Evaluation of Expanded 2-Aminobenzothiazole Library for Inhibition of Pseudomonas aeruginosa Virulence Phenotypes.

Bacterial resistance to antibiotics is a rapidly increasing threat to human health. New strategies to combat resistant organisms are desperately needed. One potential avenue is targeting two-component systems, which are the main bacterial signal transduction pathways used to regulate development, metabolism, virulence, and antibiotic resistance. These systems consist of a homodimeric membrane-bound sensor histidine kinase, and a cognate effector, the response regulator. The high sequence conservation in the catalytic and adenosine triphosphate-binding (CA) domain of histidine kinases and their essential role in bacterial signal transduction could enable broad-spectrum antibacterial activity. Through this signal transduction, histidine kinases regulate multiple virulence mechanisms including toxin production, immune evasion, and antibiotic resistance. Targeting virulence, as opposed to development of bactericidal compounds, could reduce evolutionary pressure for acquired resistance. Additionally, compounds targeting the CA domain have the potential to impair multiple two-component systems that regulate virulence in one or more pathogens. We conducted structure-activity relationship studies of 2-aminobenzothiazole-based inhibitors designed to target the CA domain of histidine kinases. We found these compounds have anti-virulence activities in Pseudomonas aeruginosa, reducing motility phenotypes and toxin production associated with the pathogenic functions of this bacterium.

Preclinical Development of Pentamidine Analogs Identifies a Potent and Nontoxic Antibiotic Adjuvant.

The difficulty in treating Gram-negative bacteria can largely be attributed to their highly impermeable outer membrane (OM), which serves as a barrier to many otherwise active antibiotics. This can be overcome with the use of perturbant molecules, which disrupt OM integrity and sensitize Gram-negative bacteria to many clinically available Gram-positive-active antibiotics. Although many new perturbants have been identified in recent years, most of these molecules are impeded by toxicity due to the similarities between pathogen and host cell membranes. For example, our group recently reported the cryptic OM-perturbing activity of the antiprotozoal drug pentamidine. Its development as an antibiotic adjuvant is limited, however, by toxicity concerns. Herein, we took a medicinal chemistry approach to develop novel analogs of pentamidine, aiming to improve its OM activity while reducing its off-target toxicity. We identified the compound P35, which induces OM disruption and potentiates Gram-positive-active antibiotics in Acinetobacter baumannii and Klebsiella pneumoniae. Relative to pentamidine, P35 has reduced mammalian cell cytotoxicity and hERG trafficking inhibition. Additionally, P35 outperforms pentamidine in a murine model of A. baumannii bacteremia. Together, this preclinical analysis supports P35 as a promising lead for further development as an OM perturbant.

Allosteric MAPKAPK2 inhibitors improve plaque stability in advanced atherosclerosis.

Atherosclerotic vascular disease resulting from unstable plaques is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in subjects with type 2 diabetes (T2D), and thus a major therapeutic goal is to discover T2D drugs that can also promote atherosclerotic plaque stability. Genetic or pharmacologic inhibition of mitogen-activated protein kinase-activated protein kinase-2 (MAPKAPK2 or MK2) in obese mice improves glucose homeostasis and enhances insulin sensitivity. We developed two novel orally active small-molecule inhibitors of MK2, TBX-1 and TBX-2, and tested their effects on metabolism and atherosclerosis in high-fat Western diet (WD)-fed Ldlr-/- mice. Ldlr-/- mice were first fed the WD to allow atherosclerotic lesions to become established, and the mice were then treated with TBX-1 or TBX-2. Both compounds improved glucose metabolism and lowered plasma cholesterol and triglyceride, without an effect on body weight. Most importantly, the compounds decreased lesion area, lessened plaque necrosis, and increased fibrous cap thickness in the aortic root lesions of the mice. Thus, in a preclinical model of high-fat feeding and established atherosclerosis, MK2 inhibitors improved metabolism and also enhanced atherosclerotic plaque stability, suggesting potential for further clinical development to address the epidemic of T2D associated with atherosclerotic vascular disease.

Chemical Screen for Vancomycin Antagonism Uncovers Probes of the Gram-Negative Outer Membrane.

The outer membrane of Gram-negative bacteria is a formidable permeability barrier which allows only a small subset of chemical matter to penetrate. This outer membrane barrier can hinder the study of cellular processes and compound mechanism of action, as many compounds including antibiotics are precluded from entry despite having intracellular targets. Consequently, outer membrane permeabilizing compounds are invaluable tools in such studies. Many existing compounds known to perturb the outer membrane also impact inner membrane integrity, such as polymyxins and their derivatives, making these probes nonspecific. We performed a screen of ∼140 000 diverse synthetic compounds, for those that antagonized the growth inhibitory activity of vancomycin at 15 °C in Escherichia coli, to enrich for chemicals capable of perturbing the outer membrane. This led to the discovery that liproxstatin-1, an inhibitor of ferroptosis in human cells, and MAC-0568743, a novel cationic amphiphile, could potentiate the activity of large-scaffold antibiotics with low permeation into Gram-negative bacteria at 37 °C. Liproxstatin-1 and MAC-0568743 were found to physically disrupt the integrity of the outer membrane through interactions with lipopolysaccharide in the outer leaflet of the outer membrane. We showed that these compounds selectively disrupt the outer membrane while minimally impacting inner membrane integrity, particularly at the concentrations needed to potentiate Gram-positive-targeting antibiotics. Further exploration of these molecules and their structural analogues is a promising avenue for the development of outer membrane specific probes.

Large-scale chemical-genetics yields new M. tuberculosis inhibitor classes.

New antibiotics are needed to combat rising levels of resistance, with new Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) drugs having the highest priority. However, conventional whole-cell and biochemical antibiotic screens have failed. Here we develop a strategy termed PROSPECT (primary screening of strains to prioritize expanded chemistry and targets), in which we screen compounds against pools of strains depleted of essential bacterial targets. We engineered strains that target 474 essential Mtb genes and screened pools of 100-150 strains against activity-enriched and unbiased compound libraries, probing more than 8.5 million chemical-genetic interactions. Primary screens identified over tenfold more hits than screening wild-type Mtb alone, with chemical-genetic interactions providing immediate, direct target insights. We identified over 40 compounds that target DNA gyrase, the cell wall, tryptophan, folate biosynthesis and RNA polymerase, as well as inhibitors that target EfpA. Chemical optimization yielded EfpA inhibitors with potent wild-type activity, thus demonstrating the ability of PROSPECT to yield inhibitors against targets that would have eluded conventional drug discovery.

Discovery of heterocyclic replacements for the coumarin core of anti-tubercular FadD32 inhibitors.

Previous work established a coumarin scaffold as a starting point for inhibition of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) FadD32 enzymatic activity. After further profiling of the coumarin inhibitor 4 revealed chemical instability, we discovered that a quinoline ring circumvented this instability and had the advantage of offering additional substitution vectors to further optimize. Ensuing SAR studies gave rise to quinoline-2-carboxamides with potent anti-tubercular activity. Further optimization of ADME/PK properties culminated in 21b that exhibited compelling in vivo efficacy in a mouse model of Mtb infection.

Discovery of an Orally Bioavailable Benzimidazole Diacylglycerol Acyltransferase 1 (DGAT1) Inhibitor That Suppresses Body Weight Gain in Diet-Induced Obese Dogs and Postprandial Triglycerides in Humans.

Modification of a gut restricted class of benzimidazole DGAT1 inhibitor 1 led to 9 with good oral bioavailability. The key structural changes to 1 include bioisosteric replacement of the amide with oxadiazole and α,α-dimethylation of the carboxylic acid, improving DGAT1 potency and gut permeability. Since DGAT1 is expressed in the small intestine, both 1 and 9 can suppress postprandial triglycerides during acute oral lipid challenges in rats and dogs. Interestingly, only 9 was found to be effective in suppressing body weight gain relative to control in a diet-induced obese dog model, suggesting the importance of systemic inhibition of DGAT1 for body weight control. 9 has advanced to clinical investigation and successfully suppressed postprandial triglycerides during an acute meal challenge in humans.

Discovery of diamide compounds as diacylglycerol acyltransferase 1 (DGAT1) inhibitors.

Diamide compounds were identified as potent DGAT1 inhibitors in vitro, but their poor molecular properties resulted in low oral bioavailability, both systemically and to DGAT1 in the enterocytes of the small intestine, resulting in a lack of efficacy in vivo. Replacing an N-alkyl group on the diamide with an N-aryl group was found to be an effective strategy to confer oral bioavailability and oral efficacy in this lipophilic diamide class of inhibitors.

High-Throughput Melanin-Binding Affinity and In Silico Methods to Aid in the Prediction of Drug Exposure in Ocular Tissue.

Drugs possessing the ability to bind to melanin-rich tissue, such as the eye, are linked with higher ocular exposure, and therefore have the potential to affect the efficacy and safety profiles of therapeutics. A high-throughput melanin chromatographic affinity assay has been developed and validated, which has allowed the rapid melanin affinity assessment for a large number of compounds. Melanin affinity of compounds can be quickly assigned as low, medium, or high melanin binders. A high-throughput chromatographic method has been developed and fully validated to assess melanin affinity of pharmaceuticals and has been useful in predicting ocular tissue distribution in vivo studies. The high-throughput experimental approach has also allowed for a specific training set of 263 molecules for a quantitative structure-affinity relationships (QSAR) method to be developed, which has also been shown to be a predictor of ocular tissue exposure. Previous studies have reported the development of in silico QSAR models based on training sets of relatively small and mostly similar compounds; this model covers a broader range of melanin-binding affinities than what has been previously published and identified several physiochemical descriptors to be considered in the design of compounds where melanin-binding modulation is desired.

Treatment of Obese Insulin-Resistant Mice With an Allosteric MAPKAPK2/3 Inhibitor Lowers Blood Glucose and Improves Insulin Sensitivity.

The prevalence of obesity-induced type 2 diabetes (T2D) is increasing worldwide, and new treatment strategies are needed. We recently discovered that obesity activates a previously unknown pathway that promotes both excessive hepatic glucose production (HGP) and defective insulin signaling in hepatocytes, leading to exacerbation of hyperglycemia and insulin resistance in obesity. At the hub of this new pathway is a kinase cascade involving calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII), p38α mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK), and MAPKAPK2/3 (MK2/3). Genetic-based inhibition of these kinases improves metabolism in obese mice. Here, we report that treatment of obese insulin-resistant mice with an allosteric MK2/3 inhibitor, compound (cmpd) 28, ameliorates glucose homeostasis by suppressing excessive HGP and enhancing insulin signaling. The metabolic improvement seen with cmpd 28 is additive with the leading T2D drug, metformin, but it is not additive with dominant-negative MK2, suggesting an on-target mechanism of action. Allosteric MK2/3 inhibitors represent a potentially new approach to T2D that is highly mechanism based, has links to human T2D, and is predicted to avoid certain adverse effects seen with current T2D drugs.

A Maltose-Binding Protein Fusion Construct Yields a Robust Crystallography Platform for MCL1.

Crystallization of a maltose-binding protein MCL1 fusion has yielded a robust crystallography platform that generated the first apo MCL1 crystal structure, as well as five ligand-bound structures. The ability to obtain fragment-bound structures advances structure-based drug design efforts that, despite considerable effort, had previously been intractable by crystallography. In the ligand-independent crystal form we identify inhibitor binding modes not observed in earlier crystallographic systems. This MBP-MCL1 construct dramatically improves the structural understanding of well-validated MCL1 ligands, and will likely catalyze the structure-based optimization of high affinity MCL1 inhibitors.

Single Diastereomer of a Macrolactam Core Binds Specifically to Myeloid Cell Leukemia 1 (MCL1).

A direct binding screen of 100 000 sp(3)-rich molecules identified a single diastereomer of a macrolactam core that binds specifically to myeloid cell leukemia 1 (MCL1). A comprehensive toolbox of biophysical methods was applied to validate the original hit and subsequent analogues and also established a binding mode competitive with NOXA BH3 peptide. X-ray crystallography of ligand bound to MCL1 reveals a remarkable ligand/protein shape complementarity that diverges from previously disclosed MCL1 inhibitor costructures.

HCV NS5A replication complex inhibitors. Part 4. Optimization for genotype 1a replicon inhibitory activity.

A series of symmetrical E-stilbene prolinamides that originated from the library-synthesized lead 3 was studied with respect to HCV genotype 1a (G-1a) and genotype 1b (G-1b) replicon inhibition and selectivity against BVDV and cytotoxicity. SAR emerging from an examination of the prolinamide cap region revealed 11 to be a selective HCV NS5A inhibitor exhibiting submicromolar potency against both G-1a and G-1b replicons. Additional structural refinements resulted in the identification of 30 as a potent, dual G-1a/1b HCV NS5A inhibitor.

HCV NS5A replication complex inhibitors. Part 3: discovery of potent analogs with distinct core topologies.

In a recent disclosure, we described the discovery of dimeric, prolinamide-based NS5A replication complex inhibitors exhibiting excellent potency towards an HCV genotype 1b replicon. That disclosure dealt with the SAR exploration of the peripheral region of our lead chemotype, and herein is described the SAR uncovered from a complementary effort that focused on the central core region. From this effort, the contribution of the core region to the overall topology of the pharmacophore, primarily vector orientation and planarity, was determined, with a set of analogs exhibiting <10 nM EC(50) in a genotype 1b replicon assay.

HCV NS5A replication complex inhibitors. Part 2: investigation of stilbene prolinamides.

In a previous disclosure,(1) we reported the dimerization of an iminothiazolidinone to form 1, a contributor to the observed inhibition of HCV genotype 1b replicon activity. The dimer was isolated via bioassay-guided fractionation experiments and shown to be a potent inhibitor of genotype 1b HCV replication for which resistance mapped to the NS5A protein. The elements responsible for governing HCV inhibitory activity were successfully captured in the structurally simplified stilbene prolinamide 2. We describe herein the early SAR and profiling associated with stilbene prolinamides that culminated in the identification of analogs with PK properties sufficient to warrant continued commitment to this chemotype. These studies represent the key initial steps toward the discovery of daclatasvir (BMS-790052), a compound that has demonstrated clinical proof-of-concept for inhibiting the NS5A replication complex in the treatment of HCV infection.

Intestinally Targeted Diacylglycerol Acyltransferase 1 (DGAT1) Inhibitors Robustly Suppress Postprandial Triglycerides.

High DGAT1 expression levels in the small intestine highlight the critical role this enzyme plays in nutrient absorption. Identification of inhibitors which predominantly inhibit DGAT1 in the gut is an attractive drug discovery strategy with anticipated benefits of reduced systemic toxicity. In this report we describe our discovery and optimization of DGAT1 inhibitors whose plasma exposure is minimized by the action of transporters, including the P-glycoprotein transporter. The impact of this unique absorption profile on efficacy in rat and dog efficacy models is presented.

Discovery of potent hepatitis C virus NS5A inhibitors with dimeric structures.

The exceptional in vitro potency of the hepatitis C virus (HCV) NS5A inhibitor BMS-790052 has translated into an in vivo effect in proof-of-concept clinical trials. Although the 50% effective concentration (EC(50)) of the initial lead, the thiazolidinone BMS-824, was ~10 nM in the replicon assay, it underwent transformation to other inhibitory species after incubation in cell culture medium. The biological profile of BMS-824, including the EC(50), the drug concentration required to reduce cell growth by 50% (CC(50)), and the resistance profile, however, remained unchanged, triggering an investigation to identify the biologically active species. High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) biogram fractionation of a sample of BMS-824 incubated in medium revealed that the most active fractions could readily be separated from the parental compound and retained the biological profile of BMS-824. From mass spectral and nuclear magnetic resonance data, the active species was determined to be a dimer of BMS-824 derived from an intermolecular radical-mediated reaction of the parent compound. Based upon an analysis of the structural elements of the dimer deemed necessary for anti-HCV activity, the stilbene derivative BMS-346 was synthesized. This compound exhibited excellent anti-HCV activity and showed a resistance profile similar to that of BMS-824, with changes in compound sensitivity mapped to the N terminus of NS5A. The N terminus of NS5A has been crystallized as a dimer, complementing the symmetry of BMS-346 and allowing a potential mode of inhibition of NS5A to be discussed. Identification of the stable, active pharmacophore associated with these NS5A inhibitors provided the foundation for the design of more potent inhibitors with broad genotype inhibition. This culminated in the identification of BMS-790052, a compound that preserves the symmetry discovered with BMS-346.

A new structural alert for benzimidazoles: 2,6-dimethylphenyl substituents increase mutagenic potential and time-dependent CYP3A4 inhibition risk.

A series of 2-[(2,6)-dimethylphenyl]benzimidazole analogs displayed strong potential for mutagenicity following metabolic activation in either TA98 or TA100 Salmonella typhimurium strains. The number of revertants was significantly reduced by replacing the 2,6-dimethylphenyl group with a 2,6-dichlorophenyl moiety. Time-dependent CYP3A4 inhibition was also observed with a compound containing a 2-[(2,6)-dimethylphenyl] benzimidazole ring, implying risk for this scaffold to generate reactive metabolites.

Inhibitors of HCV NS5A: From Iminothiazolidinones to Symmetrical Stilbenes.

The iminothiazolidinone BMS-858 (2) was identified as a specific inhibitor of HCV replication in a genotype 1b replicon assay via a high-throughput screening campaign. A more potent analogue, BMS-824 (18), was used in resistance mapping studies, which revealed that inhibitory activity was related to disrupting the function of the HCV nonstructural protein 5A. Despite the development of coherent and interpretable SAR, it was subsequently discovered that in DMSO 18 underwent an oxidation and structural rearrangement to afford the thiohydantoin 47, a compound with reduced HCV inhibitory activity. However, HPLC bioassay fractionation studies performed after incubation of 18 in assay media led to the identification of fractions containing a dimeric species 48 that exhibited potent antiviral activity. Excision of the key elements hypothesized to be responsible for antiviral activity based on SAR observations reduced 48 to a simplified, symmetrical, pharmacophore realized most effectively with the stilbene 55, a compound that demonstrated potent inhibition of HCV in a genotype 1b replicon with an EC50 = 86 pM.

Chemical genetics strategy identifies an HCV NS5A inhibitor with a potent clinical effect.

The worldwide prevalence of chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is estimated to be approaching 200 million people. Current therapy relies upon a combination of pegylated interferon-alpha and ribavirin, a poorly tolerated regimen typically associated with less than 50% sustained virological response rate in those infected with genotype 1 virus. The development of direct-acting antiviral agents to treat HCV has focused predominantly on inhibitors of the viral enzymes NS3 protease and the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase NS5B. Here we describe the profile of BMS-790052, a small molecule inhibitor of the HCV NS5A protein that exhibits picomolar half-maximum effective concentrations (EC(50)) towards replicons expressing a broad range of HCV genotypes and the JFH-1 genotype 2a infectious virus in cell culture. In a phase I clinical trial in patients chronically infected with HCV, administration of a single 100-mg dose of BMS-790052 was associated with a 3.3 log(10) reduction in mean viral load measured 24 h post-dose that was sustained for an additional 120 h in two patients infected with genotype 1b virus. Genotypic analysis of samples taken at baseline, 24 and 144 h post-dose revealed that the major HCV variants observed had substitutions at amino-acid positions identified using the in vitro replicon system. These results provide the first clinical validation of an inhibitor of HCV NS5A, a protein with no known enzymatic function, as an approach to the suppression of virus replication that offers potential as part of a therapeutic regimen based on combinations of HCV inhibitors.