Design and synthesis of new dihydropyrimidine/sulphonamide hybrids as promising anti-inflammatory agents via dual mPGES-1/5-LOX inhibition.

A novel series of dihydropyrimidine/sulphonamide hybrids 3a-j with anti-inflammatory properties have been developed and tested as dual mPGES-1/5-LOX inhibitors. In vitro assay, results showed that compounds 3c, 3e, 3h, and 3j were the most effective dual inhibitors of mPGES-1 and 5-LOX activities. Compound 3j was the most potent dual inhibitor with IC50 values of 0.92 µM and 1.98 µM, respectively. In vivo, anti-inflammatory studies demonstrated that compounds 3c, 3e, 3h, and 3e had considerable anti-inflammatory activity, with EI% ranging from 29% to 71%. Compounds 3e and 3j were equivalent to celecoxib after the first hour but exhibited stronger anti-inflammatory effects than celecoxib after the third and fifth hours. Moreover, compounds 3e and 3j significantly reduced the levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines (PGE2, TNF-α, and IL-6) with gastrointestinal safety profiles. Molecular docking simulations explored the most potent derivatives' binding affinities and interaction patterns within mPGES-1 and 5-LOX active sites. This study disclosed that compound 3j is a promising anti-inflammatory lead with dual mPGES-1/5-LOX inhibition that deserves further preclinical investigation.

New pyrimidine/thiazole hybrids endowed with analgesic, anti-inflammatory, and lower cardiotoxic activities: Design, synthesis, and COX-2/sEH dual inhibition.

Some cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 selective medications were withdrawn from the market just a few years after their production due to cardiovascular side effects. In this study, a new series of pyrimidine/thiazole hybrids 7a-p was synthesized as selective COX-2/soluble epoxide hydrolase (sEH) inhibitors with analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects, and lower cardiotoxicity effects. The target compounds were synthesized and in vitro tested against COX-1, COX-2, and sEH enzymes. Hybrids 7j, 7k, and 7i showed the greatest COX-2-inhibitory activity and were discovered to be the most potent dual COX-2/sEH inhibitors. In vivo tests revealed that these hybrids were the most active analgesic/anti-inflammatory agents, with improved ulcerogenic and cardioprotective properties. Finally, the most active dual inhibitors were docked into COX-2/sEH active regions to explain their binding mechanisms.

Design, synthesis, and antibacterial evaluation of new quinoline-1,3,4-oxadiazole and quinoline-1,2,4-triazole hybrids as potential inhibitors of DNA gyrase and topoisomerase IV.

DNA gyrase and topoisomerase IV (topo IV) inhibitors are among the most interesting antibacterial drug classes without antibacterial pipeline representative. Twenty-four new quinoline-1,3,4-oxadiazole and quinoline-1,2,4-triazole hybrids were developed and tested against DNA gyrase and topoisomerase IV from Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. The most potent compounds 4c, 4e, 4f, and 5e displayed an IC50 of 34, 26, 32, and 90 nM against E. coli DNA gyrase, respectively (novobiocin, IC50 = 170 nM). The activities of 4c, 4e, 4f, and 5e on DNA gyrase from S. aureus were weaker than those on E. coli gyrase. Compound 4e showed IC50 values (0.47 µM and 0.92 µM) against E. coli topo IV and S. aureus topo IV, respectively in comparison to novobiocin (IC50 = 11, 27 µM, respectively). Antibacterial activity against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacterial strains has been studied. Some compounds have demonstrated superior antibacterial activity to ciprofloxacin against some of the bacterial strain studied. The most active compounds in this study showed no cytotoxic effect with cell viability>86%. Finally, a molecular docking analysis was performed to investigate the binding mode and interactions of the most active compounds to the active site of DNA gyrase and topoisomerase IV (topo IV) enzymes.

Design, synthesis, and biological evaluation of new pyrimidine-5-carbonitrile derivatives bearing 1,3-thiazole moiety as novel anti-inflammatory EGFR inhibitors with cardiac safety profile.

A new series of pyrimidine-5-carbonitrile derivatives 8a-p carrying the 1,3-thiazole moiety has been designed and synthesized as novel anti-inflammatory EGFR inhibitors with cardiac and gastric safety profiles. 8a-p have been assessed for their inhibitory activity against COX-1/COX-2 activity. Compounds 8h, 8n, and 8p were found to be potent and selective COX-2 inhibitors (IC50 = 1.03-1.71 µM) relative to celecoxib (IC50 = 0.88 µM). The most potent COX-2 inhibitors have been further investigated for their in-vivo anti-inflammatory effect. Compounds 8h, 8n, and 8p showed anti-inflammatory activity up to 90%, 94% and 86% of meloxicam after 4 h interval. 8h, 8n, and 8p showed higher gastric safety profiles than meloxicam. A substantial reduction in serum concentrations of PGE2, TNF-α, IL-6, iNO and MDA and a significant induction of TAC was also observed. In vivo experiments on heart rate and blood pressure established the cardiovascular safety profile of 8h, 8n, and 8p. Anti-proliferative and wild-type EGFR inhibitory assays displayed similar results to selective COX-2 inhibition where compounds 8h, 8n, and 8p had a superior inhibition than other tested ones. Molecular docking study demonstrated that these compounds revealed similar orientation and binding interactions as selective COX-2 inhibitors with a higher liability to enter the side pocket selectively. Also, they interacted with EGFR tyrosine kinase main amino acids similar to erlotinib with a strong binding energy score.

Cu (I) catalyzed alkyne-azide 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition (CuAAC): Synthesis of 17α-[1-(substituted phenyl)-1,2,3-triazol-4-yl]-19-nor-testosterone-17ß-yl acetates targeting progestational and antipro-liferative activities.

The progestational potency and selectivity of synthetic steroidal agonists can be enhanced by even larger chemical moieties at 17α-position of the steroid backbones. Hereby a series 5a-c and 6a-c of novel 17α-[1-(substituted phenyl)-1,2,3-triazol-4-yl]-19-nortestosterone-17ß-yl acetates were designed and synthesized using click chemistry approach searching progestogenic derivatives with potential anticancer activity. Compounds 5a,b and 6a,c have affected to different extents the three histopatho-logical parameters considered for evaluation of their progestational activity. The compounds 5a,b and 6a,c showed modifications in rat uterus at 35.7-34.8 nM levels with privileged endometrial thickening effect and least change of uterine weight relative to NEA at 52.9 nM level. Up to 40 mg/kg dose compounds 5b and 6c were non-toxic. Molecular docking of the ligands in PR showed in the majority of cases a conformational fitting into the active site different from that of the reference steroid NEA. Compound 6b revealed about 46.4% growth inhibition of CNS cancer SNB-75 cell line, 56% growth inhibition of renal cancer A498 cell line and 56.7% growth inhibition of prostate cancer PC-3 cell line which was mediated by cell cycle arrest. Drugability of the screened compounds showed tolerated results after being challenged to diverse physicochemical parameters.

Fluorinated 1,2,4-Triazolo[1,5-a]pyrimidine-6-carboxylic acid derivatives as antimycobacterial agents.

A series of fluorinated 1,2,4-triazolo[1,5-a]pyrimidine-6-carboxylic acid derivatives was designed and synthesized as fluoroquinolone analogues. The synthesized compounds were screened against Mycobacterium tuberculosis H(37)R(v) strain at 6.25 microg/mL concentration. Compound 4, the 7-oxo-2-(trifluoromethyl)-4,7-dihydro-1,2,4-triazolo[5,1-a]pyrimidine-6-carboxylic acid was found to be a very potent inhibitor, being able to inhibit 92% growth of M. tuberculosis H(37)R(v )at 6.25 microg/mL concentration. At the same time, it proofed to be nontoxic to mammalian cells (IC(50) > 62.5 microg/mL in VERO cells).

Quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) studies on a series of 1,3,4-thiadiazole-2-thione derivatives as tumor-associated carbonic anhydrase IX inhibitors.

A linear quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) study that encodes various aspects of physicochemical, topological and electronic descriptors has been developed for a series of 1,3,4-thiadiazole-2-thione derivatives (1a-r and 2a-c). The carbonic anhydrase IX inhibitory activity of the candidates under study (1a-r and 2a-c) were correlated to the selected parameters using stepwise linear regression analyses to achieve the best QSAR model. Promising results were obtained with the employed tetra-parametric model indicating that the information approach used in the present investigation is quite useful for modeling carbonic anhydrase IX inhibitors.

Design, synthesis, and docking studies of new 1,3,4-thiadiazole-2-thione derivatives with carbonic anhydrase inhibitory activity.

A new series of 1,3,4-thiadiazole-2-thione derivatives have been prepared and assayed for the inhibition of three physiologically relevant carbonic anhydrase (CA, EC 4.2.1.1) isozymes, the cytosolic human isozymes I and II, and the transmembrane, tumor-associated hCA IX. Against hCA I the investigated thiones, showed inhibition constants in the range of 2.55-222 microM, against hCA II in the range of 2.0-433 microM, and against hCA IX in the range of 1.25-148 microM. Compound 5c, 4-(4,5-dihydro-5-thioxo-1,3,4-thiadiazol-2-yl)-1-(5-nitro-2-oxoindolin-3-ylidene)semicarbazide showed interesting inhibition of the tumor-associated hCA IX with K(I) value of 1.25 microM, being the first non-sulfonamide type inhibitor of such activity. This result is rather important taking into consideration the known antitumor activity of thiones. In addition, docking of the tested compounds into CA II active site was performed in order to predict the affinity and orientation of these compounds at the isozyme active site. The results showed similar orientation of the target compounds at CA II active site compared with reported sulfonamide type CAIs with the thione group acting as a zinc-binding moiety.

Synthesis of 5-phenyl-1-(3-pyridyl)-1H-1,2,4-triazole-3-carboxylic acid derivatives of potential anti-inflammatory activity.

A series of 5-phenyl-1-(3-pyridyl)-1H-1,2,4-triazole-3-carboxylic acid derivatives 4-10 were synthesized by rearrangement of 4-(3-pyridyl)-hydrazono-2-phenyl-2-oxazolin-5-one 3 in the presence of different nucleophiles to afford derivatives 4, 7, and 8, while hydroxamic acid derivative 6 was prepared from reaction of methyl ester 4 with hydroxylamine hydrochloride. Semicarbazide 9 and thiosemicarbazide 10, derivatives of the 5-phenyl-1-(3-pyridyl)-1H-1,2,4-triazole-3-carboxylic acid, were synthesized via hydrazide 8 with potassium cyanate and appropriate isothiocyanate, respectively. The structures of the synthesized compounds were confirmed by elemental analyses, IR, (1)H-NMR, and mass spectra. The results of the anti-inflammatory activity of the synthesized derivatives showed that most of the tested compounds 4-10 showed significant inhibition against carrageenan-induced rat paw edema in albino rats. Derivatives 4 and 8 showed promising results and were found to be equipotent or more potent than Indomethacin and Celecoxib as reference drugs at two dose levels, 5 and 10 mg/kg, and they have no ulcerogenic activity.

A novel dipeptide-based HIV protease inhibitor containing allophenylnorstatine.

Dipeptide analogues incorporating allophenylnorstatine [Apns; (2S,3S)-3amino-2-hydroxy-4-phenylbutyric acid] as a transition state mimic at the scissile bond were designed and synthesized in the hope of obtaining a novel KNI series of HIV protease inhibitors. The precursors, N-P2'-3-(2S,3S)-3-(tert-butyloxy-carbonyl)amino-2-hydroxy-4-phenylbutanoyl)-5,5-dimethylthiazolidine-4-carboxamide (N-Boc-Apns-Dmt-P2') 4a-p were prepared by deprotection of the synthones N-P2'-(tert-butyloxycarbonyl)-5,5-dimethylthiazolidine-4-carboxamide (Boc-Dmt-P2') 2a-p, then coupling with (2S,3S)3-(tert-butyloxycarbonyl)amino-2-hydroxy-4-phenylbutanoic acid (N-Boc-Apns-OH) 3. The deprotected intermediates 4 were coupled with the activated carboxyl groups of the P2 ligands to afford the target dipeptides. In this work, we fixed at the P2 site either a 2,6-dimethylphenoxyacetyl or a 3-hydroxy-2-methylbenzoyl group. Substitutes at the P2' site were varied to afford the members of the series 7 and 8. Improved activity of most of the members of series 8 relative to their analogues of series 7 can be partially attributed to the differences in the structures of the P2 moieties. Positional isomerism in the P2' moieties significantly affected the activity and polarity of the target.

Brain delivery of HIV protease inhibitors.

To overcome the problems of peptidomimetic drug delivery to the specific organs, the use of dihydropyridine <--> pyridinium chemical delivery systems to deliver peptides to the brain is considered in this work. An HIV protease inhibitor lead compound; KNI 279 was selected for the study. The N-alkylated dihydroisoquinoline derivatives of KNI-279 were synthesized and tested for their ability to be oxidized by brain homogenate and showed good results with reasonable half-life times specially for the N-alkoxycarbonyl-methyl derivative 8. The in-vivo distribution of compound 8 proved the brain delivery and locked in property of HIV PR inhibitors in the brain. All the prepared compounds (both quaternary and dihydro derivatives) showed between 51 and 86 % HIV PR inhibitory activity compared to the parent compound.

HIV protease inhibitors: peptidomimetic drugs and future perspectives.

A literature review on the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the causative agent of acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). This review includes its life cycle, HIV protease structure, function, and substrates, as well as the mechanism and the design of inhibitors including the clinically approved drugs. Moreover the review mentioned the problems that hindered the development of peptidomimetic drug candidates as HIV protease inhibitors and the different approaches used by medicinal chemists to overcome these problems. A special attention was made to the design rationale as well as the lead optimization processes that provided inhibitors that possess high potency, reduced molecular weight and lower lipophilicity of the allophenylnorstatine (Apns) containing HIV protease inhibitors.