Structural basis for pterin antagonism in nitric-oxide synthase. Development of novel 4-oxo-pteridine antagonists of (6R)-5,6,7,8-tetrahydrobiopterin.

Pathological nitric oxide (NO) generation in sepsis, inflammation, and stroke may be therapeutically controlled by inhibiting NO synthases (NOS). Here we targeted the (6R)-5,6,7,8-tetrahydro-l-biopterin (H(4)Bip)-binding site of NOS, which, upon cofactor binding, maximally increases enzyme activity and NO production from substrate l-arginine. The first generation of H(4)Bip-based NOS inhibitors employed a 4-amino pharmacophore of H(4)Bip analogous to antifolates such as methotrexate. We developed a novel series of 4-oxo-pteridine derivatives that were screened for inhibition against neuronal NOS (NOS-I) and a structure-activity relationship was determined. To understand the structural basis for pterin antagonism, selected derivatives were docked into the NOS pterin binding cavity. Using a reduced 4-oxo-pteridine scaffold, derivatives with certain modifications such as electron-rich aromatic phenyl or benzoyl groups at the 5- and 6-positions, were discovered to markedly inhibit NOS-I, possibly due to hydrophobic and electrostatic interactions with Phe(462) and Ser(104), respectively, within the pterin binding pocket. One of the most effective 4-oxo compounds and, for comparisons an active 4-amino derivative, were then co-crystallized with the endothelial NOS (NOS-III) oxygenase domain and this structure solved to confirm the hypothetical binding modes. Collectively, these findings suggest (i) that, unlike the antifolate principle, the 4-amino substituent is not essential for developing pterin-based NOS inhibitors and (ii), provide a steric and electrostatic basis for their rational design.

Synthesis and antitumor activity of some new phthalimide analogues.

The reactive intermediate 1-(chloroalkyl)-1-aza-2-azoniaallene salts 3, which were prepared by treatment of the alpha,alpha'-dichloroazo derivatives 2 with SbCl5, underwent cycloaddition with the N-cyanoalkyl phthalimide compounds 4 and afforded the 1,2,4-triazolium salts 5. These salts rearranged spontaneously to the protonated 1,2,4-triazoles 6, followed by hydrolysis in situ to the 1,2,4-triazolo-alkyl-phthalimide compounds 7. The newly synthesized compounds were then evaluated for their antitumor activity in three cell lines.

Synthesis of acyclic 6,7-dihaloquinolone nucleoside analogues as potential antibacterial and antiviral agents.

Reaction of the quinolone carboxylic acids 1 and 2 with (2-acetoxyethoxy)methyl chloride 3 in the presence of n-Bu4NI afforded the N-alkylated products 4 and 6, which could be deblocked to the free nucleoside analogues 5 and 7, respectively. The alkylated quinolone carboxylic acids 9 and 10 were obtained by condensation of I and 2 with 1,4-dichlorobut-2-ene 8 in the presence of NaH. Hydrolysis of 9 gave the alcohol 11. Similar treatment of 1 with 8 in the presence of K2CO3 at relatively high temperature furnished 12. Prolonged heating of the ester 13 with 8 in NaH/DMF afforded the conjugated-diene 15. Treatment of 1 and 2 with dimethyl acetylenedicarboxylate 16 furnished the pyrano[4,3-b]quinolones 17 and 18, respectively. Antibacterial and antiviral evaluations of the new products are reported.

Synthesis and antiviral activity of 1,5- and 1,3-dialkyl-1,2,4-triazole C-nucleosides derived from 1-(chloroalkyl)-1-aza-2-azoniaallene salts.

Reactions of alpha,alpha'-dichloroazo compounds 2 with SbCl5 gave 1-(chloroalkyl)-1-aza-2-azoniaallene salts 3 as reactive intermediates. Cycloadditions of 3 with the ribofuranosyl cyanide 4 afforded the beta-D-ribofuranosyl-1,2,4-triazolium salts 5, which rearranged spontaneously to salts 6. Hydrolysis of 6 gave the 1,2,4-triazole C-nucleosides 7, which yielded the free nucleosides 8 after deblocking. Analogously, 12 was prepared from the cycloaddition of 4 with the alpha-chloroazo compound 10 in the presence of SbCl5. Deblocking of 12 with sodium methoxide afforded 13. Compounds 8a,b,e,f and 13 were tested against HIV-1, HIV-2, HSV-1 and HSV-2 and were found to be inactive.

Inhibition of neuronal nitric oxide synthase by 4-amino pteridine derivatives: structure-activity relationship of antagonists of (6R)-5,6,7,8-tetrahydrobiopterin cofactor.

The family of nitric oxide synthases (NOS) catalyzes the conversion of L-arginine to L-citrulline and nitric oxide (NO), an important cellular messenger molecule which has been implicated in the pathophysiology of septic shock and inflammatory and neurodegenerative disease states. NOS can be maximally activated by the ubiquitous cofactor, (6R)-5,6,7,8-tetrahydrobiopterin (H(4)Bip), and antagonists of H(4)Bip may be of therapeutic importance to inhibit pathologically high NO formation. The 4-amino substituted analogue of H(4)Bip was reported to be a potent NOS inhibitor. Therefore, we developed a series of novel 4-amino pteridine derivatives, anti-pterins, to pharmacologically target the neuronal isoform of nitric oxide synthase (NOS-I). To functionally characterize the pterin/anti-pterin interaction and establish a structure-activity relationship (SAR), we systematically altered the substituents in the 2-, 4-, 5-, 6-, and 7-position of the pteridine nucleus. Varying the substitution pattern in the 2-, 5-, and 7-position resulted in no significant inhibitory effect on enzyme activity. In contrast, bulky substituents in the 6-position, such as phenyl, markedly increased the inhibitory potency of the reduced 4-amino-5,6,7,8-tetrahydropteridines, possibly as a consequence of hydrophobic interactions within NOS-I. However, this was not the case for the aromatic 4-amino pteridines. Interestingly, chemical modification of the 4-amino substituent by dialkyl/diaralkylation together with 6-arylation of the aromatic 2,4-diamino pteridine resulted in potent and efficacious inhibitors of NOS-I, suggesting possible hydrophilic and hydrophobic interactions within NOS-I. This SAR agrees with (a) the recently published crystal structure of the oxygenase domain of the inducible NOS isoform (NOS-II) and (b) the comparative molecular field analysis of selected NOS-I inhibitors, which resulted in a 3D-QSAR model of the pterin binding site interactions. Further optimization should be possible when the full length structure of NOS-I becomes available.

Synthesis and antiviral activity of 1-[1,5-dialkyl-1H-1,2,4-triazol-3-yl)methyl]thymines.

Cycloaddition of the intermediates 2 with 1-(cyanomethyl)-thymine 3 furnished the 1,2,4-triazolium salts 4, which rearranged spontaneously to the protonated salts 5. Hydrolysis of 5, in situ, afforded the title compounds 6. Compounds 6a-c were screened against HIV-1 (IIIB), HIV-2 (ROD), and human cytomegalovirus (HMCV) and showed poor or no activity, respectively.