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The generation of candidate hit molecules with the potential to be used in cancer treatment is a challenging task. In this context, computational methods based on deep learning have been employed to improve in silico drug design methodologies. Nonetheless, the applied strategies have focused solely on the chemical aspect of the generation of compounds, disregarding the likely biological consequences for the organism's dynamics. Herein, we propose a method to implement targeted molecular generation that employs biological information, namely, disease-associated gene expression data, to conduct the process of identifying interesting hits. When applied to the generation of USP7 putative inhibitors, the framework managed to generate promising compounds, with more than 90% of them containing drug-like properties and essential active groups for the interaction with the target. Hence, this work provides a novel and reliable method for generating new promising compounds focused on the biological context of the disease.
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Desenho de Fármacos , Transcriptoma , Peptidase 7 Específica de UbiquitinaRESUMO
Bismuth compounds are considered relatively non-toxic, with their low solubility in aqueous solutions (e.g., biological fluids) being the major contributing factor to this property. Bismuth derivatives are widely used for the treatment of peptic ulcers, functional dyspepsia, and chronic gastritis. Moreover, the properties of bismuth compounds have also been extensively explored in two main fields of action: antimicrobial and anticancer. Despite the clinical interest of bismuth-based drugs, several side effects have also been reported. In fact, excessive acute ingestion of bismuth, or abuse for an extended period of time, can lead to toxicity. However, evidence has demonstrated that the discontinuation of these compounds usually reverses their toxic effects. Notwithstanding, the continuously growing use of bismuth products suggests that it is indeed part of our environment and our daily lives, which urges a more in-depth review and investigation into its possible undesired activities. Therefore, this review aims to update the pharmaco-toxicological properties of bismuth compounds. A special focus will be given to in vitro, in vivo, and clinical studies exploring their toxicity.
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Compostos Organometálicos , Úlcera Péptica , Humanos , Bismuto/uso terapêutico , Bismuto/toxicidade , Compostos Organometálicos/uso terapêuticoRESUMO
In this work, we develop a method for generating targeted hit compounds by applying deep reinforcement learning and attention mechanisms to predict binding affinity against a biological target while considering stereochemical information. The novelty of this work is a deep model Predictor that can establish the relationship between chemical structures and their corresponding [Formula: see text] values. We thoroughly study the effect of different molecular descriptors such as ECFP4, ECFP6, SMILES and RDKFingerprint. Also, we demonstrated the importance of attention mechanisms to capture long-range dependencies in molecular sequences. Due to the importance of stereochemical information for the binding mechanism, this information was employed both in the prediction and generation processes. To identify the most promising hits, we apply the self-adaptive multi-objective optimization strategy. Moreover, to ensure the existence of stereochemical information, we consider all the possible enumerated stereoisomers to provide the most appropriate 3D structures. We evaluated this approach against the Ubiquitin-Specific Protease 7 (USP7) by generating putative inhibitors for this target. The predictor with SMILES notations as descriptor plus bidirectional recurrent neural network using attention mechanism has the best performance. Additionally, our methodology identify the regions of the generated molecules that are important for the interaction with the receptor's active site. Also, the obtained results demonstrate that it is possible to discover synthesizable molecules with high biological affinity for the target, containing the indication of their optimal stereochemical conformation.
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Inteligência Artificial , Desenho de Fármacos , Redes Neurais de Computação , Estrutura MolecularRESUMO
Proteolysis-targeting chimeras (PROTACs) are molecules that selectively degrade a protein of interest (POI). The incorporation of ligands that recruit mouse double minute 2 (MDM2) into PROTACs, forming the so-called MDM2-based PROTACs, has shown promise in cancer treatment due to its dual mechanism of action: a PROTAC that recruits MDM2 prevents its binding to p53, resulting not only in the degradation of POI but also in the increase of intracellular levels of the p53 suppressor, with the activation of a whole set of biological processes, such as cell cycle arrest or apoptosis. In addition, these PROTACs, in certain cases, allow for the degradation of the target, with nanomolar potency, in a rapid and sustained manner over time, with less susceptibility to the development of resistance and tolerance, without causing changes in protein expression, and with selectivity to the target, including the respective isoforms or mutations, and to the cell type, overcoming some limitations associated with the use of inhibitors for the same therapeutic target. Therefore, the aim of this review is to analyze and discuss the characteristics of MDM2-based PROTACs developed for the degradation of oncogenic proteins and to understand what potential they have as future anticancer drugs.
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Antineoplásicos , Neoplasias , Proteínas Proto-Oncogênicas c-mdm2 , Animais , Camundongos , Antineoplásicos/farmacologia , Antineoplásicos/uso terapêutico , Neoplasias/tratamento farmacológico , Neoplasias/genética , Proteólise , Proteínas Proto-Oncogênicas c-mdm2/metabolismo , Proteína Supressora de Tumor p53/metabolismo , Ubiquitina-Proteína Ligases/metabolismoRESUMO
Proteasome inhibitors have shown relevant clinical activity in several hematological malignancies, namely in multiple myeloma and mantle cell lymphoma, improving patient outcomes such as survival and quality of life, when compared with other therapies. However, initial response to the therapy is a challenge as most patients show an innate resistance to proteasome inhibitors, and those that respond to the therapy usually develop late relapses suggesting the development of acquired resistance. The mechanisms of resistance to proteasome inhibition are still controversial and scarce in the literature. In this review, we discuss the development of proteasome inhibitors and the mechanisms of innate and acquired resistance to their activity-a major challenge in preclinical and clinical therapeutics. An improved understanding of these mechanisms is crucial to guiding the design of new and more effective drugs to tackle these devastating diseases. In addition, we provide a comprehensive overview of proteasome inhibitors used in combination with other chemotherapeutic agents, as this is a key strategy to combat resistance.
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Antineoplásicos , Mieloma Múltiplo , Neoplasias , Adulto , Antineoplásicos/farmacologia , Antineoplásicos/uso terapêutico , Bortezomib/farmacologia , Bortezomib/uso terapêutico , Humanos , Mieloma Múltiplo/tratamento farmacológico , Neoplasias/tratamento farmacológico , Complexo de Endopeptidases do Proteassoma , Inibidores de Proteassoma/farmacologia , Inibidores de Proteassoma/uso terapêutico , Qualidade de VidaRESUMO
Breakthroughs in Medicinal Chemistry [...].
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Descoberta de Drogas/métodos , Animais , Química Farmacêutica , Humanos , Terapia de Alvo Molecular , Preparações Farmacêuticas , Relação Estrutura-AtividadeRESUMO
A series of novel madecassic acid (1) derivatives was synthesized, and their cytotoxicity was evaluated against the NCI-60 panel of cancer cell lines. Several analogues exhibited broad-spectrum cytotoxic activities over all nine tumor types represented in the panel, with more potent antiproliferative activities observed against selected cancer cell lines, including multidrug-resistant phenotypes. Among them, compound 29 showed GI50 (50% growth inhibition) values ranging from 0.3 to 0.9 µM against 26 different tumor cell lines and selectivity for one colon (COLO 205) and two melanoma (SK-MEL-5 and UACC-257) cell lines at the TGI (total growth inhibition) level. The mode of action of 29 was predicted by CellMiner bioinformatic analysis and confirmed by biochemical and cell-based experiments to involve inhibition of the DNA replication process, particularly the initiation of replication, and disruption of mitochondrial membrane potential. The present findings suggest this novel madecassic acid derivative may have potential as an anticancer therapeutic lead for both solid and hematological tumors.
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Antineoplásicos/farmacologia , Triterpenos/farmacologia , Antineoplásicos/química , Ciclo Celular/efeitos dos fármacos , Linhagem Celular Tumoral , Proliferação de Células/efeitos dos fármacos , Humanos , Estrutura Molecular , Análise Espectral/métodos , Relação Estrutura-Atividade , Triterpenos/químicaRESUMO
Drug discovery now faces a new challenge, where the availability of experimental data is no longer the limiting step, and instead, making sense of the data has gained a new level of importance, propelled by the extensive incorporation of cheminformatics and bioinformatics methodologies into the drug discovery and development pipeline. These enable, for example, the inference of structure-activity relationships that can be useful in the discovery of new drug candidates. One of the therapeutic applications that could benefit from this type of data mining is proteasome inhibition, given that multiple compounds have been designed and tested for the last 20 years, and this collection of data is yet to be subjected to such type of assessment. This study presents a retrospective overview of two decades of proteasome inhibitors development (680 compounds), in order to gather what could be learned from them and apply this knowledge to any future drug discovery on this subject. Our analysis focused on how different chemical descriptors coupled with statistical tools can be used to extract interesting patterns of activity. Multiple instances of the structure-activity relationship were observed in this dataset, either for isolated molecular descriptors (e.g., molecular refractivity and topological polar surface area) as well as scaffold similarity or chemical space overlap. Building a decision tree allowed the identification of two meaningful decision rules that describe the chemical parameters associated with high activity. Additionally, a characterization of the prevalence of key functional groups gives insight into global patterns followed in drug discovery projects, and highlights some systematically underexplored parts of the chemical space. The various chemical patterns identified provided useful insight that can be applied in future drug discovery projects, and give an overview of what has been done so far.
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Biologia Computacional , Desenho de Fármacos , Descoberta de Drogas , Modelos Químicos , Inibidores de Proteassoma/química , Bibliotecas de Moléculas Pequenas/química , HumanosRESUMO
A series of new glycyrrhetinic acid derivatives was synthesized via the opening of its ring A along with the coupling of an amino acid. The antiproliferative activity of the derivatives was evaluated against a panel of nine human cancer cell lines. Compound 17 was the most active compound, with an IC50 of 6.1 µM on Jurkat cells, which is 17-fold more potent than that of glycyrrhetinic acid, and was up to 10 times more selective toward that cancer cell line. Further biological investigation in Jurkat cells showed that the antiproliferative activity of compound 17 was due to cell cycle arrest at the S phase and induction of apoptosis.
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Antineoplásicos/síntese química , Antineoplásicos/farmacologia , Ácido Glicirretínico/síntese química , Ácido Glicirretínico/farmacologia , Apoptose/efeitos dos fármacos , Pontos de Checagem do Ciclo Celular/efeitos dos fármacos , Linhagem Celular Tumoral , Proliferação de Células/efeitos dos fármacos , Relação Dose-Resposta a Droga , Ácido Glicirretínico/análogos & derivados , Humanos , Estrutura Molecular , Relação Estrutura-AtividadeRESUMO
A new series of glycyrrhetinic acid derivatives has been synthesized via the introduction of different heterocyclic rings conjugated with an α,ß-unsaturated ketone in its ring A. These new compounds were screened for their antiproliferative activity in a panel of nine human cancer cell lines. Compound 10 was the most active derivative, with an IC50 of 1.1 µM on Jurkat cells, which is 96-fold more potent than that of glycyrrhetinic acid, and was 4-fold more selective toward that cancer cell line. Further biological studies performed in Jurkat cells showed that compound 10 is a potent inducer of apoptosis that activates both the intrinsic and extrinsic pathways.
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Antineoplásicos/síntese química , Antineoplásicos/farmacologia , Sobrevivência Celular/efeitos dos fármacos , Ácido Glicirretínico/síntese química , Ácido Glicirretínico/farmacologia , Antineoplásicos/química , Apoptose/efeitos dos fármacos , Ciclo Celular/efeitos dos fármacos , Linhagem Celular Tumoral , Técnicas de Química Sintética , Ácido Glicirretínico/análogos & derivados , Ácido Glicirretínico/química , Humanos , Estrutura MolecularRESUMO
Proteasome emerged as an important target in recent pharmacological research due to its pivotal role in degrading proteins in the cytoplasm and nucleus of eukaryotic cells, regulating a wide variety of cellular pathways, including cell growth and proliferation, apoptosis, DNA repair, transcription, immune response, and signaling processes. The last two decades witnessed intensive efforts to discover 20S proteasome inhibitors with significant chemical diversity and efficacy. To date, the US FDA approved to market three proteasome inhibitors: bortezomib, carfilzomib, and ixazomib. However new, safer and more efficient drugs are still required. Computer-aided drug discovery has long being used in drug discovery campaigns targeting the human proteasome. The aim of this review is to illustrate selected in silico methods like homology modeling, molecular docking, pharmacophore modeling, virtual screening, and combined methods that have been used in proteasome inhibitors discovery. Applications of these methods to proteasome inhibitors discovery will also be presented and discussed to raise improvements in this particular field.
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Simulação por Computador , Descoberta de Drogas , Inibidores de Proteassoma/química , Antineoplásicos/química , Antineoplásicos/farmacologia , Sítios de Ligação , Domínio Catalítico , Desenho de Fármacos , Descoberta de Drogas/métodos , Humanos , Conformação Molecular , Simulação de Acoplamento Molecular , Simulação de Dinâmica Molecular , Estrutura Molecular , Complexo de Endopeptidases do Proteassoma/química , Complexo de Endopeptidases do Proteassoma/metabolismo , Inibidores de Proteassoma/farmacologia , Ligação ProteicaRESUMO
First examples of [8π + 2π] cycloaddition of 16-dehydropregnenolone (16-DPA) acetate with diazafulvenium methides leading to chiral 4,5,6,7-tetrahydropyrazolo[1,5-a]pyridine-fused steroids are reported. These hexacyclic steroids were obtained exclusively or selectively with the approach of the 1,7-dipole by the less hindered α-face of 16-DPA. Quantum chemical calculations at the DFT level were carried out, using the cycloaddition of 1-methyl- and 1-benzyl-diazafulvenium methides with N-phenylmaleimide as model reactions, in order to rationalize the stereochemistry outcome. The results indicate that endo cycloadditions of the more stable dipole conformation, having the 1-substituent pointing outward, are significantly more favorable than the alternative exo cycloaddition.
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Compostos Heterocíclicos/síntese química , Imidazóis/química , Indolquinonas/química , Esteroides/síntese química , Catálise , Ciclização , Reação de Cicloadição , Modelos Moleculares , Estrutura Molecular , EstereoisomerismoRESUMO
Leukemia is a heterogeneous group of life-threatening malignant disorders of the hematopoietic system. Immunotherapy, radiotherapy, stem cell transplantation, targeted therapy, and chemotherapy are among the approved leukemia treatments. Unfortunately, therapeutic resistance, side effects, relapses, and long-term sequelae occur in a significant proportion of patients and severely compromise the treatment efficacy. The development of novel approaches to improve outcomes is therefore an unmet need. Recently, novel leukemia drug discovery strategies, including targeted protein degradation, have shown potential to advance the field of personalized medicine for leukemia patients. Specifically, PROteolysis-TArgeting Chimeras (PROTACs) are revolutionary compounds that allow the selective degradation of a protein by the ubiquitin-proteasome system. Developed against a wide range of cancer targets, they show promising potential in overcoming many of the drawbacks associated with conventional therapies. Following the exponential growth of antileukemic PROTACs, this article reviews PROTAC-mediated degradation of leukemia-associated targets. Chemical structures, in vitro and in vivo activities, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, and clinical trials of PROTACs are critically discussed. Furthermore, advantages, challenges, and future perspectives of PROTACs in leukemia are covered, in order to understand the potential that these novel compounds may have as future drugs for leukemia treatment.
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Disease-modifying therapies (DMT) for Alzheimer's disease (AD) are highly longed-for. In this quest, anti-amyloid therapies take center stage supported by genetic facts that highlight an imbalance between production and clearance of amyloid-ß peptide (Aß) in AD patients. Indeed, evidence from basic research, human genetic and biomarker studies, suggests the accumulation of Aß as a driver of AD pathogenesis and progression. The aspartic protease ß-site AßPP cleaving enzyme (BACE1) is the initiator for Aß production. Underpinning a critical role for BACE1 in AD pathophysiology are the elevated BACE1 concentration and activity observed in the brain and body fluids of AD patients. Therefore, BACE1 is a prime drug target for reducing Aß levels in early AD. Small-molecule BACE1 inhibitors have been extensively developed for the last 20 years. However, clinical trials with these molecules have been discontinued for futility or safety reasons. Most of the observed adverse side effects were due to other aspartic proteases cross-inhibition, including the homologue BACE2, and to mechanism-based toxicity since BACE1 has substrates with important roles for synaptic plasticity and synaptic homeostasis besides amyloid-ß protein precursor (AßPP). Despite these setbacks, BACE1 persists as a well-validated therapeutic target for which a specific inhibitor with high substrate selectivity may yet to be found. In this review we provide an overview of the evolution in BACE1 inhibitors design pinpointing the molecules that reached advanced phases of clinical trials and the liabilities that precluded adequate trial effects. Finally, we ponder on the challenges that anti-amyloid therapies must overcome to achieve clinical success.
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Steroids, a widespread class of natural organic compounds occurring in animals, plants and fungi, have shown great therapeutic value for a broad array of pathologies. The present overview is focused on the anticancer activity of steroids, which is very representative of a rich structural molecular diversity and ability to interact with various biological targets and pathways. This review encompasses the most relevant discoveries on steroid anticancer drugs and leads through the last decade and comprises 668 references.
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Antineoplásicos , Produtos Biológicos , Esteroides , Animais , Antineoplásicos/síntese química , Antineoplásicos/química , Antineoplásicos/isolamento & purificação , Antineoplásicos/farmacologia , Produtos Biológicos/síntese química , Produtos Biológicos/química , Produtos Biológicos/isolamento & purificação , Produtos Biológicos/farmacologia , Fungos , Humanos , Estrutura Molecular , Plantas Medicinais , Esteroides/síntese química , Esteroides/química , Esteroides/isolamento & purificação , Esteroides/farmacologiaRESUMO
A series of new oleanane imidazole carbamates, N-acylimidazoles or N-alkylimidazoles were synthesized, characterized and evaluated for their antiproliferative activity in AsPC-1 pancreatic cancer cells. Structure-activity relationship analysis revealed that the N-alkylimidazole 27 was the most active compound with apoptosis induction abilities correlated with upregulation of NOXA and downregulation of Bcl-xL. The antiproliferative activity of compound 27 was further tested in more solid tumor cell lines with IC(50) values lower than 1 µM.
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Antineoplásicos/farmacologia , Compostos Heterocíclicos/farmacologia , Ácido Oleanólico/farmacologia , Antineoplásicos/síntese química , Antineoplásicos/química , Apoptose/efeitos dos fármacos , Proliferação de Células/efeitos dos fármacos , Relação Dose-Resposta a Droga , Ensaios de Seleção de Medicamentos Antitumorais , Compostos Heterocíclicos/síntese química , Compostos Heterocíclicos/química , Humanos , Conformação Molecular , Ácido Oleanólico/síntese química , Ácido Oleanólico/química , Relação Estrutura-Atividade , Células Tumorais CultivadasRESUMO
INTRODUCTION: PROteolysis-TArgeting Chimeras (PROTACs) allow the selective degradation of a protein of interest (POI) by the ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS). With this unique mechanism of action, the research and development of PROTACs that target the Breakpoint Cluster Region Abelson (BCR-ABL) tyrosine kinase (TK) has been increasing dramatically, as they are promising molecules in the treatment of Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (CML), one of the main hematological malignancies, which results from an uncontrolled myeloproliferation due to the constitutive activation of BCR-ABL. AREAS COVERED: This review summarizes the patents/applications published in the online databases like Espacenet or World Intellectual Property Organization regarding PROTACs that promote BCR-ABL degradation. Patents will be described mostly in terms of chemical structure, biochemical/pharmacological activities, and potential clinical applications. EXPERT OPINION: The recent discovery of the enormous potential of PROTACs led to the creation of new compounds capable of degrading BCR-ABL for the treatment of CML. Although still in reduced numbers, and in the pre-clinical phase of development, some compounds have already been shown to overcome some of the difficulties presented by conventional BCR-ABL inhibitors, such as the well-known imatinib. Therefore, it is very likely that some of the present PROTACs will enter future CML therapy in the coming years.
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Antineoplásicos , Leucemia Mielogênica Crônica BCR-ABL Positiva , Humanos , Quimera de Direcionamento de Proteólise , Proteólise , Resistencia a Medicamentos Antineoplásicos , Patentes como Assunto , Leucemia Mielogênica Crônica BCR-ABL Positiva/tratamento farmacológico , Leucemia Mielogênica Crônica BCR-ABL Positiva/metabolismo , Leucemia Mielogênica Crônica BCR-ABL Positiva/patologia , Proteínas de Fusão bcr-abl/química , Proteínas de Fusão bcr-abl/metabolismo , Inibidores de Proteínas Quinases/química , Antineoplásicos/farmacologia , Antineoplásicos/uso terapêuticoRESUMO
Cancer is a leading cause of mortality responsible for an estimated 10 million deaths worldwide in 2020, and its incidence has been rapidly growing over the last decades. Population growth and aging, as well as high systemic toxicity and chemoresistance associated with conventional anticancer therapies reflect these high levels of incidence and mortality. Thus, efforts have been made to search for novel anticancer drugs with fewer side effects and greater therapeutic effectiveness. Nature continues to be the main source of biologically active lead compounds, and diterpenoids are considered one of the most important families since many have been reported to possess anticancer properties. Oridonin is an ent-kaurane tetracyclic diterpenoid isolated from Rabdosia rubescens and has been a target of extensive research over the last few years. It displays a broad range of biological effects including neuroprotective, anti-inflammatory, and anticancer activity against a variety of tumor cells. Several structural modifications on the oridonin and biological evaluation of its derivatives have been performed, creating a library of compounds with improved pharmacological activities. This mini-review aims to highlight the recent advances in oridonin derivatives as potential anticancer drugs, while succinctly exploring their proposed mechanisms of action. To wind up, future research perspectives in this field are also disclosed.
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Arjunolic acid (AA) is a pentacyclic triterpenoid with promising anticancer properties. A series of novel AA derivatives containing a pentameric A-ring with an enal moiety, combined with additional modifications at C-28, were designed and prepared. The biological activity on the viability of human cancer and non-tumor cell lines was evaluated in order to identify the most promising derivatives. Additionally, a preliminary study of the structure-activity relationship was carried out. The most active derivative, derivative 26, also showed the best selectivity between malignant cells and non-malignant fibroblasts. For compound 26, the anticancer molecular mechanism of action in PANC-1 cells was further studied and the results showed that this derivative induced a cell-cycle arrest at G0/G1 phase and significantly inhibited the wound closure rate of PANC-1 cancer cells in a concentration-dependent manner. Additionally, compound 26 synergistically increased the cytotoxicity of Gemcitabine, especially at a concentration of 0.24 µM. Moreover, a preliminary pharmacological study indicated that at lower doses this compound did not demonstrate toxicity in vivo. Taken together, these findings suggest that compound 26 may be a valuable compound for the development of new pancreatic anticancer treatment, and further studies are needed to explore its full potential.
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Glutaminyl cyclase (QC) activity has been identified as a key effector in distinct biological processes. Human glutaminyl-peptide cyclotransferase (QPCT) and glutaminyl-peptide cyclotransferase-like (QPCTL) are considered attractive therapeutic targets in many human disorders, such as neurodegenerative diseases, and a range of inflammatory conditions, as well as for cancer immunotherapy, because of their capacity to modulate cancer immune checkpoint proteins. In this review, we explore the biological functions and structures of QPCT/L enzymes and highlight their therapeutic relevance. We also summarize recent developments in the discovery of small-molecule inhibitors targeting these enzymes, including an overview of preclinical and clinical studies.