N-formylpyrazolines and N-benzoylpyrazolines as novel inhibitors of mammalian cathepsin B and cathepsin H

Cathepsin H: molecular characteristics and clues to function and mechanism

Cathepsin H (CatH) is a lysosomal cysteine protease with a unique aminopeptidase activity that is extensively expressed in the lung, pancreas, thymus, kidney, liver, skin, and brain. Owing to its specific enzymatic activity, CatH has critical effects on the regulation of biological behaviours of cancer cells and pathological processes in brain diseases. Moreover, a neutral pH level is optimal for CatH activity, so it is expected to be active in the extra-lysosomal and extracellular space. In the present review, we describe the expression, maturation, and enzymatic properties of CatH, and summarize the available experimental evidence that mechanistically links CatH to various physiological and pathological processes. Finally, we discuss the challenges and potentials of CatH inhibitors in CatH-induced disease therapy.

Recent Progress on Anticancer Agents Incorporating Pyrazole Scaffold

The search of new anticancer agents is considered as a dynamic field of medicinal chemistry. In recent years, the synthesis of compounds with anticancer potential has increased and a large number of structurally varied compounds displaying potent anticancer activities have been published. Pyrazole is an important biologically active scaffold that possessed nearly all types of biological activities. The aim of this review is to collate literature work reported by researchers to provide an overview on in vivo and in vitro anticancer activities of pyrazole based derivatives among the diverse biological activities displayed by them and also presents recent efforts made on this heterocyclic moiety regarding anticancer activities. This review has been driven from the increasing number of publications, on this issue, which have been reported in the literature since the ending of the 20th century (from 1995-to date).

Design, synthesis, biological evaluation of 3,5-diaryl-4,5-dihydro-1H-pyrazole carbaldehydes as non-purine xanthine oxidase inhibitors: Tracing the anticancer mechanism via xanthine oxidase inhibition

Xanthine oxidase (XO) has been primarily targeted for the development of anti-hyperuriciemic /anti-gout agents as it catalyzes the conversion of xanthine and hypoxanthine into uric acid. XO overexpression in various cancer is very well correlated due to reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and metabolic activation of carcinogenic substances during the catalysis. Herein, we report the design and synthesis of a series of 3,5-diaryl-4,5-dihydro-1H-pyrazole carbaldehyde derivatives (2a-2x) as xanthine oxidase inhibitors (XOIs). A docking model was developed for the prediction of XO inhibitory activity of our novel compounds. Furthermore, our compounds anticancer activity results in low XO expression and XO-harboring cancer cells both in 2D and 3D-culture models are presented and discussed. Among the array of synthesized compounds, 2b and 2m emerged as potent XO inhibitors having IC₅₀ values of 9.32 ± 0.45 µM and 10.03 ± 0.43 µM, respectively. Both compounds induced apoptosis, halted the cell cycle progression at the G1 phase, elevated ROS levels, altered mitochondrial membrane potential, and inhibited antioxidant enzymes. The levels of miRNA and expression of redox sensors in cells were also altered due to increase oxidative stress induced by our compounds. Compounds 2b and 2m hold a great promise for further development of XOIs for the treatment of XO-harboring tumors.

SAR studies of some acetophenone phenylhydrazone based pyrazole derivatives as anticathepsin agents

Cathepsins have emerged as promising molecular targets in a number of diseases such as Alzeimer's, inflammation and cancer. Elevated cathepsin's levels and decreased cellular inhibitor concentrations have emphasized the search for novel inhibitors of cathepsins. The present work is focused on the design and synthesis of some acetophenone phenylhydrazone based pyrazole derivatives as novel non peptidyl inhibitors of cathepsins B, H and L. The synthesized compounds after characterization have been explored for their inhibitory potency against cathepsins B, H and L. The results show that some of the synthesized compounds exhibit anti-catheptic activity with K_i value of the order of 10^-10M. Differential inhibitory effects have been observed for cathepsins B, H and L. Cathepsin L is inhibited more pronounced than cathepsin B and cathepsin H in that order.

2,5-Diaryloxadiazoles and their precursors as novel inhibitors of cathepsins B, H and L

High levels of cathepsins indicated in various pathological conditions like arthritis, cancer progressions, and atherosclerosis explains the need to explore potential inhibitors of these proteases which can be of great therapeutic significance. We, in the present work, report the synthesis of some 2,5-diaryloxadiazoles from N-subsitutedbenzylidenebenzohydrazides. The synthesized compounds were screened for their inhibitory potential on cathepsins B, H and L. Structure Activity Relationship studies show that 2,5-diaryloxadiazoles were less inhibitory than their precursors. 1i and 2k have been found to be most inhibitory to cathepsins B and L. Their Ki values have been calculated as 11.38×10(-8)M and 66.4×10(-8)M for cathepsin B and 4.2×10(-9)M and 47.31×10(-9)M for cathepsin L, respectively. However, cathepsin H activity was maximally inhibited by compounds, 1e and 2c with Ki values of 4.4×10(-7)M and 5.6×10(-7)M, respectively. Enzyme kinetic studies suggest that these compounds are competitive inhibitors to the enzymes. The results have been compared with docking results obtained using iGemDock.

Chalcones, semicarbazones and pyrazolines as inhibitors of cathepsins B, H and L

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Three bio macromolecules cathepsins B, H and L of physiological and pathological significance have been selected for the study.

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The molecules have been designed by combining two important pharmacophores their cyclized analogues and were studied for their inhibitory effects on selected enzymes.

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Two isomeric forms of chalconesemicarbazones are reported for the first time.

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The synthesized compounds showed a competitive inhibition towards cathepsins B, H and L.

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Docking experiments were run along with to relate with in vitro studies.

Cathepsin B [EC 3.4.22.1], cathepsin H [EC 3.4.22.16] and cathepsin L [EC 3.4.22.15] are the most versatile lysosomal cysteine proteases and are responsible for intracellular protein degradation. These are involved in a number of pathological conditions including tissue degenerative processes. In the present work, we report the synthesis and systematic evaluation of differently substituted chalcones, chalconesemicarbazones, and diarylpyrazolines on cathepsins B, H and L activity. It was found that after a preliminary screening as cysteine protease inhibitors, chalconesemicarbazones were better inhibitors to these cysteine proteases than diarylpyrazolines followed by chalcones. All the synthesized compounds were identified as the best inhibitors to cathepsin L followed by cathepsin B and then cathepsin H. The results are compared with docking studies and it was found that all the compounds resulted in decrease in energy while interacting with the active site of the enzyme.

2,3-Dihydroquinazolin-4(1H)-one derivatives as potential non-peptidyl inhibitors of cathepsins B and H

A direct correlation between cathepsin expression-cancer progression and elevated levels of cathepsins due to an imbalance in cellular inhibitors-cathepsins ratio in inflammatory diseases necessitates the work on the identification of potential inhibitors to cathepsins. In the present work we report the synthesis of some 2,3-dihydroquinazolin-4(1H)-ones followed by their evaluation as cysteine protease inhibitors in general and cathepsin B and cathepsin H inhibitors in particular. 2,3-Dihydroquinazolin-4(1H)-ones, synthesized by the condensation of anthranilamide and carbonyl compound in presence of PPA-SiO2 catalyst, were characterized by spectral analysis. The designed compounds were screened as inhibitors to proteolysis on endogenous protein substrates. Further, a distinct differential pattern of inhibition was obtained for cathepsins B and H. The inhibition was more to cathepsin B with Ki values in nanomolar range. However, cathepsin H was inhibited at micromolar concentration. Maximum inhibition was shown by compounds, 1e and 1f for cathepsin B and compounds 1c and 1f for cathepsin H. The synthesized compounds were established as reversible inhibitors of cathepsins B and H. The results were also compared with the energy of interaction between enzyme active site and compounds using iGemdock software.