Design, synthesis and biological evaluation of tanshinone IIA derivatives as NLRP3 inflammasome inhibitors.

Natural product structures have long provided valuable pharmacophores and even candidates for drug discovery. Tanshinone scaffold showed moderately inhibitory activity in NLRP3 inflammasome/IL-1ß pathway. Herein, we designed a series of derivatives on different regions of Tanshinone IIA (TNA) scaffold. The biological evaluation identified compound T10, a scaffold hybrid of TNA and salicylic acid, as a potent NLRP3 inflammasome inhibitor. Mechanistically, T10 inhibits the production of ROS and prevents NLRP3 inflammasome-dependent IL-1ß production. In addition, treatment with T10 significantly attenuated inflammatory response in DSS-induced peritonitis. Our work describes a potential tanshinone-based derivative, which needs to be further structurally optimized as NLRP3 inflammasome inhibitors for treating inflammatory disorders.

Discovery of a selective NLRP3-targeting compound with therapeutic activity in MSU-induced peritonitis and DSS-induced acute intestinal inflammation.

The aberrant activation of the nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain-like receptor family pyrin domain containing 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome is known to contribute to the pathogenesis of various human inflammation-related diseases. However, to date, no small-molecule NLRP3 inhibitor has been used in clinical settings. In this study, we have identified SB-222200 as a novel direct NLRP3 inhibitor through the use of drug affinity responsive target stability assay, cellular thermal shift assay, and surface plasmon resonance analysis. SB-222200 effectively inhibits the activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome in macrophages, while having no impact on the activation of NLRC4 or AIM2 inflammasome. Furthermore, SB-222200 directly binds to the NLRP3 protein, inhibiting NLRP3 inflammasome assembly by blocking the NEK7 - NLRP3 interaction and NLRP3 oligomerization. Importantly, treatment with SB-222200 demonstrates alleviation of NLRP3-dependent inflammatory diseases in mouse models, such as monosodium urate crystal-induced peritonitis and dextran sulfate sodium-induced acute intestinal inflammation. Therefore, SB-222200 holds promise as a lead compound for the development of NLRP3 inhibitors to combat NLRP3-driven disease and serves as a versatile tool for pharmacologically investigating NLRP3 biology.

Discovery of a dual-acting inhibitor of interleukin-1ß and STATs for the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease.

Currently, a significant proportion of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients fail to respond to conventional drug therapy such as immunosuppressants and biologic agents. Interference with the JAK/STAT pathway and blocking of IL-1 signaling are two promising therapeutic strategies for these unresponsive IBD patients. This work describes the discovery of an inhibitor 10v that not only blocks NLRP3 and AIM-2 inflammasome-mediated IL-1ß signaling, but also reduces the expression of STAT1 and STAT5 in the JAK/STAT pathway. Importantly, 10v exhibits a significant anti-IL-1ß effect and decreases the levels of STAT1 and STAT5 in a mouse model of colitis. As a result, a novel small molecule is identified with a dual inhibitory capacity towards both inflammasomes/IL-1ß and STAT pathways, which supports further exploration of the therapeutic potential for IBD patients that do not respond to current drug therapy.

Artemisitene shows superiority over artemisinin in preventing Schistosoma japonica-induced liver disease.

BACKGROUND: Artemisinin (ART) analogs, such as dihydroartemisinin, arteether, artemether, and artesunate, all featuring an endoperoxide bridge, have demonstrated efficacy against schistosomiasis. Artemisitene (ATT), which contains an additional α, ß-unsaturated carbonyl structure, has shown enhanced biological activities. This study aims to evaluate the anti-schistosomaiasis japonica activity of ATT and compare it with ART. METHODS: We assessed liver inflammation and fibrosis in mice using hematoxylin and eosin staining and Sirius red staining, respectively. RNA sequencing analyzed transcriptomics in female and male Schistosoma japonicum (S. japonicum) adult worms and mice livers, with cytokine profiling and flow cytometry to study immune responses under ART or ATT treatment. RESULTS: ATT exhibits a marked reduction in female S. japonicum adult worms and egg numbers, damaging the adult worms' surface. It also influences the transcription of genes related to cellular anatomical structures. Notably, ATT treatment resulted in significant reductions in liver granuloma size and collagen area, alongside lowering serum levels of glutamic pyruvic and glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase more effectively than ART. Both ART and ATT markedly decreased neutrophil frequency in the liver and elevated eosinophil counts. However, only ATT treatment significantly reduced the M1/M2 and Th1/Th2 indices, indicating a pronounced shift in immune response profiles. ATT-affected host immunity correlated with the extent of liver fibrosis and the count of single males more strongly than ART. CONCLUSION: ATT, as a novel preventive strategy for schistosomiasis japonica in mice, significantly outperforms ART.

Artemisinin-derived artemisitene blocks ROS-mediated NLRP3 inflammasome and alleviates ulcerative colitis.

Artemisinins are well-known antimalarial drugs with clinical safety. In addition to antimalarial effects, their anti-inflammatory and immunoregulatory properties have recently attracted much attention in the treatment of inflammatory diseases. However, these artemisinins only have sub-millimolar anti-inflammatory activity in vitro, which may pose a high risk of toxicity in vivo with high doses of artemisinins. Here, we identified another derivative, artemisitene, which can increase the activity of inhibiting the NLRP3 pathway by more than 200-fold through introducing a covalent binding group while retaining the peroxide bridge structure. Mechanistically, artemisitene inhibits the production of ROS (especially mtROS) and prevents the assembly and activation of NLRP3 inflammasome, thereby inhibiting IL-1ß production. In addition, it can also block IL-1ß secretion mediated by NLRC4 and AIM2 inflammasome and IL-6 production. Furthermore, treatment with artemisitene significantly attenuated inflammatory response in DSS-induced ulcerative colitis. Our work provides a potential artemisinin derivative, which is worthy of further structural optimization based on pharmacokinetic properties as a drug candidate for inflammatory disorders.

Synthesis of highly functionalized 2,4-diaminoquinazolines as anticancer and anti-HIV agents.

Novel polyhalo 2,4-diaminoquinazolines 3a-3d were prepared by reacting polyhaloisophthalonitriles with guanidine carbonate under solvent-free conditions and in the absence of a catalyst with good yields (74-95%). A series of highly functionalized 2,4-diaminoquinazolines 4-5 were then synthesized based on 3a-3c. The anticancer activities of compounds 3-5 were evaluated in vitro against human cell lines such as Skov-3, HL-60, A431, A549, and HepG-2. Some of the compounds showed excellent cytotoxic activity and 5a was found to be the most potent derivative, with an IC(50) value lower than 2.5 microg/mL against the five tumor cell lines, making it more active than cisplatin. Representative compounds were also preliminarily evaluated as HIV-1 inhibitors in vitro, and 3c showed the most potent anti-HIV-1 activity with EC(50) values of 0.6 and 1.6 microg/mL, and TI values of >59.6 and 66.6, respectively.

1-(2,6-Difluoro-benzo-yl)-3-(2,3,5-tri-chloro-phen-yl)urea.

The asymmetric unit of the title compound, C(14)H(7)Cl(3)F(2)N(2)O(2), contains two unique molecules. The 2,3,5-trichloro-phenyl ring is almost coplanar with the urea group in both molecules, whereas the 2,6-difluoro-phenyl ring is twisted from the urea plane by 54.83 (10)° in one molecule and 60.58 (10)° in the other. An intra-molecular N-H-O hydrogen bond stabilizes the mol-ecular conformation. The crystal packing is formed by inter-molecular N-H-O hydrogen bonds and F⋯F inter-actions [2.841 (2) Å].