RESUMO
Human African trypanosomiasis is among the World Health Organization's designated neglected tropical diseases. Repurposing strategies are often employed in academic drug discovery programs due to financial limitations, and in this instance, we used human kinase inhibitor chemotypes to identify substituted 4-aminoazaindoles, exemplified by 1. Structure-activity and structure-property relationship analysis, informed by cheminformatics, identified 4s as a potent inhibitor of Trypanosoma brucei growth. While 4s appeared to be fast acting and cidal in the in vitro assays, it failed to cure a murine model of infection. Preliminary efforts to identify the potential mechanism of action of the series pointed to arginine kinase, though, as we demonstrate, this does not appear to be the sole target of our compounds. This comprehensive approach to drug discovery, encompassing cheminformatics, structure-potency and structure-property analysis, and pharmacophore identification, highlights our multipronged efforts to identify novel lead compounds for this deadly disease.
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Broad-spectrum anti-infective chemotherapy agents with activity against Trypanosomes, Leishmania, and Mycobacterium tuberculosis species were identified from a high-throughput phenotypic screening program of the 456 compounds belonging to the Ty-Box, an in-house industry database. Compound characterization using machine learning approaches enabled the identification and synthesis of 44 compounds with broad-spectrum antiparasitic activity and minimal toxicity against Trypanosoma brucei, Leishmania Infantum, and Trypanosoma cruzi. In vitro studies confirmed the predictive models identified in compound 40 which emerged as a new lead, featured by an innovative N-(5-pyrimidinyl)benzenesulfonamide scaffold and promising low micromolar activity against two parasites and low toxicity. Given the volume and complexity of data generated by the diverse high-throughput screening assays performed on the compounds of the Ty-Box library, the chemoinformatic and machine learning tools enabled the selection of compounds eligible for further evaluation of their biological and toxicological activities and aided in the decision-making process toward the design and optimization of the identified lead.
Assuntos
Leishmania infantum , Trypanosoma brucei brucei , Trypanosoma cruzi , Ensaios de Triagem em Larga Escala , AntiparasitáriosRESUMO
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is widely acknowledged as one of the most serious public health threats facing the world, yet the private sector finds it challenging to generate much-needed medicines. As an alternative discovery approach, a small array of diarylimidazoles was screened against the ESKAPE pathogens, and the results were made publicly available through the Open Source Antibiotics (OSA) consortium (https://github.com/opensourceantibiotics). Of the 18 compounds tested (at 32 µg/mL), 15 showed >90% growth inhibition activity against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) alone. In the subsequent hit-to-lead optimization of this chemotype, 147 new heterocyclic compounds containing the diarylimidazole and other core motifs were synthesized and tested against MRSA, and their structure-activity relationships were identified. While potent, these compounds have moderate to high intrinsic clearance and some associated toxicity. The best overall balance of parameters was found with OSA_975, a compound with good potency, good solubility, and reduced intrinsic clearance in rat hepatocytes. We have progressed toward the knowledge of the molecular target of these phenotypically active compounds, with proteomic techniques suggesting TGFBR1 is potentially involved in the mechanism of action. Further development of these compounds toward antimicrobial medicines is available to anyone under the licensing terms of the project.
Assuntos
Antibacterianos , Staphylococcus aureus Resistente à Meticilina , Ratos , Animais , Antibacterianos/farmacologia , Proteômica , Testes de Sensibilidade Microbiana , Relação Estrutura-AtividadeRESUMO
[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2023.1149145.].
RESUMO
Leishmaniasis is a collection of diseases caused by more than 20 Leishmania parasite species that manifest as either visceral, cutaneous, or mucocutaneous leishmaniasis. Despite the significant mortality and morbidity associated with leishmaniasis, it remains a neglected tropical disease. Existing treatments have variable efficacy, significant toxicity, rising resistance, and limited oral bioavailability, which necessitates the development of novel and affordable therapeutics. Here, we report on the continued optimization of a series of imidazopyridines for visceral leishmaniasis and a scaffold hop to a series of substituted 2-(pyridin-2-yl)-6,7-dihydro-5H-pyrrolo[1,2-a]imidazoles with improved absorption, distribution, metabolism, and elimination properties.
Assuntos
Leishmania , Leishmaniose Visceral , Leishmaniose , Humanos , Leishmaniose Visceral/tratamento farmacológico , Doenças Negligenciadas , Imidazóis/farmacologiaRESUMO
Acanthamoeba species, Naegleria fowleri, and Balamuthia mandrillaris are opportunistic pathogens that cause a range of brain, skin, eye, and disseminated diseases in humans and animals. These pathogenic free-living amoebae (pFLA) are commonly misdiagnosed and have sub-optimal treatment regimens which contribute to the extremely high mortality rates (>90%) when they infect the central nervous system. To address the unmet medical need for effective therapeutics, we screened kinase inhibitor chemotypes against three pFLA using phenotypic drug assays involving CellTiter-Glo 2.0. Herein, we report the activity of the compounds against the trophozoite stage of each of the three amoebae, ranging from nanomolar to low micromolar potency. The most potent compounds that were identified from this screening effort were: 2d (A. castellanii EC50: 0.92 ± 0.3 µM; and N. fowleri EC50: 0.43 ± 0.13 µM), 1c and 2b (N. fowleri EC50s: <0.63 µM, and 0.3 ± 0.21 µM), and 4b and 7b (B. mandrillaris EC50s: 1.0 ± 0.12 µM, and 1.4 ± 0.17 µM, respectively). With several of these pharmacophores already possessing blood-brain barrier (BBB) permeability properties, or are predicted to penetrate the BBB, these hits present novel starting points for optimization as future treatments for pFLA-caused diseases.
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Drugs that target human thymidylate synthase (hTS), a dimeric enzyme, are widely used in anticancer therapy. However, treatment with classical substrate-site-directed TS inhibitors induces over-expression of this protein and development of drug resistance. We thus pursued an alternative strategy that led us to the discovery of TS-dimer destabilizers. These compounds bind at the monomer-monomer interface and shift the dimerization equilibrium of both the recombinant and the intracellular protein toward the inactive monomers. A structural, spectroscopic, and kinetic investigation has provided evidence and quantitative information on the effects of the interaction of these small molecules with hTS. Focusing on the best among them, E7, we have shown that it inhibits hTS in cancer cells and accelerates its proteasomal degradation, thus causing a decrease in the enzyme intracellular level. E7 also showed a superior anticancer profile to fluorouracil in a mouse model of human pancreatic and ovarian cancer. Thus, over sixty years after the discovery of the first TS prodrug inhibitor, fluorouracil, E7 breaks the link between TS inhibition and enhanced expression in response, providing a strategy to fight drug-resistant cancers.
Assuntos
Neoplasias Ovarianas , Timidilato Sintase , Feminino , Animais , Camundongos , Humanos , Sítios de Ligação , Timidilato Sintase/química , Timidilato Sintase/metabolismo , Fluoruracila/farmacologia , Neoplasias Ovarianas/tratamento farmacológico , Inibidores Enzimáticos/farmacologiaRESUMO
The optimization of compounds with multiple targets is a difficult multidimensional problem in the drug discovery cycle. Here, we present a systematic, multidisciplinary approach to the development of selective antiparasitic compounds. Computational fragment-based design of novel pteridine derivatives along with iterations of crystallographic structure determination allowed for the derivation of a structure-activity relationship for multitarget inhibition. The approach yielded compounds showing apparent picomolar inhibition of T. brucei pteridine reductase 1 (PTR1), nanomolar inhibition of L. major PTR1, and selective submicromolar inhibition of parasite dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) versus human DHFR. Moreover, by combining design for polypharmacology with a property-based on-parasite optimization, we found three compounds that exhibited micromolar EC50 values against T. brucei brucei while retaining their target inhibition. Our results provide a basis for the further development of pteridine-based compounds, and we expect our multitarget approach to be generally applicable to the design and optimization of anti-infective agents.
Assuntos
Leishmania major , Oxirredutases , Tetra-Hidrofolato Desidrogenase , Trypanosoma brucei brucei , Leishmania major/efeitos dos fármacos , Leishmania major/enzimologia , Oxirredutases/antagonistas & inibidores , Oxirredutases/metabolismo , Pteridinas/química , Pteridinas/farmacologia , Relação Estrutura-Atividade , Tetra-Hidrofolato Desidrogenase/metabolismo , Trypanosoma brucei brucei/efeitos dos fármacos , Trypanosoma brucei brucei/enzimologiaRESUMO
The medicinal plant Spathodea campanulata P. Beauv. (Bignoniaceae) has been traditionally applied for the prevention and treatment of diseases of the kidney and urinary system, the skin, the gastrointestinal tract, and inflammation in general. The present work shows for the first time how chemical components from this plant inhibit Helicobacter pylori growth by urease inhibition and modulation of virulence factors. The crude extract and the main fractions of S. campanulata bark were tested on H. pylori isolated strains and the active ones were further fractionated. Fractions and sub-fractions of the plant crude extract were characterized by ultra-high-performance liquid chromatographic tandem high resolution-mass spectrometry detection (UHPLC-HRMS). Several phenolics and triterpenoids were identified. Among the sub-fractions obtained, SB2 showed the capacity to inhibit H. pylori urease in a heterologous bacterial model. One additional sub-fraction (SE3) was able to simultaneously modulate the expression of two adhesins (HopZ and BabA) and one cytotoxin (CagA). The flavonol kaempferol was identified as the most interesting compound that deserves further investigation as a new hit for its capacity to modulate H. pylori virulence factors.
RESUMO
Recent decades have witnessed a dramatic increase of multidrug resistant (MDR) bacteria, compromising the efficacy of available antibiotics, and a continual decline in the discovery of novel antibacterials. We recently reported the first library of benzo[b]thiophen-2-ylboronic acid inhibitors sharing broad spectrum activity against ß-lactamases (BLs). The ability of these compounds to inhibit structurally and mechanistically different types of ß-lactamases has been here structurally investigated. An extensive X-ray crystallographic analysis of boronic acids (BAs) binding to proteins representative of serine BLs (SBLs) and metallo ß-lactamases (MBLs) have been conducted to depict the role played by the boronic group in driving molecular recognition, especially in the interaction with MBLs. Our derivatives are the first case of noncyclic boronic acids active against MBLs and represent a productive route toward potent broad-spectrum inhibitors.
RESUMO
2-Amino-benzo[ d]thiazole was identified as a new scaffold for the development of improved pteridine reductase-1 (PTR1) inhibitors and anti-trypanosomatidic agents. Molecular docking and crystallography guided the design and synthesis of 42 new benzothiazoles. The compounds were assessed for Trypanosoma brucei and Leishmania major PTR1 inhibition and in vitro activity against T. brucei and amastigote Leishmania infantum. We identified several 2-amino-benzo[ d]thiazoles with improved enzymatic activity ( TbPTR1 IC50 = 0.35 µM; LmPTR1 IC50 = 1.9 µM) and low µM antiparasitic activity against T. brucei. The ten most active compounds against TbPTR1 were able to potentiate the antiparasitic activity of methotrexate when evaluated in combination against T. brucei, with a potentiating index between 1.2 and 2.7. The compound library was profiled for early ADME toxicity, and 2-amino- N-benzylbenzo[ d]thiazole-6-carboxamide (4c) was finally identified as a novel potent, safe, and selective anti-trypanocydal agent (EC50 = 7.0 µM). Formulation of 4c with hydroxypropyl-ß-cyclodextrin yielded good oral bioavailability, encouraging progression to in vivo studies.
Assuntos
Antiprotozoários/química , Benzotiazóis/química , Inibidores Enzimáticos/química , Leishmania major/enzimologia , Oxirredutases/antagonistas & inibidores , Proteínas de Protozoários/antagonistas & inibidores , Trypanosoma brucei brucei/enzimologia , Animais , Antiprotozoários/metabolismo , Antiprotozoários/farmacologia , Antiprotozoários/uso terapêutico , Benzotiazóis/metabolismo , Benzotiazóis/farmacologia , Benzotiazóis/uso terapêutico , Sítios de Ligação , Domínio Catalítico , Cristalografia por Raios X , Desenho de Fármacos , Inibidores Enzimáticos/metabolismo , Inibidores Enzimáticos/farmacologia , Inibidores Enzimáticos/uso terapêutico , Meia-Vida , Leishmania major/efeitos dos fármacos , Camundongos , Camundongos Endogâmicos BALB C , Simulação de Acoplamento Molecular , Oxirredutases/metabolismo , Proteínas de Protozoários/metabolismo , Relação Estrutura-Atividade , Trypanosoma brucei brucei/efeitos dos fármacos , Tripanossomíase/tratamento farmacológico , Tripanossomíase/patologiaRESUMO
According to the World Health Organization, more than 1 billion people are at risk of or are affected by neglected tropical diseases. Examples of such diseases include trypanosomiasis, which causes sleeping sickness; leishmaniasis; and Chagas disease, all of which are prevalent in Africa, South America, and India. Our aim within the New Medicines for Trypanosomatidic Infections project was to use (1) synthetic and natural product libraries, (2) screening, and (3) a preclinical absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion-toxicity (ADME-Tox) profiling platform to identify compounds that can enter the trypanosomatidic drug discovery value chain. The synthetic compound libraries originated from multiple scaffolds with known antiparasitic activity and natural products from the Hypha Discovery MycoDiverse natural products library. Our focus was first to employ target-based screening to identify inhibitors of the protozoan Trypanosoma brucei pteridine reductase 1 ( TbPTR1) and second to use a Trypanosoma brucei phenotypic assay that made use of the T. brucei brucei parasite to identify compounds that inhibited cell growth and caused death. Some of the compounds underwent structure-activity relationship expansion and, when appropriate, were evaluated in a preclinical ADME-Tox assay panel. This preclinical platform has led to the identification of lead-like compounds as well as validated hits in the trypanosomatidic drug discovery value chain.
Assuntos
Descoberta de Drogas/métodos , Tripanossomicidas/análise , Tripanossomicidas/farmacologia , Tripanossomíase/tratamento farmacológico , Produtos Biológicos/química , Humanos , Relação Estrutura-Atividade , Tripanossomicidas/uso terapêuticoRESUMO
The worldwide spread of beta-lactamases with hydrolytic activity extended to last resort carbapenems is aggravating the antibiotic resistance problem and endangers the successful antimicrobial treatment of clinically relevant pathogens. As recently highlighted by the World Health Organization, new strategies to contain antimicrobial resistance are urgently needed. Class A carbapenemases include members of the KPC, GES and SFC families. These enzymes have the ability to hydrolyse penicillins, cephalosporins and carbapenems, while also being less susceptible to available beta-lactam inhibitors, such as clavulanic acid. The KPC family is the most prevalent. It is mostly found on plasmids in Klebsiella pneumoniae, meaning that great amounts of attention, in terms of inhibitor design and structural biology, have been dedicated to it, whereas no efforts have yet been dedicated to GES-type enzymes, despite their ability to rapidly and horizontally disseminate. We herein report the first in silico screening against GES-5, which is the most dangerous GES-type beta-lactamase, using a library of 800K commercially available candidates that all share drug-like properties, such as their MW, logP, rotatable bonds and HBA/HBD atoms. The best screening results were filtered to enrich the number of different chemotypes, and then submitted to molecular docking. The 34 most promising candidates were selected for in vitro validation in biochemical assays against recombinant GES-5. Six hits acted as inhibitors, in the high micromolar range, towards GES-5 and led to the identification of the first, novel chemotypes with inhibitory activity against this clinically relevant carbapenemase.
Assuntos
Antibacterianos/química , Proteínas de Bactérias/química , Simulação de Acoplamento Molecular/métodos , Inibidores de beta-Lactamases/química , beta-Lactamases/química , Simulação por Computador , Ensaios de Triagem em Larga Escala , Estrutura Molecular , Ligação Proteica , Pseudomonas aeruginosa/química , Bibliotecas de Moléculas Pequenas/química , Relação Estrutura-Atividade , TermodinâmicaRESUMO
Human thymidylate synthase (hTS) has an important role in DNA biosynthesis, thus it is essential for cell survival. TS is involved in the folate pathways, specifically in the de novo pyrimidine biosynthesis. Structure and functions are intimately correlated, account for cellular activity and, in a broader view, with in vivo mechanisms. hTS is a target for anticancer agents, some of which are clinical drugs. The understanding of the detailed mechanism of TS inhibition by currently used drugs and of the interaction with the mechanism of action of other anticancer agents can suggest new perspective of TS inhibition able to improve the anticancer effect and to overcome drug resistance. TS-targeting drugs in therapy today are inhibitors that bind at the active site and that mostly resemble the substrates. Nonsubstrate analogs offer an opportunity for allosteric binding and novel mode of inhibition in the cancer cells. This chapter illustrates the relationship among the large number of hTS actions at molecular and clinical levels, its role as a target for ovarian cancer therapy, in particular in cases of overexpression of hTS and other folate proteins such as those induced by platinum drug treatments, and address the potential combination of TS inhibitors with other suitable anticancer agents.
Assuntos
Antimetabólitos Antineoplásicos/uso terapêutico , Protocolos de Quimioterapia Combinada Antineoplásica/uso terapêutico , Drogas em Investigação/uso terapêutico , Inibidores Enzimáticos/uso terapêutico , Regulação Neoplásica da Expressão Gênica/efeitos dos fármacos , Neoplasias Ovarianas/tratamento farmacológico , Timidilato Sintase/antagonistas & inibidores , Sítio Alostérico/efeitos dos fármacos , Antimetabólitos Antineoplásicos/efeitos adversos , Antimetabólitos Antineoplásicos/química , Antimetabólitos Antineoplásicos/farmacologia , Protocolos de Quimioterapia Combinada Antineoplásica/efeitos adversos , Protocolos de Quimioterapia Combinada Antineoplásica/farmacologia , Sítios de Ligação , Biocatálise/efeitos dos fármacos , Domínio Catalítico , Desenho de Fármacos , Drogas em Investigação/efeitos adversos , Drogas em Investigação/química , Drogas em Investigação/farmacologia , Inibidores Enzimáticos/efeitos adversos , Inibidores Enzimáticos/química , Inibidores Enzimáticos/farmacologia , Feminino , Humanos , Estrutura Molecular , Terapia de Alvo Molecular , Proteínas de Neoplasias/antagonistas & inibidores , Proteínas de Neoplasias/química , Proteínas de Neoplasias/metabolismo , Neoplasias Ovarianas/metabolismo , Neoplasias Ovarianas/patologia , Pró-Fármacos/efeitos adversos , Pró-Fármacos/química , Pró-Fármacos/farmacologia , Pró-Fármacos/uso terapêutico , Conformação Proteica , Timidilato Sintase/química , Timidilato Sintase/metabolismoRESUMO
Basing on a library of thiadiazole derivatives showing anti-trypanosomatidic activity, we have considered the thiadiazoles opened forms and reaction intermediates, thiosemicarbazones, as compounds of interest for phenotypic screening against Trypanosoma brucei (Tb), intracellular amastigote form of Leishmania infantum (Li) and Trypanosoma cruzi (Tc). Similar compounds have already shown interesting activity against the same organisms. The compounds were particularly effective against T. brucei and T. cruzi. Among the 28 synthesized compounds, the best one was (E)-2-(4-((3.4-dichlorobenzyl)oxy)benzylidene) hydrazinecarbothioamide (A14) yielding a comparable anti-parasitic activity against the three parasitic species (TbEC50â¯=â¯2.31⯵M, LiEC50â¯=â¯6.14⯵M, TcEC50â¯=â¯1.31⯵M) and a Selectivity Index higher than 10 with respect to human macrophages, therefore showing a pan-anti-trypanosomatidic activity. (E)-2-((3'.4'-dimethoxy-[1.1'-biphenyl]-3-yl)methyle ne) hydrazinecarbothioamide (A12) and (E)-2-(4-((3.4-dichlorobenzyl)oxy)benzylidene)hydrazine carbothioamide (A14) were able to potentiate the anti-parasitic activity of methotrexate (MTX) when evaluated in combination against T. brucei, yielding a 6-fold and 4-fold respectively Dose Reduction Index for MTX. The toxicity profile against four human cell lines and a panel of in vitro early-toxicity assays (comprising hERG, Aurora B, five cytochrome P450 isoforms and mitochondrial toxicity) demonstrated the low toxicity for the thosemicarbazones class in comparison with known drugs. The results confirmed thiosemicarbazones as a suitable chemical scaffold with potential for the development of properly decorated new anti-parasitic drugs.
Assuntos
Antiprotozoários/farmacologia , Doença de Chagas/tratamento farmacológico , Tiossemicarbazonas/farmacologia , Trypanosoma/efeitos dos fármacos , Antiprotozoários/síntese química , Antiprotozoários/química , Relação Dose-Resposta a Droga , Humanos , Macrófagos/efeitos dos fármacos , Estrutura Molecular , Testes de Sensibilidade Parasitária , Relação Estrutura-Atividade , Tiossemicarbazonas/síntese química , Tiossemicarbazonas/químicaRESUMO
ß-Lactamases (BLs) able to hydrolyze ß-lactam antibiotics and more importantly the last resort carbapenems, represent a major mechanism of resistance in Gram-negative bacteria showing multi-drug or extensively drug resistant phenotypes. The early detection of BLs responsible of resistant infections is challenging: approaches aiming at the identification of new BLs inhibitors (BLI) can thus serve as the basis for the development of highly needed diagnostic tools. Starting from benzo-[b]-thiophene-2-boronic acid (BZB), a nanomolar inhibitor of AmpC ß-lactamase (K i = 27 nM), we have identified and characterized a set of BZB analogues able to inhibit clinically-relevant ß-lactamases, including AmpC, Extended-Spectrum BLs (ESBL), KPC- and OXA-type carbapenemases and metallo-ß-lactamases (MBL). A multiligand set of boronic acid (BA) ß-lactamase inhibitors was obtained using covalent molecular modeling, synthetic chemistry, enzyme kinetics and antibacterial susceptibility testing. Data confirmed the possibility to discriminate between clinically-relevant ß-lactamases on the basis of their inhibition profile. Interestingly, this work also allowed the identification of potent KPC-2 and NDM-1 inhibitors able to potentiate the activity of cefotaxime (CTX) and ceftazidime (CAZ) against resistant clinical isolates (MIC reduction, 32-fold). Our results open the way to the potential use of our set of compounds as a diagnostic tool for the sensitive detection of clinically-relevant ß-lactamases.
Assuntos
Ácidos Borônicos/metabolismo , beta-Lactamases/metabolismo , Antibacterianos/farmacologia , Bactérias/efeitos dos fármacos , Proteínas de Bactérias , Ácidos Borônicos/análise , Ácidos Borônicos/química , Cefotaxima , Ceftazidima , Biologia Computacional/métodos , Farmacorresistência Bacteriana/genética , Farmacorresistência Bacteriana/fisiologia , Infecções por Enterobacteriaceae/microbiologia , Testes de Sensibilidade Microbiana , Inibidores de beta-Lactamases/metabolismo , beta-Lactamases/genéticaRESUMO
BACKGROUND: Multi-target approaches are necessary to properly analyze or modify the function of a biochemical pathway or a protein family. An example of such a problem is the repurposing of the known human anti-cancer drugs, antifolates, as selective anti-parasitic agents. This requires considering a set of experimentally validated protein targets in the folate pathway of major pathogenic trypanosomatid parasites and humans: (i) the primary parasite on-targets: pteridine reductase 1 (PTR1) (absent in humans) and bifunctional dihydrofolate reductase-thymidylate synthase (DHFR-TS), (ii) the primary off-targets: human DHFR and TS, and (iii) the secondary on-target: human folate receptor ß, a folate/antifolate transporter. METHODS: We computationally compared the structural, dynamic and physico-chemical properties of the targets. We based our analysis on available inhibitory activity and crystallographic data, including a crystal structure of the bifunctional T. cruzi DHFR-TS with tetrahydrofolate bound determined in this work. Due to the low sequence and structural similarity of the targets analyzed, we employed a mapping of binding pockets based on the known common ligands, folate and methotrexate. RESULTS: Our analysis provides a set of practical strategies for the design of selective trypanosomatid folate pathway inhibitors, which are supported by enzyme inhibition measurements and crystallographic structures. CONCLUSIONS: The ligand-based comparative computational mapping of protein binding pockets provides a basis for repurposing of anti-folates and the design of new anti-trypanosmatid agents. GENERAL SIGNIFICANCE: Apart from the target-based discovery of selective compounds, our approach may be also applied for protein engineering or analyzing evolutionary relationships in protein families.