Structure–activity relationship of boronic acid derivatives of tyropeptin: Proteasome inhibitors

The structure–activity relationship of the boronic acid derivatives of tyropeptin, a proteasome inhibitor, was studied. Based on the structure of a previously reported boronate analog of tyropeptin (2), 41 derivatives, which have varying substructure at the N-terminal acyl moiety and P2 position, were synthesized. Among them, 3-phenoxyphenylacetamide 6 and 3-fluoro picolinamide 22 displayed the most potent inhibitory activity toward chymotryptic activity of proteasome and cytotoxicity, respectively. The replacement of the isopropyl group in the P2 side chain to H or Me had negligible effects on the biological activities examined in this study.     

Structure–activity relationship study on benzoic acid part of diphenylamine-based retinoids

Based on structure–activity relationship studies of the benzoic acid part of diphenylamine-based retinoids, the potent RXR agonist 4 was derivatized to obtain retinoid agonists, synergists, and an antagonist. Cinnamic acid derivatives 5 and phenylpropionic acid derivatives 6 showed retinoid agonistic and synergistic activities, respectively. The difference of the activities is considered to be due to differences in the flexibility of the carboxylic acid-containing substituent on the diphenylamine skeleton. Compound 7, bearing a methyl group at the meta position to the carboxyl group, was an antagonist, dose-dependently inhibiting HL-60 cell differentiation induced by 3.3 × 10^?10 M Am80.     

Structure–activity relationship investigation of tertiary amine derivatives of cinnamic acid as acetylcholinesterase and butyrylcholinesterase inhibitors: compared with that of phenylpropionic acid,sorbic acid and hexanoic acid

In the present investigation, 48 new tertiary amine derivatives of cinnamic acid, phenylpropionic acid, sorbic acid and hexanoic acid (4d–6g, 10d–12g, 16d–18g and 22d–24g) were designed, synthesized and evaluated for the effect on AChE and BChE in vitro. The results revealed that the alteration of aminoalkyl types and substituted positions markedly influences the effects in inhibiting AChE. Almost of all cinnamic acid derivatives had the most potent inhibitory activity than that of other acid derivatives with the same aminoalkyl side chain. Unsaturated bond and benzene ring in cinnamic acid scaffold seems important for the inhibitory activity against AChE. Among them, compound 6g revealed the most potent AChE inhibitory activity (IC₅₀ value: 3.64?µmol/L) and highest selectivity over BChE (ratio: 28.6). Enzyme kinetic study showed that it present a mixed-type inhibition against AChE. The molecular docking study suggested that it can bind with the catalytic site and peripheral site of AChE.     

Structure–activity relationship study of phenylpyrazole derivatives as a novel class of anti-HIV agents

The structure–activity relationship of phenylpyrazole derivative 1 was investigated for the development of novel anti-HIV agents. Initial efforts revealed that the diazenyl group can be replaced by an aminomethylene group. In addition, we synthesized various derivatives by the reductive amination of benzaldehydes with 5-aminopyrazoles and carried out parallel structural optimization on the benzyl group and the pyrazole ring. This optimization led to a six-fold more potent derivative 32j than the lead compound 1, and this derivative has a 3′,4′-dichloro-(1,1′-biphenyl)-3-yl group.     

Structure–activity relationship of indoline-2-carboxylic acid N-(substituted)phenylamide derivatives

Chroman derivatives exhibited potent inhibitory activity of NF-κB. For SAR, the chroman scaffold was modified with an indoline moiety. A series of indoline-2-carboxylic acid N-(substituted)phenylamide derivatives were synthesized to explore their inhibitory activities of NF-κB and they were also evaluated for cytotoxicity against various cancer cell lines. Since intermediates with Boc showed outstanding results, various substituents in place of the Boc group were introduced additionally and these compounds were also evaluated for SAR.     

Synthesis,activity and docking studies of phenylpyrimidine–carboxamide Sorafenib derivatives

Two series of Sorafenib derivatives bearing phenylpyrimidine–carboxamide moiety (16a–g and 17a–p) were designed, synthesized and evaluated for the IC₅₀ values against three cancer cell lines (A549, MCF-7 and PC-3). Two selected compounds (17f and 17n) were further evaluated for the activity against VEGFR2/KDR kinase. More than half of the synthesized compounds showed moderate to excellent activity against three cancer cell lines. Compound 17f showed equal activity to Sorafenib against MCF-7 cell line, with the IC₅₀ values of 6.35 ± 0.43 μM. Meanwhile, compound 17n revealed more active than Sorafenib against A549 cell line, with the IC₅₀ values of 3.39 ± 0.37 μM. Structure–activity relationships (SARs) and docking studies indicated that the second series (17a–p) showed more active than the first series (16a–g). What’s more, the introduction of fluoro atom to the phenoxy part played no significant impact on activity. In addition, the presence of electron-donating on aryl group was benefit for the activity.     

Synthesis and structure–activity relationship of thiobarbituric acid derivatives as potent inhibitors of urease

A series of thiobarbituric acid derivatives 1–27 were synthesized and evaluated for their urease inhibitory potential. Exciting results were obtained from the screening of these compounds 1–27. Compounds 5, 7, 8, 11, 16, 17, 22, 23 and 24 showed excellent urease inhibition with IC₅₀ values 18.1 ± 0.52, 16.0 ± 0.45, 16.0 ± 0.22, 14.3 ± 0.27, 6.7 ± 0.27, 10.6 ± 0.17, 19.2 ± 0.29, 18.2 ± 0.76 and 1.61 ± 0.18 μM, respectively, much better than the standard urease inhibitor thiourea (IC₅₀ = 21 ± 0.11 μM). Compound 3, 4, 10, and 26 exhibited comparable activities to the standard with IC₅₀ values 21.4 ± 1.04 and 21.5 ± 0.61μM, 22.8 ± 0.32, 25.2 ± 0.63, respectively. However the remaining compounds also showed prominent inhibitory potential The structure–activity relationship was established for these compounds. This study identified a novel class of urease inhibitors. The structures of all compounds were confirmed through spectroscopic techniques such as EI-MS and ¹H NMR.     

Design,synthesis and structure–activity relationship of novel diphenylamine derivatives

Diphenylamine derivatives have been reported with good fungicidal, insecticidal, acaricidal, rodenticidal and/or herbicidal activities. To find new lead compound of this kind, a series of novel diphenylamine derivatives were designed and synthesized by the approach of Intermediate Derivatization Methods. All compounds were identified by ¹H NMR and elemental analysis. Bioassays demonstrated that some compounds substituted at 2,4,6-positions or 2,4,5-positions of phenyl ring B exhibited excellent fungicidal activities. The optimal compounds P30 and P33 showed 80% and 85% control respectively against cucumber downy mildew at 12.5 mg L⁻¹, both 100% control against rice blast at 0.3 mg L⁻¹ and both 100% control against cucumber gray mold at 0.9 mg L⁻¹. The relationship between structure and fungicidal activities was discussed as well.     

Structure–anti-MRSA activity relationship of macrocyclic bis(bibenzyl) derivatives

We synthesized a series of macrocyclic bis(bibenzyl) derivatives, including riccardin-, isoplagiochin- and marchantin-class structures, and evaluated their antibacterial activity towards methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (anti-MRSA activity). The structure–activity relationships and the results of molecular dynamics simulations indicated that bis(bibenzyl)s with potent anti-MRSA activity commonly have a 4-hydroxyl group at the D-benzene ring and a 2-hydroxyl group at the C-benzene ring in the hydrophilic part of the molecule, and an unsubstituted phenoxyphenyl group in the hydrophobic part of the molecule containing the A–B-benzene rings. Pharmacological characterization of the bis(bibenzyl) derivatives and 2-phenoxyphenol fragment 25, previously proposed as the minimum structure of riccardin C 1 for anti-MRSA activity, indicated that they have different action mechanisms: the bis(bibenzyl)s are bactericidal, while 25 is bacteriostatic, showing only weak bactericidal activity.     

Structure–activity relationship study of nitrosopyrimidines acting as antifungal agents

The design, synthesis, in vitro evaluation, and conformational study of nitrosopyrimidine derivatives acting as antifungal agents are reported. Different compounds structurally related with 4,6-bis(alkyl or arylamino)-5-nitrosopyrimidines were evaluated. Some of these nitrosopyrimidines have displayed a significant antifungal activity against human pathogenic strains. In this paper, we report a new group of nitrosopyrimidines acting as antifungal agents. Among them, compounds 2a, 2b and 15, the latter obtained from a molecular modeling study, exhibited antifungal activity against Candida albicans, Candida tropicalis and Cryptococcus neoformans. We have performed a conformational and electronic analysis on these compounds by using quantum mechanics calculations in conjunction with Molecular Electrostatic Potentials (MEP) obtained from B3LYP/6–31G(d) calculations. Our experimental and theoretical results have led us to identify a topographical template which may provide a guide for the design of new nitrosopyrimidines with antifungal effects.     

The effects and mechanism of flavonoid–rePON1 interactions. Structure–activity relationship study

Flavonoids are plant phenolic secondary metabolites that are widely distributed in the human diet. These antioxidants have received much attention because of their neuroprotective, cardioprotective, and chemopreventive actions. While a major focus has been on the flavonoids’ antioxidant properties, there is an emerging view that many of the potential health benefits of flavonoids and their in vivo metabolites are due to modulatory actions in cells through direct interactions with proteins, and not necessarily due to their antioxidant function. This view relies on the observations that flavonoids are present in the circulation at very low concentrations, which are not sufficient to exert effective antioxidant effects. The enzyme paraoxonase 1 (PON1) is associated with high-density lipoprotein (HDL), and is responsible for many of HDLs’ antiatherogenic properties. We previously showed that the flavonoid glabridin binds to rePON1 and affects the enzyme’s 3D structure. This interaction protects the enzyme from inhibition by an atherogenic component of the human carotid plaque. Here, we broadened our study to an investigation of the structure–activity relationships (SARs) of 12 flavonoids from different subclasses with rePON1 using Trp-fluorescence quenching, modeling calculations and Cu²⁺-induced low-density lipoprotein (LDL) oxidation methods. Our findings emphasize the ‘protein-binding’ mechanism by which flavonoids exert their beneficial biological role toward rePON1. Flavonoids’ capacity to interact with the enzyme’s rePON1 hydrophobic groove mostly dictates their pro/antioxidant behavior.     

Structure–cytotoxic activity relationship of sesquilignan,morinol A

The cytotoxic activities of sesquilignans, (7S,8S,7′R,8′R)- and (7R,8R,7′S,8′S)-morinol A and (7S,8S,7′S,8′S)- and (7R,8R,7′R,8′R)-morinol B were compared, showing no significant difference between stereoisomers (IC₅₀ = 24–35 μM). As a next stage, the effect of substituents at 7, 7′, and 7″-aromatic ring on the activity was evaluated to find out the higher activity of (7S,8S,7′R,8′R)-7,7′,7″-phenyl derivative 18 (IC₅₀ = 6–7 μM). In the research on the structure–activity relationship of 7″-position of (7S,8S,7′R,8′R)-7,7′,7″-phenyl derivative 18, the most potent compounds were 7,7′,7″-phenyl derivative 18 (IC₅₀ = 6 μM) against HeLa cells. Against HL-60 cells, 7″-(4-nitrophenyl)-7,7′-phenyl derivative 33 and 7″-hexyl-7,7′-phenyl derivative 37 (IC₅₀ = 5 μM) showed highest activity. We discovered the compounds showed four to sevenfold potent activity than that of natural (7S,8S,7′R,8′R)-morinol A. It was also confirmed that the 7′-benzylic hydroxy group have an important role for exhibiting activity, on the other hand, the resonance system of cinnamyl structure is not crucial for the potent activity.     

Synthesis and structure–activity relationship of 16,17-modified gibberellin derivatives

Gibberellins (GAs) are a group of diterpenoid plant hormones that control plant growth and development at various stages. Biologically active GAs share the common structures of a 3β-hydroxy group, a carboxy group at C-6, and a γ-lactone between C-4 and C-10. Hydroxylation at C-2β is a major deactivation step in many plant species, and hydroxylation at C-13 has been shown to weaken the binding affinity of GAs to their receptor proteins. In rice, bioactive GA₄ has also been shown to be deactivated through 16α,17-epoxidation. Moreover, 16,17-dihydro-16α,17-dihydroxy GA₄ has been identified as an aglycon of its glucoside from rice. However, our knowledge on the biological activity of 16,17-epoxidized GAs is currently limited to 16,17-dihydro-16α,17-epoxy GA₄. Moreover, the bioactivity of 16,17-dihydro-16α,17-dihydroxy GA₄ remains unknown. Here, we synthesized 16,17-epoxidized or dihydroxylated GA derivatives and performed a structure–activity relationship study using rice seedlings. 16,17-Epoxidation of bioactive GA₁ and GA₄ reduced their activity to promote elongation of rice leaf sheaths. Moreover, 16,17-dihydroxylation significantly decreased the activities of 16,17-dihydro-16α,17-epoxy GAs. These results suggest that GAs are deactivated in a stepwise manner via 16,17-epoxidation and hydrolysis of these epoxy groups.     

Molecular docking and structure–activity relationship studies on benzothiazole based non-peptidic BACE-1 inhibitors

A similarity search on the structural analogs of an inhibitor of BACE-1 with IC₅₀ 2.8 μM, which contained a P1 benzothiazole group together with a triazine ring linked by a secondary amine group, was described in this Letter and some more potent inhibitors against BACE-1 were identified. The most potent compound 5 (IC₅₀ = 0.12 μM) increases the inhibitory potency by 24 folds. Our results suggest that a pyrrolidinyl side group at the P3′ and P4′ of the inhibitors are favored for strong inhibition and a small aromatic group at the P4 position is also essential to the potency.     

Synthesis,biological activity and structure–activity relationship of endomorphin-1/substance P derivatives

Endomorphins have been shown to produce potent analgesia in various rodent models of pain. However, their central administration led to the development of tolerance and physical dependence. Conjugation of C-terminal substance P (SP) fragments to opioids and opioid peptides was previously shown to produce hybrid peptides with strong analgesic activity, with low or no propensity to develop tolerance. In this study, four peptides (2–5) comprised of endomorphin-1 (1) and C-terminal fragments of SP (four or five amino acids, SP_8–11 (2) or SP_7–11 (4), respectively), with an overlapping Phe residue, were synthesized. To overcome low metabolic stability and poor membrane permeability of the peptide, the N-terminus of 2 and 4 was further modified with a C10-carbon lipoamino acid (C10LAA) achieving 3 and 5, respectively. LAA-modification of the hybrid peptides resulted in a significant increase in metabolic stability and membrane permeability compared to peptides 1, 2 and 4. Compound 5 showed potent μ-opioid receptor binding affinity (K_iμ = 3.87 ± 0.51 nM) with dose-dependent agonist activity in the nanomolar range (IC₅₀ = 45 ± 13 nM). In silico modeling was used to investigate the binding modes and affinities of compounds 1–5 in the active site of μ-opioid receptors. The docking scores were in agreement with the K_iμ values obtained in the receptor binding affinity studies. The more active LAA-modified hybrid peptide showed a lower total interaction energy and higher negative value of MolDock score.     

Molecular docking and 3D-QSAR of 16α,17α-cycloalkanoprogesterone derivatives as ligands of the progesterone receptor

A series of 42 (pregna-D′-pentarane) steroid ligands was used to generate models predicting ligand affinity to the progesterone receptor. The best result (Q ² = 0.91) was obtained using a combination of molecular docking, molecular dynamics simulation and artificial neural networks. Good predictive power of the model was validated using a group of 8 pentaranes synthesized separately and tested in vitro (R _test ² = 0.77). This model can be used for determination of ligand-receptor binding affinity and accurate ranking of binding capacity of compounds tested.     

Structure–activity relationship study of EphB3 receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors

A structure–activity relationship study for a 2-chloroanilide derivative of pyrazolo[1,5-a]pyridine revealed that increased EphB3 kinase inhibitory activity could be accomplished by retaining the 2-chloroanilide and introducing a phenyl or small electron donating substituents to the 5-position of the pyrazolo[1,5-a]pyridine. In addition, replacement of the pyrazolo[1,5-a]pyridine with imidazo[1,2-a]pyridine was well tolerated and resulted in enhanced mouse liver microsome stability. The structure–activity relationship for EphB3 inhibition of both heterocyclic series was similar. Kinase inhibitory activity was also demonstrated for representative analogs in cell culture. An analog (32, LDN-211904) was also profiled for inhibitory activity against a panel of 288 kinases and found to be quite selective for tyrosine kinases. Overall, these studies provide useful molecular probes for examining the in vitro, cellular and potentially in vivo kinase-dependent function of EphB3 receptor.     

Structure–activity relationship study of pyrimido[1,2-c][1,3]benzothiazin-6-imine derivatives for potent anti-HIV agents

3,4-Dihydro-2H,6H-pyrimido[1,2-c][1,3]benzothiazin-6-imine (PD 404182) is an antiretroviral agent with submicromolar inhibitory activity against human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1) and HIV-2 infection. In the current study, the structure–activity relationships of accessory groups at the 3- and 9-positions of pyrimido[1,2-c][1,3]benzothiazin-6-imine were investigated for the development of more potent anti-HIV agents. Several different derivatives containing a 9-aryl group were designed and synthesized using Suzuki–Miyaura cross-coupling and Ullmann coupling reactions. Modification of the m-methoxyphenyl or benzo[d][1,3]dioxol-5-yl group resulted in improved anti-HIV activity. In addition, the 2,4-diazaspiro[5.5]undec-2-ene-fused benzo[e][1,3]thiazine derivatives were designed and tested for their anti-HIV activities. The most potent 9-(benzo[d][1,3]dioxol-5-yl) derivative was two–threefold more effective against several strains of HIV-1 and HIV-2 than the parent compound, PD 404182.