Novel High Affinity Sigma-1 Receptor Ligands from Minimal Ensemble Docking-Based Virtual Screening.

Sigma-1 receptor (S1R) is an intracellular, multi-functional, ligand operated protein that also acts as a chaperone. It is considered as a pluripotent drug target in several pathologies. The publication of agonist and antagonist bound receptor structures has paved the way for receptor-based in silico drug design. However, recent studies on this subject payed no attention to the structural differences of agonist and antagonist binding. In this work, we have developed a new ensemble docking-based virtual screening protocol utilizing both agonist and antagonist bound S1R structures. This protocol was used to screen our in-house compound library. The S1R binding affinities of the 40 highest ranked compounds were measured in competitive radioligand binding assays and the sigma-2 receptor (S2R) affinities of the best S1R binders were also determined. This way three novel high affinity S1R ligands were identified and one of them exhibited a notable S1R/S2R selectivity.

[Syntheses and ring-closures of difunctional tetrahydroisoquinolines]. / Tetrahidroizokinolinvázas difunkciós vegyületek szintézise és gyuruzárásai.

Starting from homoveratrylamine and N-protected amino acids 1,2,3,4-tetrahydroisoquinoline diamines were prepared by a convenient four-step process. This synthetic method was successfully extended to substituted beta-alanine and homoveratrylamine derivatives. In the case of the 1'-methyl-substituted derivatives, the reducing agent applied and the sequence of the reduction and deprotection steps proved to have marked effects on the formation of the possible diamine diastereomers. By N-amination of the corresponding amino alcohols, tetrahydroisoquinoline hydrazino alcohol regioisomers were prepared. Condensation products of the prepared tetrahydroisoquinoline 1,2- and 1,3-diamines containing a primary amino group with aromatic aldehydes proved to participate in three-component ring-chain tautomeric equilibria. The tautomeric equilibrium was sensitive to the electronic effects of the aromatic substituents, the ring size and the methyl substituents of the skeleton. By N-substitution reactions of 1-(Cbz-aminomethyl)-6,7-dimethoxy-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroisoquinoline with isocyanates and isothiocyanates, the corresponding urea or thiourea derivatives were obtained some derivatives of which showed a remarkable MDR modulating activity. By ring-closures of tetrahydroisoquinoline diamines and hydrazino alcohols with phosphorus-containing reagents, saturated 1,3,2-diazaphosphino[6,1-a]isoquinolines, and 1,3,4,2-oxadiazaphosphino[5,4-a]- and [4,5-b]isoquinolines as the first representatives of these ring systems were prepared. The conformational behaviour of these compounds was studied by NMR and X-ray diffractional analyses.

Electron ionization mass spectra of phosphorus-containing heterocycles. III. 1,3,4,2-oxadiazaphosphinane 2-oxides.

The 1,3,4,2-oxadiazaphosphinane 2-oxides differ not only in the relative configuration of the P atom (R* or S*), but also in many other ways such as the ring size, ring fusion, P substitution and bridgehead N atom whose effects on their fragmentations have been studied. Some fragmentations resembled those of 3,1,2-oxazaphosphinane 2-oxides and 1,3,2-diazaphosphinane-2-oxides, but new routes were also found, initiated by ionization at the bridgehead N atom. The relative abundances of the molecular ions and some fragment ions allowed the differentiation of cis-trans epimers. Compounds with n = 2 and R=N(CH(2)CH(2)Cl)(2), and linearly or angularly isoquinoline-fused isomers in most cases, gave more numerous ions with lower relative abundances than the other compounds in this series. Only the isoquinoline derivatives provided fragments resulting from ionization of the aromatic part of the molecule.

Electron ionization mass spectra of phosphorus-containing heterocycles. II. 1,2,3,4,4a,5,6,7,8,8a-decahydro-1,3,2-benzodiazaphosphinine 2-oxides.

The electron ionization mass spectra of cis- and trans-fused 1,2,3,4,4a,5,6,7,8,8a-decahydro-1,3,2-benzodiazaphosphinine 2-oxides (1-17) were recorded, and the fragmentation pathways were established and compared with those of 1,4,4a,5,6,7,8,8a-octahydro-2H-3,1,2-benzoxazaphosphinine 2-oxides. In general, the mass spectral behaviors of the isomeric compounds were very similar and it was mostly impossible to differentiate them from each other on the basis of the relative abundances of their characteristic fragment ions. The compounds in which R(2) = Ph or OPh exhibited a series of common fragments, e.g. [R(2)H](+), R(2)PONHR(1(3)+), [M-C(3)H(7)](+) and [M-C(4)H(9)](+), the latter two ions being present in the spectra of only two of the derivatives with an N(CH(2)CH(2)Cl)(2) substituent on the P atom. When R(2) = Ph, numerous other alkyl radicals, alkenes and a cycloalkane were also ejected and these compounds also lost NH(2), NH(3), CH(3)N, CH(4)N or CH(3)NH(2). The compounds with an N(CH(2)CH(2)Cl)(2) substituent on the P atom most closely resembled their 3,1,2-O,N,P analogs in respect of the dominant role of this substituent.

Electron ionization mass spectra of phosphorus-containing heterocycles. I. 1,4,4a,5,6,7,8,8a-octahydro-2H-3,1,2-benzoxazaphosphinine 2-oxides.

The electron ionization mass spectra of 27 cis- and trans-annelated 1,4,4a,5,6,7,8,8a-octahydro-2H-3,1,2-benzoxazaphosphinine 2-oxides were recorded to clarify the effects of the ring heteroatom (O or N), ring annelation, the P configuration and the substituents attached to the ring or to the N and P atoms. For compounds 1-12 different alkyl radical and alkene losses and the cleavage of the P-heteroatom bonds, instead of the P-C bonds, were representative and dependent mainly on the substitution on the N and P atoms. The replacement of Ph and OPh by N(CH2CH2Cl)2 on the P atom had a dramatic influence on the fragmentation process: new fragment ions were obtained and very little M+ (1-3%) was formed. Only slight differences were found between some of the corresponding isomers, but interestingly the compounds formed clear groups on the basis of the differences in their fragmentation, depending on the ring-N and ring-P substituents.

[Synthesis of hydrazino alcohols with anti-inflammatory activity]. / Gyulladásgátló hatású hidrazinoalkoholok szintézise.

Two-step transformations (N-nitrosation and subsequent LiAlH4 reduction) of alicyclic or acyclic amines and 1,2-amino alcohols containing a secondary amino group were applied to prepare novel N1-substituted hydrazines and hydrazino alcohols with wide structural diversity. Methods for the synthesis of certain enantiopure hydrazino alcohols were also developed. The prepared compounds specifically inhibited Vascular Adhesion Protein-1 (VAP-1), a human endothelial cell adhesion molecule with a well-documented role in inflammation. VAP-1 is a semicarbazide-sensitive amine oxidase, activity of which has been demonstrated to play a role in VAP-1 induced inflammation. Some of the hydrazino alcohols obtained reduced the clinical symptoms of inflammation in experimental arthritis in rodents and appear to be potential novel anti-inflammatory drugs.

Synthesis and multidrug resistance reversal activity of 1,2-disubstituted tetrahydroisoquinoline derivatives.

BACKGROUND: Cancer treatment often fails due to multidrug resistance (MDR) of the tumor cells. One of the major causes is overexpression of P-glycoprotein (P-gp). MATERIALS AND METHODS: By N-substitution reactions of diamine, amino acid and amino alcohol derivatives with 1-substituted tetrahydroisoquinoline skeleton, structurally diverse 1,2-disubstituted 1,2,3,4-tetrahydroisoquinolines were synthesized. The compounds were assayed as P-gp inhibitors using a standard functional assay with rhodamine (6G) on MCF-7/Adr cells. Cytotoxicity was investigated on HeLa cells using an antiproliferative assay. RESULTS: Five of the 24 compounds showed greater P-gp inhibition than the control compound verapamil with AC50 values (concentration of the compound eliciting 50% of the maximal rhodamine 6G accumulation) significantly lower than that of verapamil. CONCLUSION: Novel compounds were synthesized that showed MDR-reversal effect. One of them, (1'R*,2R*)-2-[2'-[2''-hydroxy-3''-(alpha-naphthyloxy)propyl]-6',7'-dimethoxy-1',2',3',4'-tetrahydro-1'-isoquinolyl]propan-1-ol hydrochloride, showed two times higher efficacy than verapamil at 10 times lower concentrations. The outcome makes this molecule an attractive subject for further investigation and development.

Substituent-dependent negative hyperconjugation in 2-aryl-1,3-N,N-heterocycles. fine-tuned anomeric effect?

The epimerization reactions of conformationally inflexible 2-aryl-1,3-N,N-heterocycles were used as model systems to study the role of the nitrogen lone pair-C2 associated antibonding orbital hyperconjugative interactions in the experimentally observed substituent-dependent generalized anomeric effect. The measured reaction free enthalpies were found to correlate well with the sum of the hyperconjugative stabilization energies of all the vicinal donor-acceptor orbital overlaps around C2, obtained from ab initio NBO analysis, and both quantities correlated linearly with the Hammett-Brown substituent constant. The individual stereoelectronic interactions (n(N)-sigma(C2)(-)(N), n(N)-sigma(C2)(-)(Ar), n(N)-sigma(C2)(-)(H)) were also observed to exhibit a substituent dependence, despite their distance from the 2-aryl substituent and their nonperiplanar arrangement. The higher the electron-withdrawing effect of the 2-aryl substituent, the larger was the stabilization for n(N)-sigma(C2)(-)(Ar), while the overlaps n(N)-sigma(C2)(-)(N) and n(N)-sigma(C2)(-)(H) changed in the opposite sense. The different polarization of the acceptor sigma orbitals, caused by the 2-aryl substituent, accounted for the observed propagation of the substituent effect. These results promote a detailed explanation of the useful tautomeric behavior of the 2-aryl-1,3-X,N-heterocycles, and reveal the nature of the connection between the anomeric effect and the Hammett-type linear free energy relationship.