In silico directed chemical probing of the adenosine receptor family.

One of the grand challenges in chemical biology is identifying a small-molecule modulator for each individual function of all human proteins. Instead of targeting one protein at a time, an efficient approach to address this challenge is to target entire protein families by taking advantage of the relatively high levels of chemical promiscuity observed within certain boundaries of sequence phylogeny. We recently developed a computational approach to identifying the potential protein targets of compounds based on their similarity to known bioactive molecules for almost 700 targets. Here, we describe the direct identification of novel antagonists for all four adenosine receptor subtypes by applying our virtual profiling approach to a unique synthesis-driven chemical collection composed of 482 biologically-orphan molecules. These results illustrate the potential role of in silico target profiling to guide efficiently screening campaigns directed to discover new chemical probes for all members of a protein family.

Phenolic Imidazole Derivatives with Dual Antioxidant/Antifungal Activity: Synthesis and Structure-Activity Relationship.

BACKGROUND: Previous publications show that the addition of a phenolic antioxidant to an antifungal agent, considerably enhances the antifungal activity. OBJECTIVE: Synthesis of novel compounds combining phenolic units with linear or cyclic nitrogencontaining organic molecules with antioxidant/antifungal activity using methodologies previously developed in the group. METHODS: Several N- [1,2-dicyano-2- (arylidenamino) vinyl]-O-alkylformamidoximes 3 were synthesized and cyclized to 4,5-dicyano-N- (N´-alcoxyformimidoyl)-2-arylimidazoles 4 upon reflux in DMF, in the presence of manganese dioxide or to 6-cyano-8-arylpurines 5 when the reagent was refluxed in acetonitrile with an excess of triethylamine. These compounds were tested for their antioxidant activity by cyclic voltammetry, DPPH radical (DPPH•) assay and deoxyribose degradation assay. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of all compounds was evaluated against two yeast species, Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Candida albicans, and against bacteria Bacillus subtilis (Gram-positive) and Escherichia coli (Gram negative). Their cytotoxicity was evaluated in fibroblasts. RESULTS: Among the synthetised compounds, five presented higher antioxidant activity than reference antioxidant Trolox and from these compounds, four presented antifungal activity without toxic effects in fibroblasts and bacteria. CONCLUSION: Four novel compounds presented dual antioxidant/antifungal activity at concentrations that are not toxic to bacteria and fibroblasts. The active molecules can be used as an inspiration for further studies in this area.

Oxidative stress protection by newly synthesized nitrogen compounds with pharmacological potential.

In this study we used new nitrogen compounds obtained by organic synthesis whose structure predicted an antioxidant potential and then an eventual development as molecules of pharmacological interest in diseases involving oxidative stress. The compounds, identified as FMA4, FMA5, FMA7 and FMA8 differ in the presence of hydroxyl groups located in the C-3 and/or C-4 position of a phenolic unit, which is possibly responsible for their free radicals' buffering capacity. Data from the DPPH discoloration method confirm the high antiradical efficiency of the compounds. The results obtained with cellular models (L929 and PC12) show that they are not toxic and really protect from membrane lipid peroxidation induced by the ascorbate-iron oxidant pair. The level of protection correlates with the drug's lipophilic profile and is sometimes superior to trolox and equivalent to that observed for alpha-tocopherol. The compounds FMA4 and FMA7 present also a high protection from cell death evaluated in the presence of a staurosporine apoptotic stimulus. That protection results in a significant reduction of caspase-3 activity induced by staurosporine which by its turn seems to result from a protection observed in the membrane receptor pathway (caspase-8) together with a protection observed in the mitochondrial pathway (caspase-9). Taken together the results obtained with the new compounds, with linear chains, open up perspectives for their use as therapeutical agents, namely as antioxidants and protectors of apoptotic pathways. On the other hand the slight pro-oxidant profile obtained with the cyclic structures suggests a different therapeutic potential that is under current investigation.