Exploring the dual effect of novel 1,4-diarylpyranopyrazoles as antiviral and anti-inflammatory for the management of SARS-CoV-2 and associated inflammatory symptoms

Exploring of N-phthalimide-linked 1,2,3-triazole analogues with promising -anti-SARS-CoV-2 activity: synthesis, biological screening, and molecular modelling studies

In this study, a library of phthalimide Schiff base linked to 1,4-disubstituted-1,2,3-triazoles was designed, synthesised, and characterised by different spectral analyses. All analogues have been introduced for in vitro assay of their antiviral activity against COVID-19 virus using Vero cell as incubator with different concentrations. The data revealed most of these derivatives showed potent cellular anti-COVID-19 activity and prevent viral growth by more than 90% at two different concentrations with no or weak cytotoxic effect on Vero cells. Furthermore, in vitro assay was done against this enzyme for all analogues and the results showed two of them have IC50 data by 90 µM inhibitory activity. An extensive molecular docking simulation was run to analyse their antiviral mechanism that found the proper non-covalent interaction within the Mpro protease enzyme. Finally, we profiled two reversible inhibitors, COOH and F substituted analogues that might be promising drug candidates for further development have been discovered.

Discovery of Pyrano[2,3-c]pyrazole Derivatives as Novel Potential Human Coronavirus Inhibitors: Design, Synthesis, In Silico, In Vitro, and ADME Studies

The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic at the end of 2019 had major worldwide health and economic consequences. Until effective vaccination approaches were created, the healthcare sectors endured a shortage of operative treatments that might prevent the infection's spread. As a result, academia and the pharmaceutical industry prioritized the development of SARS-CoV2 antiviral medication. Pyranopyrazoles have been shown to play a prominent function in pharmaceutical chemistry and drug sighting because of their significant bioactive properties. We provide herein a novel sequence of pyranopyrazoles and their annulated systems whose antiviral efficacy and cytotoxicity were explored versus human coronavirus 229E (HCoV-229E) Vero-E6 cell lines as a model for the Coronaviridae family. Fifteen synthetic congeners pointed out miscellaneous antiviral efficacies against HCoV-229E with variable inhibition degrees. Compound 18 showed a high selectivity index (SI = 12.6) that established spectacular inhibitory capacity against human coronavirus 229E. Compounds 6, 7, and 14 exposed moderate efficacies. Compounds 6, 7, 14, and 18 exhibited substantial antiviral action through the replication phase with reduction percentages extending from 53.6%, 60.7%, and 55% to 82.2%, correspondingly. Likewise, when assessed to the positive control tipranavir (88.6%), the inhibitory efficiency of compounds 6, 7, 14, and 18 versus the SARS-CoV2 Mpro provided high percentages of 80.4%, 73.1%, 81.4% and up to 84.5%, respectively. In silico studies were performed to investigate further the biological activity and the target compounds' physical and chemical features, including molecular dynamic (MD) simulations, protein-ligand docking, ADME studies, and density functional theory (DFT) calculations. These inquiries demonstrated that this series of metabolically stable pyranopyrazoles and their annulated systems are effective human coronavirus inhibitors that inhibit the viral Mpro protein and may have emerged as a novel COVID-19 curative option.

Novel benzochromenes: design, synthesis, cytotoxicity, molecular docking and mechanistic investigations

Aim: A novel series of fused benzochromenes with expected cytotoxicity and HIF-1α inhibition was identified. Materials & methods: A bioisosterism-aided approach was applied to design new benzochromenes and assess their cytotoxicity against three cancer cell lines. The probable mechanistic effect and the in silico docking and pharmacokinetic profiles of the most effective derivatives were evaluated. Results: Compounds 3, 4, 5, 8 and 11 showed potent antiproliferative activity and excellent selectivity. Compound 8 showed significant HIF-1α inhibition with an IC50 value of 3.372 μM. It also enhanced apoptosis and arrested the HepG2 cell cycle at both the G0/G1 and S stages. Conclusion: Compound 8 was identified as a new potential anticancer candidate.

Introducing of novel class of pyrano[2,3-c]pyrazole-5-carbonitrile analogs with potent antimicrobial activity, DNA gyrase inhibition, and prominent pharmacokinetic and CNS toxicity profiles supported by molecular dynamic simulation

Microbiological DNA gyrase is recognized as an exceptional microbial target for the innovative development of low-resistant and more effective antimicrobial drugs. Hence, we introduced a one-pot facile synthesis of a novel pyranopyrazole scaffold bearing different functionalities; substituted aryl ring, nitrile, and hydroxyl groups. All new analogs were characterized with full spectroscopic data. The antimicrobial screening for all analogs was assessed against standard strains of Gm + ve and Gm-ve through in vitro considers. The screened compounds displayed very promising MIC/MBC values against some of the bacterial strains with broad or selective antibacterial effects. Of these, 4j biphenyl analog showed 0.5-2/2-8 µg/mL MIC/MBC for suppression and killing of Gm + ve and Gm-ve strains. Moreover, the antimicrobial screening was assessed for the most potent analogs against certain highly resistant microbial strains. Consequently, DNA gyrase supercoiling assay was done for all analogs using ciprofloxacin as reference positive control. Obviously, the results showed a different activity profile with potent analog 4j with IC50 value 6.29 µg/mL better than reference drug 10.2 µg/mL. Additionally, CNS toxicity testing was done using the HiB5 cell line for attenuation of GABA/NMDA expression to both 4j and ciprofloxacin compounds that revealed better neurotransmitter modulation by novel scaffold. Importantly, docking and dynamic simulations were performed for the most active 4j analog to investigate its interaction with DNA binding sites, which supported the in vitro observations and compound stability with binding pocket. Finally, a novel scaffold pyranopyrazole was introduced as a DNA gyrase inhibitor with prominent antibacterial efficacy and low CNS side effect toxicity better than quinolones.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.

Phenylpyrazolone-1,2,3-triazole Hybrids as Potent Antiviral Agents with Promising SARS-CoV-2 Main Protease Inhibition Potential

COVID-19 infection is now considered one of the leading causes of human death. As an attempt towards the discovery of novel medications for the COVID-19 pandemic, nineteen novel compounds containing 1,2,3-triazole side chains linked to phenylpyrazolone scaffold and terminal lipophilic aryl parts with prominent substituent functionalities were designed and synthesized via a click reaction based on our previous work. The novel compounds were assessed using an in vitro effect on the growth of SARS-CoV-2 virus-infested Vero cells with different compound concentrations: 1 and 10 μM. The data revealed that most of these derivatives showed potent cellular anti-COVID-19 activity and inhibited viral replication by more than 50% with no or weak cytotoxic effect on harboring cells. In addition, in vitro assay employing the SARS-CoV-2-Main protease inhibition assay was done to test the inhibitors' ability to block the common primary protease of the SARS-CoV-2 virus as a mode of action. The obtained results show that the one non-linker analog 6h and two amide-based linkers 6i and 6q were the most active compounds with IC₅₀ values of 5.08, 3.16, and 7.55 μM, respectively, against the viral protease in comparison to data of the selective antiviral agent GC-376. Molecular modeling studies were done for compound placement within the binding pocket of protease which reveal conserved residues hydrogen bonding and non-hydrogen interactions of 6i analog fragments: triazole scaffold, aryl part, and linker. Moreover, the stability of compounds and their interactions with the target pocket were also studied and analyzed by molecular dynamic simulations. The physicochemical and toxicity profiles were predicted, and the results show that compounds behave as an antiviral activity with low or no cellular or organ toxicity. All research results point to the potential usage of new chemotype potent derivatives as promising leads to be explored in vivo that might open the door to rational drug development of SARS-CoV-2 Main protease potent medicines.

A novel class of phenylpyrazolone-sulphonamides rigid synthetic anticancer molecules selectively inhibit the isoform IX of carbonic anhydrases guided by molecular docking and orbital analyses

All the previously reported phenylpyrazoles as carbonic anhydrase inhibitors (CAIs) were found to have small sizes and high levels of flexibility, and hence showed low selectivity profiles toward a particular isoform of CA. Herein, we report the development of a more rigid ring system bearing a sulfonamide hydrophilic head and a lipophilic tail to develop novel molecules that are suggested to have a better selectivity toward a special CA isoform. Accordingly, three novel sets of pyrano[2,3-c]pyrazoles attached with sulfonamide head and aryl hydrophobic tail were synthesized to enhance the selectivity toward a specific isoform of human carbonic anhydrases (hCAs). The impact of both attachments on the potency and selectivity has been extensively discussed in terms of in vitro cytotoxicity evaluation under hypoxic conditions, structure-activity relationship and carbonic anhydrase enzyme assay. All of the new candidates displayed good cytotoxic activities against breast and colorectal carcinomas. Results of the carbonic anhydrase enzyme assay demonstrated the preferential of compounds 22, 24 and 27 to inhibit the isoform IX of hCAs selectively. Wound-healing assay has also been performed and revealed the potential of 27 to decrease the wound closure percentage in MCF-7 cells. Molecular docking and molecular orbital analysis have finally been conducted. Results indicate the potential binding interactions of 24 and 27 with several crucial amino acids of the hCA IX.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.

The anticancer and EGFR-TK/CDK-9 dual inhibitory potentials of new synthetic pyranopyrazole and pyrazolone derivatives: X-ray crystallography, in vitro, and in silico mechanistic investigations

Treatment options for the management of breast cancer are still inadequate. This inadequacy is attributed to the lack of effective targeted medications, often resulting in the recurrence of metastatic disorders. Cumulative evidence suggests that epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR-TK) and cyclin-dependent kinases-9 (CDK-9) overexpression correlates with worse overall survival in breast cancer patients. Pyranopyrazole and pyrazolone are privileged options for the development of anticancer agents. Inspired by this proven scientific fact, we report here the synthesis of two new series of suggested anticancer molecules incorporating both heterocycles together with their characterization by IR, 1H NMR, 13C NMR, 13C NMR-DEPT, and X-ray diffraction methods. An attempt to get the pyranopyrazole-gold complexes was conducted but unexpectedly yielded benzylidene-2,4-dihydro-3H-pyrazol-3-one instead. This unexpected result was confirmed by X-ray crystallographic analysis. All newly synthesized compounds were assessed for their anti-proliferative activity against two different human breast cancer cells, and the obtained results were compared with the reference drug Staurosporine. The target compounds revealed variable cytotoxicity with IC50 at a low micromolar range with superior selectivity indices. Target enzyme EGFR-TK and CDK-9 assays showed that compounds 22 and 23 effectively inhibited both biological targets with IC50 values of 0.143 and 0.121 µM, respectively. Molecular docking experiments and molecular dynamics simulation were also conducted to further rationalize the in vitro obtained results.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.