Synthesis and biological evaluation of analogues of AKT (protein kinase B) inhibitor-IV.

Inhibitors of the PI3-kinase/AKT (protein kinase B) pathway are under investigation as anticancer and antiviral agents. The benzimidazole derivative AKT inhibitor-IV (ChemBridge 5233705) affects this pathway and exhibits potent anticancer and antiviral activity. To probe its biological activity, we synthesized AKT inhibitor-IV and 21 analogues using a novel six-step route based on ZrCl(4)-catalyzed cyclization of 1,2-arylenediamines with α,ß-unsaturated aldehydes. We examined effects on viability of HeLa carcinoma cells, viability of normal human cells (NHBE), replication of recombinant parainfluenza virus 5 (PIV5) in HeLa cells, and replication of the intracellular bacterium Mycobacterium fortuitum in HeLa cells. Replacement of the benzimidazole N-ethyl substitutent of AKT inhibitor-IV with N-hexyl and N-dodecyl groups enhanced antiviral activity and cytotoxicity against the cancer cell line, but these compounds showed substantially lower toxicity (from 6-fold to >20-fold) against NHBE cells and no effect on M. fortuitum, suggesting inhibition of one or more host protein(s) required for proliferation of cancer cells and PIV5. The key structural elements identified here may facilitate identification of targets of this highly biologically active scaffold.

Synthesis of a 6-methyl-7-deaza analogue of adenosine that potently inhibits replication of polio and dengue viruses.

Bioisosteric deaza analogues of 6-methyl-9-ß-D-ribofuranosylpurine, a hydrophobic analogue of adenosine, were synthesized and evaluated for antiviral activity. Whereas the 1-deaza and 3-deaza analogues were essentially inactive in plaque assays of infectivity, a novel 7-deaza-6-methyl-9-ß-D-ribofuranosylpurine analogue, structurally related to the natural product tubercidin, potently inhibited replication of poliovirus (PV) in HeLa cells (IC(50) = 11 nM) and dengue virus (DENV) in Vero cells (IC(50) = 62 nM). Selectivity against PV over cytotoxic effects to HeLa cells was >100-fold after incubation for 7 h. Mechanistic studies of the 5'-triphosphate of 7-deaza-6-methyl-9-ß-D-ribofuranosylpurine revealed that this compound is an efficient substrate of PV RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRP) and is incorporated into RNA mimicking both ATP and GTP.

One-pot synthesis of nucleoside 5'-triphosphates from nucleoside 5'-H-phosphonates.

Nucleoside 5'-triphosphates (NTPs) play key roles in biology and medicine. However, these compounds are notoriously difficult to synthesize. We describe a one-pot method to prepare NTPs from nucleoside 5'-H-phosphonate monoesters via pyridinium phosphoramidates, and we used this approach to synthesize ATP, UTP, GTP, CTP, ribavirin-TP, and 6-methylpurine ribonucleoside-TP (6MePTP). Poliovirus RNA-dependent RNA polymerase efficiently employed 6MePTP as a substrate, suggesting that the cognate nucleoside, a poorly understood antiviral agent, may damage viral RNA.