Insights into the Emerging Therapeutic Targets of Triple-negative Breast Cancer.

Triple-negative Breast Cancer (TNBC), the most aggressive breast cancer subtype, is characterized by the non-appearance of estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2). Clinically, TNBC is marked by its low survival rate, poor therapeutic outcomes, high aggressiveness, and lack of targeted therapies. Over the past few decades, many clinical trials have been ongoing for targeted therapies in TNBC. Although some classes, such as Poly (ADP Ribose) Polymerase (PARP) inhibitors and immunotherapies, have shown positive therapeutic outcomes, however, clinical effects are not much satisfiable. Moreover, the development of drug resistance is the major pattern observed in many targeted monotherapies. The heterogeneity of TNBC might be the cause for limited clinical benefits. Hence,, there is a need for the potential identification of new therapeutic targets to address the above limitations. In this context, some novel targets that can address the above-mentioned concerns are emerging in the era of TNBC therapy, which include Hypoxia Inducible Factor (HIF-1α), Matrix Metalloproteinase 9 (MMP-9), Tumour Necrosis Factor-α (TNF-α), ß-Adrenergic Receptor (ß-AR), Voltage Gated Sodium Channels (VGSCs), and Cell Cycle Regulators. Currently, we summarize the ongoing clinical trials and discuss the novel therapeutic targets in the management of TNBC.

Novel Antitubercular Agents: Design, Synthesis, Molecular Dynamic and Biological Studies of Pyrazole - 1,2,4-Triazole Conjugates.

Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) has numerous cell wall and non-cell wall mediated receptors for drug action, of which cell wall mediated targets were found to be more promising because of their pivotal role in bacterial protection and survival. Herein, we reported the design and synthesis of a series of pyrazole-linked triazoles based on the reported structural features of promising drug candidates that target DprE1 receptors through a Structure-based drug design (SBDD) approach (6a-6j and 7a-7j). The synthesized compounds were evaluated for their in-vitro antitubercular activity against virulent strains of Mtb H37Rv. In-silico studies revealed that most compounds exhibit binding interactions with crucial amino acids like Lys418, Tyr314, Tyr60, and Asp386 at DprE1. Furthermore, the protein-ligand (7j) shows appreciable stability compared to innate protein in a 100 ns molecular dynamic simulation study. In-vitro MAB assay revealed that 14 compounds exhibit significant antitubercular activity with minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of the 3.15-4.87 µM of the 20 compounds tested. An in-vitro cytotoxicity study on normal cell lines (MCF10) revealed safe compounds (IC50 values:341.85 to 726.08 µM). Hence, the present study opens the development of new pyrazole-linked triazoles as probable DprE1 inhibitors.

Substituted Benzamides from Anti-inflammatory and p38 Kinase Inhibitors to Antitubercular Activity: Design, Synthesis and Screening.

BACKGROUND: Twenty one amide compounds possessing phenoxy/benzyloxy/pyridinyl groups have been synthesized by benzoylation of respective amines in presence of base with moderate to encouraging yields. Upon confirmation of structure, compounds were subjected for p38 kinase inhibitory, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial and antitubercular activities. METHOD: Anti-inflammatory activity was determined using carrageenan induced rat paw edema model while p38 kinase inhibitory activity was studied using ELISA method and serial dilution method was employed to determine MICs. Two compounds 4g and 4n showed over 30% p38 kinase inhibitory activity at 10 µM and best anti-inflammatory activity was found for compounds 4g, 4i, 4n and 4o which exhibited to reduce paw edema over 70%. Compound 4b was observed to be the most potent against gram +ve organisms with MIC value of 1.6 µG/mL and compound 4u displayed potent antibacterial activity against gram negative organisms. CONCLUSION: Most encouraging antitubercular activity was noticed for compounds 4u, 4r and 4k with 6.25, 12.5 and 12.5 µG/mL Further, in order to know the binding site interactions, a docking simulations of compounds was performed. These preliminary results will certainly show fruitful directions to improve the activities of compounds.