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Vyas VK, Shukla T, Sharma M. Medicinal chemistry approaches for the discovery of Plasmodium falciparum dihydroorotate dehydrogenase inhibitors as antimalarial agents. Future Med Chem 2023; 15:1295-1321. [PMID: 37551689 DOI: 10.4155/fmc-2023-0113] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Malaria is a severe human disease and a global health problem because of drug-resistant strains. Drugs reported to prevent the growth of Plasmodium parasites target various phases of the parasites' life cycle. Antimalarial drugs can inhibit key enzymes that are responsible for the cellular growth and development of parasites. Plasmodium falciparum dihydroorotate dehydrogenase is one such enzyme that is necessary for de novo pyrimidine biosynthesis. This review focuses on various medicinal chemistry approaches used for the discovery and identification of selective P. falciparum dihydroorotate dehydrogenase inhibitors as antimalarial agents. This comprehensive review discusses recent advances in the selective therapeutic activity of distinct chemical classes of compounds as P. falciparum dihydroorotate dehydrogenase inhibitors and antimalarial drugs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vivek K Vyas
- Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Institute of Pharmacy, Nirma University, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, 382481, India
| | - Tanvi Shukla
- Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Institute of Pharmacy, Nirma University, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, 382481, India
| | - Manmohan Sharma
- Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Institute of Pharmacy, Nirma University, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, 382481, India
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Nada H, Kim S, Park S, Lee MY, Lee K. Identification of Potent hDHODH Inhibitors for Lung Cancer via Virtual Screening of a Rationally Designed Small Combinatorial Library. ACS OMEGA 2023; 8:21769-21780. [PMID: 37360481 PMCID: PMC10286098 DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.3c01323] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/27/2023] [Accepted: 05/30/2023] [Indexed: 06/28/2023]
Abstract
Cancer is characterized by altered cellular metabolism, and metabolic enzymes are considered as a promising target for anticancer therapy. Pyrimidine metabolism dysregulation is associated with various types of cancer, particularly lung cancer, which is one of the leading causes of cancer-related mortality worldwide. Recent studies have shown that small-cell lung cancer cells are particularly reliant on the pyrimidine biosynthesis pathway and are sensitive to its disruption. DHODH, the rate-limiting enzyme of the de novo pyrimidine production pathway, is essential in the production of RNA and DNA and is overexpressed in malignancies such as AML, skin cancer, breast cancer, and lung cancer, thereby highlighting DHODH as a viable target for developing drugs to combat lung cancer. Herein, rational drug design and computational techniques were used to discover novel DHODH inhibitors. A small combinatorial library was generated, and the top hits were synthesized and tested for anticancer activity against three lung cancer cell lines. Among the tested compounds, compound 5c possessed a stronger cytotoxicity (TC50 of 11 μM) compared to the standard FDA-approved drug (Regorafenib, TC50 of 13 μM) on the A549 cell line. Furthermore, compound 5c demonstrated potent inhibitory activity against hDHODH at a nanomolar level of 421 nM. DFT, molecular docking, molecular dynamic simulations, and free energy calculations were also carried out to understand the inhibitory mechanisms of the synthesized scaffolds. These in silico studies identified key mechanisms and structural features that will be crucial for future studies.
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Ferrarini MG, Nisimura LM, Girard RMBM, Alencar MB, Fragoso MSI, Araújo-Silva CA, Veiga ADA, Abud APR, Nardelli SC, Vommaro RC, Silber AM, France-Sagot M, Ávila AR. Dichloroacetate and Pyruvate Metabolism: Pyruvate Dehydrogenase Kinases as Targets Worth Investigating for Effective Therapy of Toxoplasmosis. mSphere 2021; 6:e01002-20. [PMID: 33408226 PMCID: PMC7845590 DOI: 10.1128/msphere.01002-20] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/05/2020] [Accepted: 12/09/2020] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
Toxoplasmosis, a protozoan infection caused by Toxoplasma gondii, is estimated to affect around 2.5 billion people worldwide. Nevertheless, the side effects of drugs combined with the long period of therapy usually result in discontinuation of the treatment. New therapies should be developed by exploring peculiarities of the parasite's metabolic pathways, similarly to what has been well described in cancer cell metabolism. An example is the switch in the metabolism of cancer that blocks the conversion of pyruvate into acetyl coenzyme A in mitochondria. In this context, dichloroacetate (DCA) is an anticancer drug that reverts the tumor proliferation by inhibiting the enzymes responsible for this switch: the pyruvate dehydrogenase kinases (PDKs). DCA has also been used in the treatment of certain symptoms of malaria; however, there is no evidence of how this drug affects apicomplexan species. In this paper, we studied the metabolism of T. gondii and demonstrate that DCA also inhibits T. gondii's in vitro infection with no toxic effects on host cells. DCA caused an increase in the activity of pyruvate dehydrogenase followed by an unbalanced mitochondrial activity. We also observed morphological alterations frequently in mitochondria and in a few apicoplasts, essential organelles for parasite survival. To date, the kinases that potentially regulate the activity of pyruvate metabolism in both organelles have never been described. Here, we confirmed the presence in the genome of two putative kinases (T. gondii PDK [TgPDK] and T. gondii branched-chain α-keto acid dehydrogenase kinase [TgBCKDK]), verified their cellular localization in the mitochondrion, and provided in silico data suggesting that they are potential targets of DCA.IMPORTANCE Currently, the drugs used for toxoplasmosis have severe toxicity to human cells, and the treatment still lacks effective and safer alternatives. The search for novel drug targets is timely. We report here that the treatment of T. gondii with an anticancer drug, dichloroacetate (DCA), was effective in decreasing in vitro infection without toxicity to human cells. It is known that PDK is the main target of DCA in mammals, and this inactivation increases the conversion of pyruvate into acetyl coenzyme A and reverts the proliferation of tumor cells. Moreover, we verified the mitochondrial localization of two kinases that possibly regulate the activity of pyruvate metabolism in T. gondii, which has never been studied. DCA increased pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDH) activity in T. gondii, followed by an unbalanced mitochondrial activity, in a manner similar to what was previously observed in cancer cells. Thus, we propose the conserved kinases as potential regulators of pyruvate metabolism and interesting targets for new therapies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mariana Galvão Ferrarini
- Laboratoire de Biométrie et Biologie Évolutive, UMR 5558, CNRS, Université de Lyon 1, Villeurbanne, France
| | - Lindice Mitie Nisimura
- Laboratório de Pesquisa em Apicomplexa, Instituto Carlos Chagas, Fiocruz, Paraná, Brazil
| | - Richard Marcel Bruno Moreira Girard
- Laboratory of Biochemistry of Tryps, Department of Parasitology, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil
| | - Mayke Bezerra Alencar
- Laboratory of Biochemistry of Tryps, Department of Parasitology, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil
| | | | - Carlla Assis Araújo-Silva
- Laboratório de Ultraestrutura Celular Hertha Meyer, Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia em Biologia Estrutural e Bioimagens, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Alan de Almeida Veiga
- Laboratório de Pesquisa em Apicomplexa, Instituto Carlos Chagas, Fiocruz, Paraná, Brazil
| | | | | | - Rossiane C Vommaro
- Laboratório de Ultraestrutura Celular Hertha Meyer, Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia em Biologia Estrutural e Bioimagens, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Ariel Mariano Silber
- Laboratory of Biochemistry of Tryps, Department of Parasitology, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil
| | - Marie France-Sagot
- Laboratoire de Biométrie et Biologie Évolutive, UMR 5558, CNRS, Université de Lyon 1, Villeurbanne, France
- INRIA Grenoble Rhône-Alpes, Montbonnot-Saint-Martin, France
| | - Andréa Rodrigues Ávila
- Laboratório de Pesquisa em Apicomplexa, Instituto Carlos Chagas, Fiocruz, Paraná, Brazil
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Directed Evolution of Cellobiose Dehydrogenase on the Surface of Yeast Cells Using Resazurin-Based Fluorescent Assay. APPLIED SCIENCES-BASEL 2019. [DOI: 10.3390/app9071413] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Cellobiose dehydrogenase (CDH) from Phanerochaete chrysosporium can be used in lactobionic acid production, biosensor for lactose, biofuel cells, lignocellulose degradation, and wound-healing applications. To make it a better biocatalyst, CDH with higher activity in an immobilized form is desirable. For this purpose, CDH was expressed for the first time on the surface of S. cerevisiae EBY100 cells in an active form as a triple mutant tmCDH (D20N, A64T, V592M) and evolved further for higher activity using resazurin-based fluorescent assay. In order to decrease blank reaction of resazurin with yeast cells and to have linear correlation between enzyme activity on the cell surface and fluorescence signal, the assay was optimized with respect to resazurin concentration (0.1 mM), substrate concentration (10 mM lactose and 0.08 mM cellobiose), and pH (6.0). Using optimized assay an error prone PCR gene library of tmCDH was screened. Two mutants with 5 (H5) and 7 mutations (H9) were found having two times higher activity than the parent tmCDH enzyme that already had improved activity compared to wild type CDH whose activity could not be detected on the surface of yeast cells.
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Plasmodium falciparum dihydroorotate dehydrogenase: a drug target against malaria. Future Med Chem 2018; 10:1853-1874. [PMID: 30019917 DOI: 10.4155/fmc-2017-0250] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Malaria remains one of the most lethal infectious diseases worldwide, and the most severe form is caused by Plasmodium falciparum. In recent decades, the major challenge to treatment of this disease has been the ability of the protozoan parasite to develop resistance to the drugs that are currently in use. Among P. falciparum enzymes, P. falciparum dihydroorotate dehydrogenase has been identified as an important target in drug discovery. Interference with the activity of this enzyme inhibits de novo pyrimidine biosynthesis and consequently prevents malarial infection. Organic synthesis, x-ray crystallography, high-throughput screening and molecular modeling methods such as molecular docking, quantitative structure-activity relationships, structure-based pharmacophore mapping and molecular dynamics simulations have been applied to the discovery of new inhibitors of P. falciparum dihydroorotate dehydrogenase.
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Brandão GC, Rocha Missias FC, Arantes LM, Soares LF, Roy KK, Doerksen RJ, Braga de Oliveira A, Pereira GR. Antimalarial naphthoquinones. Synthesis via click chemistry, in vitro activity , docking to Pf DHODH and SAR of lapachol-based compounds. Eur J Med Chem 2018; 145:191-205. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ejmech.2017.12.051] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/10/2017] [Revised: 12/11/2017] [Accepted: 12/13/2017] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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Reis RAG, Calil FA, Feliciano PR, Pinheiro MP, Nonato MC. The dihydroorotate dehydrogenases: Past and present. Arch Biochem Biophys 2017; 632:175-191. [PMID: 28666740 DOI: 10.1016/j.abb.2017.06.019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 98] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/03/2017] [Revised: 06/23/2017] [Accepted: 06/26/2017] [Indexed: 01/24/2023]
Abstract
The flavoenzyme dihydroorotate dehydrogenase catalyzes the stereoselective oxidation of (S)-dihydroorotate to orotate in the fourth of the six conserved enzymatic reactions involved in the de novo pyrimidine biosynthetic pathway. Inhibition of pyrimidine metabolism by selectively targeting DHODHs has been exploited in the development of new therapies against cancer, immunological disorders, bacterial and viral infections, and parasitic diseases. Through a chronological narrative, this review summarizes the efforts of the scientific community to achieve our current understanding of structural and biochemical properties of DHODHs. It also attempts to describe the latest advances in medicinal chemistry for therapeutic development based on the selective inhibition of DHODH, including an overview of the experimental techniques used for ligand screening during the process of drug discovery.
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Affiliation(s)
- Renata A G Reis
- Department of Chemistry, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA 30302, United States
| | - Felipe Antunes Calil
- Laboratório de Cristalografia de Proteínas, Faculdade de Ciências Farmacêuticas de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, 14040-903, Brazil
| | - Patricia Rosa Feliciano
- Department of Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, United States
| | - Matheus Pinto Pinheiro
- Brazilian Biosciences National Laboratory (LNBio), Brazilian Center for Research in Energy and Materials (CNPEM), Campinas, Sao Paulo, 13083-970, Brazil
| | - M Cristina Nonato
- Laboratório de Cristalografia de Proteínas, Faculdade de Ciências Farmacêuticas de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, 14040-903, Brazil.
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