1,2,3-Triazole-based kojic acid analogs as potent tyrosinase inhibitors: Design,synthesis and biological evaluation

A series of kojic acid-derived compounds 6a-p bearing aryloxymethyl-1H-1,2,3-triazol-1-yl moiety were designed by modifying primary alcoholic group of kojic acid as tyrosinase inhibitors. The target compounds 6a-p were synthesized via click reaction. All compounds showed very potent anti-tyrosinase activity (IC₅₀s = 0.06–6.80 µM), being superior to reference drug, kojic acid. In particular, the naphthyloxy analogs 6o and 6p were found to be 31–155 times more potent than kojic acid. The metal-binding study of selected compound 6o revealed that the prototype compound possesses metal-chelating ability, particularly with Cu²⁺ ions. The promising compounds 6o and 6p had acceptable safety profile as demonstrated by cytotoxicity assay against melanoma (B16) cell line and Human Foreskin Fibroblast (HFF) cells.     

Synthesis,computational molecular docking analysis and effectiveness on tyrosinase inhibition of kojic acid derivatives

Tyrosinase inhibitors have become increasingly important as whitening agents and for the treatment of pigmentary disorders. In this study, the synthesis of kojic acid derivatives having 2-substituted-3-hydroxy-6-hyroxymethyl/chloromethyl/methyl/morpholinomethylpiperidinyl- methyl/pyrrolidinylmethyl-4H-pyran-4-one structure (compounds 1–30) with inhibitory effects on tyrosinase enzyme were described. One-pot Mannich reaction was carried out by using kojic acid/chlorokojic acid/allomaltol and substituted benzylpiperazine derivatives in presence of formaline. Subsequently, cyclic amine (morpholine, piperidine and pyrrolidine) derivatives of the 6th-position of chlorokojic acid were obtained with nucleophilic substitutions in basic medium. The structures of new compounds were identified by FT-IR, ¹H- and ¹³C NMR, ESI-MS and elemental analysis data. The potential mushroom tyrosinase inhibitory activity of the compounds were evaluated by the spectrophotometric method using l-DOPA as a substrate and kojic acid as the control agent. The potential inhibitory activity was also investigated in silico using molecular docking simulation method. Tyrosinase inhibitory action was significantly more efficacious for several compounds (IC₅₀: 86.2–362.1 µM) than kojic acid (IC₅₀: 418.2). Compound 3 bearing 3,4-dichlorobenzyl piperazine moiety was proven to have the highest inhibitory activity. The results of docking studies showed that according to the predicted conformation of compound 3 in the enzyme binding site, hydroxymethyl group provides a metal complex with copper ions and enzyme. Thus, this interaction explain the high inhibitory activities of the compounds 1, 3 and 4 possessing hydroxymethyl substituent supporting the mushroom assay results with docking studies. In accordance with the results, it is suggested that Mannich bases of kojic acid bearing substituted benzyl piperazine groups (compounds 1, 3, 4, 11, 13, 14, 23, 24, 28, and 29) could be promising antityrosinase agents. Additionally, considering the relationship between tyrosinase inhibitory activity results and molecular docking, a new tyrosinase inhibition mechanism can be proposed.     

Synthesis and biological evaluation of polyhydroxy benzophenone as mushroom tyrosinase inhibitors

A series of polyhydroxy benzophenone were synthesized and evaluated as mushroom tyrosinase inhibitors. The results demonstrated that most of the target compounds had remarkable inhibitory activities on mushroom tyrosinase. Among all these compounds, 2,3,4,3′,4′,5′-hexahydroxy-diphenylketone 10 was found to be the most potent tyrosinase inhibitor with IC₅₀ value of 1.4 μM. In addition, the inhibition kinetics analyzed by Lineweaver–Burk plots revealed that such compounds were competitive inhibitors. These results suggested that such compounds might be utilized for the development of new candidate for treatment of dermatological disorders.     

Synthesis and biological evaluation of helicid analogues as mushroom tyrosinase inhibitors

A series of helicid analogues were synthesized and evaluated as tyrosinase inhibitors. The results demonstrated that some compounds had more potent inhibitory activities than arbutin (IC(50) 7.3 mM). In particular, compound 1c bearing 4,6-O-benzylidene substituent on the sugar moiety was found to be the most potent inhibitor with IC(50) value of 0.052 mM. The inhibition kinetics analyzed by Lineweaver-Burk plots revealed that helicid analogues were competitive inhibitors. The Circular dichroism spectra indicated that those compounds induced conformational changes of mushroom tyrosinase upon binding.     

Veratric acid derivatives containing benzylidene-hydrazine moieties as promising tyrosinase inhibitors and free radical scavengers

Tyrosinase enzyme plays a crucial role in melanin biosynthesis and enzymatic browning process of vegetables and fruits. A series of veratric acid derivatives containing benzylidene-hydrazine moieties with different substitutions were synthesized and their inhibitory effect on mushroom tyrosinase and free radical scavenging activity were evaluated. The results indicated that N′-(4-chlorobenzylidene)-3,4-dimethoxybenzohydrazide (D5) and N′-(2,3-dihydroxybenzylidene)-3,4-dimethoxybenzohydrazide (D12) showed the highest tyrosinase inhibitory activity with IC₅₀ values of 19.72 ± 1.84 and 20.63 ± 0.79 μM, respectively, that were comparable with the IC₅₀ value of kojic acid (19.08 ± 1.21 μM). D12 was also a potent radical scavenger with EC₅₀ value of 0.0097 ± 0.0011 mM. The free radical scavenging activity of D12 was comparable with the standard quercetin. The inhibition kinetic analyzed by Lineweaver-Burk plots revealed that compound D5 was a competitive tyrosinase inhibitor. Molecular docking study was carried out for the derivatives demonstrating tyrosinase inhibitory activity. D5 and D12 possessed the most negative estimated free energies of binding in mushroom tyrosinase active site. Therefore, D5 and D12 could be introduced as potent tyrosinase inhibitors that might be promising leads in medicine, cosmetics and food industry.     

Inhibitory activity of novel kojic acid derivative containing trolox moiety on melanogenesis

A novel kojic acid derivative containing a trolox moiety, (±)-5-hydroxy-4-oxo-4H-pyran-2-yl methyl 6-hydroxy-2,5,7,8-tetramethylchroman-2-carboxylate (3a), was synthesized. The two biologically active compounds, namely, kojic acid and trolox, were conjugated via an ester bond as they are expected to behave synergistically. The antioxidant activity and the tyrosinase inhibitory activity of this novel kojic acid derivative on melanogenesis were evaluated. Compound 3a exhibited potent tyrosinase inhibitory activity and radical scavenging activity. Limited structure–activity relationship (SAR) investigations indicated that the tyrosinase inhibitory activities may originate from the kojic acid moiety, and the radical scavenging activity may be due to the phenolic hydroxyl group of trolox. Compound 3a also exhibited potent depigmenting activity in a cell-based assay. The limited SAR investigations revealed that the depigmenting activity of 3a may be due to the synergistic activities of kojic acid and its trolox moiety.     

New class of alkynyl glycoside analogues as tyrosinase inhibitors

A new series of alkynyl glycoside analogues were designed and synthesized from cheap and a commercially available sugar by introduction of various alkynyl and alkyl groups at C-1 and C-6 positions of the sugar ring. The inhibitory abilities of alkynyl glycosides were investigated in vitro on mushroom tyrosinase for the catalysis of l-Tyrosine and l-DOPA as substrates and comparing with arbutin and kojic acid. Non-terminal alkyne compound 2d showed excellent tyrosinase inhibitory activity (IC₅₀ 54.0 μM) against l-Tyrosine comparable to arbutin (IC₅₀ 1.46 mM) while 2b exhibited potent activities (IC₅₀ 34.3 μM) against L-DOPA higher than kojic acid (IC₅₀ 0.11 mM) and arbutin (IC₅₀ 13.3 mM). Kinetic studies revealed that compound 2d was a non-competitive inhibitor with the best Ki value of 21 μM and formed an irreversible receptor complex with mushroom tyrosinase. The SARs results showed that the type of alkyne and alkyl groups at position C-6 on sugar and the stereoisomer played an important role in determining their inhibitory activities. The potent activity of alkynyl glycosides identified in this study highlight the importance of this scaffold and these compounds are very modestly potent to the development of new class for tyrosinase inhibitor.     

Synthesis and biological evaluation of a novel series of bis-salicylaldehydes as mushroom tyrosinase inhibitors

A series of novel bis-salicylaldehydes were synthesised and evaluated as tyrosinase inhibitors using a tyrosinase-dependent l-DOPA oxidation assay. The bis-salicylaldehydes exhibited greater inhibitory activity than salicylaldehyde. Our data suggests that these novel compounds may serve as a structural template for the design and development of novel tyrosinase inhibitors.     

Synthesis and biological evaluation of polyhydroxy benzophenone as mushroom tyrosinase inhibitors

A series of polyhydroxy benzophenone were synthesized and evaluated as mushroom tyrosinase inhibitors. The results demonstrated that most of the target compounds had remarkable inhibitory activities on mushroom tyrosinase. Among all these compounds, 2,3,4,3',4',5'-hexahydroxy-diphenylketone 10 was found to be the most potent tyrosinase inhibitor with IC(50) value of 1.4 μM. In addition, the inhibition kinetics analyzed by Lineweaver-Burk plots revealed that such compounds were competitive inhibitors. These results suggested that such compounds might be utilized for the development of new candidate for treatment of dermatological disorders.     

Design,synthesis and bioevaluation of novel umbelliferone analogues as potential mushroom tyrosinase inhibitors

Abstract

A series of umbelliferone analogues were synthesized and their inhibitory effects on the DPPH and mushroom tyrosinase were evaluated. The results showed that some of the synthesized compounds exhibited significant mushroom tyrosinase inhibitory activities. Especially, 2-oxo-2-[(2-oxo-2H-chromen-7-yl)oxy]ethyl-2,4-dihydroxybenzoate (4e) bearing 2,4-dihydroxy substituted phenyl ring exhibited the most potent tyrosinase inhibitory activity with IC₅₀ value 8.96?µM and IC₅₀ value of kojic acid is 16.69. The inhibition mechanism analyzed by Lineweaver–Burk plots revealed that the type of inhibition of compound 4e on tyrosinase was non-competitive. The docking study against tyrosinase enzyme was also performed to determine the binding affinity of the compounds. The compounds 4c and 4e showed the highest binding affinity with active binding site of tyrosinase. The initial structure activity relationships (SARs) analysis suggested that further development of such compounds might be of interest. The statistics of our results endorses that compounds 4c and 4e may serve as a structural template for the design and development of novel tyrosinase inhibitors.     

Synthesis of kojic acid derivatives as secondary binding site probes of d-amino acid oxidase

A series of kojic acid (5-hydroxy-2-hydroxymethyl-4H-pyran-4-one) derivatives were synthesized and tested for their ability to inhibit d-amino acid oxidase (DAAO). Various substituents were incorporated into kojic acid at its 2-hydroxymethyl group. These analogs serve as useful molecular probes to explore the secondary binding site, which can be exploited in designing more potent DAAO inhibitors.     

Synthesis and biological evaluation of novel benzyl-substituted (S)-phenylalanine derivatives as potent dipeptidyl peptidase 4 inhibitors

A series of novel benzyl-substituted (S)-phenylalanine derivatives were synthesized and evaluated for their dipeptidyl peptidase 4 (DPP-4) inhibitory activity and selectivity. It was found that most synthesized target compounds were potent DPP-4 inhibitors with IC₅₀ values in 3.79–25.52 nM, which were significantly superior to that of the marketed drug sitagliptin. Furthermore, the 4-fluorobenzyl substituted phenylalanine derivative 6g not only displayed the potent DPP-4 inhibition with an IC₅₀ value of 3.79 nM, but also showed better selectivity against DPP-4 over other related enzymes including DPP-7, DPP-8, and DPP-9. In an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) in normal Sprague Dawley rats, compound 6g reduced blood glucose excursion in a dose-dependent manner.     

Effect of p-aminophenols on tyrosinase activity

Tyrosinase is involved in the synthesis of melanin in the skin and hair as well as neuromelanin in the brain. This rate limiting enzyme catalyzes two critical steps (reactions) in melanogenesis; the hydroxylation of tyrosine to form DOPA and the subsequent oxidation of DOPA into dopaquinone. Several new aminophenol derivatives have been synthesized based on structure–activity relationship studies of N-(4-hydroxyphenyl)retinamide (1), a derivative of retinoic acid. In order to find new tyrosinase inhibitors, we investigated the effects of these p-aminophenols, including p-decylaminophenol (3), on the activity of mushroom tyrosinase. Compound 3 was the most potent agent, showing significant inhibition as compared with control. The inhibitory effects of 3 on tyrosinase activities were greater than seen with kojic acid, a well-known potent inhibitor of tyrosinase activity, which also causes adverse effects, including rash and dermatitis. A Lineweaver–Burk kinetic analysis of inhibition showed that 3 suppresses tyrosinase activity in a non-competitive fashion for both substrates, tyrosine and DOPA. These results suggest that 3 might be a useful alternative to kojic acid as a tyrosinase inhibitor.     

Design, synthesis and biological evaluation of 2-(substituted phenyl)thiazolidine-4-carboxylic acid derivatives as novel tyrosinase inhibitors

Herein we describe the design, synthesis and biological activities of 2-(substituted phenyl)thiazolidine-4-carboxylic acid derivatives as novel tyrosinase inhibitors. The target compounds 2a–2j were designed and synthesized from the structural characteristics of N-phenylthiourea, tyrosinase inhibitor and tyrosine, and l-DOPA, the natural substrates of tyrosinase. Among them, (2R/S,4R)-2-(2,4-dimethoxyphenyl)thiazolidine-4-carboxylic acid (2g) caused the greatest inhibition 66.47% at 20 μM of l-DOPA oxidase activity of mushroom tyrosinase. Kinetic analysis of tyrosinase inhibition revealed that 2g is a competitive inhibitor. We predicted the tertiary structure of tyrosinase, and simulated the docking of mushroom tyrosinase with 2g. These results suggest that the binding affinity of 2g with tyrosinase is high. Also, 2g effectively inhibited tyrosinase activity and reduced melanin levels in B16 cells treated with α-MSH. These data strongly suggest that 2g can suppress the production of melanin via the inhibition of tyrosinase activity.     

New halogenated phenylcoumarins as tyrosinase inhibitors

With the aim to find out structural features for the tyrosinase inhibitory activity, in the present communication we report the synthesis and pharmacological evaluation of a new series of phenylcoumarin derivatives with different number of hydroxyl or ether groups and bromo substituent in the scaffold. The synthesized compounds 5-12 were evaluated as mushroom tyrosinase inhibitors showing, two of them, lower IC₅₀ than the umbelliferone. Compound 12 (IC₅₀ = 215 μM) is the best tyrosinase inhibitor of this series.     

Inhibition of the catecholase activity of biomimetic dinuclear copper complexes by kojic acid

The inhibition of the catechol oxidase activity exhibited by three dinuclear copper(II) complexes, derived from different diaminotetrabenzimidazole ligands, by kojic acid [5-hydroxy-2-(hydroxymethyl)-γ-pyrone] has been studied. The catalytic mechanism of the catecholase reaction proceeds in two steps and for both of these inhibition by kojic acid is of competitive type. The inhibitor binds strongly to the dicopper(II) complex in the first step and to the dicopper-dioxygen adduct in the second step, preventing in both cases the binding of the catechol substrate. Binding studies of kojic acid to the dinuclear copper(II) complexes and a series of mononuclear analogs, carried out spectrophotometrically and by NMR, enable us to propose that the inhibitor acts as a bridging ligand between the metal centers in the dicopper(II) catalysts. Received: 23 August 1999 / Accepted: 20 January 2000     

Enzymatic synthesis of arbutin undecylenic acid ester and its inhibitory effect on mushroom tyrosinase

A novel tyrosinase inhibitor, an arbutin derivative having undecylenic acid at the 6-position of its glucose moiety, was enzymatically synthesized. Its inhibitory activity was studied in vitro by using catechol and phenol as substrates. The IC₅₀ value of the arbutin ester on tyrosinase using catechol (4 × 10⁻⁴ M) was 1% of that when arbutin (4 × 10⁻² M) was used. Using phenol, IC₅₀ of the arbutin ester (3 × 10⁻⁴ M) as substrate was 10% of that of arbutin (3 × 10⁻³ M). These results suggest that the arbutin ester inhibits the latter part of the tyrosinase reaction, which consists of hydroxylation and oxidation.     

Synthesis,biological activities and SAR studies of new 3-substitutedphenyl-4-substitutedbenzylideneamino-1,2,4-triazole Mannich bases and bis-Mannich bases as ketol-acid reductoisomerase inhibitors

A series of new 3-substitutedphenyl-4-substitutedbenzylideneamino-1,2,4-triazole Mannich bases and bis-Mannich bases were synthesized through Mannich reaction with high yields. Their structures were confirmed by means of IR, ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR and elemental analysis. The preliminary bioassay indicated that compounds 7g, 7h and 7l exhibited potent in vitro inhibitory activities against ketol-acid reductoisomerase (KARI) with K_i value of (0.38?±?0.25), (6.59?±?2.75) and (8.46?±?3.99)?μmol/L, respectively, and were comparable with IpOHA. They could be new KARI inhibitors for follow-up research. Some of the title compounds also exhibited obvious herbicidal activities against Echinochloa crusgalli and remarkable in vitro fungicidal activities against Physalospora piricola and Rhizoctonia cerealis. The SAR of the compounds were analyzed, in which the molecular docking revealed the binding mode of 7g with the KARI, and the 3D-QSAR results provided useful information for guiding further optimization of this kind of structures to discover new fungicidal agents towards Rhizoctonia cerealis.     

Synthesis and biological evaluation of enantiomerically pure glyceric acid derivatives as LpxC inhibitors

Inhibitors of the UDP-3-O-[(R)-3-hydroxymyristoyl]-N-acetylglucosamine deacetylase (LpxC) represent a promising class of novel antibiotics, selectively combating Gram-negative bacteria. In order to elucidate the impact of the hydroxymethyl groups of diol (S,S)-4 on the inhibitory activity against LpxC, glyceric acid ethers (R)-7a, (S)-7a, (R)-7b, and (S)-7b, lacking the hydroxymethyl group in benzylic position, were synthesized. The compounds were obtained in enantiomerically pure form by a chiral pool synthesis and a lipase-catalyzed enantioselective desymmetrization, respectively. The enantiomeric hydroxamic acids (R)-7b (K_i = 230 nM) and (S)-7b (K_i = 390 nM) show promising enzyme inhibition. However, their inhibitory activities do not substantially differ from each other leading to a low eudismic ratio. Generally, the synthesized glyceric acid derivatives 7 show antibacterial activities against two Escherichia coli strains exceeding the ones of their respective regioisomes 6.     

Evaluation of dihydropyrimidin-(2H)-one analogues and rhodanine derivatives as tyrosinase inhibitors

A series of dihydropyrimidin-(2H)-one analogues and rhodanine derivatives were synthesized and their inhibitory effects on the diphenolase activity of mushroom tyrosinase were evaluated. The results showed that some of the synthesized compounds exhibited significant inhibitory activities. Especially, compound 15 bearing a hydroxyethoxyl group at position-4 of phenyl ring exhibited most potent tyrosinase inhibitory activity with IC₅₀ value of 0.56 mM. The inhibition mechanism analysis of compound 15 demonstrated that the inhibitory effect of the compound on the tyrosinase was irreversible. These results suggested that such compounds might be served as lead compounds for further designing new potential tyrosinase inhibitors.