Structure-Based Design and Pharmacophore-Based Virtual Screening of Combinatorial Library of Triclosan Analogues Active against Enoyl-Acyl Carrier Protein Reductase of Plasmodium falciparum with Favourable ADME Profiles.

Cost-effective therapy of neglected and tropical diseases such as malaria requires everlasting drug discovery efforts due to the rapidly emerging drug resistance of the plasmodium parasite. We have carried out computational design of new inhibitors of the enoyl-acyl carrier protein reductase (ENR) of Plasmodium falciparum (PfENR) using computer-aided combinatorial and pharmacophore-based molecular design. The Molecular Mechanics Poisson-Boltzmann Surface Area (MM-PBSA) complexation QSAR model was developed for triclosan-based inhibitors (TCL) and a significant correlation was established between the calculated relative Gibbs free energies of complex formation (∆∆Gcom) between PfENR and TCL and the observed inhibitory potencies of the enzyme (IC50exp) for a training set of 20 known TCL analogues. Validation of the predictive power of the MM-PBSA QSAR model was carried out with the generation of 3D QSAR pharmacophore (PH4). We obtained a reasonable correlation between the relative Gibbs free energy of complex formation ∆∆Gcom and IC50exp values, which explained approximately 95% of the PfENR inhibition data: pIC50exp=-0.0544×∆∆Gcom+6.9336,R2=0.95. A similar agreement was established for the PH4 pharmacophore model of the PfENR inhibition (pIC50exp=0.9754×pIC50pre+0.1596, R2=0.98). Analysis of enzyme-inhibitor binding site interactions suggested suitable building blocks to be used in a virtual combinatorial library of 33,480 TCL analogues. Structural information derived from the complexation model and the PH4 pharmacophore guided us through in silico screening of the virtual combinatorial library of TCL analogues to finally identify potential new TCL inhibitors effective at low nanomolar concentrations. Virtual screening of the library by PfENR-PH4 led to a predicted IC50pre value for the best inhibitor candidate as low as 1.9 nM. Finally, the stability of PfENR-TCLx complexes and the flexibility of the active conformation of the inhibitor for selected top-ranking TCL analogues were checked with the help of molecular dynamics. This computational study resulted in a set of proposed new potent inhibitors with predicted antimalarial effects and favourable pharmacokinetic profiles that act on a novel pharmacological target, PfENR.

Insight into selectivity of peptidomimetic inhibitors with modified statine core for plasmepsin II of Plasmodium falciparum over human cathepsin D.

Plasmepsin II (PlmII), an aspartic protease expressed in the food vacuole of Plasmodium falciparum (pf), cleaves the hemoglobin of the host during the erythrocytic stage of the parasite life cycle. Various peptidomimetic inhibitors of PlmII reported so far discriminate poorly between the drug target and aspartic proteases of the host organism, e.g., human cathepsinD (hCatD). hCatD is a protein digestion enzyme and signaling molecule involved in a variety of physiological processes; therefore, inhibition of hCatD by PlmII inhibitors may lead to pathophysiological conditions. In this study, binding of PlmII inhibitors has been modeled using the crystal structures of pfPlmII and hCatD complexes to gain insight into structural requirements underlying the target selectivity. A series of 26 inhibitors were modeled in the binding clefts of the pfPlmII and hCatD to establish QSAR models of the protease inhibition. In addition, 3D-QSAR pharmacophore models were generated for each enzyme. It was concluded that the contributions of the P(2) and P(3') residues to the inhibitor's binding affinity are responsible for the target selectivity. Based on these findings, new inhibitor candidates were designed with predicted inhibition constants K (pre)(i PlmII) reaching 0.2nm and selectivity index (S.I.)=K(pre)(i PlmII) >1200.