An aromatic imidazoline derived from chloroquinoline triggers cell cycle arrest and inhibits with high selectivity the Trypanosoma cruzi mammalian host-cells infection.

Trypanosoma cruzi is a hemoflagellated parasite causing Chagas disease, which affects 6-8 million people in the Americas. More than one hundred years after the description of this disease, the available drugs for treating the T. cruzi infection remain largely unsatisfactory. Chloroquinoline and arylamidine moieties are separately found in various compounds reported for their anti-trypanosoma activities. In this work we evaluate the anti-T. cruzi activity of a collection of 26 "chimeric" molecules combining choroquinoline and amidine structures. In a first screening using epimastigote forms of the parasite as a proxy for the clinically relevant stages, we selected the compound 7-chloro-4-[4-(4,5-dihydro-1H-imidazol-2-yl)phenoxy]quinoline (named here as A6) that performed better as an anti-T. cruzi compound (IC50 of 2.2 ± 0.3 µM) and showed a low toxicity for the mammalian cell CHO-K1 (CC50 of 137.9 ± 17.3 µM). We initially investigated the mechanism of death associated to the selected compound. The A6 did not trigger phosphatidylserine exposure or plasma membrane permeabilization. Further investigation led us to observe that under short-term incubations (until 6 hours), no alterations of mitochondrial function were observed. However, at longer incubation times (4 days), A6 was able to decrease the intracellular Ca2+, to diminish the intracellular ATP levels, and to collapse mitochondrial inner membrane potential. After analysing the cell cycle, we found as well that A6 produced an arrest in the S phase that impairs the parasite proliferation. Finally, A6 was effective against the infective forms of the parasite during the infection of the mammalian host cells at a nanomolar concentration (IC50(tryps) = 26.7 ± 3.7 nM), exhibiting a selectivity index (SI) of 5,170. Our data suggest that A6 is a promising hit against T. cruzi.

Sulfated and Oxygenated Imidazoline Derivatives: Synthesis, Antioxidant Activity and Light-Mediated Antibacterial Activity.

Imidazoline derivatives with different exocyclic substituents were simply prepared from common starting materials. The procedures were carried out in an eco-friendly manner. The antioxidant activity of these derivatives was explored by different experimental assays, such as ABTS.+ and DPPH. scavenging assay, as well as reducing power assay. The structural differences are discussed in terms of the results. Sulfur analogs showed higher antioxidant activity than their oxygenated counterparts. The same tendency was observed in microbiological studies, in which the same imidazoline compounds were assayed for light-mediated activity against of Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli strains. A light-enhanced activity was observed for almost all the sulfated imidazolines after exposure to UV-A (400-320 nm) light.

Synthesis, structure-activity relationship and trypanocidal activity of pyrazole-imidazoline and new pyrazole-tetrahydropyrimidine hybrids as promising chemotherapeutic agents for Chagas disease.

Drug therapy for Chagas disease remains a major challenge as potential candidate drugs have failed clinical trials. Currently available drugs have limited efficacy and induce serious side effects. Thus, the discovery of new drugs is urgently needed in the fight against Chagas' disease. Here, we synthesized and evaluated the biological effect of pyrazole-imidazoline (1a-i) and pyrazole-tetrahydropyrimidine (2a-i) derivatives against relevant clinical forms of Trypanosoma cruzi. The structure-activity relationship (SAR), drug-target search, physicochemical and ADMET properties of the major active compounds in vitro were also assessed in silico. Pyrazole derivatives showed no toxicity in Vero cells and also no cardiotoxicity. Phenotypic screening revealed two dichlorinated pyrazole-imidazoline derivatives (1c and 1d) with trypanocidal activity higher than that of benznidazole (Bz) against trypomastigotes; these were also the most potent compounds against intracellular amastigotes. Replacement of imidazoline with tetrahydropyrimidine in the pyrazole compounds completely abolished the trypanocidal activity of series 2(a-i) derivatives. The physicochemical and ADMET properties of the compounds predicted good permeability, good oral bioavailability, no toxicity and mutagenicity of 1c and 1d. Pyrazole nucleus had high frequency hits for cruzipain in drug-target search and structure activity relationship (SAR) analysis of pyrazole-imidazoline derivatives revealed enhanced activity when chlorine atom was inserted in meta-positions of the benzene ring. Additionally, we found evidence that both compounds (1c and 1d) have the potential to interact non-covalently with the active site of cruzipain and also inhibit the cysteine proteinase activity of T. cruzi. Collectively, the data presented here reveal pyrazole derivatives with promise for further optimization in the therapy of Chagas disease.

Targeting imidazoline site on monoamine oxidase B through molecular docking simulations.

Monoamine oxidase (MAO) is an enzyme of major importance in neurochemistry, because it catalyzes the inactivation pathway for the catecholamine neurotransmitters, noradrenaline, adrenaline and dopamine. In the last decade it was demonstrated that imidazoline derivatives were able to inhibit MAO activity. Furthermore, crystallographic studies identified the imidazoline-binding domain on monoamine oxidase B (MAO-B), which opens the possibility of molecular docking studies focused on this binding site. The goal of the present study is to identify new potential inhibitors for MAO-B. In addition, we are also interested in establishing a fast and reliable computation methodology to pave the way for future molecular docking simulations focused on the imidazoline-binding site of this enzyme. We used the program 'molegro virtual docker' (MVD) in all simulations described here. All results indicate that simplex evolution algorithm is able to succesfully simulate the protein-ligand interactions for MAO-B. In addition, a scoring function implemented in the program MVD presents high correlation coefficient with experimental activity of MAO-B inhibitors. Taken together, our results identified a new family of potential MAO-B inhibitors and mapped important residues for intermolecular interactions between this enzyme and ligands.

A comparative kinetic and mechanistic study between tetrahydrozoline and naphazoline toward photogenerated reactive oxygen species.

Kinetic and mechanistic aspects of the vitamin B2 (riboflavin [Rf])-sensitized photo-oxidation of the imidazoline derivates (IDs) naphazoline (NPZ) and tetrahydrozoline (THZ) were investigated in aqueous solution. The process appears as important on biomedical grounds, considering that the vitamin is endogenously present in humans, and IDs are active components of ocular medicaments of topical application. Under aerobic visible light irradiation, a complex picture of competitive interactions between sensitizer, substrates and dissolved oxygen takes place: the singlet and triplet ((3)Rf*) excited states of Rf are quenched by the IDs: with IDs concentrations ca. 5.0 mM and 0.02 mM Rf, (3)Rf* is quenched by IDs, in a competitive fashion with dissolved ground state oxygen. Additionally, the reactive oxygen species: O(2)((1)Delta(g)), O(2)(*-), HO(*) and H(2)O(2), generated from (3)Rf* and Rf(*-), were detected with the employment of time-resolved methods or specific scavengers. Oxygen uptake experiments indicate that, for NPZ, only H(2)O(2) was involved in the photo-oxidation. In the case of THZ, O(2)(*-), HO(*) and H(2)O(2) were detected, whereas only HO(*) was unambiguously identified as THZ oxidative agents. Upon direct UV light irradiation NPZ and THZ generate O(2)((1)Delta(g)), with quantum yields of 0.2 (literature value, employed as a reference) and 0.08, respectively, in acetonitrile.

Antagonism by imidazoline-type drugs of muscarinic and other receptors in the guinea-pig ileum.

1 Several imidazolines were examined for the antagonism of muscarinic (M3) and other receptors on the isolated ileum of guinea-pig. The effect of the muscarinic agonist, carbachol was competitively antagonized by oxymetazoline at 10(-5) m. A dissociation constant (KB) of 3.6 microm for the antagonist was calculated. At higher concentrations, 3 x 10(-5) and 10(-4) m, of the antagonist, the agonist dose-response curve was shifted to the right with a decrease in the maximum effect. Thus, a non-competitive block occurred at higher concentrations of oxymetazoline. Blockade of histamine H, and serotonin receptor-mediated responses by oxymetazoline were also of a non-competitive type. 2 Naphazoline at 10(-4) m shifted the dose-response curves of carbachol and serotonin to the right by two- and 15-fold, respectively. The maximum contraction of the agonist was not affected. Tolazoline also had a weak antihistaminic activity. At similar concentration; tetrahydrozoline clonidine and phentolamine at 10(-5) m produced two-, three- and four-fold shift of the carbachol dose-response curve without significant changes in the maxima. Neither methoxamine, p-amino-clonidine nor cimetidine blocked the responses of carbachol. 3 The isosteric nature of the alpha-adrenoceptor agonist, oxymetazoline and some imidazolines with carbachol, in part, explains its molecular competition at the muscarinic M3 receptor of the guinea-pig ileum. Surprisingly, contractile effects of carbachol (M3), histamine (H1) or serotonin (5HT3/5HT4) were not influenced by methoxamine, tetrahydrozoline, p-amino clonidine and cimetidine.

Use of ionic liquids in the study of fruit ripening by high-resolution 13C NMR spectroscopy: 'green' solvents meet green bananas.

Banana pulps at any ripening stage can be completely dissolved in solvent systems based on the ionic liquid (IL) 1-n-butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride ([C4mim]Cl), and variations in the carbohydrate composition of the fruit analyzed directly on the resulting solutions using high-resolution 13C NMR spectroscopy.