ABSTRACT
A series of etacrynic acid derivatives was synthesized and screened for their in vitro activity against Plasmodium falciparum, as well as their activity against recombinantly expressed falcipain-2 and -3. The two most active compounds of the series displayed IC(50) values of 9.0 and 18.8 microM against Plasmodia.
Subject(s)
Antimalarials/chemistry , Antimalarials/pharmacology , Cysteine Endopeptidases/drug effects , Cysteine Proteinase Inhibitors/chemistry , Cysteine Proteinase Inhibitors/pharmacology , Ethacrynic Acid/analogs & derivatives , Plasmodium falciparum/drug effects , Animals , Antimalarials/chemical synthesis , Cysteine Endopeptidases/genetics , Cysteine Proteinase Inhibitors/chemical synthesis , Molecular Structure , Plasmodium falciparum/enzymology , Recombinant Proteins/antagonists & inhibitors , Recombinant Proteins/geneticsABSTRACT
The coronavirus main protease, M(pro), is considered to be a major target for drugs suitable for combating coronavirus infections including severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). An HPLC-based screening of electrophilic compounds that was performed to identify potential M(pro) inhibitors revealed etacrynic acid tert-butylamide (6a) as an effective nonpeptidic inhibitor. Docking studies suggested a binding mode in which the phenyl ring acts as a spacer bridging the inhibitor's activated double bond and its hydrophobic tert-butyl moiety. The latter is supposed to fit into the S4 pocket of the target protease. Furthermore, these studies revealed etacrynic acid amide (6b) as a promising lead for nonpeptidic active-site-directed M(pro) inhibitors. In a fluorimetric enzyme assay using a novel fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) pair labeled substrate, compound 6b showed a K(i) value of 35.3 muM. Since the novel lead compound does not target the S1', S1, and S2 subsites of the enzyme's substrate-binding pockets, there is room for improvement that underlines the lead character of compound 6b.
