Development of 2-pyrrolidinyl-N-methyl pyrimidones as potent and orally bioavailable HIV integrase inhibitors

A series of 2-pyrrolidinyl-N-methyl pyrimidones HIV integrase inhibitors has been explored leading to the identification of derivative 13, which showed high activity at inhibiting viral replication in cell culture, favorable pharmacokinetic profile in two preclinical species, and an attractive profile against a panel of HIV-integrase mutants.     

A QSAR study on a series of N-methyl pyrimidones acting as HIV integrase inhibitors

A quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) study has been performed on integrase (IN) inhibition activity of a large series of N-methyl pyrimidones [Gardelli et al. (2007) J Med Chem 50, 4953-4975)] having varying heterocyclic ring substitution at 2-position of pyrimidone ring. The activity is found to be significantly correlated with surface tension and molar volume of the molecules. The whole series of compounds is divided into two subsets: a training set and a test set. A significant correlation is obtained for the training set, which is then used to predict the activity of compounds in the test set. The predicted activities of compounds in the test set are found to be very close to their observed activities. The predicting ability of the correlation obtained is judged by leave-one-out jackknife procedure. The correlation shows the effective role of the surface tension and molar volume of the molecules. From the correlation obtained, the integrase inhibition activities are predicted for some new prospective compounds.     

Caffeoyl naphthalenesulfonamide derivatives as HIV integrase inhibitors

HIV-1 integrase (IN) is an essential enzyme for retroviral replication and a rational target for the design of anti-AIDS drugs. In the present study, we have designed, synthesized and tested a series of caffeoyl naphthalenesulfonamide derivatives as HIV integrase inhibitors. Among these compounds, we found that HIV integrase inhibitory activities of compounds III-3 and III-4 were more potent than L-chicoric acid (IC(50)=11.8 microg/mL) and others were comparable to L-chicoric acid. Furthermore, the structure-activity relationships of these compounds were studied. The information gathered from this paper will be useful in the development and design of HIV-1 integrase inhibitors in the future.     

Discovery of potent HIV integrase inhibitors active against raltegravir resistant viruses

A series of novel HIV integrase inhibitors active against rategravir resistant strains are reported. Initial SAR studies revealed that activities against wild-type virus were successfully maintained at single digit nanomolar level with a wide range of substitutions. However, inclusion of nitrogen-based cyclic substitutions was crucial for achieving potency against mutant viruses. Several compounds with excellent activities against wild-type virus as well as against the viruses with the mutations Q148H/G140S or N155H/E92Q were reported.     

Pharmacophore modelling and atom-based 3D-QSAR studies on N-methyl pyrimidones as HIV-1 integrase inhibitors

Pharmacophore modelling and atom-based 3D-QSAR studies were carried out for a series of compounds belonging to N-methyl pyrimidones as HIV-1 integrase inhibitors. Based on the ligand-based pharmacophore model, we got 5-point pharmacophore model AADDR, with two hydrogen bond acceptors (A), two hydrogen bond donors (D) and one aromatic ring (R). The generated pharmacophore-based alignment was used to derive a predictive atom-based 3D-QSAR model for the training set (r(2)?=?0.92, SD?=?0.16, F?=?84.8, N?=?40) and for test set (Q(2)?=?0.71, RMSE?=?0.06, Pearson R?=?0.90, N?=?10). From these results, AADDR pharmacophore feature was selected as best common pharmacophore hypothesis, and atom-based 3D-QSAR results also support the outcome by means of favourable and unfavourable regions of hydrophobic and electron-withdrawing groups for the most potent compound 30. These results can be useful for further design of new and potent HIV-1 IN inhibitors.     

Pharmacophore modelling and atom-based 3D-QSAR studies on N-methyl pyrimidones as HIV-1 integrase inhibitors

Pharmacophore modelling and atom-based 3D-QSAR studies were carried out for a series of compounds belonging to N-methyl pyrimidones as HIV-1 integrase inhibitors. Based on the ligand-based pharmacophore model, we got 5-point pharmacophore model AADDR, with two hydrogen bond acceptors (A), two hydrogen bond donors (D) and one aromatic ring (R). The generated pharmacophore-based alignment was used to derive a predictive atom-based 3D-QSAR model for the training set (r²?=?0.92, SD?=?0.16, F?=?84.8, N?=?40) and for test set (Q²?=?0.71, RMSE?=?0.06, Pearson R?=?0.90, N?=?10). From these results, AADDR pharmacophore feature was selected as best common pharmacophore hypothesis, and atom-based 3D-QSAR results also support the outcome by means of favourable and unfavourable regions of hydrophobic and electron-withdrawing groups for the most potent compound 30. These results can be useful for further design of new and potent HIV-1 IN inhibitors.     

Catechol-substituted L-chicoric acid analogues as HIV integrase inhibitors

HIV integrase catalyzes the integration of HIV DNA copy into the host cell DNA, which is essential for the production of progeny viruses. L-Chicoric acid and dicaffeoylquinic acids, isolated from plants, are well known potent inhibitors of HIV integrase. The common structural features of these inhibitors are caffeic acid derivatives connected to tartaric acid or quinic acid through ester bonds. In the present study, we have synthesized and tested the inhibitory activities of a new type of HIV IN inhibitors, which has catechol groups in place of caffeoyl groups in the structure of L-chicoric acid. Upon substitution of catechol groups at succinic acid, pyrrole-dicarboxylic acid, maleimide or maleic anhydride, the inhibitory activities (IC(50)=3.8-23.6 microM) were retained or remarkably increased when compared to parent compound L-chicoric acid (IC(50)=13.7 microM).     

A platform for designing HIV integrase inhibitors. Part 2: a two-metal binding model as a potential mechanism of HIV integrase inhibitors

We propose a two-metal binding model as a potential mechanism of chelating inhibitors against HIV integrase (HIV IN) represented by 2-hydroxy-3-heteroaryl acrylic acids (HHAAs). Potential inhibitors would bind to two metal ions in the active site of HIV IN to prevent human DNA from undergoing the integration reaction. Correlation of the results of metal (Mg²⁺ and Mn²⁺) titration studies with HIV IN inhibition for a series of active and inactive compounds provides support for the model. Results suggest Mg²⁺ is an essential cofactor for chelating inhibitors.     

Oximinoarylsulfonamides as potent HIV protease inhibitors

The need for a potent HIV protease inhibitor (PI) to combat emerging PI-resistant viruses is anticipated. Analogs formulated from the combination of structural fragments of Ritonavir, Lopinavir, and Amprenavir were synthesized. Analogs containing the oxime pharmacophore were found to have improved activities against both wild type and resistant (A17) viruses. The synthesis and structure-activity relationships (SAR) based upon the in vitro IC50 of this series of compounds are reported.     

3-Hydroxy-1,5-dihydro-pyrrol-2-one derivatives as advanced inhibitors of HIV integrase

The two-metal binding model we previously reported as an inhibition mechanism of HIV integrase (HIV IN) produced a new direction in modification of 2-hydroxy-3-heteroaryl acrylic acid inhibitors (HHAAs). Here we present a novel series of HIV IN inhibitors having a 3-hydroxy-1,5-dihydro-pyrrol-2-one moiety (HDPO) as an advanced analog of HHAAs. This cyclic modification of the chelating region of HHAA produces a favorable configuration to coordinate two-metal ions in HIV IN, which consequently gave improvements in not only enzymatic assay but also antiviral cell based assay in many cases.     

Tricyclic HIV integrase inhibitors: potent and orally bioavailable C5-aza analogs

A series of C5-aza tricyclic HIV integrase inhibitors was prepared. A highly potent and orally bioavailable compound (compound 9) was identified and selected for development.     

Potential inhibitors of HIV integrase.

In the search for inhibitors of HIV integrase, the enzyme involved in the integration of viral DNA into host DNA, we have synthesized and studied a number of analogs of the heterocyclic molecule, chloroquine.     

Development of pyridopyrimidines as potent Akt1/2 inhibitors

This communication reports a new synthetic route of pyridopyrimidines to facilitate their structural optimization in a library fashion and describes the development of pyridopyrimidines that have excellent enzymatic and cell potency against Akt1 and Akt2. This series also shows a high level of selectivity over other closely related kinases and significantly improved caspase-3 activity with the more optimized compounds.     

Conformationally restrained carbazolone-containing alpha,gamma-diketo acids as inhibitors of HIV integrase

Since alpha,gamma-diketo acid (DKA) compounds were identified as potent and selective inhibitors for HIV integrase, numerous structural modification studies have been carried out to search for a clinical candidate as a supplement for the highly active antiretroviral therapy regimen. Due to the lack of structural information on inhibitor-integrase interactions, a comprehensive structure-activity relationship study is necessary. Most of the reported modification studies on the key alpha,gamma-diketo acid pharmacophore focused on substituting the carboxylate moiety with its bioisosteres or other electron-pair bearing heterocycles. We were interested in studying the conformation and geometry of the central diketo moiety. A series of carbazolone-containing alpha,gamma-diketo acids were designed and synthesized by applying conformational restraint onto the open-chain form of the diketo acid. These compounds showed anti-integrase activity in the low micromolar range, and integrase assay results indicated that the geometry of the diketo acid moiety is crucial to potency. Carbazol-1-one containing DKA analogs (7-8) showed a 2- to 3-fold increase in activity compared with those of carbazol-4-one containing DKA analogs (5 and 6). Alkylation of carbazol-4-one DKA nitrogen (6a-c) led to a loss of activity, suggesting this nitrogen atom may directly interact with the active site of integrase. The halogens (7b-d) and para-fluorobenzyl substituents (8a-d) on carbazol-1-one ring had little effect on potency.     

Modeling, analysis, and validation of a novel HIV integrase structure provide insights into the binding modes of potent integrase inhibitors

It has been shown that L-731988, a potent integrase inhibitor, targets a conformation of the integrase enzyme formed when complexed to viral DNA, with the 3′-end dinucleotide already cleaved. It has also been shown that diketo acid inhibitors bind to the strand transfer complex of integrase and are competitive with the host target DNA. However, published X-ray structures of HIV integrase do not include the DNA; thus, there is a need to develop a model representing the strand transfer complex. In this study, we have constructed an active-site model of the HIV-1 integrase complexed with viral DNA using the crystal structure of DNA-bound transposase and have identified a binding mode for inhibitors. This proposed binding mechanism for integrase inhibitors involves interaction with a specific Mg^2 + in the active site, accentuated by a hydrophobic interaction in a cavity formed by a flexible loop upon DNA binding. We further validated the integrase active-site model by selectively mutating key residues predicted to play an important role in the binding of inhibitors. Thus, we have a binding model that is applicable to a wide range of potent integrase inhibitors and is consistent with the available resistant mutation data.     

Dicaffeoyl- or digalloyl pyrrolidine and furan derivatives as HIV integrase inhibitors.

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) integrase (IN) catalyzes the integration of HIV DNA copy into the host cell DNA. Such integration is essential for the production of progeny viruses, and therefore therapeutic agents that can inhibit this process should be effective anti-HIV agents. We have previously reported the inhibitory activity of dicaffeoylglucosides against HIV IN. In the present study, we have synthesized and tested dicaffeoyl or digalloyl compounds joined through a five-membered heterocyclic ring as HIV IN inhibitors to explore the SARs of this family of compounds. The starting heterocyclic diols were prepared from L-tartaric acid, diethyl L-tartarate or D-(+)-ribonic gamma-lactone. We found that the HIV IN inhibitory activities of dicaffeoyl derivatives were comparable to that of L-chicoric acid (IC(50)=24.9 microM). On the other hand, digalloyl derivatives were more potent than L-chicoric acid with IC(50) values of 4.7--15.6 microM.     

Development of combretastatins as potent tubulin polymerization inhibitors

The combretastatins are isolated from South African tree combretum caffrum kuntze. The lead compound combretastatin A-4 has displayed remarkable cytotoxic effect in a wide variety of preclinical tumor models and inhibits tubulin polymerization by interacting at colchicine binding site of microtubule. However, the structural simplicity of C A-4 is favorable for synthesis of various derivatives projected to induce rapid and selective vascular shutdown in tumors. Majority of the molecules have shown excellent antiproliferative activity and are able to inhibit tubulin polymerization as well as possible mechanisms of action have been investigated. In this review article, the synthesis and structure-activity relationships of C A-4 and immense number of its synthetic derivatives with various modifications on the A, B-rings, bridge carbons and their anti mitotic activities are discussed.     

2-Aminobenzimidazoles as potent Aurora kinase inhibitors

This Letter describes the discovery and key structure–activity relationship (SAR) of a series of 2-aminobenzimidazoles as potent Aurora kinase inhibitors. 2-Aminobenzimidazole serves as a bioisostere of the biaryl urea residue of SNS-314 (1c), which is a potent Aurora kinase inhibitor and entered clinical testing in patients with solid tumors. Compared to SNS-314, this series of compounds offers better aqueous solubility while retaining comparable in vitro potency in biochemical and cell-based assays; in particular, 6m has also demonstrated a comparable mouse iv PK profile to SNS-314.     

Rational design of 2-pyrrolinones as inhibitors of HIV-1 integrase

HIV-1 integrase is an essential enzyme for viral replication and a validated target for the development of drugs against AIDS. With an aim to discover new potent inhibitors of HIV-1 integrase, we developed a pharmacophore model based on reported inhibitors embodying structural diversity. Eight compounds of 2-pyrrolinones fitting all the features of the pharmacophore query were found through the screening of an in-house database. These candidates were successfully synthesized, and three of them showed strand transfer inhibitory activity, in which, one compound showed antiviral activity. Further mapping analysis and docking studies affirmed these results.