Design, synthesis, in vitro, in vivo and in silico pharmacological characterization of antidiabetic N-Boc-l-tyrosine-based compounds

Design of a multi-target focused library for antidiabetic targets using a comprehensive set of chemical transformation rules

Virtual small molecule libraries are valuable resources for identifying bioactive compounds in virtual screening campaigns and improving the quality of libraries in terms of physicochemical properties, complexity, and structural diversity. In this context, the computational-aided design of libraries focused against antidiabetic targets can provide novel alternatives for treating type II diabetes mellitus (T2DM). In this work, we integrated the information generated to date on compounds with antidiabetic activity, advances in computational methods, and knowledge of chemical transformations available in the literature to design multi-target compound libraries focused on T2DM. We evaluated the novelty and diversity of the newly generated library by comparing it with antidiabetic compounds approved for clinical use, natural products, and multi-target compounds tested in vivo in experimental antidiabetic models. The designed libraries are freely available and are a valuable starting point for drug design, chemical synthesis, and biological evaluation or further computational filtering. Also, the compendium of 280 transformation rules identified in a medicinal chemistry context is made available in the linear notation SMIRKS for use in other chemical library enumeration or hit optimization approaches.

Design of Improved Antidiabetic Drugs: A Journey from Single to Multitarget Agents

Multifactorial diseases exhibit a complex pathophysiology with several factors contributing to their pathogenesis and development. Examples of such disorders are neurodegenerative (e. g. Alzheimer's, Parkinson's) and cardiovascular diseases (e. g. atherosclerosis, metabolic syndrome, diabetes II). Traditional therapeutic approaches with single-target drugs have been proven, in many cases, unsatisfactory for the treatment of multifactorial diseases such as diabetes II. The well-established by now strategy of multitarget drugs is constantly gaining interest and momentum, as a more effective approach. The development of pharmacomolecules able to simultaneously modulate multiple relevant-to-the-disease targets has already several successful examples in various fields and has, as such, inspired the design of multitarget antidiabetic agents; this review highlights the design aspect and efficacy of this approach for improved antidiabetics by presenting several examples of successful pharmacophore combinations in (multitarget) agents that modulate two or more molecular targets involved in diabetes II, resulting in a superior antihyperglycemic profile.

Approaches for enhancing the analysis of chemical space for drug discovery

INTRODUCTION

Chemical space is a powerful, general, and practical conceptual framework in drug discovery and other areas in chemistry that addresses the diversity of molecules and it has various applications. Moreover, chemical space is a cornerstone of chemoinformatics as a scientific discipline. In response to the increase in the set of chemical compounds in databases, generators of chemical structures, and tools to calculate molecular descriptors, novel approaches to generate visual representations of chemical space in low dimensions are emerging and evolving. Such approaches include a wide range of commercial and free applications, software, and open-source methods.

AREAS COVERED

The current state of chemical space in drug design and discovery is reviewed. The topics discussed herein include advances for efficient navigation in chemical space, the use of this concept in assessing the diversity of different data sets, exploring structure-property/activity relationships for one or multiple endpoints, and compound library design. Recent advances in methodologies for generating visual representations of chemical space have been highlighted, thereby emphasizing open-source methods.

EXPERT OPINION

Quantitative and qualitative generation and analysis of chemical space require novel approaches for handling the increasing number of molecules and their information available in chemical databases (including emerging ultra-large libraries). In addition, it is of utmost importance to note that chemical space is a conceptual framework that goes beyond visual representation in low dimensions. However, the graphical representation of chemical space has several practical applications in drug discovery and beyond.

An Overview of Computer-aided Drug Design Tools and Recent Applications in Designing of Anti-diabetic Agents

BACKGROUND

In this fast-growing era, high throughput data is now being easily accessed by getting transformed into datasets which store the information. Such information is valuable to optimize the hypothesis and drug design via computer-aided drug design (CADD). Nowadays, we can explore the role of CADD in various disciplines like Nanotechnology, Biochemistry, Medical Sciences, Molecular Biology, etc. Methods: We searched the valuable literature using a pertinent database with given keywords like computer-aided drug design, anti-diabetic, drug design, etc. We retrieved all valuable articles which are recent and discussing the role of computation in the designing of anti-diabetic agents.

RESULTS

To facilitate the drug discovery process, the computational approach has set landmarks in the whole pipeline for drug discovery from target identification and mechanism of action to the identification of leads and drug candidates. Along with this, there is a determined endeavor to describe the significance of in-silico studies in predicting the absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion, and toxicity profile. Thus, globally, CADD is accepted with a variety of tools for studying QSAR, virtual screening, protein structure prediction, quantum chemistry, material design, physical and biological property prediction.

CONCLUSION

Computer-assisted tools are used as the drug discovery tool in the area of different diseases, and here we reviewed the collaborative aspects of information technologies and chemoinformatic tools in the discovery of anti-diabetic agents, keeping in view the growing importance for treating diabetes.

Design, Synthesis, and In Silico Multitarget Pharmacological Simulations of Acid Bioisosteres with a Validated In Vivo Antihyperglycemic Effect

Substituted phenylacetic (1-3), phenylpropanoic (4-6), and benzylidenethiazolidine-2,4-dione (7-9) derivatives were designed according to a multitarget unified pharmacophore pattern that has shown robust antidiabetic activity. This bioactivity is due to the simultaneous polypharmacological stimulation of receptors PPARα, PPARγ, and GPR40 and the enzyme inhibition of aldose reductase (AR) and protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B (PTP-1B). The nine compounds share the same four pharmacophore elements: an acid moiety, an aromatic ring, a bulky hydrophobic group, and a flexible linker between the latter two elements. Addition and substitution reactions were performed to obtain molecules at moderated yields. In silico pharmacological consensus analysis (PHACA) was conducted to determine their possible modes of action, protein affinities, toxicological activities, and drug-like properties. The results were combined with in vivo assays to evaluate the ability of these compounds to decrease glucose levels in diabetic mice at a 100 mg/kg single dose. Compounds 6 (a phenylpropanoic acid derivative) and 9 (a benzylidenethiazolidine-2,4-dione derivative) ameliorated the hyperglycemic peak in a statically significant manner in a mouse model of type 2 diabetes. Finally, molecular dynamics simulations were executed on the top performing compounds to shed light on their mechanism of action. The simulations showed the flexible nature of the binding pocket of AR, and showed that both compounds remained bound during the simulation time, although not sharing the same binding mode. In conclusion, we designed nine acid bioisosteres with robust in vivo antihyperglycemic activity that were predicted to have favorable pharmacokinetic and toxicological profiles. Together, these findings provide evidence that supports the molecular design we employed, where the unified pharmacophores possess a strong antidiabetic action due to their multitarget activation.

Anti-diabetic drugs recent approaches and advancements

Diabetes is one of the major diseases worldwide and is the third leading cause of death in the United States. Anti-diabetic drugs are used in the treatment of diabetes mellitus to control glucose levels in the blood. Most of the drugs are administered orally, except for a few of them, such as insulin, exenatide, and pramlintide. In this review, we are going to discuss seven major types of anti-diabetic drugs: Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) agonist, protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B (PTP1B) inhibitors, aldose reductase inhibitors, α-glucosidase inhibitors, dipeptidyl peptidase IV (DPP-4) inhibitors, G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) agonists and sodium-glucose co-transporter (SGLT) inhibitors. Here, we are also discussing some of the recently reported anti-diabetic agents with its multi-target pharmacological actions. This review summarises recent approaches and advancement in anti-diabetes treatment concerning characteristics, structure-activity relationships, functional mechanisms, expression regulation, and applications in medicine.

Design, Synthesis, Antihyperglycemic Studies, and Docking Simulations of Benzimidazole-Thiazolidinedione Hybrids

A simple and cheap three-step procedure for the synthesis of three (5Z)-5-[3(4)-(1H-benzimidazol-2-ylmethoxy)benzylidene]-1,3-thiazolidine-2,4-diones has been described via a SN2 reaction of generally recognized as safe hydroxybenzaldehydes and 2-(chloromethyl)-1H-benzimidazole, followed by a Knoevenagel condensation with thiazolidine-2,4-dione in moderated yields. All the newly synthesized compounds were characterized using analytical and spectral studies. In vitro treatment on adipocytes with compounds increased the mRNA expression of two proteins recognized as strategic targets in diabetes: PPARγ and GLUT-4. In silico studies were conducted in order to explain the interaction binding mode of the synthesized compounds on PPARγ. In vivo studies confirmed that compounds 1–3 have robust antihyperglycemic action linked to insulin sensitization mechanisms. The present study provides three compounds with a promising antidiabetic action.