Identification of novel, exosite-binding matrix metalloproteinase-13 inhibitor scaffolds

Matrix metalloproteinase-13 (MMP-13) has been implicated as the protease responsible for collagen degradation in cartilage during osteoarthritis (OA). Compounds that inhibit the metalloproteinase at the Zn binding site typically lack specificity among MMP family members. Analogs of the low-micromolar lead MMP-13 inhibitor 4, discovered through high-throughput screening, were synthesized to investigate structure-activity relationships in this inhibitor series. Systematic modifications of 4 led to the discovery of MMP-13 inhibitors 20 and 24 which are more selective than 4 against other MMPs. Compound 20 is also approximately fivefold more potent as an MMP-13 inhibitor than the original HTS-derived lead compound 4.     

The identification, and optimisation of hERG selectivity, of a mixed NET/SERT re-uptake inhibitor for the treatment of pain

Hit compound 1, a selective noradrenaline re-uptake transporter (NET) inhibitor was optimised to build in potency at the serotonin re-uptake transporter (SERT) whilst maintaining selectivity against the dopamine re-uptake transporter (DAT). During the optimisation of 1 it became clear that selectivity against the Kv11.1 potassium ion channel (hERG) was also a parameter for optimisation within the series. Discrete structural changes to the molecule as well as a lowering of global cLogP successfully increased the hERG selectivity to afford compound 11m, which was efficacious in a mouse model of inflammatory pain, complete Freund’s adjuvant (CFA) induced thermal hyperalgesia and a rat model of neuropathic pain, spinal nerve ligation (SNL) induced mechanical allodynia.     

Discovery of a highly potent orally bioavailable imidazo-[1, 2-a]pyrazine Aurora inhibitor

Imidazo-[1, 2-a]pyrazine 1 is a potent inhibitor of Aurora A and B kinase in vitro and is effective in in vivo tumor models, but has poor oral bioavailbility and is unsuitable for oral dosing. We describe herein our effort to improve oral exposure in this class, resulting ultimately in the identification of a potent Aurora inhibitor 16, which exhibited good drug exposure levels across species upon oral dosing, and showed excellent in vivo efficacy in a mouse xenograft tumor model when dosed orally.     

Discovery of N-methyl-1-(1-phenylcyclohexyl)methanamine, a novel triple serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine reuptake inhibitor

The current work discloses a novel cyclohexylarylamine chemotype with potent inhibition of the serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine transporters and potential for treatment of major depressive disorder. Optimized compounds 1 (SERT, NET, DAT, IC₅₀ = 169, 85, 21 nM) and 42 (SERT, NET, DAT IC₅₀ = 34, 295, 90 nM) were highly brain penetrant, active in vivo in the mouse tail suspension test at 30 mpk po and were not general motor stimulants.     

Genomic and cDNA Cloning,Expression, Purification,and Characterization of Chymotrypsin-Trypsin Inhibitor from Winged Bean Seeds

A 516-bp winged bean chymotrypsin-trypsin inhibitor (WbCTI) gene was amplified from genomic DNA and cDNA isolated from winged bean using a pair of degenerate primers designed on the basis of the amino acid sequences of WbCTI. The amplified PCR products were cloned and sequenced to confirm their authenticity. DNA sequence analysis of the genomic and cDNA clones of WbCTI revealed the same nucleotide sequence in the coding region and showed WbCTI to be an intron less gene. WbCTI was subcloned into pTrc99A and expressed in Escherichia coli to yield a recombinant protein (rWbCTI). rWbCTI was purified by a rapid and single step immunoaffinity chromatography method, with an overall yield of 1.1 mg/g of wet cells. The homogeneity of the purified protein was checked by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, which showed the presence of a single protein band. Functionally rWbCTI is indistinguishable from WbCTI, since both inhibit bovine trypsin and chymotrypsin in a 1:1 molar ratio. FPLC binding studies also confirmed that rWbCTI binds the proteases in a 1:1 molar ratio.     

A hybrid, broad-spectrum inhibitor of Colorado potato beetle aspartate and cysteine digestive proteinases

Protein engineering approaches are currently being devised to improve the inhibitory properties of plant proteinase inhibitors against digestive proteinases of herbivorous insects. Here we engineered a potent hybrid inhibitor of aspartate and cysteine digestive proteinases found in the Colorado potato beetle, Leptinotarsa decemlineata Say. Three cathepsin D inhibitors (CDIs) from stressed potato and tomato were first compared in their potency to inhibit digestive cathepsin D-like activity of the insect. After showing the high inhibitory potency of tomato CDI (M(r) approximately 21 kDa), an approximately 33-kDa hybrid inhibitor was generated by fusing this inhibitor to the N terminus of corn cystatin II (CCII), a potent inhibitor of cysteine proteinases. Inhibitory assays with recombinant forms of CDI, CCII, and CDI-CCII expressed in Escherichia coli showed the CDI-CCII fusion to exhibit a dual inhibitory effect against cystatin-sensitive and cathepsin D-like enzymes of the potato beetle, resulting in detrimental effects against 3rd-instar larvae fed the hybrid inhibitor. The inhibitory potency of CDI and CCII was not altered after their fusion, as suggested by IC(50) values for the interaction of CDI-CCII with target proteinases similar to those measured for each inhibitor. These observations suggest the potential of plant CDIs and cystatins as functional inhibitory modules for the design of effective broad-spectrum, hybrid inhibitors of herbivorous insect cysteine and aspartate digestive proteinases.     

Determination of SU5416, a novel angiogenesis inhibitor, in human plasma by liquid chromatography

A high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) assay with UV detection has been developed for the quantitative determination of the antiangiogenic agent SU5416 in human plasma. Sample pretreatment involved a single protein-precipitation step with acetonitrile containing the internal standard, chrysin. Separation of the compounds of interest was achieved on a column packed with HP Zorbax C(8) material (5microm particle size; length: 150mm; i.d.: 4.6mm) using a dual solvent system of 0.01M aqueous ammonium acetate and acetonitrile delivered as a nonlinear gradient at a flow-rate of 1.00ml/min. Simultaneous UV detection was performed at 440nm (SU5416) and 268nm (chrysin). The calibration graph was fit to log-transformed response-concentration data over a range of 10-5000ng/ml. Values for accuracy and precision, obtained from six quality controls analyzed on different days in replicates of 3 or 6, ranged 92.9-109 and 0.8-6.2%, respectively. The developed method was successfully applied to study the pharmacokinetics of SU5416 in a cancer patient receiving the drug as a 1h infusion.     

Toosendanin,a novel potent vacuolar-type H+-translocating ATPase inhibitor,sensitizes cancer cells to chemotherapy by blocking protective autophagy

Macroautophagy/autophagy is the process of self-digestion through the lysosomes; it disassembles unnecessary or dysfunctional long-lived proteins and damaged organelles for the recycling of biomacromolecules. Unfortunately, cancer cells can hijack this mechanism to survive under metabolic stress or develop drug resistance during chemotherapy. Increasing evidence indicates that the combination of autophagy inhibition and chemotherapy is a promising cancer treatment strategy. However, effective autophagy inhibitors with satisfied potency, bioavailability, and clearly-defined drug targets are still rare. Here, we report the identification of a potent autophagy inhibitor toosendanin which can effectively block autophagosome maturation, causing the accumulation of autophagy substrates in multiple cancer cells. Toosendanin did not inhibit the fusion process between autophagosome and lysosome but elevated lysosomal pH and impaired lysosomal enzymes activity. Using rat liver lysosome fraction and purified yeast V-ATPase, we found that toosendanin directly inhibited V-ATPase activity. By applying cellular thermal shift assay (CETSA), immunoprecipitation-coupled LC-MS/MS analysis, and biotin-toosendanin pull-down assay, we confirmed the direct binding between toosendanin and V-ATPase. Furthermore, toosendanin blocked chemotherapy-induced protective autophagy in cultured cancer cells and xenograft tumor tissues to significantly enhance anti-cancer activity. These results suggest that toosendanin has the potential to be developed into an anti-cancer drug by blocking chemotherapy-induced protective autophagy.     

Effects of class-specific,synthetic, and natural proteinase inhibitors on life-history traits of the cotton bollworm Helicoverpa armigera

Herbivorous insects have more difficulty obtaining proteins from their food than do predators and parasites. The scarcity of proteins in their diet requires herbivores to feed voraciously, thus heavily damaging their host plants. Plants respond to herbivory by producing defense compounds, which reduce insect growth, retard development, and increase mortality. Herbivores use both pre- and postdigestive response mechanisms to detect and avoid plant defense compounds. Proteinase inhibitors (PIs) are one example of plant compounds produced as a direct defense against herbivory. Many insects can adapt to PIs when these are incorporated into artificial diets. However, little is known about the effect of PIs on diet choice and feeding behavior. We monitored the diet choice, life-history traits, and gut proteinase activity of Helicoverpa armigera larvae using diets supplemented with synthetic and natural PIs. In choice experiments, both neonates and fourth-instar larvae preferred the control diet over PI-supplemented diets, to varying degrees. Larvae that fed on PI-supplemented diets weighed less than those that fed on the control diet and produced smaller pupae. Trypsin-specific PIs had a stronger effect on mean larval weight than did other PIs. A reduction of trypsin activity but not of chymotrypsin activity was observed in larvae fed on PI-supplemented diets. Therefore, behavioral avoidance of feeding on plant parts high in PIs could be an adaptation to minimize the impact of this plant's defensive strategy.     

Synthesis,biological activity and molecular modeling studies on 1H-benzimidazole derivatives as acetylcholinesterase inhibitors

A series of N-{2-[4-(1H-benzimidazole-2-yl)phenoxy]ethyl}substituted amine derivatives were designed to assess cholinesterase inhibitor activities. Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and butyrylcholinesterase (BuChE) inhibitor activities were evaluated in vitro by using Ellman’s method. It was discovered that most of the compounds displayed AChE and/or BuChE inhibitor activity and few compounds were selective against AChE/BuChE. Compound 3c and 3e were the most active compounds in the series against eeAChE and hAChE, respectively. Molecular docking studies and molecular dynamics simulations were also carried out.     

Design,synthesis, and biological activity of thiazole derivatives as novel influenza neuraminidase inhibitors

A series of novel influenza neuraminidase (NA) inhibitors based on thiazole core were synthesized and evaluated for their ability to inhibit NA of influenza A virus (H₃N₂). All compounds were synthesized in good yields starting from commercially available 2-amino-4-thiazole-acetic ester using a suitable synthetic strategy. These compounds showed moderate inhibitory activity against influenza A NA. The most potent compound of this series is compound 4d (IC₅₀?=?3.43 μM), which is about 20-fold less potent than oseltamivir, and could be used to design novel influenza NA inhibitors that exhibit increased activity based on thiazole ring.     

Characteristics of M-Gtfi,A New Inhibitor of Streptococcus Mutans Glucosyltransferase

Abstract

M-GTFI, originally screened as an inhibitor of Streptococcus mutans glucosyltransferase, strongly inhibited α-glucosidase, in a non-competitive manner especially when the synthetic substrate p-nitrophenyl-α-D-glucopyranoside was used. It also inhibited β-glucosidase, β-amylase and, to a lesser extent, β-glu-curonidase.

The inhibitor was stable in neutral and alkaline pH ranges and dependency of the inhibition on pH and temperature was not observed. Some proteinases and polysaccharides-hydrolyzing enzymes as well as human saliva did not inactivate the inhibitor.

There was a correlation between the release of sulfate anions from the inhibitor molecule on incubation with HCI (0.2 N) at 100°c and loss of inhibitory properties of the molecule. It is suggested that the presence of sulfate ester linkages in the inhibitor molecule play an important role in the inhibition process.     

Discovery of highly potent,selective, covalent inhibitors of JAK3

A useful and novel set of tool molecules have been identified which bind irreversibly to the JAK3 active site cysteine residue. The design was based on crystal structure information and a comparative study of several electrophilic warheads.     

Discovery of N-methyl-1-(1-phenylcyclohexyl)ethanamine, a novel triple serotonin, norepinephrine and dopamine reuptake inhibitor

Novel chiral cyclohexylaryl amines were developed with potent reuptake inhibition against the serotonin, norepinephrine and dopamine transporters and activity at 10 and 30 mpk PO in the mouse tail suspension test. Prototype compound 31 (SERT, NET, DAT IC₅₀ ? 1, 21, 28 nM) was highly brain penetrant, had minimal CYP and hERG inhibition, and represents a previously undisclosed architecture with potential for treatment of major depressive disorder.     

Design,synthesis and biological evaluation of N,N-3-phenyl-3-benzylaminopropanamide derivatives as novel cholesteryl ester transfer protein inhibitor

A series of N,N-3-phenyl-3-benzylaminopropanamide derivatives were identified as novel CETP (cholesteryl ester transfer protein) inhibitors. In our previous study, lead compound L10 was discovered by pharmacophore-based virtual screening (Dong-Mei Zhao et al., 2014). Based on L10 (IC₅₀ 8.06 μM), compound HL6 (IC₅₀ 10.7 μM) was discovered following systematic structure variation and biological tests. Further optimization of the structure–activity relationship (SAR) resulted in N,N-3-phenyl-3-benzylaminopro panamides derivatives as novel CETP inhibitors. They were synthesized and evaluated against CETP by BODIPY-CE fluorescence assay. Among them, HL16 (IC₅₀ 0.69 μM) was a highly potent CETP inhibitor in vitro. In addition, HL16 exhibited favorable HDL-C enhancement and LDL-C reduction in vivo by hamster. The molecular docking of HL16 into the CETP was performed. The binding mode demonstrated that HL16 occupied the CETP binding site and formed interactions with the key amino acid residues.     

Proteolytic activity,synapse elimination,and the Hebb synapse

The Hebb synapse has been postulated to serve as a mechanism subserving both regulation of synaptic strength in the adult nervous system (long-term potentiation and depression) and developmental activity-dependent plasticity. According to this model, pre- and postsynaptic temporal concordance of activity results in strengthening of connections, while discordant activity results in synapse weakening. Evidence is presented that proteases and protease inhibitors may be involved in modification of synaptic strength. This leads to a modification of the Hebb assumptions, namely that postsynaptic activity results in protease elaboration with a consequent general reduction of synaptic connections to the active postsynaptic element. Further, presynaptic activity, if strong enough, induces local release of a protease inhibitor, such as protease nexin I, which neutralizes proteolytic activity and produces a relative preservation of the active input. This formulation produces many of the effects of the classical Hebbian construction, but the protease/inhibitor model suggests additional specific mechanistic features for activity-dependent plasticity. 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Constitutive expression of a cowpea trypsin inhibitor gene,CpTi, in transgenic rice plants confers resistance to two major rice insect pests

The gene encoding a cowpea trypsin inhibitor (CpTI), which confers insect resistance in trangenic tobacco, was introduced into rice. Expression of the CpTi gene driven by the constitutively active promoter of the rice actin 1 gene (Act1) leads to high-level accumulation of the CpTI protein in transgenic rice plants. Protein extracts from transgenic rice plants exhibit a strong inhibitory activity against bovine trypsin, suggesting that the proteinase inhibitor produced in transgenic rice is functionally active. Small-scale field tests showed that the transgenic rice plants expressing the CpTi gene had significantly increased resistance to two species of rice stem borers, which are major rice insect pests. Our results suggest that the cowpea trypsin inhibitor may be useful for the control of rice insect pests.     

Selective inhibition of monoamine oxidase A by purpurin,an anthraquinone

Monoamine oxidase (MAO) catalyzes the oxidation of monoamines that act as neurotransmitters. During a target-based screening of natural products using two isoforms of recombinant human MAO-A and MAO-B, purpurin (an anthraquinone derivative) was found to potently and selectively inhibit MAO-A, with an IC₅₀ value of 2.50 μM, and not to inhibit MAO-B. Alizarin (also an anthraquinone) inhibited MAO-A less potently with an IC₅₀ value of 30.1 μM. Furthermore, purpurin was a reversible and competitive inhibitor of MAO-A with a K_i value of 0.422 μM. A comparison of their chemical structures suggested the 4-hydroxy group of purpurin might play an important role in its inhibition of MAO-A. Molecular docking simulation showed that the binding affinity of purpurin for MAO-A (?40.0 kcal/mol) was higher than its affinity for MAO-B (?33.9 kcal/mol), and that Ile 207 and Gly 443 of MAO-A were key residues for hydrogen bonding with purpurin. The findings of this study suggest purpurin is a potent, selective, reversible inhibitor of MAO-A, and that it be considered a new potential lead compound for development of novel reversible inhibitors of MAO-A (RIMAs).     

LTCI, a novel chymotrypsin inhibitor of the potato I family from the earthworm Lumbricus terrestris. Purification, cDNA cloning, and expression

A novel chymotrypsin inhibitor of the potato I protease inhibitor family from the earthworm Lumbricus terrestris was purified. The inhibitor, named LTCI, was isolated by methanol extraction, affinity chromatography on immobilized methylchymotrypsin, and ion exchange chromatography followed by RP–HPLC. The 7076 Da inhibitor consists of a single polypeptide chain of 64-amino-acid residues without disulfide bridges. LTCI is the first of the potato I protease inhibitors with Tyr in position P1 of the reactive site. cDNA analysis revealed that LTCI is produced as a 86-amino-acid precursor with a 22-amino-acid secretory signal peptide. RT–PCR analysis demonstrates that LTCI mRNA is expressed in body wall, intestine, and coelomocytes. The recombinant LTCI was produced in Escherichia coli as a fusion protein with intein and chitin binding domain using IMPACT™–CN system.