Design, synthesis, and biological evaluation of novel 4-hydroxypyrone derivatives as HIV-1 protease inhibitors

In search of therapeutic candidates for HIV/AIDS: rational approaches, design strategies, structure-activity relationship and mechanistic insights

The HIV/AIDS pandemic is a serious threat to the health and development of mankind, which has affected about 37.9 million people worldwide. The increasing negative health, economic and social impacts of this disease have led to the search for new therapeutic candidates for the mitigation of AIDS/HIV. However, to date, there is still no treatment that can cure this disease. Furthermore, the clinically available drugs have numerous severe side effects. Hence, the synthesis of novel agents from natural leads is one of the rational approaches to obtain new drugs in modern medicinal chemistry. This review article is an effort to summarize recent developments with regards to the discovery of novel analogs with promising biological potential against HIV/AIDS. Herein, we also aim to discuss prospective directions on the progress of more credible and specific analogues. Besides presenting design strategies, the present communication also highlights the structure-activity relationship together with the structural features of the most promising molecules, their IC50 values, mechanistic insights and some interesting key findings revealed during their biological evaluation. The interactions with the amino acid residues of the enzymes responsible for HIV-1 inhibition are also discussed. This collection will be of great interest for researchers working in this area.

Expanding the chemical diversity of an endophytic fungus Bulgaria inquinans, an ascomycete associated with mistletoe, through an OSMAC approach

An endophytic fungus Bulgaria inquinans (isolate MSp3-1), isolated from mistletoe (Viscum album), was subjected to fermentation on solid Czapek medium. Chromatographic workup of the crude EtOAc extract yielded five new natural products (1–5). Subsequent application of the “One Strain, MAny Compounds” (OSMAC) strategy on this strain by the addition of a mixture of salts (MgSO₄, NaNO₃ and NaCl) to solid Czapek medium induced the accumulation of nine additional new secondary metabolites (6–13, 16), with most of them (8, 10–12) not detectable in cultures lacking the salt mixture. The structures of the new compounds were established on the basis of the 1D/2D NMR and HRESIMS data. The TDDFT-ECD method was applied to determine the absolute configurations of the new compounds 1, 4 and 6 as well as of the previously reported bulgarialactone B (14), for which the absolute configuration was unknown so far. The modified Mosher's method was performed to assign the absolute configurations of 12 and 13. TDDFT-ECD analysis also allowed determining the absolute configuration of (+)-epicocconone, which had an enantiomeric absolute configuration in the tricyclic moiety compared to that of bulgarialactone B (14). All the isolated metabolites were evaluated for their cytotoxic activity. Compound 2 was found to possess strong cytotoxic activity against the murine lymphoma cell line L5178Y with an IC₅₀ value of 1.8 μM, while the remaining metabolites were shown to be inactive.

OSMAC approach on endophytic Bulgaria inquinans by addition of a mixture of salts (MgSO₄, NaNO₃ and NaCl) to solid Czapek medium induced the accumulation of new secondary metabolites.

Recent Progress in the Development of HIV-1 Protease Inhibitors for the Treatment of HIV/AIDS

HIV-1 protease inhibitors continue to play an important role in the treatment of HIV/AIDS, transforming this deadly ailment into a more manageable chronic infection. Over the years, intensive research has led to a variety of approved protease inhibitors for the treatment of HIV/AIDS. In this review, we outline current drug design and medicinal chemistry efforts toward the development of next-generation protease inhibitors beyond the currently approved drugs.

Isochromans and α-pyrones from Penicillium corylophilum

Seven new secondary metabolites, four isochromans (1-4) and three α-pyrones (5-7), were isolated from Penicillium corylophilum DAOM 242293 collected from a damp building in Halifax, Canada. Their structures were elucidated by HRESIMS, 1D and 2D NMR, chemical derivatization, ORD, UV, and comparison to the literature. Related isochromans have previously been reported from other Penicillium species; however, to our knowledge this is the first report of α-pyrones from P. corylophilum. Compounds 1-4 demonstrated antifungal activity against Saccharomyces cerevisiae at 100 μg mL(-1).

The Botrytis cinerea type III polyketide synthase shows unprecedented high catalytic efficiency toward long chain acyl-CoAs

BPKS from Botrytis cinerea is a novel type III polyketide synthase that accepts C(4)-C(18) aliphatic acyl-CoAs and benzoyl-CoA as the starters to form pyrones, resorcylic acids and resorcinols through sequential condensation with malonyl-CoA. The catalytic efficiency (k(cat)/K(m)) of BPKS was 2.8 × 10(5) s(-1) M(-1) for palmitoyl-CoA, the highest ever reported. Substrate docking analyses addressed the unique features of BPKS such as its high activity and high specificity toward long chain acyl-CoAs.