]-N,N,N-trimethylammonium methyl-sulfate (DOTAP)/DOPE and dicyclocarbodiimide (DCC)/DOPE but comparable to those of Lipofectamine 2000 in A549 and HeLa cell lines. Modulation of head group polarity significantly affected the transfection efficacy of GAs. The cell viabilities of almost all of the formulations were comparable to those of the standards (DCC/DOPE and DOTAP/DOPE liposomes). Incorporation of cholesterol [GA/DOPE/cholesterol in the ratio of 1:1:1] further improved the serum compatibility of the formulations and improved the transfection efficacy when evaluated in A549 and HeLa cell lines. Fluorescence-assisted cell sorting studies showed comparable number of transfected cells to Lipofectamine 2000 in the HeLa cell line. Intracellular trafficking studies using confocal microscopy indicated transfection of the HeLa cells with the reporter gene within 30 min of lipoplex treatment. γ-Scintigraphy using 99mTc-labeled lipoplexes showed higher concentrations of the lipoplexes in vital tissues like liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys.

Drug-fortified liposomes as carriers for sustained release of NSAIDs: The concept and its validation in the animal model for the treatment of arthritis.

Drug-fortified cationic liposomes of 6­methoxy­2­naphthylacetic acid (6­MNA) were prepared and characterized by various techniques. The residence time of drug-fortified liposomes in joint cavity was evaluated by intra-articular (IA) administration of the radio-labeled (99mTc) liposomal formulation in the inflamed joints in rats. The cationic liposomal formulation composed of 6­MNA (3) as an active agent, its double salt (4) with the lipid 1,2­distearoyl­sn­glycero­3­phosphoethanolamine (DSPE), and pharmaceutically acceptable excipients such as hydrogenated soyabean phospatidylcholine (HSPC) and 1,2­dioleyloxy­3­trimethylammoniumpropane chloride (DOTAP) were developed using thin film hydration technique. The cryo-TEM analysis confirmed that the prepared optimized liposomal formulation (DFL-2) was a mixture of small unilamellar vesicles (SUVs), large unilamellar vesicles (LUVs) and multilamellar vesicles (MLVs). In addition, the TEM analysis confirmed that the prepared liposomes were of spherical in shape having liposome size in the range of 500-900 nm and zeta potential of about +30 mV. The developed cationic liposomes exhibited sustained release profile of payload of 6­MNA for over >12 h and about five times higher retention in the inflamed animal joints after 24 h (by scintigraphy of the joints) as compared to the plain 6­MNA solution when administered by IA route. The anti-inflammatory activity of prepared liposomal composition is evaluated by Freund's adjuvant induced arthritic model in rats. The liposomal formulation was well tolerated by all animals indicating good biocompatibility. Further, the cationic liposomal formulation treated group showed decreased erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), and C-reactive protein (CRP) level in comparison to the control and the standard groups in the in vivo study. The improved efficacy of the drug-fortified liposomal formulation was due to the coupled effect of longer retention and sustained release of the active drug 6­MNA in the joints. From the obtained results it could be concluded that the combined effect of the cationic charge on the drug-fortified liposomes and the inherent affinity of the active agent towards the synovial joint tissues, coupled with slow release of the active drug due to double salt approach at the site of administration could potentially decrease the frequency of IA drug administration. Hence such a formulation could prove to be a therapeutic boon for the management of late stage arthritis.

Overview of the Development of DprE1 Inhibitors for Combating the Menace of Tuberculosis.

Decaprenylphosphoryl-ß-d-ribose 2'-epimerase (DprE1), a vital enzyme for cell wall synthesis, plays a crucial role in the formation of lipoarabinomannan and arabinogalactan. It was first reported as a druggable target on the basis of inhibitors discovered in high throughput screening of a drug library. Since then, inhibitors with different types of chemical scaffolds have been reported for their activity against this enzyme. Formation of a covalent or noncovalent bond by the interacting ligand with the enzyme causes loss of its catalytic activity which ultimately leads to the death of the mycobacterium. This Perspective describes various DprE1 inhibitors as anti-TB agents reported to date.

Advances in the Development of Novel Factor Xa Inhibitors: A Patent Review.

Development of new anticoagulants has been in constant demand throughout the world due to increasing rate of morbidity and mortality caused by thrombotic diseases. Factor Xa (FXa), one of the enzymes and validated target for anticoagulation, regulates the production of thrombin in the coagulation cascade. The importance of oral FXa inhibitors like rivaroxaban, apixaban and edoxaban in thromboembolic conditions is well supported by increasing number of patents and research publications during the recent years. Direct FXa inhibitors as antithrombotic agents offer selective, efficacious and orally active therapy with respect to the other traditional anticoagulants. Newly developed patented molecules are mainly structural bioisosteres of existing drugs and have exhibited better efficacy and safety profile. Development of antidotes for oral direct FXa inhibitors is in pipeline and their expected approval for therapeutic purposes will be further beneficial to anticoagulation therapy. This review is mainly focused on industrial and academic patents on the discovery of direct FXa inhibitors. The review covers patented compounds from December 2011 till date, describing various structural modifications along with biological activity data and advances in the process and formulation technologies of the reported FXa inhibitors.

Vicinal diaryl azole-based urea derivatives as potential cholesterol lowering agents acting through inhibition of SOAT enzymes.

A novel series of vicinal diaryl azole-urea derivatives were synthesized and evaluated for their potential to inhibit SOAT enzyme. Among the reported compounds, compound (12d) emerged as the most potent compound with an IC50 value of 2.43 µM. In polaxamer-407 induced lipoprotein lipase inhibition model, compound (12d) reduced triglyceride turnover in vivo. Compound (12d) also showed dose-dependent prevention of serum total cholesterol and prevention of LDL-C elevation at a dose of 30 mg/kg. Furthermore, compound (12d) showed potential to stop falling levels of serum HDL-C dose-dependently and improved the atherogenic index. Effect of 12d on body weight, plaque formation and development of atherogenic lesions were studied. Toxicological study of compound (12d) indicated that at a dose of 2000 mg/kg, 12d was devoid of any signs of toxicity or mortality.

Contemporary developments in the discovery of selective factor Xa inhibitors: A review.

Thrombosis is a leading cause of death in cardiovascular diseases such as myocardial infarction (MI), unstable angina and acute coronary syndrome (ACS) in the industrialized world. Venous thromboembolism is observed in about 1 million people every year in United States causing significant morbidity and mortality. Conventional antithrombotic therapy has been reported to have several disadvantages and limitations like inconvenience in oral administration, bleeding risks (heparin analogs), narrow therapeutic window and undesirable interactions with food and drugs (vitamin K antagonist-warfarin). The unmet medical demand for orally active safe anticoagulants has generated widespread interest among the medicinal chemists engaged in this field. To modulate blood coagulation, various enzymes involved in the coagulation process have received great attention as potential targets by various research groups for the development of oral anticoagulants. Among these enzymes, factor Xa (FXa) has remained the centre of attention in the last decade. Intensive research efforts have been made by various research groups for the development of small, safe and orally bioavailable FXa inhibitors. This review is an attempt to compile the research work of various researchers in the direction of development of FXa inhibitors reported since 2010 onward.

Medicinal Chemistry Perspective of Fused Isoxazole Derivatives.

Nitrogen containing heterocyclic rings with an oxygen atom is considered as one of the best combination in medicinal chemistry due to their diversified biological activities. Isoxazole, a five membered heterocyclic azole ring is found in naturally occuring ibetonic acid along with some of the marketed drugs such as valdecoxib, flucloxacillin, cloxacillin, dicloxacillin, and danazol. It is also significant for showing antipsychotic activity in risperidone and anticonvulsant activity in zonisamide, the marketed drugs. This review article covers research articles reported till date covering biological activity along with SAR of fused isoxazole derivatives.

One-pot synthesis, biological evaluation, and docking study of new chromeno-annulated thiopyrano[2,3-c]pyrazoles.

A one-pot synthesis of new chromeno-annulated thiopyrano[2,3-c]pyrazoles has been achieved through a domino-Knoevenagel-hetero-Diels-Alder reaction after combining various pyrazol-5-thiones with O-alkenyloxy/alkynyloxy-salicylaldehydes/naphthaldehydes in a Brønsted acidic ionic liquid, [Hmim]HSO[Formula: see text], methylimidazolium hydrogen sulphate, under microwave irradiation. The method is simple and in many cases the isolated products did not require further purification. The central pyranothiopyranyl cis-fusion was confirmed by 2D NMR NOESY and single-crystal X-ray analysis suggesting that the endo-E-Syn transition state would be the most favored pathway of the reaction. Many heterocycles of this new series were found active against six bacterial and two fungal strains. In addition, all the compounds possess good anti-oxidant activity with the ferric reducing anti-oxidant power value [Formula: see text]. All new structures were docked into active site of angiotensin I converting enzyme (ACE), assuming that the compounds possessed the anti-hypertensive activity potential on the basis of prediction of activity spectra of substances prediction results. Pyranyl ring oxygen in compound 9a forms two hydrogen bonds with HIS353 and HIS513 residues in the active site of the ACE having good G score ([Formula: see text]) of this compound, comparable to that of the reference drug captopril ([Formula: see text]).

Developing steroidal aromatase inhibitors-an effective armament to win the battle against breast cancer.

Breast cancer, an emerging disease among the women population, occurs due to overexpression of estrogens. The enzyme aromatase plays a key rate limiting role in the biosynthesis of estrogens. Certain clinical advantages of the use of exemestane, a steroidal aromatase inhibitor over non-steroidal aromatase inhibitors have drawn the attention of researchers for the development of novel steroidal aromatase inhibitors.The current review is a humble attempt to compile the reports by various researchers till date on the synthesis of steroidal aromatase inhibitors. It has been tried to encompass the structural modifications carried out by various researchers in the steroid ring system by taking up the functional group modifications on rings A, B, ring A/B junction, ring-D, ring modifications, bridged derivatives and heterocyclic ring-fused derivatives in a systematic way.

Exploring structural requirements for peripherally acting 1,5-diaryl pyrazole-containing cannabinoid 1 receptor antagonists for the treatment of obesity.

Peripherally acting cannabinoid 1 (CB1) receptor antagonists are considered as potential therapeutics for the treatment of obesity with desired efficacy and reduced central nervous system side effects. A dataset of 72 compounds containing the 1,5-diaryl pyrazole basic skeleton having peripheral CB1 receptor antagonistic activity was utilized for three-dimensional quantitative structure-activity relationship studies. Compounds of the series exhibited high variations in the biological activity and chemical structures. Different types of molecular alignments, such as atom-based, data-based, centroid-based and centroid/atom-based were utilized to develop the best CoMFA model. The best CoMFA model was obtained with a database alignment and the same alignment was further used for the development of a CoMSIA model. The best developed CoMFA model had [Formula: see text] with six components, [Formula: see text] while the best developed CoMSIA model had [Formula: see text] with six components, [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] The predictive [Formula: see text] values of these two models showed test set predictions of 0.528 and 0.679 for the best CoMFA and CoMSIA models, respectively. Based on a higher [Formula: see text] value, the CoMSIA model was found to be the best one. The prediction accuracy and reliability of the best developed CoMSIA model have been validated using well-established methods. Using the inputs from the best CoMSIA contour maps, several novel highly selective peripherally acting CB1 receptor antagonists have been designed and reported herein.