In-silico identification and exploration of small molecule coumarin-1,2,3-triazole hybrids as potential EGFR inhibitors for targeting lung cancer.

Globally, lung cancer is a significant public health concern due to its role as the leading cause of cancer-related mortalities. The promising target of EGFR for lung cancer treatment has been identified, providing a potential avenue for more effective therapies. The purpose of the study was to design a library of 1843 coumarin-1,2,3-triazole hybrids and screen them based on a designed pharmacophore to identify potential inhibitors targeting EGFR in lung cancer with minimum or no side effects. Pharmacophore-based screening was carried out and 60 hits were obtained. To gain a better understanding of the binding interactions between the compounds and the targeted receptor, molecular docking was conducted on the 60 screened compounds. In-silico ADME and toxicity studies were also conducted to assess the drug-likeness and safety of the identified compounds. The results indicated that coumarin-1,2,3-triazole hybrids COUM-0849, COUM-0935, COUM-0414, COUM-1335, COUM-0276, and COUM-0484 exhibit dock score of - 10.2, - 10.2, - 10.1, - 10.1, - 10, - 10 while reference molecule - 7.9 kcal/mol for EGFR (PDB ID: 4HJO) respectively. The molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulations revealed that the identified compounds formed stable interactions with the active site of EGFR, indicating their potential as inhibitors. The in-silico ADME and toxicity studies showed that the compounds had favorable drug-likeness properties and low toxicity, further supporting their potential as therapeutic agents. Finally, we performed DFT studies on the best-selected ligands to gain further insights into their electronic properties. The findings of this study provide important insights into the potential of coumarin-1,2,3-triazole hybrids as promising EGFR inhibitors for the management of lung cancer.

Discovery of novel tetrahydrobenzo[b]thiophene-3-carbonitriles as histone deacetylase inhibitors.

The discovery and development of isoform-selective histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor is a challenging task because of the sequence homology among HDAC enzymes. In the present work, novel tetrahydro benzo[b]thiophene-3-carbonitrile based benzamides were designed, synthesized, and evaluated as HDAC inhibitors. Pharmacophore modeling was our main design strategy, and two novel series of tetrahydro benzo[b]thiophene-3-carbonitrile derivatives with piperidine linker (series 1) and piperazine linker (series 2) were identified as HDAC inhibitors. Among all the synthesised compounds, 9h with 4-(aminomethyl) piperidine linker and 14n with piperazine linker demonstrated good activity against human HDAC1 and HDAC6, respectively. Both the compounds also exhibited good antiproliferative activity against several human cancer cell lines. Both these compounds (9h and 14n) also induced cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in U937 and MDA-MB-231 cancer cells. Overall, for the first time, this research discovered potent isoform-selective HDAC inhibitors using cyclic linker instead of the aliphatic chain and aromatic ring system, which were reported in known HDAC inhibitors.

Histone deacetylase 2: A potential therapeutic target for cancer and neurodegenerative disorders.

Histone deacetylases (HDACs) have been implicated in a number of diseases including cancer, cardiovascular disorders, diabetes mellitus, neurodegenerative disorders and inflammation. For the treatment of epigenetically altered diseases such as cancer, HDAC inhibitors have made a significant progress in terms of development of isoform selective inhibitiors. Isoform specific HDAC inhibitors have less adverse events and better safety profile. A HDAC isoform i.e., HDAC2 demonstrated significant role in the development of variety of diseases, mainly involved in the cancer and neurodegenerative disorders. Discovery and development of selective HDAC2 inhibitors have a great potential for the treatment of target diseases. In the present compilation, we have reviewed the role of HDAC2 in progression of cancer and neurodegenerative disorders, and information on the drug development opportunities for selective HDAC2 inhibition.

Medicinal chemistry strategies for the development of phosphodiesterase 10A (PDE10A) inhibitors - An update of recent progress.

Phosphodiesterase 10A is a member of Phosphodiesterase (PDE)-superfamily of the enzyme which is responsible for hydrolysis of cAMP and cGMP to their inactive forms 5'-AMP and 5'-GMP, respectively. PDE10A is highly expressed in the brain, particularly in the putamen and caudate nucleus. PDE10A plays an important role in the regulation of localization, duration, and amplitude of the cyclic nucleotide signalling within the subcellular domain of these regions, and thereby modulation of PDE10A enzyme can give rise to a new therapeutic approach in the treatment of schizophrenia and other neurodegenerative disorders. Limitation of the conventional therapy of schizophrenia forced the pharmaceutical industry to move their efforts to develop a novel treatment approach with reduced side effects. In the past decade, considerable developments have been made in pursuit of PDE10A centric antipsychotic agents by several pharmaceutical industries due to the distribution of PDE10A in the brain and the ability of PDE10A inhibitors to mimic the effect of D2 antagonists and D1 agonists. However, no selective PDE10A inhibitor is currently available in the market for the treatment of schizophrenia. The present compilation concisely describes the role of PDE10A inhibitors in the therapy of neurodegenerative disorders mainly in psychosis, the structure of PDE10A enzyme, key interaction of different PDE10A inhibitors with human PDE10A enzyme and recent medicinal chemistry developments in designing of safe and effective PDE10A inhibitors for the treatment of schizophrenia. The present compilation also provides useful information and future direction to bring further improvements in the discovery of PDE10A inhibitors.

3D QSAR-based design and liquid phase combinatorial synthesis of 1,2-disubstituted benzimidazole-5-carboxylic acid and 3-substituted-5H-benzimidazo[1,2-d][1,4]benzodiazepin-6(7H)-one derivatives as anti-mycobacterial agents.

Tuberculosis (TB) is one of the world's deadliest infectious diseases, caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb). In the present study, a 3D QSAR study was performed for the design of novel substituted benzimidazole derivatives as anti-mycobacterial agents. The anti-tubercular activity of the designed compounds was predicted using the generated 3D QSAR models. The designed compounds which showed better activity were synthesized as 1,2-disubstituted benzimidazole-5-carboxylic acid derivatives (series 1) and 3-substituted-5H-benzimidazo[1,2-d][1,4]benzodiazepin-6(7H)-one derivatives (series 2) using the liquid phase combinatorial approach using a soluble polymer assisted support (PEG5000). The compounds were characterized by 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR, FTIR and mass spectrometry. HPLC analysis was carried out to evaluate the purity of the compounds. We observed that the synthesised compounds inhibited the growth of intracellular M. tuberculosis H37Rv in a bactericidal manner. The most active compound 16 displayed an MIC value of 0.0975 µM against the Mtb H37Rv strain in liquid cultures. The lead compound was also able to inhibit the growth of intracellular mycobacteria in THP-1 macrophages.

Synthesis of 2-,4,-6-, and/or 7-substituted quinoline derivatives as human dihydroorotate dehydrogenase (hDHODH) inhibitors and anticancer agents: 3D QSAR-assisted design.

Following our research for human dihydroorotate dehydrogenase (hDHODH) inhibitors as anticancer agents, herein we describe 3D QSAR-based design, synthesis and in vitro screening of 2-,4,-6-, and/or 7-substituted quinoline derivatives as hDHODH inhibitors and anticancer agents. We have designed 2-,4,-6-, and/or 7-substituted quinoline derivatives and predicted their hDHODH inhibitory activity based on 3D QSAR study on 45 substituted quinoline derivatives as hDHODH inhibitors, and also predicted toxicity. Designed compounds were docked into the binding site of hDHODH. Designed compounds which showed good predictive activity, no toxicity, and good docking score were selected for the synthesis, and in vitro screening as hDHODH inhibitors in an enzyme inhibition assay, and anticancer agents in MTT assay against cancer cell lines (HT-29 and MDA-MB-231). Synthesized compounds 7 and 14 demonstrated IC50 value of 1.56 µM and 1.22 µM, against hDHODH, respectively, and these are our lead compounds for the development of new hDHODH inhibitors and anticancer agents.

Recent advances in the discovery of small molecule c-Met Kinase inhibitors.

c-Met is a prototype member of a subfamily of heterodimeric receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs) and is the receptor for hepatocyte growth factor (HGF). Binding of HGF to its receptor c-Met, initiates a wide range of cellular signalling, including those involved in proliferation, motility, migration and invasion. Importantly, dysregulated HGF/c-Met signalling is a driving factor for numerous malignancies and promotes tumour growth, invasion, dissemination and/or angiogenesis. Dysregulated HGF/c-Met signalling has also been associated with poor clinical outcomes and resistance acquisition to some approved targeted therapies. Thus, c-Met kinase has emerged as a promising target for cancer drug development. Different therapeutic approaches targeting the HGF/c-Met signalling pathway are under development for targeted cancer therapy, among which small molecule inhibitors of c-Met kinase constitute the largest effort within the pharmaceutical industry. The review is an effort to summarize recent advancements in medicinal chemistry development of small molecule c-Met kinase inhibitors as potential anti-cancer agents which would certainly help future researchers to bring further developments in the discovery of small molecule c-Met kinase inhibitors.

Liquid phase combinatorial synthesis of 1,2,5-trisubstituted benzimidazole derivatives as human DHODH inhibitors.

The synthesis of 1,2,5-trisubstituted benzimidazole derivatives was carried out using liquid phase combinatorial approach using soluble polymer assisted support (PEG5000). Synthesised compounds were characterised by FTIR, ESI-MS, 1H NMR and 13C NMR. The purity of compounds was confirmed with HPLC analysis. Compounds were also docked into the binding site of human dihydroorotate dehydrogenase (hDHODH). The synthesised compounds were screened for hDHODH enzyme inhibition assay using brequinar as standard compound. The synthesised compounds demonstrated comparative biological activity. Synthesised compounds 8d and 8e demonstrated IC50 value of 81±2nM and 97±2nM, respectively.

Design, synthesis and anti-diabetic activity of triazolotriazine derivatives as dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitors.

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is one of the major global metabolic disorders characterized by insulin resistance and chronic hyperglycemia. Inhibition of the enzyme, dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) has been proved as successful and safe therapy for the treatment of T2DM since last decade. In order to design novel DPP-4 inhibitors, various in silico studies such as 3D-QSAR, pharmacophore modeling and virtual screening were performed and on the basis of the combined results of them, total 50 triazolo[5,1-c][1,2,4]triazine derivatives were designed and mapped on the best pharmacophore model. From this, best 25 derivatives were docked onto the active site of DPP-4 enzyme and in silico ADMET properties were also predicted. Finally, top 17 derivatives were synthesized and characterized using FT-IR, Mass, 1H NMR and 13C NMR spectroscopy. Purity of compounds was checked using HPLC. These derivatives were then evaluated for in vitro DPP-4 inhibition. The most promising compound 15q showed 28.05µM DPP-4 IC50 with 8-10-fold selectivity over DPP-8 and DPP-9 so selected for further in vivo anti-diabetic evaluation. During OGTT in normal C57BL/6J mice, compound 15q reduced blood glucose excursion in a dose-dependent manner. Chronic treatment for 28days with compound 15q improved the serum glucose levels in type 2 diabetic Sprague Dawley rats wherein diabetes was induced by high fat diet and low dose streptozotocin. This suggested that compound 15q is a moderately potent and selective hit molecule which can be further optimized structurally to increase the efficacy and overall pharmacological profile as DPP-4 inhibitor.

Design, synthesis and docking studies of some novel (R)-2-(4'-chlorophenyl)-3-(4'-nitrophenyl)-1,2,3,5-tetrahydrobenzo[4,5] imidazo [1,2-c]pyrimidin-4-ol derivatives as antitubercular agents.

Filamenting temperature-sensitive mutant (FtsZ) is a novel target for the treatment of tuberculosis. A series of (R)-2-(4'-chlorophenyl)-3-(4'-nitrophenyl)-1,2,3,5-tetrahydrobenzo[4,5] imidazo[1,2-c]pyrimidin-4-ol derivatives were designed and docked on the FtsZ protein crystal structure (PDB Id: 1RLU, resolution 2.08 Å). Compound 7t showed the highest docking score and H-bond interaction with Arg140 and Gly19. Our strategy for synthesis of (R)-2-(4'-chlorophenyl)-3-(4'-nitrophenyl)-1,2,3,5-tetrahydrobenzo[4,5]imidazo[1,2-c]pyrimidin-4-ol derivatives from o-phenylenediamine as illustrated in scheme. All the synthesized compounds were characterized by FTIR, Mass spectra, (1)H NMR, (13)C NMR, elemental analysis and purity was confirmed by HPLC and LCMS. Compound 7g was also confirmed by single crystal X-ray analysis. The in silico results are also validated with in vitro antitubercular activity of compound 7t. Compound 7b exhibited in vitro antitubercular activity 3.13 µg/mL and 4.7 µg/mL whereas compound 7t exhibited in vitro antitubercular activity 6.25 µg/mL and 9.4 µg/mL using GAST/Fe medium after week 1 and week 2 respectively against Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv. Medium 7H9/ADC/Tween was found to be very less effective for in vitro antitubercular activity of all the benzimidazole derivatives. Assays for in vitro cytotoxicity against VERO cells of all the synthesized compounds was found to be very less cytotoxic.

Design, synthesis and pharmacological evaluation of novel substituted quinoline-2-carboxamide derivatives as human dihydroorotate dehydrogenase (hDHODH) inhibitors and anticancer agents.

In continuation of our research for novel human dihydroorotate dehydrogenase (hDHODH) inhibitors, herein we reported design, synthesis and pharmacological evaluation of novel substituted quinoline-2-carboxamide derivatives. Human DHODH enzyme inhibition assay was used to screen the synthesized compounds as hDHODH inhibitors. The synthesized compounds were also evaluated for their antiproliferative effects on the cancer cell lines (HEP-3B and A-375) to establish a proof as anticancer agents. The chemical structures of compounds were confirmed by (1)H, (13)C NMR, IR, MS and elemental analysis. The purity of compounds was also checked by HPLC analysis. Compounds with bulky groups (-OCH3, -OCF3 and -CF3) at C6-position of quinoline ring showed good activity.

Recent approaches to medicinal chemistry and therapeutic potential of dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitors.

Dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) is one of the widely explored novel targets for Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) currently. Research has been focused on the strategy to preserve the endogenous glucagon like peptide (GLP)-1 activity by inhibiting the DPP-4 action. The DPP-4 inhibitors are weight neutral, well tolerated and give better glycaemic control over a longer duration of time compared to existing conventional therapies. The journey of DPP-4 inhibitors in the market started from the launch of sitagliptin in 2006 to latest drug teneligliptin in 2012. This review is mainly focusing on the recent medicinal aspects and advancements in the designing of DPP-4 inhibitors with the therapeutic potential of DPP-4 as a target to convey more clarity in the diffused data.

Liquid-phase combinatorial library synthesis: recent advances and future perspectives.

Liquid-phase combinatorial library synthesis is commonly developed into the viable alternatives or adjunct across the broad spectrum of polymer-supported organic chemistry. It includes the use of soluble polymer supports in the combinatorial synthesis of peptides and small-molecular library compounds which act as catalyst and reagent supports. It also includes high throughput biological screening with generation and evaluation of chemical leads for drug discovery development. In this review, liquid-phase combinatorial library synthesis is shown as the most efficient method of choice for the synthesis of most of the combinatorial library compounds with specific approaches from different groups that state potentials of solution-phase combinatorial synthesis.

Benzopyran derivatives as cardio-selective ATP-sensitive potassium channel openers: a review.

Benzopyran derivatives are the potassium channel openers (KCOs) having antihypertensive, cardio-protective, myocardial protectors, powerful peripheral vasodilators and anti-ischemic activity. Their usage as anti-ischemic including angina, hypertension and diabetes is thought to be due to the stimulation of KATP channels which are contemplated to produce vasorelaxation and myocardial protection. It is observed that potassium channels are involved in mediating the cardio-protective effects of pre-conditioning in animal models and man. KCOs protect heart from an ischemic insult without contribution from vasodilatation. This review provides an overview of the characteristics of KCOs and their actions on subtypes used widely for the treatments of various diseases including hypertension, cardiac ischemia, arrhythmia, smooth muscle relaxation, diabetes, cardio-protective and anti-angiogenic activities.

Novel Research Strategies of Benzimidazole Derivatives: A Review.

Benzimidazole plays an important role in the medicinal chemistry and drug discovery with many pharmacological activities which have made an indispensable anchor for discovery of novel therapeutic agents. Substitution of benzimidazole nucleus is an important synthetic strategy in the drug discovery process. Therapeutic properties of the benzimidazole related drugs have encouraged the medicinal chemists to synthesize novel therapeutic agents. Therefore, it is required to couple the latest information with the earliest information to understand the current status of benzimidazole nucleus in drug discovery. In the present review, benzimidazole derivatives with different pharmacological activities are described on the basis of substitution pattern around the nucleus with an aim to help medicinal chemists for the development of SAR on benzimidazoles for each activity. This article aims to review the work reported, chemistry and pharmacological activities of benzimidazole derivatives during past years.

Antitubercular drug development: current status and research strategies.

Recent developments and novel research strategies are adopted widely to discover and develop the new drugs to treat tuberculosis. New antitubercular drugs are urgently needed because tuberculosis remains a global health problem as around nine million new cases are estimated each year with almost two million fatalities. It states the impact and outcomes that have made a significant effect in antitubercular drug development. We are presenting current status of tuberculosis, antitubercular drug development, novel molecular targets, novel agents in clinical and pre-clinical development and some efforts that are being made in the development of novel molecules based on different pharmacophores as lead compounds and recent strategies.

Novel anticancer agents and targets: recent advances and future perspectives.

An urgent need for the discovery of novel anticancer agents is required for the long term therapy of cancer. Large number of novel bio-active and potential anticancer agents are being used in clinical and pre-clinical trials. Although many heterocyclic compounds are already available commercially as anticancer agents, great efforts have been put to identify novel anticancer targets. This review provides an insight of the novel anticancer targets and molecules of the first and final stage of clinical and pre-clinical trials.

Novel research strategies of benzimidazole derivatives: a review.

Benzimidazole plays an important role in the medicinal chemistry and drug discovery with many pharmacological activities which have made an indispensable anchor for discovery of novel therapeutic agents. Substitution of benzimidazole nucleus is an important synthetic strategy in the drug discovery process. Therapeutic properties of the benzimidazole related drugs have encouraged the medicinal chemists to synthesize novel therapeutic agents. Therefore, it is required to couple the latest information with the earliest information to understand the current status of benzimidazole nucleus in drug discovery. In the present review, benzimidazole derivatives with different pharmacological activities are described on the basis of substitution pattern around the nucleus with an aim to help medicinal chemists for the development of SAR on benzimidazoles for each activity. This article aims to review the work reported, chemistry and pharmacological activities of benzimidazole derivatives during past years.