3'-[4-Aryl-(1,2,3-triazol-1-yl)]-3'-deoxythymidine analogues as potent and selective inhibitors of human mitochondrial thymidine kinase.

In an effort to increase the potency and selectivity of earlier identified substrate-based inhibitors of mitochondrial thymidine kinase 2 (TK-2), we now describe the synthesis of new thymidine analogues containing a 4- or 5-substituted 1,2,3-triazol-1-yl substituent at the 3'-position of the 2'-deoxyribofuranosyl ring. These analogues were prepared by Cu- and Ru-catalyzed cycloadditions of 3'-azido-3'-deoxythymidine and the appropriate alkynes, which produced the 1,4- and 1,5-triazoles, respectively. Selected analogues showed nanomolar inhibitory activity for TK-2, while virtually not affecting the TK-1 counterpart. Enzyme kinetics indicated a competitive and uncompetitive inhibition profile against thymidine and the cosubstrate ATP, respectively. This behavior is rationalized by suggesting that the inhibitors occupy the substrate-binding site in a TK-2-ATP complex that maintains the enzyme's active site in a closed conformation through the stabilization of a small lid domain.

Human mitochondrial thymidine kinase is selectively inhibited by 3'-thiourea derivatives of beta-thymidine: identification of residues crucial for both inhibition and catalytic activity.

Substituted 3'-thiourea derivatives of beta-thymidine (dThd) and 5'-thiourea derivatives of alpha-dThd have been evaluated for their inhibitory activity against recombinant human cytosolic dThd kinase-1 (TK-1), human mitochondrial TK-2, herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) TK, and varicella-zoster virus TK. Several substituted 3'-thiourea derivatives of beta-dThd proved highly inhibitory to and selective for TK-2 (IC(50) value, 0.15-3.1 microM). The 3'-C-branched p-methylphenyl (compound 1) and 3-CF(3)-4-Cl-phenyl (compound 7) thiourea derivatives of beta-dThd showed competitive inhibition of TK-2 when dThd was used as the variable substrate (K(i) values, 0.40 and 0.05 microM, respectively), but uncompetitive inhibition in the presence of variable concentrations of ATP (K(i) values, 15 and 2.0 microM, respectively). These kinetic properties of compounds 1 and 7 against TK-2 could be accounted for by molecular modeling showing that two hydrogen bonds can be formed between the thiourea nitrogens of compound 7 and the oxygens of the gamma-phosphate of ATP. The importance of several active-site residues was assessed by site-directed mutagenesis experiments on TK-2 and the related HSV-1 TK. The low K(i)/K(m) ratios for compounds 1 and 7 (0.38 and 0.039 against dThd, and 0.75 and 0.12 against ATP, respectively) indicate that these compounds are among the most potent inhibitors of TK-2 described so far. In addition, a striking close correlation was found between the inhibitory activities of the test compounds against TK-2 and Mycobacterium tuberculosis thymidylate kinase that is strongly indicative of close structural and/or functional similarities between both enzymes in relation to their mode of interaction with these nucleoside analog inhibitors.

Triplex formation by pyrene-labelled probes for nucleic acid detection in fluorescence assays.

Triplex-forming homopyrimidine oligonucleotides containing insertions of a 2'-5' uridine linkage featuring a pyrene moiety at the 3'-position exhibit strong fluorescence enhancement upon binding to double-stranded DNA through Hoogsteen base pairing. It is shown that perfect matching of the new modification to the base pair in the duplex is a prerequisite for strong fluorescence, thus offering the potential to detect single mutations in purine stretches of duplex DNA. The increase in the fluorescence signal was dependent on the thermal stability of the parallel triplex, so a reduction in the pH from 6.0 to 5.0 resulted in an increase in thermal stability from 25.0 to 55.0 degrees C and in an increase in the fluorescence quantum yield (Phi(F)) from 0.061 to 0.179, while the probe alone was fluorescently silent (Phi(F)=0.001-0.004). To achieve higher triplex stability, five nucleobases in a 14-mer sequence were substituted with alpha-L-LNA monomers, which provided a triplex with a T(m) of 49.5 degrees C and a Phi(F) of 0.158 at pH 6.0. Under similar conditions, a Watson-Crick-type duplex formed with the latter probe showed lower fluorescence intensity (Phi(F)=0.081) than for the triplex.

Rational design of 5'-thiourea-substituted alpha-thymidine analogues as thymidine monophosphate kinase inhibitors capable of inhibiting mycobacterial growth.

Recently, thymidine monophosphate kinase (TMPK) emerged as an attractive target for developing inhibitors of Mycobacterium tuberculosis growth. The elucidation of the X-ray structure of TMPK of M. tuberculosis (TMPKmt), as well as the structure of an earlier serendipitously discovered dimeric thymidine inhibitor, laid the foundation for the design of potent and selective TMPKmt inhibitors reported here. Several hits identified within a series of 3'-C-branched thiourea-substituted beta-thymidine derivatives inspired us to construct a set of 5'-thiourea-substituted alpha-thymidine derivatives characterized by a similar relative orientation of the thymine and arylthiourea moieties. alpha-Thymidine derivative 15, featuring a (3-trifluoromethyl-4-chlorophenyl)thiourea moiety, has a Ki of 0.6 microM and a selectivity index of 600 versus human TMPK. Moreover, it represents the first TMPK inhibitor showing good inhibitory activity on growing M. bovis (MIC99 = 20 microg/mL) and M. tuberculosis (MIC50 = 6.25 microg/mL) strains.

Synthesis and biological evaluation of bicyclic nucleosides as inhibitors of M. tuberculosis thymidylate kinase.

Herein we describe the synthesis and conformational analysis of a series of bicyclic thymidine derivatives and their evaluation as inhibitors of thymidine monophosphate kinase from Mycobacterium tuberculosis (TMPKmt), based on previously discovered bicyclic sugar nucleosides. With a K(i) value of 2.3 microm, 1-[3-aminomethyl-3,5-dideoxy-2-O,6-N-(thiocarbonyl)-beta-D-ribofuranosyl]thymine emerged as the most potent TMPK inhibitor of this series. Moreover, this promising compound displays inhibitory potency against Mycobacteria cultures with an IC(99) value of 100 microg mL(-1), thus promoting TMPKmt for the first time as a validated target for further inhibitory design. Attempts to rationalise the observed structure-activity relationship (SAR) involving molecular modelling and conformational analysis are described.