Synthesis and in vitro antiplatelet activity of new 4-(1-piperazinyl)coumarin derivatives. Human platelet phosphodiesterase 3 inhibitory properties of the two most effective compounds described and molecular modeling study on their interactions with phosphodiesterase 3A catalytic site.

The synthesis and in vitro antiplatelet activity significant data of coumarin derivatives 5i-x and quinolin-2(1H)-one derivatives 22a,b, as well as the corresponding structure-activity relationships are described. The recently reported 8-methyl-4-(1-piperazinyl)-7-(3-pyridylmethoxy)coumarin 5f and its potent 7-(2-morpholinoethoxy)-substituted new analogue 5u were notably more effective inhibitors of pure human platelet PDE3 than milrinone and cilostazol: these data were related, through a molecular modeling study, with the molecular interactions of the four compounds with the human PDE3A catalytic site.

Pyrazolo[3,4-d]pyrimidines as potent antiproliferative and proapoptotic agents toward A431 and 8701-BC cells in culture via inhibition of c-Src phosphorylation.

We report here the synthesis of new pyrazolo[3,4-d]pyrimidine derivatives along with their biological properties as inhibitors of isolated Src and cell line proliferation (A431 and 8701-BC cells). Such compounds block the growth of cancer cells by interfering with the phosphorylation of Src, and they act as proapoptotic agents through the inhibition of the anti apoptotic gene BCL2. Several of them were found to be more active than the reference compound (1-(tert-butyl)-3-(4-chlorophenyl)-4-aminopyrazolo[3,4-d]pyrimidine, PP2) in inhibiting cell proliferation and in inducing apoptosis, and as active as PP2 in the inhibition of the phosphorylation of isolated Src. Moreover, molecular modeling simulations have been performed to hypothesize the way, at the molecular level, by which the inhibitors were able to act as antiproliferative agents.

Synthesis and 3D QSAR of new pyrazolo[3,4-b]pyridines: potent and selective inhibitors of A1 adenosine receptors.

A number of 4-aminopyrazolo[3,4-b]pyridines 5-carboxylic acid esters (2-8) were synthesized and evaluated for their binding affinity at the A1, A2A, and A3 adenosine receptors (AR), in bovine cortical membranes, as well as for their affinity toward human A1AR (hA1AR). Some of the new compounds were characterized by a high affinity and selectivity toward the A1 receptor subtype, showing a significant improvement in comparison with other pyrazolo-pyridines previously reported in the literature. In particular the methyl ester 2h as well as the isopropyl ester 5h, both of them bearing a p-methoxyphenylethylamino side chain at the position 4, presented Ki values of 6 and 7 nM, respectively. To rationalize the relationships between structure and affinity of the novel compounds, a 3D QSAR model was also generated starting from compounds belonging to different classes of known A1AR antagonists.

Structure-based design, parallel synthesis, structure-activity relationship, and molecular modeling studies of thiocarbamates, new potent non-nucleoside HIV-1 reverse transcriptase inhibitor isosteres of phenethylthiazolylthiourea derivatives.

In this paper we describe our structure-based ligand design, synthetic strategy, and structure-activity relationship (SAR) studies that led to the identification of thiocarbamates (TCs), a novel class of non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs), isosteres of phenethylthiazolylthiourea (PETT) derivatives. Assuming as a lead compound O-[2-(phthalimido)ethyl]phenylthiocarbamate 12, one of the precursors of the previously described acylthiocarbamates (Ranise, A.; et al. J. Med. Chem. 2003, 46, 768-781), two targeted solution-phase TC libraries were prepared by parallel synthesis. The lead optimization strategy led to para-substituted TCs 31, 33, 34, 39, 40, 41, 44, 45, and 50, which were active against wild-type HIV-1 in MT-4-based assays at nanomolar concentrations (EC50 range: 0.04-0.01 microM). The most potent congener 50 (EC50 = 0.01 microM) bears a methyl group at position 4 of the phthalimide moiety and a nitro group at the para position of the N-phenyl ring. Most of the TCs showed good selectivity indices, since no cytotoxic effect was detected at concentrations as high as 100 microM. TCs 31, 37, 39, 40, and 44 significantly reduced the multiplication of the Y181C mutant, but they were inactive against K103R and K103N + Y181C mutants. Nevertheless, the fold increase in resistance of 41 was not greater than that of efavirenz against the K103R mutant in enzyme assays. The docking model predictions were consistent with in vitro biological assays of the anti-HIV-1 activity of the TCs and related compounds synthesized.

Insights into structure-activity relationships from lipophilicity profiles of pyridin-2(1H)-one analogs of the cardiotonic agent milrinone.

The pH-dependent distribution profiles of a series of pyridin-2(1H)-one analogs of the inotropic/vasodilator agent milrinone, determined in 1-octanol/water (and for a number of them also in chloroform-water) using a pH-metric technique, showed that partition coefficients of the neutral forms (logP(N)) significantly encode for 2-pyridone/2-hydroxypyridine tautomerism. A comparison between experimental and calculated logP (CLOG P) values indicated that electron-withdrawing substituents, at the C(6) position, and to a lesser extent at the C(3) and C(5) positions, push up logPs toward the values of the more lipophilic 2-hydroxypyridine tautomers. RP-HPLC parameters (log k'omega) carry for large part similar information related to tautomerism-dependent lipophilicity, but they were also found to reasonably correlate with the solute molar volumes (r2 = 0.75). Investigating the implications of ionization and partition properties in modulating the in vitro cardiotonic activity of the examined compounds revealed that a high fraction of the neutral species at physiological pH, predominantly in the more polar pyridone (OX) tautomer, increases the positive inotropic potency.

Pyrazolo[3,4-d]pyrimidines endowed with antiproliferative activity on ductal infiltrating carcinoma cells.

Novel 1,4,6-trisubstituted pyrazolo[3,4-d]pyrimidines are reported with preliminary in vitro activity data indicating that several of them are potent inhibitors (better than the reference compound) of Src phosphorylation of the breast cancer cells 8701-BC, known to overexpress Src. The ability of such compounds to significantly reduce 8701-BC cell proliferation suggests that this scaffold could be a promising lead for the development of antitumoral agents able to block Src phosphorylation of breast cancer cells.

Synthesis, molecular modeling studies, and pharmacological activity of selective A(1) receptor antagonists.

We present a combined computational study aimed at identifying the three-dimensional structural properties required for different classes of compounds to show antagonistic activity toward the A(1) adenosine receptor (AR). Particularly, an approach combining pharmacophore mapping, molecular alignment, and pseudoreceptor generation was applied to derive a hypothesis of the interaction pathway between a set of A(1) AR antagonists taken from the literature and a model of the putative A(1) receptor. The pharmacophore model consists of seven features and represents an improvement of the N(6)-C8 model, generally reported as the most probable pharmacophore model for A(1) AR agonists and antagonists. It was used to build up a pseudoreceptor model able to rationalize the relationships between structural properties and biological data of, and external to, the training set. In fact, to further assess its statistical significance and predictive power, the pseudoreceptor was employed to predict the free energy of binding associated with compounds constituting a test set. While part of these molecules was also taken from the literature, the remaining compounds were designed and synthesized by our research group. All of the new compounds were tested for their affinity toward A(1), A(2a), and A(3) AR, showing interesting antagonistic activity and A(1) selectivity.

Antiproliferative activity of new 1-aryl-4-amino-1H-pyrazolo[3,4-d]pyrimidine derivatives toward the human epidermoid carcinoma A431 cell line.

Synthesis and biological evaluation of a new class of 1-aryl-4-amino-1H-pyrazolo[3,4-d]pyrimidine derivatives are reported. A preliminary cellular assay system using the tumor cell line A431 responding to epidermal growth factor (EGF) for its growth, shows that the new compounds are potent inhibitors of cell growth. The inhibition of tumor cell proliferation is not associated with blockage of EGF receptor (EGFR), but substantially due to the interference with the signalling pathway at the level of Src tyrosine kinase and at the level of the downstream effector signal mitogen activated protein kinases (MAPKs), ERK1-2.

Synthesis of 1-(2-chloro-2-phenylethyl)-6-methylthio-1H-pyrazolo[3,4-d]pyrimidines 4-amino substituted and their biological evaluation.

A new series of 4-amino-6-methylthio-1H-pyrazolo[3,4-d]pyrimidines (2a-m) bearing the 2-chloro-2-phenylethyl chain at the N1 position, has been synthesized. The affinity of these compounds for A1 adenosine receptor (A1AR) was measured. The compounds showed poor affinity. A more interesting result was obtained by 2a, 2d, 2g, which demonstrated inhibitory activity on cell proliferation of the A-431 cell line stimulated by epithelial growth factor (EGF) and on EGF receptor tyrosine kinase (EGFR-TK) phosphorylation.

4-substituted 1,5-diarylpyrazole, analogues of celecoxib: synthesis and preliminary evaluation of biological properties.

A number of 5-aryl-1-[4-(methylsulfonyl)-phenyl]-1H-pyrazoles and 4-(5-aryl-1H-pyrazol-1-yl)benzenesulfonamides 3, 4, 5, 6, analogues of the COX-2 selective inhibitor celecoxib (celebrex), were synthesized. In order to verify the effects on the biological properties of certain substituents put on position 4 of the pyrazole nucleus, some of these compounds were screened in vivo for their anti-inflammatory and analgesic activities. Moreover, sodium salts of carboxylic acids 4 were tested in vitro for their platelet anti-aggregating properties. The results of these preliminary biological assays showed that new derivatives are not endowed with improved anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties, in comparison with celecoxib. In addition, docking studies were carried out on the most significative compounds to evaluate their interaction mode at the active site of both COX-1 and COX-2. Some remarks about the SAR of this class of COX-inhibitors are drown out.

Synthesis of N-substituted-N-acylthioureas of 4-substituted piperazines endowed with local anaesthetic, antihyperlipidemic, antiproliferative activities and antiarrythmic, analgesic, antiaggregating actions.

Three series of N-acyl and N-cyclohexyl- or N-methyl or N-phenyl-thioureas of 4-substituted (methyl, phenyl, 2-pyridyl)piperazines (4-12) were synthesised according to a highly convergent one-pot procedure and tested in vivo (local anaesthetic, anti-hyperlipoproteinemic, analgesic, anti-inflammatory, antiarrythmic activities) and in vitro (antiaggregating and, for some selected derivatives, antiproliferative activities) experiments. All the test compounds showed local anaesthesia in particular 4Ar(4), 5Ar(4), 12Ar(3) (after 5 min) and 5Ar(2), 5Ar(3), 9Ar(4) (after 30 min) were equipotent to lidocaine. In lowering triglyceride levels, compounds 6Ar(4) and 7Ar(3) were more active than nicotinic acid, whereas 7Ar(4) and 11Ar(4) were approximately equipotent. As concerns analgesic activity, 5Ar(2) and 5Ar(4) were as active as indomethacin. Appreciable anti-inflammatory activity was found in 8Ar(1), 5Ar(2) and 11Ar(2), but inferior to that of indomethacin. High levels of antiarrythmic activity, comparable with that of quinidine, were found in derivatives 4Ar(2) and 10Ar(1). Compounds 4Ar(2) and 8Ar(2), assayed in antitumor in vitro screening system at National Cancer Institute (NCI), showed significant antiproliferative activity against ACHN cell line (GI50: 0.13 microM) and NCI-H226 cell line (GI50: 1.03 microM), respectively.

CoMFA and CoMSIA analyses on 4-oxo-1,4-dihydroquinoline and 4-oxo-1,4-dihydro-1,5-, -1,6- and -1,8-naphthyridine derivatives as selective CB2 receptor agonists.

Novel classes of CB2 agonists based on 4-oxo-1,4-dihydroquinoline and 4-oxo-1,4-dihydro-1,5-, -1,6- and -1,8-naphthyridine scaffolds have shown high binding affinity toward CB2 receptor and good selectivity over CB1. A computational study of comparative molecular fields analysis (CoMFA) and comparative molecular similarity indices analysis (CoMSIA) was performed, in order to identify the key structural features impacting their binding affinity. The final CoMSIA model resulted to be the more predictive, showing r(2)ncv=0.84, r(2)cv=0.619, SEE = 0.369, and r(2)pred=0.75. The study provides useful suggestions for the synthesis of new selective analogues with improved affinity.

CoMFA and CoMSIA analyses on 1,2,3,4-tetrahydropyrrolo[3,4-b]indole and benzimidazole derivatives as selective CB2 receptor agonists.

Novel classes of cannabinoid 2 receptor (CB2) agonists based on 1,2,3,4-tetrahydropyrrolo[3,4-b]indole and benzimidazole scaffolds have shown high binding affinity toward CB2 receptor and good selectivity over cannabinoid 1 receptor (CB1). A computational study of comparative molecular fields analysis (CoMFA) and comparative molecular similarity indices analysis (CoMSIA) was performed, initially on each series of agonists, and subsequently on all compounds together, in order to identify the key structural features impacting their binding affinity. The final CoMSIA model resulted to be the more predictive, showing cross-validated r2 (r(cv)2) = 0.680, non cross-validated r2 (r(ncv)2) = 0.97 and test set r²(r²(pred) = 0.93. The study provides useful suggestions for the design of new analogues with improved affinity.

The XIXth National Meeting on Medicinal Chemistry: Verona, Italy.

An international affair: The Medicinal Chemistry Division of the Italian Chemical Society took the bold decision to hold the XIXth National Meeting on Medicinal Chemistry in English. The result was a truly international conference, with delegates and speakers from around the world. This comprehensive report highlights the presentations and awards given.

Thiocarbamates as non-nucleoside HIV-1 reverse transcriptase inhibitors: docking-based CoMFA and CoMSIA analyses.

Thiocarbamates (TCs) have been recently identified as a new class of potent non-nucleoside HIV-1 Reverse Transcriptase (RT) inhibitors. A computational strategy based on molecular docking studies, followed by CoMFA and CoMSIA analyses, has been used to elucidate the atomic details of the RT/TC interactions and to identify the most important features impacting the TC antiretroviral activity. The CoMFA model resulted to be the more predictive, and gave r(2)=0.93, r(cv)(2)=0.53, SEE=0.292, F=180, and r(test)(2)=0.70. The 3D-QSAR field contributions and the structural features of the RT binding site showed a good correlation. These studies will be useful to design new TCs with improved potency also against clinically relevant resistant mutants.

Computational studies of the binding mode and 3D-QSAR analyses of symmetric formimidoester disulfides: a new class of non-nucleoside HIV-1 reverse transcriptase inhibitor.

Symmetric formimidoester disulfides (DSs) have recently been identified as a new class of potent non-nucleoside HIV-1 reverse transcriptase (RT) inhibitors. Given that three geometric isomers for DSs are possible, a computational strategy based on molecular docking studies, followed by comparative molecular fields analysis (CoMFA) and comparative molecular similarity indices analysis (CoMSIA) was used in order to identify the most probable DS isomer interacting with RT, to elucidate the atomic details of the RT/DS interaction, and to identify key features impacting DS antiretroviral activity. The CoMFA model was found to be the more predictive, with values of r(2)ncv, r(2)cv, SEE = 0.264, F = 80, and r(2)pred=0.73.

Acylthiocarbamates as non-nucleoside HIV-1 reverse transcriptase inhibitors: docking studies and ligand-based CoMFA and CoMSIA analyses.

Acylthiocarbamates (ATCs) have been identified as a class of potent non-nucleoside HIV-1 reverse transcriptase (RT) inhibitors. A computational strategy based on molecular docking studies followed by comparative molecular fields analysis (CoMFA) and comparative molecular similarity indices analysis (CoMSIA) was used to identify the most important features impacting ATC antiretroviral activity. The CoMSIA model proved to be the more predictive, with r(2)(ncv) = 0.89, r(cv)(2) = 0.38, standard error of estimate (SEE) = 0.494, F = 84, and r(2)(pred) = 0.81. The results of these studies will be useful in designing new ATCs with improved potency, also against clinically relevant resistant mutants.

Exploring the binding features of rimonabant analogues and acyclic CB1 antagonists: docking studies and QSAR analysis.

In order to elucidate the structural requirements for human CB(1) receptor antagonism, 78 antagonists belonging to five different chemical classes were selected from the literature and docked into the receptor binding site, built by homology modeling techniques. To further explore the structure-activity relationships within the considered chemical classes, a pharmacophore model and a QSAR analysis were developed. In a first step five alignments, one for each group of compounds were generated. All of them were then submitted to a MOE pharmacophore search in order to obtain a final pharmacophore model representative of the whole dataset which was used to elaborate the following 3D-QSAR analysis, by means of the CoMFA methodology. The results of these investigations are expected to be useful in the process of design and development of new potent CB(1) antagonists.

Rational design, synthesis and biological evaluation of new 1,5-diarylpyrazole derivatives as CB1 receptor antagonists, structurally related to rimonabant.

Among cannabinoid type-1 (CB(1)) receptor antagonists, those developed around the 1,5-diarylpyrazole scaffold of rimonabant (Acomplia are the most extensively investigated. In recent years, many SAR and QSAR reports on this topic have been published, focusing on the substitution and orientation of the N1 and C5 aryl functionalities and on the substituents at the 3-carboxamide position. In this context, the purpose of our study was to design and synthesize a set of 1-(2,4-dichlorophenyl)-5-arylpyrazoles strictly related to rimonabant, but with the hydrazide/amide group shifted from position 3 to position 4 of the pyrazole scaffold. The synthesized compounds were evaluated in vitro for their affinity on human CB(1) and CB(2) (cannabinoid type-2) receptors. Computational studies, performed both in the design step and after biological assays, contributed to rationalize the obtained results in terms of specific molecular interactions between antagonists and the human CB(1) receptor.

Synthesis, biological evaluation and docking studies of 4-amino substituted 1H-pyrazolo[3,4-d]pyrimidines.

The synthesis of new 4-amino substituted pyrazolo[3,4-d]pyrimidines along with their activity in cell-free enzymatic assays on Src and Abl tyrosine kinases is reported. Some compounds emerged as good dual inhibitors of the two enzymes, showed antiproliferative effects on two Bcr-Abl positive leukemia cell lines K-562 and KU-812, and induced apoptosis, as demonstrated by the PARP assay. Docking studies have been also performed to analyze the binding mode of compounds under study and to identify the structural determinants of their interaction with both Src and Abl.