Piperazine oxadiazole inhibitors of acetyl-CoA carboxylase

Pharmacologic inhibition of lipogenesis for the treatment of NAFLD

The hepatic accumulation of excess triglycerides is a seminal event in the initiation and progression of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Hepatic steatosis occurs when the hepatic accrual of fatty acids from the plasma and de novo lipogenesis (DNL) is no longer balanced by rates of fatty acid oxidation and secretion of very low-density lipoprotein-triglycerides. Accumulating data indicate that increased rates of DNL are central to the development of hepatic steatosis in NAFLD. Whereas the main drivers in NAFLD are transcriptional, owing to both hyperinsulinemia and hyperglycaemia, the effectors of DNL are a series of well-characterised enzymes. Several have proven amenable to pharmacologic inhibition or oligonucleotide-mediated knockdown, with lead compounds showing liver fat-lowering efficacy in phase II clinical trials. In humans with NAFLD, percent reductions in liver fat have closely mirrored percent inhibition of DNL, thereby affirming the critical contributions of DNL to NAFLD pathogenesis. The safety profiles of these compounds have so far been encouraging. It is anticipated that inhibitors of DNL, when administered alone or in combination with other therapeutic agents, will become important agents in the management of human NAFLD.

Effects of the Insect Growth Regulators Azadirachtin, Pyriproxyfen, and Tebufenozide on the Fatty Acid Metabolome of Bactrocera Dorsalis Larvae

Insects' lipids, including fatty acids, as the second largest constituents in insects, play a variety of fundamental and vital functions. However, there is a lack of reports on the effects of insect growth regulators on fatty acid profiles and metabolic mechanisms. Therefore, in this study, a comparative study of three growth regulators, azadirachtin, pyriproxyfen, and tebufenozide, on fatty acids was carried out using a targeted metabolomics approach to fill this gap. The results showed that when exposed to azadirachtin, pyriproxyfen, and tebufenozide, there were 14, 17, and 11 differentially regulated fatty acids, respectively. The pathway of biosynthesis of unsaturated fatty acids was the common shared pathway, while fatty acid biosynthesis and linoleic acid metabolism were the specific pathways affected by the 3 insect growth regulators. Therefore, the results could be helpful to deepen the effects of azadirachtin and insect growth regulators on terrestrial insects.

Bioisosteres of the Phenyl Ring: Recent Strategic Applications in Lead Optimization and Drug Design

The benzene moiety is the most prevalent ring system in marketed drugs, underscoring its historic popularity in drug design either as a pharmacophore or as a scaffold that projects pharmacophoric elements. However, introspective analyses of medicinal chemistry practices at the beginning of the 21st century highlighted the indiscriminate deployment of phenyl rings as an important contributor to the poor physicochemical properties of advanced molecules, which limited their prospects of being developed into effective drugs. This Perspective deliberates on the design and applications of bioisosteric replacements for a phenyl ring that have provided practical solutions to a range of developability problems frequently encountered in lead optimization campaigns. While the effect of phenyl ring replacements on compound properties is contextual in nature, bioisosteric substitution can lead to enhanced potency, solubility, and metabolic stability while reducing lipophilicity, plasma protein binding, phospholipidosis potential, and inhibition of cytochrome P450 enzymes and the hERG channel.

Virtual Screening Strategy Combined Bayesian Classification Model, Molecular Docking for Acetyl-CoA Carboxylases Inhibitors

INTRODUCTION

Acetyl-CoA Carboxylases (ACC) have been an important target for the therapy of metabolic syndrome, such as obesity, hepatic steatosis, insulin resistance, dyslipidemia, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), type 2 diabetes (T2DM), and some other diseases.

METHODS

In this study, virtual screening strategy combined with Bayesian categorization modeling, molecular docking and binding site analysis with protein ligand interaction fingerprint (PLIF) was adopted to validate some potent ACC inhibitors. First, the best Bayesian model with an excellent value of Area Under Curve (AUC) value (training set AUC: 0.972, test set AUC: 0.955) was used to screen compounds of validation library. Then the compounds screened by best Bayesian model were further screened by molecule docking again.

RESULTS

Finally, the hit compounds evaluated with four percentages (1%, 2%, 5%, 10%) were verified to reveal enrichment rates for the compounds. The combination of the ligandbased Bayesian model and structure-based virtual screening resulted in the identification of top four compounds which exhibited excellent IC 50 values against ACC in top 1% of the validation library.

CONCLUSION

In summary, the whole strategy is of high efficiency, and would be helpful for the discovery of ACC inhibitors and some other target inhibitors.

Acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC) as a therapeutic target for metabolic syndrome and recent developments in ACC1/2 inhibitors

Introduction: Acetyl-CoA Carboxylase (ACC) is an essential rate-limiting enzyme in fatty acid metabolism. For many years, ACC inhibitors have gained great attention for developing therapeutics for various human diseases including microbial infections, metabolic syndrome, obesity, diabetes, and cancer. Areas covered: We present a comprehensive review and update of ACC inhibitors. We look at the current advance of ACC inhibitors in clinical studies and the implications in drug discovery. We searched ScienceDirect ( https://www.sciencedirect.com/ ), ACS ( https://pubs.acs.org/ ), Wiley ( https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/ ), NCBI ( https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/ ) and World Health Organization ( https://www.who.int/ ). The keywords used were Acetyl-CoA Carboxylase, lipid, inhibitors and metabolic syndrome. All documents were published before June 2019. Expert opinion: The key regulatory role of ACC in fatty acid synthesis and oxidation pathways makes it an attractive target for various metabolic diseases. In particular, the combination of ACC inhibitors with other drugs is a new strategy for the treatment of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis. Expanding the clinical indications for ACC inhibitors will be one of the hot directions in the future. It is also worth looking forward to exploring safe and efficient inhibitors that act on the BC domain of ACC.

Design, synthesis and biological evaluation of novel spiro-pentacylamides as acetyl-CoA carboxylase inhibitors

Acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC) catalyzes the rate-determining step in de novo lipogenesis and plays an important role in the regulation of fatty acid oxidation. Therefore, ACC inhibition offers a promising option for intervention in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), type 2 diabetes (T2DM) and cancer. In this paper, a series of spiropentacylamide derivatives were synthesized and evaluated for their ACC1/2 inhibitory activities and anti-proliferation effects on A549, H1975, HCT116, SW620 and Caco-2 cell lines in vitro. Compound 6o displayed potent ACC1/2 inhibitory activity (ACC1 IC₅₀ = 0.527 μM, ACC2 IC₅₀ = 0.397 μM) and the most potent anti-proliferation activities against A549, H1975, HCT116, SW620 and Caco-2 cell lines, with IC₅₀ values of 1.92 μM, 0.38 μM, 1.22 μM, 2.05 μM and 5.42 μM respectively. Further molecular docking studies revealed that compound 6o maintained hydrogen bonds between the two carbonyls and protein backbone NHs (Glu-B2026 and Gly-B1958). These results indicate that compound 6o is a promising ACC1/2 inhibitor for the potent treatment of cancer.

Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease as a Nexus of Metabolic and Hepatic Diseases

NAFLD is closely linked with hepatic insulin resistance. Accumulation of hepatic diacylglycerol activates PKC-ε, impairing insulin receptor activation and insulin-stimulated glycogen synthesis. Peripheral insulin resistance indirectly influences hepatic glucose and lipid metabolism by increasing flux of substrates that promote lipogenesis (glucose and fatty acids) and gluconeogenesis (glycerol and fatty acid-derived acetyl-CoA, an allosteric activator of pyruvate carboxylase). Weight loss with diet or bariatric surgery effectively treats NAFLD, but drugs specifically approved for NAFLD are not available. Some new pharmacological strategies act broadly to alter energy balance or influence pathways that contribute to NAFLD (e.g., agonists for PPAR γ, PPAR α/δ, FXR and analogs for FGF-21, and GLP-1). Others specifically inhibit key enzymes involved in lipid synthesis (e.g., mitochondrial pyruvate carrier, acetyl-CoA carboxylase, stearoyl-CoA desaturase, and monoacyl- and diacyl-glycerol transferases). Finally, a novel class of liver-targeted mitochondrial uncoupling agents increases hepatocellular energy expenditure, reversing the metabolic and hepatic complications of NAFLD.

Design, synthesis, and cytotoxic activity of novel 7-substituted camptothecin derivatives incorporating piperazinyl-sulfonylamidine moieties

In our continuing search for camptothecin (CPT)-derived antitumor drugs, novel 7-substituted CPT derivatives incorporating piperazinyl-sulfonylamidine moieties were designed, synthesized and evaluated for cytotoxicity against five tumor cell lines (A-549, MDA-MB-231, MCF-7, KB, and KB-VIN). All of the derivatives showed promising in vitro cytotoxic activity against the tested tumor cell lines, and were more potent than irinotecan. Remarkably, most of the compounds exhibited comparable cytotoxicity against the multidrug-resistant (MDR) KB-VIN and parental KB tumor cell lines, while irinotecan lost activity completely against KB-VIN. Especially, compounds 13r and 13p (IC₅₀ 0.38 and 0.85μM, respectively) displayed the greatest cytotoxicity against the MDR KB-VIN cell line and merit further development into preclinical and clinical drug candidates for treating cancer, including MDR phenotype.

Facile synthesis of 3-amino-5-aryl-1,2,4-oxadiazoles via PIDA-mediated intramolecular oxidative cyclization

Advantages: ambient condition and simple procedure. Additive and metal free method. Up to 25 examples and 79% yield. Wide functional groups tolerance.

Decreasing the rate of metabolic ketone reduction in the discovery of a clinical acetyl-CoA carboxylase inhibitor for the treatment of diabetes

Acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC) inhibitors offer significant potential for the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), hepatic steatosis, and cancer. However, the identification of tool compounds suitable to test the hypothesis in human trials has been challenging. An advanced series of spirocyclic ketone-containing ACC inhibitors recently reported by Pfizer were metabolized in vivo by ketone reduction, which complicated human pharmacology projections. We disclose that this metabolic reduction can be greatly attenuated through introduction of steric hindrance adjacent to the ketone carbonyl. Incorporation of weakly basic functionality improved solubility and led to the identification of 9 as a clinical candidate for the treatment of T2DM. Phase I clinical studies demonstrated dose-proportional increases in exposure, single-dose inhibition of de novo lipogenesis (DNL), and changes in indirect calorimetry consistent with increased whole-body fatty acid oxidation. This demonstration of target engagement validates the use of compound 9 to evaluate the role of DNL in human disease.

Recent advances in the development of acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC) inhibitors for the treatment of metabolic disease

The development of acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC) inhibitors for the treatment of metabolic disease has been pursued by the pharmaceutical industry for some time. A number of recent disclosures describing potent ACC inhibitors have been reported by multiple research groups. Unlike many prior publications in this area, more recent publications contain a significant amount of in vivo efficacy data generated by long-term experiments in rodent models of metabolic disease. Additionally, one compound has been advanced to human clinical studies. The results from these studies should allow researchers to better gauge the potential utility of ACC inhibition for the treatment of human disease.