Enhanced fungal specificity and in vivo therapeutic efficacy of a C-22-modified FK520 analog against C. neoformans.

IMPORTANCE: Fungal infections cause significant morbidity and mortality globally. The therapeutic armamentarium against these infections is limited, and the development of antifungal drugs has been hindered by the evolutionary conservation between fungi and the human host. With rising resistance to the current antifungal arsenal and an increasing at-risk population, there is an urgent need for the development of new antifungal compounds. The FK520 analogs described in this study display potent antifungal activity as a novel class of antifungals centered on modifying an existing orally active FDA-approved therapy. This research advances the development of much-needed newer antifungal treatment options with novel mechanisms of action.

Synthesis and Biological Evaluation of Manassantin Analogues for Hypoxia-Inducible Factor 1α Inhibition.

To cope with hypoxia, tumor cells have developed a number of adaptive mechanisms mediated by hypoxia-inducible factor 1 (HIF-1) to promote angiogenesis and cell survival. Due to significant roles of HIF-1 in the initiation, progression, metastasis, and resistance to treatment of most solid tumors, a considerable amount of effort has been made to identify HIF-1 inhibitors for treatment of cancer. Isolated from Saururus cernuus, manassantins A (1) and B (2) are potent inhibitors of HIF-1 activity. To define the structural requirements of manassantins for HIF-1 inhibition, we prepared and evaluated a series of manassantin analogues. Our SAR studies examined key regions of manassantin's structure in order to understand the impact of these regions on biological activity and to define modifications that can lead to improved performance and drug-like properties. Our efforts identified several manassantin analogues with reduced structural complexity as potential lead compounds for further development. Analogues MA04, MA07, and MA11 down-regulated hypoxia-induced expression of the HIF-1α protein and reduced the levels of HIF-1 target genes, including cyclin-dependent kinase 6 (Cdk6) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). These findings provide an important framework to design potent and selective HIF-1α inhibitors, which is necessary to aid translation of manassantin-derived natural products to the clinic as novel therapeutics for cancers.