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Sofia MJ. The Discovery and Development of Daclatasvir: An Inhibitor of the Hepatitis C Virus NS5A Replication Complex. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2019. [PMCID: PMC7122418 DOI: 10.1007/7355_2018_47] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/12/2023]
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Regueiro-Ren A, Dicker IB, Hanumegowda U, Meanwell NA. Second Generation Inhibitors of HIV-1 Maturation. ACS Med Chem Lett 2019; 10:287-294. [PMID: 30891128 DOI: 10.1021/acsmedchemlett.8b00656] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/29/2018] [Accepted: 01/28/2019] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
The strategy and tactics subtending the discovery and development of the second generation HIV-1 maturation inhibitor GSK-3532795/BMS-955176, a compound that exhibits a broader spectrum of antiviral effect in vitro and in clinical studies than the prototypical maturation inhibitor bevirimat, are described.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alicia Regueiro-Ren
- Department of Discovery Chemistry and Molecular Technologies Bristol-Myers Squibb Research and Development, 350 Carter Road, Room 126, Hopewell, New Jersey 08540, United States
| | - Ira B. Dicker
- ViiV Healthcare, 36 East Industrial Road, Branford, Connecticut 06405, United States
| | - Umesh Hanumegowda
- ViiV Healthcare, 36 East Industrial Road, Branford, Connecticut 06405, United States
| | - Nicholas A. Meanwell
- Department of Discovery Chemistry and Molecular Technologies Bristol-Myers Squibb Research and Development, PO Box 4000, Princeton, New Jersey 08543-4000, United States
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3
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A Strength-Weaknesses-Opportunities-Threats (SWOT) Analysis of Cheminformatics in Natural Product Research. PROGRESS IN THE CHEMISTRY OF ORGANIC NATURAL PRODUCTS 2019; 110:239-271. [PMID: 31621015 DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-14632-0_7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
Cheminformatics-based techniques, such as molecular modeling, docking, virtual screening, and machine learning, are well accepted for their usefulness in drug discovery and development of therapeutically relevant small molecules. Although delayed by several decades, their application in natural product research has led to outstanding findings. Combining information obtained from different sources, i.e., virtual predictions, traditional medicine, structural, biochemical, and biological data, and handling big data effectively will open up new possibilities, but also challenges in the future. Strategies and examples will be presented on how to integrate cheminformatics in pharmacognostic workflows to benefit from these two highly complementary disciplines toward streamlining experimental efforts. While considering their limits and pitfalls and by exploiting their potential, computer-aided strategies should successfully guide future studies and thereby augment our knowledge of bioactive natural lead structures.
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Karhu E, Isojärvi J, Vuorela P, Hanski L, Fallarero A. Identification of Privileged Antichlamydial Natural Products by a Ligand-Based Strategy. JOURNAL OF NATURAL PRODUCTS 2017; 80:2602-2608. [PMID: 29043803 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jnatprod.6b01052] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
The obligate intracellular pathogen Chlamydia pneumoniae remains a difficult target for antimicrobial therapy. Owing to the permeability barrier placed by bacterial and host vacuolar membranes, as well as the propensity of the bacterium for persistent infections, treatment failures are common. Despite the urgent need for new antichlamydial compounds, their discovery is challenged by the technically demanding assay procedures and lack of validated targets. An alternative strategy of using naturally occurring compounds and their derivatives against C. pneumoniae is presented. The strategy consists of the application of ligand-based virtual screening to a natural product library of 502 compounds with the ChemGPS-NP chemography tool followed by in vitro antichlamydial assays. The reference set used for the 2D similarity search was constructed of 19 known antichlamydial compounds of plant origin. Based on the similarity screen, 53 virtual hits were selected for in vitro testing. Six compounds (leads) were identified that cause ≥50% C. pneumoniae growth inhibition and showed no impact on host cell viability. The leads fall into completely new antichlamydial chemotypes, one of them being mycophenolic acid (IC50 value 0.3 μM). The outcome indicates that using this flipped, target-independent strategy is useful for facilitating the antimicrobial lead discovery against challenging microbes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elina Karhu
- Exploration of Anti-Infectives Research Group, Pharmaceutical Design and Discovery, Drug Research Program, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Helsinki , Viikinkaari 5E, Helsinki FI-00014, Finland
| | - Janne Isojärvi
- Bioinformatics, Molecular Plant Biology, Department of Biochemistry, University of Turku , Vatselankatu 2, Turku FI-20500, Finland
| | - Pia Vuorela
- Exploration of Anti-Infectives Research Group, Pharmaceutical Design and Discovery, Drug Research Program, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Helsinki , Viikinkaari 5E, Helsinki FI-00014, Finland
| | - Leena Hanski
- Exploration of Anti-Infectives Research Group, Pharmaceutical Design and Discovery, Drug Research Program, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Helsinki , Viikinkaari 5E, Helsinki FI-00014, Finland
| | - Adyary Fallarero
- Exploration of Anti-Infectives Research Group, Pharmaceutical Design and Discovery, Drug Research Program, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Helsinki , Viikinkaari 5E, Helsinki FI-00014, Finland
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Meanwell NA. 2015 Philip S. Portoghese Medicinal Chemistry Lectureship. Curing Hepatitis C Virus Infection with Direct-Acting Antiviral Agents: The Arc of a Medicinal Chemistry Triumph. J Med Chem 2016; 59:7311-51. [PMID: 27501244 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.6b00915] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
The development of direct-acting antiviral agents that can cure a chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection after 8-12 weeks of daily, well-tolerated therapy has revolutionized the treatment of this insidious disease. In this article, three of Bristol-Myers Squibb's HCV programs are summarized, each of which produced a clinical candidate: the NS3 protease inhibitor asunaprevir (64), marketed as Sunvepra, the NS5A replication complex inhibitor daclatasvir (117), marketed as Daklinza, and the allosteric NS5B polymerase inhibitor beclabuvir (142), which is in late stage clinical studies. A clinical study with 64 and 117 established for the first time that a chronic HCV infection could be cured by treatment with direct-acting antiviral agents alone in the absence of interferon. The development of small molecule HCV therapeutics, designed by medicinal chemists, has been hailed as "the arc of a medical triumph" but may equally well be described as "the arc of a medicinal chemistry triumph".
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicholas A Meanwell
- Department of Discovery Chemistry, Bristol-Myers Squibb Research & Development , Wallingford, Connecticut 06492, United States
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Abstract
INTRODUCTION Chagas disease is a chronic infection associated with long-term morbidity. Increased funding and advocacy for drug discovery for neglected diseases have prompted the introduction of several important technological advances, and Chagas disease is among the neglected conditions that has mostly benefited from technological developments. A number of screening campaigns, and the development of new and improved in vitro and in vivo assays, has led to advances in the field of drug discovery. AREAS COVERED This review highlights the major advances in Chagas disease drug screening, and how these are being used not only to discover novel chemical entities and drug candidates, but also increase our knowledge about the disease and the parasite. Different methodologies used for compound screening and prioritization are discussed, as well as novel techniques for the investigation of these targets. The molecular mechanism of action is also discussed. EXPERT OPINION Technological advances have been executed with scientific rigour for the development of new in vitro cell-based assays and in vivo animal models, to bring about novel and better drugs for Chagas disease, as well as to increase our understanding of what are the necessary properties for a compound to be successful in the clinic. The gained knowledge, combined with new exciting approaches toward target deconvolution, will help identifying new targets for Chagas disease chemotherapy in the future.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carolina B Moraes
- a Laboratório Nacional de Biociências (LNBio) , Centro Nacional de Pesquisa em Energia e Materiais (CNPEM) , Campinas , Brazil
| | - Caio H Franco
- a Laboratório Nacional de Biociências (LNBio) , Centro Nacional de Pesquisa em Energia e Materiais (CNPEM) , Campinas , Brazil.,b Graduate Program in Microbiology and Immunology , Universidade Federal de Sao Paulo , Sao Paulo , Brazil
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7
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Shao L, Campbell UC, Fang QK, Powell NA, Campbell JE, Jones PG, Hanania T, Alexandrov V, Morganstern I, Sabath E, Zhong HM, Large TH, Spear KL. In vivo phenotypic drug discovery: applying a behavioral assay to the discovery and optimization of novel antipsychotic agents. MEDCHEMCOMM 2016. [DOI: 10.1039/c6md00128a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
A mouse-based assay (SmartCube) was used for both screening and lead optimization of a novel antipsychotic.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | - Hua M. Zhong
- PharmaAdvance, Inc
- Jiangyin
- People's Republic of China
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Nühs A, De Rycker M, Manthri S, Comer E, Scherer CA, Schreiber SL, Ioset JR, Gray DW. Development and Validation of a Novel Leishmania donovani Screening Cascade for High-Throughput Screening Using a Novel Axenic Assay with High Predictivity of Leishmanicidal Intracellular Activity. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 2015; 9:e0004094. [PMID: 26407168 PMCID: PMC4583543 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0004094] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/26/2015] [Accepted: 08/30/2015] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Visceral leishmaniasis is an important parasitic disease of the developing world with a limited arsenal of drugs available for treatment. The existing drugs have significant deficiencies so there is an urgent need for new and improved drugs. In the human host, Leishmania are obligate intracellular parasites which poses particular challenges in terms of drug discovery. To achieve sufficient throughput and robustness, free-living parasites are often used in primary screening assays as a surrogate for the more complex intracellular assays. We and others have found that such axenic assays have a high false positive rate relative to the intracellular assays, and that this limits their usefulness as a primary platform for screening of large compound collections. While many different reasons could lie behind the poor translation from axenic parasite to intracellular parasite, we show here that a key factor is the identification of growth slowing and cytostatic compounds by axenic assays in addition to the more desirable cytocidal compounds. We present a screening cascade based on a novel cytocidal-only axenic amastigote assay, developed by increasing starting density of cells and lowering the limit of detection, and show that it has a much improved translation to the intracellular assay. We propose that this assay is an improved primary platform in a new Leishmania screening cascade designed for the screening of large compound collections. This cascade was employed to screen a diversity-oriented-synthesis library, and yielded two novel antileishmanial chemotypes. The approach we have taken may have broad relevance to anti-infective and anti-parasitic drug discovery.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrea Nühs
- Drug Discovery Unit, Division of Biological Chemistry and Drug Discovery, University of Dundee, Dundee, United Kingdom
| | - Manu De Rycker
- Drug Discovery Unit, Division of Biological Chemistry and Drug Discovery, University of Dundee, Dundee, United Kingdom
| | - Sujatha Manthri
- Drug Discovery Unit, Division of Biological Chemistry and Drug Discovery, University of Dundee, Dundee, United Kingdom
| | - Eamon Comer
- Broad Institute, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | | | | | | | - David W. Gray
- Drug Discovery Unit, Division of Biological Chemistry and Drug Discovery, University of Dundee, Dundee, United Kingdom
- * E-mail:
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Arulananda Babu S, Padmavathi R, Ahmad Aslam N, Rajkumar V. Recent Developments on the Synthesis and Applications of Natural Products-Inspired Spirooxindole Frameworks. STUDIES IN NATURAL PRODUCTS CHEMISTRY 2015. [DOI: 10.1016/b978-0-444-63462-7.00008-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
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Faria J, Moraes CB, Song R, Pascoalino BS, Lee N, Siqueira-Neto JL, Cruz DJM, Parkinson T, Ioset JR, Cordeiro-da-Silva A, Freitas-Junior LH. Drug discovery for human African trypanosomiasis: identification of novel scaffolds by the newly developed HTS SYBR Green assay for Trypanosoma brucei. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2014; 20:70-81. [PMID: 25342146 DOI: 10.1177/1087057114556236] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Human African trypanosomiasis (HAT) is a vector-transmitted tropical disease caused by the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma brucei. High-throughput screening (HTS) of small-molecule libraries in whole-cell assays is one of the most frequently used approaches in drug discovery for infectious diseases. To aid in drug discovery efforts for HAT, the SYBR Green assay was developed for T. brucei in a 384-well format. This semi-automated assay is cost- and time-effective, robust, and reproducible. The SYBR Green assay was compared to the resazurin assay by screening a library of 4000 putative kinase inhibitors, revealing a superior performance in terms of assay time, sensitivity, simplicity, and reproducibility, and resulting in a higher hit confirmation rate. Although the resazurin assay allows for comparatively improved detection of slow-killing compounds, it also has higher false-positive rates that are likely to arise from the assay experimental conditions. The compounds with the most potent antitrypanosomal activity were selected in both screens and grouped into 13 structural clusters, with 11 new scaffolds as antitrypanosomal agents. Several of the identified compounds had IC50 <1 µM coupled with high selectivity toward the parasite. The core structures of the scaffolds are shown, providing promising new starting points for drug discovery for HAT.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joana Faria
- Center for Neglected Diseases Drug Discovery (CND3), Institut Pasteur Korea, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea Parasite Disease Group, Instituto de Biologia Molecular e Celular, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal
| | - Carolina B Moraes
- Center for Neglected Diseases Drug Discovery (CND3), Institut Pasteur Korea, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea Laboratório Nacional de Biociências (LNBio), Centro Nacional de Pesquisa em Energia e Materiais (CNPEM), Campinas-SP, Brazil
| | - Rita Song
- MedChem & Chemical Biology Group, Institut Pasteur Korea, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea
| | - Bruno S Pascoalino
- Laboratório Nacional de Biociências (LNBio), Centro Nacional de Pesquisa em Energia e Materiais (CNPEM), Campinas-SP, Brazil
| | - Nakyung Lee
- Center for Neglected Diseases Drug Discovery (CND3), Institut Pasteur Korea, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea
| | - Jair L Siqueira-Neto
- Center for Neglected Diseases Drug Discovery (CND3), Institut Pasteur Korea, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Science, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Deu John M Cruz
- Center for Neglected Diseases Drug Discovery (CND3), Institut Pasteur Korea, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea
| | - Tanya Parkinson
- Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi), Geneva, Switzerland
| | | | - Anabela Cordeiro-da-Silva
- Parasite Disease Group, Instituto de Biologia Molecular e Celular, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal Departamento de Ciências Biológicas, Faculdade de Farmácia, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal
| | - Lucio H Freitas-Junior
- Center for Neglected Diseases Drug Discovery (CND3), Institut Pasteur Korea, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea Laboratório Nacional de Biociências (LNBio), Centro Nacional de Pesquisa em Energia e Materiais (CNPEM), Campinas-SP, Brazil
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Fletcher S, Avery VM. A novel approach for the discovery of chemically diverse anti-malarial compounds targeting the Plasmodium falciparum Coenzyme A synthesis pathway. Malar J 2014; 13:343. [PMID: 25174342 PMCID: PMC4168161 DOI: 10.1186/1475-2875-13-343] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/07/2014] [Accepted: 08/21/2014] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Malaria is a devastating parasitic disease, causing more than 600,000 deaths annually. Drug resistance has rendered previous generation anti-malarials ineffective and is also rapidly emerging against the current therapeutics of choice, artemisinin and its derivatives, making the discovery of new anti-malarials with novel mechanisms of action a priority. The Coenzyme A (CoA) synthesis pathway, a well-known anti-microbial drug target that is also essential for the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum, has not yet been exploited in anti-malarial drug development. A novel high throughput approach for the identification of chemically diverse inhibitors of the CoA synthesis pathway is reported. METHODS To identify novel CoA synthesis pathway inhibitors, a chemical rescue screening approach was developed. In short, a test compound was considered likely to inhibit the P. falciparum CoA synthesis pathway, if addition of the end product of the pathway, CoA, was able to negate the growth-inhibitory action of the compound on P. falciparum parasites. RESULTS The chemical rescue approach was employed to screen the Medicines for Malaria Venture malaria box and a small focussed compound library. This resulted in the identification of 12 chemically diverse potential inhibitors of the CoA pathway. To ascertain accurate potency and selectivity, the half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50 value) of these compounds was determined for both P. falciparum and a human cell line. Seven compounds showed submicromolar activity against the parasite, with selectivity indices ranging between six and greater than 300. CoA supplementation was confirmed to alleviate the effects on parasite growth and cell viability in a dose dependent manner. Microscopic investigation into the stage of effect and phenotype of treated parasites was performed on a selection of the active compounds. CONCLUSIONS The chemical rescue approach described resulted in the identification of a set of chemically diverse CoA synthesis pathway inhibitors with IC50 values ranging between 120 nM and 6 μM. The identified compounds will be utilized as tools for further investigating the parasite CoA synthesis pathway to define their exact mechanism of action. Furthermore, the chemical diversity of the compounds identified substantiates the suitability of this approach to identify novel starting points for future anti-malarial drug development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sabine Fletcher
- Discovery Biology, Eskitis Institute for Drug Discovery, Griffith University, Nathan, Queensland, 4111 Australia
| | - Vicky M Avery
- Discovery Biology, Eskitis Institute for Drug Discovery, Griffith University, Nathan, Queensland, 4111 Australia
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Bessoff K, Spangenberg T, Foderaro JE, Jumani RS, Ward GE, Huston CD. Identification of Cryptosporidium parvum active chemical series by Repurposing the open access malaria box. Antimicrob Agents Chemother 2014; 58:2731-9. [PMID: 24566188 PMCID: PMC3993250 DOI: 10.1128/aac.02641-13] [Citation(s) in RCA: 66] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/06/2013] [Accepted: 02/20/2014] [Indexed: 01/19/2023] Open
Abstract
The apicomplexan parasites Cryptosporidium parvum and Cryptosporidium hominis are major etiologic agents of human cryptosporidiosis. The infection is typically self-limited in immunocompetent adults, but it can cause chronic fulminant diarrhea in immunocompromised patients and malnutrition and stunting in children. Nitazoxanide, the current standard of care for cryptosporidiosis, is only partially efficacious for children and is no more effective than a placebo for AIDS patients. Unfortunately, financial obstacles to drug discovery for diseases that disproportionately affect low-income countries and technical limitations associated with studies of Cryptosporidium biology impede the development of better drugs for treating cryptosporidiosis. Using a cell-based high-throughput screen, we queried the Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV) Open Access Malaria Box for activity against C. parvum. We identified 3 novel chemical series derived from the quinolin-8-ol, allopurinol-based, and 2,4-diamino-quinazoline chemical scaffolds that exhibited submicromolar potency against C. parvum. Potency was conserved in a subset of compounds from each scaffold with varied physicochemical properties, and two of the scaffolds identified exhibit more rapid inhibition of C. parvum growth than nitazoxanide, making them excellent candidates for further development. The 2,4-diamino-quinazoline and allopurinol-based compounds were also potent growth inhibitors of the related apicomplexan parasite Toxoplasma gondii, and a good correlation was observed in the relative activities of the compounds in the allopurinol-based series against T. gondii and C. parvum. Taken together, these data illustrate the utility of the Open Access Malaria Box as a source of both potential leads for drug development and chemical probes to elucidate basic biological processes in C. parvum and other apicomplexan parasites.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kovi Bessoff
- Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont, USA
| | | | - Jenna E. Foderaro
- Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont, USA
| | - Rajiv S. Jumani
- Cell, Molecular, and Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program, University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont, USA
| | - Gary E. Ward
- Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont, USA
- Cell, Molecular, and Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program, University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont, USA
| | - Christopher D. Huston
- Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont, USA
- Cell, Molecular, and Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program, University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont, USA
- Department of Medicine, University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont, USA
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Belema M, Meanwell NA. Discovery of daclatasvir, a pan-genotypic hepatitis C virus NS5A replication complex inhibitor with potent clinical effect. J Med Chem 2014; 57:5057-71. [PMID: 24749835 DOI: 10.1021/jm500335h] [Citation(s) in RCA: 76] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
The discovery and development of the first-in-class hepatitis C virus (HCV) NS5A replication complex inhibitor daclatasvir (6) provides a compelling example of the power of phenotypic screening to identify leads engaging novel targets in mechanistically unique ways. HCV NS5A replication complex inhibitors are pan-genotypic in spectrum, and this mechanistic class provides the most potent HCV inhibitors in vitro that have been described to date. Clinical trials with 6 demonstrated a potent effect on reducing plasma viral load and, in combination with mechanistically orthogonal HCV inhibitors, established the ability to cure even the most difficult infections without the need for immune stimulation. In this Drug Annotation, we describe the discovery of the original high-throughput screening lead 7 and the chemical conundrum and challenges resolved in optimizing to 6 as a clinical candidate and finally we summarize the results of select clinical studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Makonen Belema
- Department of Discovery Chemistry, Bristol-Myers Squibb Research and Development , 5 Research Parkway, Wallingford, Connecticut 06492, United States
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14
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Belema M, Lopez OD, Bender JA, Romine JL, St Laurent DR, Langley DR, Lemm JA, O'Boyle DR, Sun JH, Wang C, Fridell RA, Meanwell NA. Discovery and development of hepatitis C virus NS5A replication complex inhibitors. J Med Chem 2014; 57:1643-72. [PMID: 24621191 DOI: 10.1021/jm401793m] [Citation(s) in RCA: 61] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
Lead inhibitors that target the function of the hepatitis C virus (HCV) nonstructural 5A (NS5A) protein have been identified by phenotypic screening campaigns using HCV subgenomic replicons. The demonstration of antiviral activity in HCV-infected subjects by the HCV NS5A replication complex inhibitor (RCI) daclatasvir (1) spawned considerable interest in this mechanistic approach. In this Perspective, we summarize the medicinal chemistry studies that led to the discovery of 1 and other chemotypes for which resistance maps to the NS5A protein and provide synopses of the profiles of many of the compounds currently in clinical trials. We also summarize what is currently known about the NS5A protein and the studies using NS5A RCIs and labeled analogues that are helping to illuminate aspects of both protein function and inhibitor interaction. We conclude with a synopsis of the results of notable clinical trials with HCV NS5A RCIs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Makonen Belema
- Department of Discovery Chemistry, ‡Department of Virology Discovery, and §Department of Computer-Assisted Drug Design, Bristol-Myers Squibb Research and Development , 5 Research Parkway, Wallingford, Connecticut 06492, United States
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15
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Meanwell NA, Watkins WJ. Introduction to Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) Therapies Special Thematic Issue. J Med Chem 2014; 57:1625-6. [DOI: 10.1021/jm5000936] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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16
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Screening strategies to identify new chemical diversity for drug development to treat kinetoplastid infections. Parasitology 2013; 141:140-6. [DOI: 10.1017/s003118201300142x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 113] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
SUMMARYThe Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) has defined and implemented an early discovery strategy over the last few years, in fitting with its virtual R&D business model. This strategy relies on a medium- to high-throughput phenotypic assay platform to expedite the screening of compound libraries accessed through its collaborations with partners from the pharmaceutical industry. We review the pragmatic approaches used to select compound libraries for screening against kinetoplastids, taking into account screening capacity. The advantages, limitations and current achievements in identifying new quality series for further development into preclinical candidates are critically discussed, together with attractive new approaches currently under investigation.
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Murima P, de Sessions PF, Lim V, Naim ANM, Bifani P, Boshoff HIM, Sambandamurthy VK, Dick T, Hibberd ML, Schreiber M, Rao SPS. Exploring the mode of action of bioactive compounds by microfluidic transcriptional profiling in mycobacteria. PLoS One 2013; 8:e69191. [PMID: 23935951 PMCID: PMC3729944 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0069191] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2013] [Accepted: 06/05/2013] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Most candidate anti-bacterials are identified on the basis of their whole cell anti-bacterial activity. A critical bottleneck in the early discovery of novel anti-bacterials is tracking the structure activity relationship (SAR) of the novel compounds synthesized during the hit to lead and lead optimization stage. It is often very difficult for medicinal chemists to visualize if the novel compounds synthesized for understanding SAR of a particular scaffold have similar molecular mechanism of action (MoA) as that of the initial hit. The elucidation of the molecular MoA of bioactive inhibitors is critical. Here, a new strategy and routine assay for MoA de-convolution, using a microfluidic platform for transcriptional profiling of bacterial response to inhibitors with whole cell activity has been presented. First a reference transcriptome compendium of Mycobacterial response to various clinical and investigational drugs was built. Using feature reduction, it was demonstrated that subsets of biomarker genes representative of the whole genome are sufficient for MoA classification and deconvolution in a medium-throughput microfluidic format ultimately leading to a cost effective and rapid tool for routine antibacterial drug-discovery programs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paul Murima
- Novartis Institute for Tropical Diseases, Singapore, Singapore
| | | | - Vivian Lim
- Novartis Institute for Tropical Diseases, Singapore, Singapore
| | | | - Pablo Bifani
- Novartis Institute for Tropical Diseases, Singapore, Singapore
| | - Helena I. M. Boshoff
- Tuberculosis Research Section, Laboratory of Clinical Infectious Diseases, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, United States
| | | | - Thomas Dick
- Novartis Institute for Tropical Diseases, Singapore, Singapore
- Department of Microbiology, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
| | | | - Mark Schreiber
- Novartis Institute for Tropical Diseases, Singapore, Singapore
- Novartis Institutes For Biomedical Research, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America
- * E-mail: (SPSR); (MS)
| | - Srinivasa P. S. Rao
- Novartis Institute for Tropical Diseases, Singapore, Singapore
- * E-mail: (SPSR); (MS)
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Leppäranta O, Tikkanen JM, Bespalov MM, Koli K, Myllärniemi M. Bone morphogenetic protein-inducer tilorone identified by high-throughput screening is antifibrotic in vivo. Am J Respir Cell Mol Biol 2013; 48:448-55. [PMID: 23258233 DOI: 10.1165/rcmb.2012-0201oc] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a progressive lung disease with a poor prognosis and very few therapeutic options. On the molecular level, patients with IPF have increased amounts of the bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) inhibitor gremlin in their lungs, which results in decreased BMP signaling, and an increase in transforming growth factor-β signaling. Based on these findings, we hypothesized that restoration of the impaired BMP signaling would offer a novel strategy for the prevention of fibrosis progression or for the treatment of pulmonary fibrosis. We used reporter cell lines and high-throughput screening of a chemical compound library as an approach to finding molecules that increase BMP signaling in lung epithelial cells, without increasing transforming growth factor-β signaling. The most promising candidate drug was analyzed further by studying its effects on BMP target gene expression, Smad protein phosphorylation, and a mouse model of silica-induced pulmonary fibrosis. The most promising drug candidate, tilorone, induced BMP signaling in the reporter cells and increased the expression of BMP-7 and a BMP target gene, Id3, in lung epithelial A549 cells. In a mouse model of pulmonary fibrosis, tilorone decreased lung hydroxyproline content and the expression of collagen genes Col1A1 and Col3A1. Mice treated with tilorone showed markedly decreased histological changes, compared with untreated mice. These findings indicate that tilorone has biologically significant antifibrotic properties.
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Affiliation(s)
- Outi Leppäranta
- Division of Pulmonary Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Helsinki and Helsinki University Central Hospital, Helsinki, Finland
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Shen L, Maddox MM, Adhikari S, Bruhn DF, Kumar M, Lee RE, Hurdle JG, Lee RE, Sun D. Syntheses and evaluation of macrocyclic engelhardione analogs as antitubercular and antibacterial agents. J Antibiot (Tokyo) 2013; 66:319-25. [PMID: 23549356 DOI: 10.1038/ja.2013.21] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
The natural product engelhardione is an underexplored chemotype for developing novel treatments for bacterial infections; we therefore explored this natural product scaffold for chemical diversification and structure-activity relationship studies. Macrocyclic engelhardione and structural regioisomers were synthesized using a series of aldol condensations and selective hydrogenations to generate the 1,7-diarylheptan-3-one derivatives, followed by microwave-assisted intramolecular Ullmann coupling to afford a series of macrocyclic diaryl ether analogs. An extended macrocyclic chemical library was then produced by oxime formation, reductive amination and O-alkylation. Antibacterial evaluation revealed that the reductive amination derivatives 7b and 7d showed moderate activities (minimum inhibitory concentrations: 12.5-25 μg ml(-1)) against Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Gram-positive pathogens, as well as anti-Gram-negative activity against an efflux impaired Escherichia coli strain. These results provide validated leads for further optimization and development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Li Shen
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, University of Hawai'i at Hilo, Hilo, HI, USA
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