Identification of 3,4-Dihydro-2H,6H-pyrimido[1,2-c][1,3]benzothiazin-6-imine Derivatives as Novel Selective Inhibitors of Plasmodium falciparum Dihydroorotate Dehydrogenase.

Plasmodium falciparum's resistance to available antimalarial drugs highlights the need for the development of novel drugs. Pyrimidine de novo biosynthesis is a validated drug target for the prevention and treatment of malaria infection. P. falciparum dihydroorotate dehydrogenase (PfDHODH) catalyzes the oxidation of dihydroorotate to orotate and utilize ubiquinone as an electron acceptor in the fourth step of pyrimidine de novo biosynthesis. PfDHODH is targeted by the inhibitor DSM265, which binds to a hydrophobic pocket located at the N-terminus where ubiquinone binds, which is known to be structurally divergent from the mammalian orthologue. In this study, we screened 40,400 compounds from the Kyoto University chemical library against recombinant PfDHODH. These studies led to the identification of 3,4-dihydro-2H,6H-pyrimido[1,2-c][1,3]benzothiazin-6-imine and its derivatives as a new class of PfDHODH inhibitor. Moreover, the hit compounds identified in this study are selective for PfDHODH without inhibition of the human enzymes. Finally, this new scaffold of PfDHODH inhibitors showed growth inhibition activity against P. falciparum 3D7 with low toxicity to three human cell lines, providing a new starting point for antimalarial drug development.

Asymmetric Synthesis of Tetrasubstituted α-Aminophosphonic Acid Derivatives.

Due to their structural similarity with natural α-amino acids, α-aminophosphonic acid derivatives are known biologically active molecules. In view of the relevance of tetrasubstituted carbons in nature and medicine and the strong dependence of the biological activity of chiral molecules into their absolute configuration, the synthesis of α-aminophosphonates bearing tetrasubstituted carbons in an asymmetric fashion has grown in interest in the past few decades. In the following lines, the existing literatures for the synthesis of optically active tetrasubstituted α-aminophosphonates are summarized, comprising diastereoselective and enantioselective approaches.

A simple "turn-on" fluorescence sensor for salicylaldehyde skeleton based on switch of PET-AIE effect.

The selective detection of salicylaldehyde skeleton is of great significance in phytochemistry and biological research but rarely reported. In this research, a simple and highly selective "turn-on" fluorescence sensor (CDB-Am) for salicylaldehyde skeleton was developed based on switch of photoinduced electron transfer (PET) and aggregation-induced emission (AIE). CDB-Am bearing amino-cyanodistyrene structure responded to salicylaldehyde in the range of 3.1 to 40 µM with a detection limit of 0.94 µM. The sensing process of formation of Schiff-base adduct CDB-SA was confirmed by 1H NMR, MS, and FT-IR spectra, revealing that a recovered AIE property accounted for the turn-on fluorescence response of CDB-Am and the intramolecular hydrogen bonding played a crucial role in the disruption of PET process. This sensing ability was successfully applied for both fluorescence qualitative test of salicylaldehyde skeleton on TLC analysis and quantitative detection of salicylaldehyde skeleton with good accuracy in the root bark of Periploca sepium, suggesting the extensive applications in phytochemistry and traditional Chinese herbal medicine. Furthermore, CDB-Am exhibited the first excellent fluorescence imaging ability in detecting salicylaldehyde skeleton in a living system. This work supplied a new strategy of preparing a novel "turn-on" fluorescence probe for detecting salicylaldehyde skeleton in complex environments and living bodies.

Navigating the Unnatural Reaction Space: Directed Evolution of Heme Proteins for Selective Carbene and Nitrene Transfer.

Despite the astonishing diversity of naturally occurring biocatalytic processes, enzymes do not catalyze many of the transformations favored by synthetic chemists. Either nature does not care about the specific products, or if she does, she has adopted a different synthetic strategy. In many cases, the appropriate reagents used by synthetic chemists are not readily accessible to biological systems. Here, we discuss our efforts to expand the catalytic repertoire of enzymes to encompass powerful reactions previously known only in small-molecule catalysis: formation and transfer of reactive carbene and nitrene intermediates leading to a broad range of products, including products with bonds not known in biology. In light of the structural similarity of iron carbene (Fe═C(R1)(R2)) and iron nitrene (Fe═NR) to the iron oxo (Fe═O) intermediate involved in cytochrome P450-catalyzed oxidation, we have used synthetic carbene and nitrene precursors that biological systems have not encountered and repurposed P450s to catalyze reactions that are not known in the natural world. The resulting protein catalysts are fully genetically encoded and function in intact microbial cells or cell-free lysates, where their performance can be improved and optimized by directed evolution. By leveraging the catalytic promiscuity of P450 enzymes, we evolved a range of carbene and nitrene transferases exhibiting excellent activity toward these new-to-nature reactions. Since our initial report in 2012, a number of other heme proteins including myoglobins, protoglobins, and cytochromes c have also been found and engineered to promote unnatural carbene and nitrene transfer. Due to the altered active-site environments, these heme proteins often displayed complementary activities and selectivities to P450s.Using wild-type and engineered heme proteins, we and others have described a range of selective carbene transfer reactions, including cyclopropanation, cyclopropenation, Si-H insertion, B-H insertion, and C-H insertion. Similarly, a variety of asymmetric nitrene transfer processes including aziridination, sulfide imidation, C-H amidation, and, most recently, C-H amination have been demonstrated. The scopes of these biocatalytic carbene and nitrene transfer reactions are often complementary to the state-of-the-art processes based on small-molecule transition-metal catalysts, making engineered biocatalysts a valuable addition to the synthetic chemist's toolbox. Moreover, enabled by the exquisite regio- and stereocontrol imposed by the enzyme catalyst, this biocatalytic platform provides an exciting opportunity to address challenging problems in modern synthetic chemistry and selective catalysis, including ones that have eluded synthetic chemists for decades.

Covalent Organic Framework Embedded with Magnetic Nanoparticles for MRI and Chemo-Thermotherapy.

Nanoscale imine-linked covalent organic frameworks (nCOFs) were first loaded with the anticancer drug Doxorubicin (Dox), coated with magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (γ-Fe2O3 NPs), and stabilized with a shell of poly(l-lysine) cationic polymer (PLL) for simultaneous synergistic thermo-chemotherapy treatment and MRI imaging. The pH responsivity of the resulting nanoagents (γ-SD/PLL) allowed the release of the drug selectively within the acidic microenvironment of late endosomes and lysosomes of cancer cells (pH 5.4) and not in physiological conditions (pH 7.4). γ-SD/PLL could efficiently generate high heat (48 °C) upon exposure to an alternating magnetic field due to the nCOF porous structure that facilitates the heat conduction, making γ-SD/PLL excellent heat mediators in an aqueous solution. The drug-loaded magnetic nCOF composites were cytotoxic due to the synergistic toxicity of Dox and the effects of hyperthermia in vitro on glioblastoma U251-MG cells and in vivo on zebrafish embryos, but they were not significantly toxic to noncancerous cells (HEK293). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of multimodal MRI probe and chemo-thermotherapeutic magnetic nCOF composites.

A simple fluorophore-imine ensemble for colorimetric and fluorescent detection of CN- and HS- in aqueous solution.

Colorimetric and fluorescent detection of cyanide and hydrogen sulfide ions has been effected using a simple organic probe in H2O:DMSO (20:80, v/v) medium. The probe exhibits a colour change from pale-yellow to red upon addition of these analytes under normal light and fluorescent change from green to red under UV lamp. Other competitive ions show no observable colour or fluorescence change. The binding constants of cyanide and hydrogen sulfide ions with the probe determined using fluorescence titration data are found to be 2.1 × 104 and 1.6 × 104 M-1, respectively. The probe fluorimetrically detects the analytes in a wide pH range (4-10). 1H and 13C NMR studies suggest that the probe senses cyanide ion through deprotonation and nucleophilic addition mechanism and hydrogen sulfide ion via deprotonation mechanism. Detection limits of cyanide and hydrogen sulfide are determined to be 0.15 and 1 µM, respectively. The practical utility of the probe has been demonstrated by same dual mode detection of cyanide in food materials like bitter almond, cassava flour and sprouting potato.

Direct Catalytic Asymmetric Synthesis of Trifluoromethylated γ-Amino Esters/Lactones via Umpolung Strategy.

Enabled by the discovery of new cinchonium salts and coadditives, a direct and efficient asymmetric access to trifluoromethylated γ-amino esters/lactones has been realized through the enantioselective and diastereoselective umpolung reaction of trifluoromethyl imines with acrylates or α,ß-unsaturated lactones as carbon electrophiles. At 0.5-5.0 mol % catalyst loadings, the newly developed catalytic system activates a variety of imine substrates as unconventional nucleophiles to mediate highly chemo-, regio-, diastereo-, and enantioselective C-C bond forming reactions. The developed synthetic protocol represents an excellent strategy to target a series of versatile and enantiomerically enriched γ-amino esters/lactones in good to excellent yields from the readily available starting materials. Additionally, we found that the epi-vinyl catalysts based on cinchonidine and quinine promote a similarly high enantioselective reaction generating the opposite configuration of chiral products in a highly efficient manner, which allows convenient access to either the R- or S-enantiomer of the chiral amine products in high yields and excellent enantioselectivities.

Pyrazole Schiff Base Hybrids as Anti-Malarial Agents: Synthesis, In Vitro Screening and Computational Study.

BACKGROUND: Malaria is one of the most vital infectious diseases caused by protozoan parasites of the Plasmodium genus. As P. falciparum, the cause of most of the severe cases of malaria, is increasingly resistant to available drugs such as amodioquine, chloroquine, artemisinin, and antifolates, there is an urgent need to identify new targets for chemotherapy. OBJECTIVE: This study screened novel pyrazole derivatives carrying iminium & benzothiazole group for antimalarial potential against P. falciparum chloroquine sensitive (3D7) strain. MATERIALS & METHODS: Several pyrazole schiff base hybrids with a wide range of substitution have been synthesized via condensation of substituted aniline with substituted 4-formylpyrazole and evaluated for their in vitro antimalarial activity against asexual blood stages of human malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum. The interaction of these conjugate hybrids was also investigated by molecular docking studies in the binding site of P. falciparum cystein protease falcipain-2. The pharmacokinetic properties were also studied using ADME prediction. RESULTS: Among all compounds, 6bf and 6bd were found to be potential molecules with EC50 1.95µg/ml and 1.98µg/ml respectively. Docking study results reveal that the pyrazole schiff base derivatives occupy the PfFP binding sites and they show good interactions with significant values of binding energies. CONCLUSION: We provide evidence which implicates pyrazole Schiff base hybrids as potential prototypes for the development of antimalarial agents.

Multifunctional WS2 @Poly(ethylene imine) Nanoplatforms for Imaging Guided Gene-Photothermal Synergistic Therapy of Cancer.

The combination of photothermal therapy (PTT) with gene therapy (GT) to improve PTT efficiency and thus eliminate cancer cells under mild hyperthermia is highly needed. Herein, multifunctional WS2 @poly(ethylene imine) (WS2 @PEI) nanoplatform has been designed and constructed for gene-photothermal synergistic therapy of tumors at mild condition. After a surface modification of WS2 with a positively charged PEI, the as-prepared WS2 @PEI nanoplatform can not only act as an efficient survivin-siRNA carrier for GT but also exhibit remarkable near-infrared (NIR) photothermal effects for PTT. On the one hand, the photothermal effects induced by WS2 @PEI upon NIR irradiation can enhance the cellular uptake owing to the increase of the cell membrane permeability, which leads to the remarkable enhancement of silencing efficiency of survivin. On the other hand, the silencing of survivin can increase the apoptosis as well as reduce the heat resistance of cancer cells by downregulating the heat shock protein 70 expressions, which greatly enhance the sensitivity of cancer cells to PTT. As a result, compared to PTT or GT treatment alone, WS2 @PEI mediated synergistic GT/PTT therapy remarkably enhances in vitro cancer cell damage and in vivo tumor elimination.

Discovery of 5-Chloro-1-(5-chloro-2-(methylsulfonyl)benzyl)-2-imino-1,2-dihydropyridine-3-carboxamide (TAK-259) as a Novel, Selective, and Orally Active α1D Adrenoceptor Antagonist with Antiurinary Frequency Effects: Reducing Human Ether-a-go-go-Related Gene (hERG) Liabilities.

A novel structural class of iminopyridine derivative 1 was identified as a potent and selective human α1D adrenoceptor (α1D adrenergic receptor; α1D-AR) antagonist against α1A- and α1B-AR through screening of an in-house compound library. From initial structure-activity relationship studies, we found lead compound 9m with hERG K(+) channel liability. To develop analogues with reduced hERG K(+) channel inhibition, a combination of site-directed mutagenesis and docking studies was employed. Further optimization led to the discovery of (R)-9s and 9u, which showed antagonistic activity by a bladder strip test in rats with bladder outlet obstruction, as well as ameliorated cystitis-induced urinary frequency in rats. Ultimately, 9u was selected as a clinical candidate. This is the first study to show the utility of iminopyridine derivatives as selective α1D-AR antagonists and evaluate their effects in vivo.

Sugar-decorated mesoporous silica nanoparticles as delivery vehicles for the poorly soluble drug celastrol enables targeted induction of apoptosis in cancer cells.

Cancerous cells have a rapid metabolism by which they take up sugars, such as glucose, at significantly higher rates than normal cells. Celastrol is a traditional herbal medicine known for its anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer activities. The poor aqueous solubility and lack of target selectivity of celastrol result in low therapeutic concentration of the drug reaching subcellular compartments of the target tissue, making it an interesting candidate for nanoparticulate delivery. The goal of this study was to utilize glucose as an affinity ligand decorated on mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs), with the aim of delivering these celastrol-loaded MSNs with high specificity to cancer cells and inducing minimal off-target effects in healthy cells. MSNs were thus functionalized with sugar moieties by two different routes, either by conjugation directly to the MSN surface or mediated by a hyperbranched poly(ethylene imine), PEI layer; the latter to increase the cellular uptake by providing an overall positive surface charge as well as to increase the reaction sites for sugar conjugation. The effect of surface functionalization on the target-specific efficacy of the particles was assessed by analyzing the uptake in HeLa and A549 cells as cancer cell models, as compared to mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEF) as a representative for normal cells. To this end a comprehensive analysis strategy was employed, including flow cytometry, confocal microscopy, and spectrophotometry. When the apoptotic effect of celastrol was evaluated, the anti-cancer activity of celastrol was shown to be significantly enhanced when it was loaded into the specifically designed MSNs. The particles themselves did not induce any toxicity, and normal cells displayed minimal off-target effects. In summary, we show that glucose-functionalized MSNs can be used as efficient carriers for targeted celastrol delivery to achieve specific induction of apoptosis in cancer cells.

Radical anionic versus neutral 2,2'-bipyridyl coordination in uranium complexes supported by amide and ketimide ligands.

The synthesis and characterization of (bipy)(2)U(N[t-Bu]Ar)(2) (1-(bipy)(2), bipy = 2,2'-bipyridyl, Ar = 3,5-C(6)H(3)Me(2)), (bipy)U(N[(1)Ad]Ar)(3) (2-bipy), (bipy)(2)U(NC[t-Bu]Mes)(3) (3-(bipy)(2), Mes = 2,4,6-C(6)H(2)Me(3)), and IU(bipy)(NC[t-Bu]Mes)(3) (3-I-bipy) are reported. X-ray crystallography studies indicate that bipy coordinates as a radical anion in 1-(bipy)(2) and 2-bipy, and as a neutral ligand in 3-I-bipy. In 3-(bipy)(2), one of the bipy ligands is best viewed as a radical anion, the other as a neutral ligand. The electronic structure assignments are supported by NMR spectroscopy studies of exchange experiments with 4,4'-dimethyl-2,2'-bipyridyl and also by optical spectroscopy. In all complexes, uranium was assigned a +4 formal oxidation state.

pH-responsive biocompatible fluorescent polymer nanoparticles based on phenylboronic acid for intracellular imaging and drug delivery.

To address current medical challenges, there is an urgent need to develop drug delivery systems with multiple functions, such as simultaneous stimuli-responsive drug release and real-time imaging. Biocompatible polymers have great potential for constructing smart multifunctional drug-delivery systems through grafting with other functional ligands. More importantly, novel biocompatible polymers with intrinsic fluorescence emission can work as theranostic nanomedicines for real-time imaging and drug delivery. Herein, we developed a highly fluorescent nanoparticle based on a phenylboronic acid-modified poly(lactic acid)-poly(ethyleneimine)(PLA-PEI) copolymer loaded with doxorubicin (Dox) for intracellular imaging and pH-responsive drug delivery. The nanoparticles exhibited superior fluorescence properties, such as fluorescence stability, no blinking and excitation-dependent fluorescence behavior. The Dox-loaded fluorescent nanoparticles showed pH-responsive drug release and were more effective in suppressing the proliferation of MCF-7 cells. In addition, the biocompatible fluorescent nanoparticles could be used as a tool for intracellular imaging and drug delivery, and the process of endosomal escape was traced by real-time imaging. These pH-responsive and biocompatible fluorescent polymer nanoparticles, based on phenylboronic acid, are promising tools for intracellular imaging and drug delivery.

Synthesis, biological evaluation, and molecular modeling of new 3-(cyclopentyloxy)-4-methoxybenzaldehyde O-(2-(2,6-dimethylmorpholino)-2-oxoethyl) Oxime (GEBR-7b) related phosphodiesterase 4D (PDE4D) inhibitors.

A new series of 3-(cyclopentyloxy)-4-methoxyphenyl derivatives, structurally related to our hit GEBR-4a (1) and GEBR-7b (2), has been designed by changing length and functionality of the chain linking the catecholic moiety to the terminal cycloamine portion. Among the numerous molecules synthesized, compounds 8, 10a, and 10b showed increased potency as PDE4D enzyme inhibitors with respect to 2 and a good selectivity against PDE4A4, PDE4B2, and PDE4C2 enzymes, without both cytotoxic and genotoxic effects. The ability to enhance cAMP level in neuronal cells was assessed for compound 8. SAR considerations, also confirmed by in silico docking simulations, evidenced that both chain and amino terminal function characterized by higher hydrophilicity are required for a good and selective inhibitor-catalytic pocket interaction.

Design, synthesis and antihypertensive screening of novel pyridazine substituted s-triazin-2-imine/one/thione derivatives.

Some new 7-substituted-phenyl-3,4,8,9-tetrahydro-2H-pyridazino[1,6-a][1,3,5]triazin-2-imine/one/thione derivatives were synthesized by a sequence of reactions starting from appropriate aryl hydrocarbons. The final compounds were screened for antihypertensive activities by non-invasive method using Tail Cuff method. All the test compounds showed significant antihypertensive activity; 7-(biphenyl-4-yl)-3,4,8,9-tetrahydro-2H-pyridazino[1,6-a][1,3,5]triazin-2-imine (4p) exhibited antihypertensive activity more than the reference standard drugs.

Combination of electrochemistry and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy for metabolism studies.

During the development of new materials demonstrating biological activity, prediction and identification of reactive intermediates generated in the course of drug metabolism in the human liver is of great importance. We present a rapid and purely instrumental method for the structure elucidation of possible phase I metabolites. With electrochemical (EC) conversion adopting the oxidative function of liver-inherent enzymes and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy enabling structure elucidation, comprehensive knowledge on potential metabolites can be gained. Paracetamol (APAP) has been known to induce hepatotoxicity when exceeding therapeutic doses and was therefore selected as the test compound. The reactive metabolite N-acetyl-p-benzoquinone imine has long been proven to be responsible for the toxic side effects of APAP and can easily be generated by EC. EC coupled online to NMR is a straightforward technique for structure elucidation of reactive drug intermediates at an early stage in drug discovery.

Selective solid-phase extraction of uranium by salicylideneimine-functionalized hydrothermal carbon.

A new salicylideneimine-functionalized hydrothermal-carbon-based solid-phase extractant was developed for the purpose of separating uranium selectively for sustainability of uranium resources. The resulting adsorption material was obtained via hydrothermal carbonization, calcination at mild temperature (573.15K), amination, and grafting with salicylaldehyde in sequence. Both Fourier transform infrared spectra and elemental analysis proved the successful grafting of salicylideneimine onto hydrothermal carbon matrix. Adsorption behaviors of the extractant on uranium(VI) were investigated by varying pH values of solution, adsorbent amounts, contact times, initial metal concentrations, temperatures, and ionic strengths. An optimum adsorption capacity of 1.10 mmol g(-1) (261 mg g(-1)) for uranium(VI) was obtained at pH 4.3. The present adsorption process obeyed pseudo-second-order model and Langmuir isotherm. Thermodynamic parameters (ΔH=+8.81 kJ mol(-1), ΔS=+110 J K(-1)mol(-1), ΔG=-23.0 kJ mol(-1)) indicated the adsorption process was endothermic and spontaneous. Results from batch adsorption test in simulated nuclear industrial effluent, containing Cs(+), Sr(2+), Ba(2+), Mn(2+), Co(2+), Ni(2+), Zn(2+), La(3+), Ce(3+), Nd(3+), Sm(3+), and Gd(3+), showed the adsorbent could separate uranium(VI) from those competitive ions with high selectivity. The adsorbent might be promising for use in certain key steps in any future sustainable nuclear fuel cycle.

Iminopyridine complexes of manganese, rhenium, and molybdenum derived from amino ester methylserine and peptides Gly-Gly, Gly-Val, and Gly-Gly-Gly: self-assembly of the peptide chains.

Complexes containing pyridine-2-carboxaldehyde (pyca) ligand acting as κ(2)-(N,O) chelates in [MX(CO)(3)(pyca)] (M = Mn, Re; X = Cl, Br), or [MoX(methallyl)(CO)(2)(pyca)] (X = Cl, Br), are good precursors for iminopyridine complexes derived from amino esters and peptides of formula [MX(CO)(3)(py-2-C(H)═NCHX-COOY)] or [MoX(methallyl)(CO)(2)(py-2-C(H)═NCHX-COOY)], via Schiff condensation of the aldehyde function of pyca with the terminal NH(2) group of the amino ester or peptide. X-ray determinations confirm the structures and show that in solid phase the peptide chains assemble through H-bonds adopting different patterns which depend on the geometry of the metal-ligand fragments. The H-bonding patterns have been analyzed in detail and described by using graph set methods. In most cases, Mo complexes show intramolecular arrangement involving the halogen (Cl or Br) and an NH group of the side chain. For the Mn and Re complexes, the peptide side arms form infinite chains, helices, and rings. In many cases, the terminal carboxylic O-H function is engaged in a "terminal" H-bond with a polar molecule of solvent (THF or acetone), instead of forming the usual head-to-head arrangement found in simple carboxylic acids. For the longer tripeptide Gly-Gly-Gly, a discrete, dimeric association is observed, in which the peptide chains show antiparallel arrangement with a complementary disposition of the internal N-H and C═O functions. DOSY experiments in solution show significant changes in the diffusion rates upon addition of OPBu(3), which indicate H-bonding interaction of OPBu(3) with the peptide hydrogens.