Discovery of novel benzothiophene derivatives as potent and narrow spectrum inhibitors of DYRK1A and DYRK1B.

The discovery of potent and selective inhibitors for understudied kinases can provide relevant pharmacological tools to illuminate their biological functions. DYRK1A and DYRK1B are protein kinases linked to chronic human diseases. Current DYRK1A/DYRK1B inhibitors also antagonize the function of related protein kinases, such as CDC2-like kinases (CLK1, CLK2, CLK4) and DYRK2. Here, we reveal narrow spectrum dual inhibitors of DYRK1A and DYRK1B based on a benzothiophene scaffold. Compound optimization exploited structural differences in the ATP-binding sites of the DYRK1 kinases and resulted in the discovery of 3n, a potent and cell-permeable DYRK1A/DYRK1B inhibitor. This compound has a different scaffold and a narrower off-target profile compared to current DYRK1A/DYRK1B inhibitors. We expect the benzothiophene derivatives described here to aid establishing DYRK1A/DYRK1B cellular functions and their role in human pathologies.

New antibacterial agents: Hybrid bioisoster derivatives as potential E. coli FabH inhibitors.

The development of resistance to antibiotics by microorganisms is a major problem for the treatment of bacterial infections worldwide, and therefore, it is imperative to study new scaffolds that are potentially useful in the development of new antibiotics. In this regard, we propose the design, synthesis and biological evaluation of hybrid sulfonylhydrazone bioisosters/furoxans with potential antibacterial (Escherichia coli) activity. The most active compound of the series, (E)-3-methyl-4-((2-tosylhydrazono)methyl)-1,2,5-oxadiazole 2-oxide, with a MIC=0.36µM, was not cytotoxic when tested on Vero cells (IC50>100µM). To complement the in vitro screening, we also studied the interaction of the test compounds with ß-ketoacyl acyl carrier protein synthase (FabH), the target for the parent compounds, and we observed three important hydrogen-bonding interactions with two important active site residues in the catalytic site of the enzyme, providing complementary evidence to support the target of the new hybrid molecules.

New tuberculostatic agents targeting nucleic acid biosynthesis: drug design using QSAR approaches.

Worldwide, tuberculosis (TB) is the leading cause of death among curable infectious diseases. The emergence of multidrug resistant (MDR) and extensively drug resistant (XDR) TB is a growing global health concern and there is an urgent need for new anti-TB drugs. Enzymes involved in DNA and ATP biosynthesis are potential targets for tuberculostatic drug design, since these enzymes are essential for Mycobacterium tuberculosis growth. This review presents the current progress and applications of structure-activity relationship analysis for the discovery of innovative tuberculostatic agents as inhibitors of ribonucleotide reductase, DNA gyrase, ATP synthase, and thymidylate kinase enzymes, highlighting present challenges and new opportunities in TB drug design.