Bufotenine and its derivatives: synthesis, analgesic effects identification and computational target prediction / 中国天然药物

Natural product bufotenine (5) which could be isolated from Venenum Bufonis, has been widely used as a tool in central nervous system (CNS) studies. We present here its quaternary ammonium salt (6) which was synthesized with high yields using 5-benzyloxyindole as raw materials, and we firstly discover its analgesic effects in vivo. The analgesic evaluation showed that compounds 5 and 6 had stronger effects on the behavior of formalin induced pain in mice. Moreover, the combination of compound 6 and morphine has a synergistic effect. We intended to explain the molecular mechanism of this effect. Therefore, 36 analgesic-related targets (including 15 G protein-coupled receptors, 6 enzymes, 13 ion channels, and 2 others) were systemically evaluated using reverse docking. The results indicate that bufotenine and its derivatives are closely related to acetyl cholinesterase (AChE) or α

The research progress of indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase 1 (IDO1) inhibitors / 药学学报

Indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase 1 (IDO1) is a key enzyme of L-tryptophan metabolic oxidation pathway, in which the L-tryptophan is transformed into N-formyl kynurenine by oxidative cleavage. IDO1 is considered as a potential target for the development of cancer immunotherapeutic molecules. Up to now, at least 10 drug candidates have been advanced into clinical research. In this review, the binding mode and structure-activity relationships of the representative IDO1 small molecule inhibitors were summarized according the characteristics of chemical structures. Hopefully, this review could provide some insights for further development of novel IDO1 inhibitors.

Crystal structures, absolute configurations and molecular docking studies of naftopidil enantiomers as-adrenoceptor antagonists

Chiral drug naftopidil (NAF), a specific-adrenoceptor (AR) antagonist for the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia, was used in racemic form for several decades. Our recent work declared that NAF enantiomers showed the same antagonistic effects on the-AR, but the binding mechanism of these two stereochemical NAF isomers to thereceptor remained unclear. Herein, we reported the crystallographic structures of optically pure NAF stereoisomers for the first time and unambiguously determined their absolute configurations. The crystal data ofandenantiomers matched satisfactorily the pharmacophore model for-selective antagonists. Based on the constructedhomology model, molecular docking studies shed light on the molecular mechanism of NAF enantiomers binding to-AR. The results indicated that NAF enantiomers exhibited the very similar binding poses and occupied the same binding pocket.