Peptidic alpha-ketocarboxylic acids and sulfonamides as inhibitors of protein tyrosine phosphatases

Antibiotic Therapy of Plague: A Review

Plague-a deadly disease caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis-is still an international public health concern. There are three main clinical forms: bubonic plague, septicemic plague, and pulmonary plague. In all three forms, the symptoms appear suddenly and progress very rapidly. Early antibiotic therapy is essential for countering the disease. Several classes of antibiotics (e.g., tetracyclines, fluoroquinolones, aminoglycosides, sulfonamides, chloramphenicol, rifamycin, and β-lactams) are active in vitro against the majority of Y. pestis strains and have demonstrated efficacy in various animal models. However, some discrepancies have been reported. Hence, health authorities have approved and recommended several drugs for prophylactic or curative use. Only monotherapy is currently recommended; combination therapy has not shown any benefits in preclinical studies or case reports. Concerns about the emergence of multidrug-resistant strains of Y. pestis have led to the development of new classes of antibiotics and other therapeutics (e.g., LpxC inhibitors, cationic peptides, antivirulence drugs, predatory bacteria, phages, immunotherapy, host-directed therapy, and nutritional immunity). It is difficult to know which of the currently available treatments or therapeutics in development will be most effective for a given form of plague. This is due to the lack of standardization in preclinical studies, conflicting data from case reports, and the small number of clinical trials performed to date.

Phosphotyrosine isosteres: past, present and future

Tyrosine phosphorylation is a critical component of signal transduction for multicellular organisms, particularly for pathways that regulate cell proliferation and differentiation. While tyrosine kinase inhibitors have become FDA-approved drugs, inhibitors of the other important components of these signaling pathways have been harder to develop. Specifically, direct phosphotyrosine (pTyr) isosteres have been aggressively pursued as inhibitors of Src homology 2 (SH2) domains and protein tyrosine phosphatases (PTPs). Medicinal chemists have produced many classes of peptide and small molecule inhibitors that mimic pTyr. However, balancing affinity with selectivity and cell penetration has made this an extremely difficult space for developing successful clinical candidates. This review will provide a comprehensive picture of the field of pTyr isosteres, from early beginnings to the current state and trajectory. We will also highlight the major protein targets of these medicinal chemistry efforts, the major classes of peptide and small molecule inhibitors that have been developed, and the handful of compounds which have been tested in clinical trials.

PTP1b Inhibition, A Promising Approach for the Treatment of Diabetes Type II

BACKGROUND

Diabetes Mellitus (DM), is a metabolic disorder characterized by high blood glucose levels. The main types of diabetes mellitus are Diabetes mellitus type I, Diabetes mellitus type II, gestational diabetes and Diabetes of other etiology. Diabetes type II, the Non Insulin Dependent Type (NIDDM) is the most common type, characterized by the impairment in activation of the intracellular mechanism leading to the insertion and usage of glucose after interaction of insulin with its receptor, known as insulin resistance. Although, a number of drugs have been developed for the treatment of diabetes type II, their ability to reduce blood glucose levels is limited, while several side effects are also observed. Furthermore, none of the market drugs targets the enhancement of the action of the intracellular part of insulin receptor or recuperation of the glucose transport mechanism in GLUT4 dependent cells. The Protein Tyrosine Phosphatase (PTP1b) is the main enzyme involved in insulin receptor desensitization and has become a drug target for the treatment of Diabetes type II. Several PTP1b inhibitors have already been found, interacting with the binding site of the enzyme, surrounding the catalytic amino acid Cys215 and the neighboring area or with the allosteric site of the enzyme, placed at a distance of 20 Å from the active site, around Phe280. However, the research continues for finding more potent inhibitors with increased cell permeability and specificity.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this review is to show the attempts made in developing of Protein Tyrosine Phosphatase (PTP1b) inhibitors with high potency, selectivity and bioavailability and to sum up the indications for favorable structural characteristics of effective PTP1b inhibitors.

METHODS

The methods used include a literature survey and the use of Protein Structure Databanks such as PuBMed Structure and RCSB and the tools they provide.

CONCLUSION

The research for finding PTP1b inhibitors started with the design of molecules mimicking the Tyrosine substrate of the enzyme. The study revealed that an aromatic ring connected to a polar group, which preferably enables hydrogen bond formation, is the minimum requirement for small inhibitors binding to the active site surrounding Cys215. Molecules bearing two hydrogen bond donor/acceptor (Hb d/a) groups at a distance of 8.5-11.5 Å may form more stable complexes, interacting simultaneously with a secondary area A2. Longer molecules with two Hb d/a groups at a distance of 17 Å or 19 Å may enable additional interactions with secondary sites (B and C) that confer stability as well as specificity. An aromatic ring linked to polar or Hb d/a moieties is also required for allosteric inhibitors. A lower distance between Hb d/a moieties, around 7.5 Å may favor allosteric interaction. Permanent inhibition of the enzyme by oxidation of the catalytic Cys215 has also been referred. Moreover, covalent modification of Cys121, placed near but not inside the catalytic pocket has been associated with permanent inhibition of the enzyme.

Design and synthesis of an Fmoc-SPPS-compatible amino acid building block mimicking the transition state of phosphohistidine phosphatase

The synthesis of a sulfonamide-based transition-state (TS) analogue of enzymatic phosphohistidine dephosphorylation as an amino acid building block is presented, together with the proof-of-concept of its incorporation into peptides. Key features include final global acidolytic protective group removal as well as full compatibility with standard Fmoc solid-phase peptide synthesis (SPPS). The peptides are designed as inhibitors of phosphohistidine phosphatase and as a pull-down probe for identification of phosphohistidine phosphatases, respectively.

Treatment of plague: promising alternatives to antibiotics

Plague still poses a significant threat to human health, and interest has been renewed recently in the possible use of Yersinia pestis as a biological weapon by terrorists. The septicaemic and pneumonic forms are always lethal if untreated. Attempts to treat this deadly disease date back to the era of global pandemics, when various methods were explored. The successful isolation of the plague pathogen led to the beginning of more scientific approaches to the treatment and cure of plague. This subsequently led to specific antibiotic prophylaxis and therapy for Y. pestis. The use of antibiotics such as tetracycline and streptomycin for the treatment of plague has been embraced by the World Health Organization Expert Committee on Plague as the 'gold standard' treatment. However, concerns regarding the development of antibiotic-resistant Y. pestis strains have led to the exploration of alternatives to antibiotics. Several investigators have looked into the use of alternatives, such as immunotherapy, non-pathogen-specific immunomodulatory therapy, phage therapy, bacteriocin therapy, and treatment with inhibitors of virulence factors. The alternative therapies reported in this review should be further investigated by comprehensive studies of their clinical application for the treatment of plague.

A two stage click-based library of protein tyrosine phosphatase inhibitors

Protein tyrosine phosphatases (PTPs) are important regulators of signal transduction pathways. Potent and selective PTP inhibitors are useful for probing these pathways and also may serve as drugs for the treatment of a variety of diseases including type 2 diabetes and infection by the bacterium Yersinia pestis. In this report Cu(I)-catalyzed 'click' cycloaddition reactions between azides and alkynes were employed to generate two sequential libraries of PTP inhibitors. In the first round library methyl 4-azidobenzoylformate was reacted with 56 mono- and diynes. After hydrolysis of the methyl esters, the resulting alpha-ketocarboxylic acids were assayed in crude form against the Yersinia PTP and PTP1B. Four compounds were selected for further evaluation, and one compound was chosen as the lead for generation of the second round library. This lead compound was modified by conversion of an alcohol into an azide group, and the resulting azide was reacted with the same 56 mono- and diynes that were used in the first generation library. After screening the crude inhibitors against the Yersinia PTP and PTP1B, four compounds were selected and evaluated in pure form against the Yersinia PTP, PTP1B, TCPTP, LAR, and CD45. The best bis(alpha-ketocarboxylic acid) inhibitor 34 had an IC(50) value of 550nM against the Yersinia PTP and an IC(50) value of 710nM against TCPTP. The most potent inhibitor containing a single alpha-ketocarboxylic acid group 32 had IC(50) values of 2.1, 5.7, and 2.6 microM against the Yersinia PTP, PTP1B, and TCPTP, respectively.

Inhibitors of protein tyrosine phosphatases: next-generation drugs?

The protein tyrosine phosphatases (PTPs) constitute a family of closely related key regulatory enzymes that dephosphorylate phosphotyrosine residues in their protein substrates. Malfunctions in PTP activity are linked to various diseases, ranging from cancer to neurological disorders and diabetes. Consequently, PTPs have emerged as promising targets for therapeutic intervention in recent years. In this review, general aspects of PTPs and the development of small-molecule inhibitors of PTPs by both academic research groups and pharmaceutical companies are discussed. Different strategies have been successfully applied to identify potent and selective inhibitors. These studies constitute the basis for the future development of PTP inhibitors as drugs.

Enantioselective Synthesis of Protected l-4-[Sulfonamido(difluoromethyl)]phenylalanine and l-4-[Sulfonamido(methyl)]phenylalanine and an Examination of Hexa- and Tripeptide Platforms for Evaluating pTyr Mimics for PTP1B Inhibition

The first enantioselective syntheses of L-4-(sulfonamidomethyl)phenylalanine and L-[sulfonamido(difluoromethyl)]phenylalanine suitably protected for peptide syntheses are described. A key step in the synthesis of L-(sulfonamidomethyl)phenylalanine was an oxidative chlorination on Ac-L-Phe(4-CH2SCOCH3)-OEt to give crude Ac-L-Phe(4-CH2SO2Cl)-OEt, which could be reacted with amines to give the corresponding sulfonamides. Key to the preparation of L-[sulfonamido(difluoromethyl)]phenylalanine was a highly enantioselective reaction involving William's auxiliary and a benzylic bromide intermediate. These amino acids were incorporated into two peptide sequences, DADE-X-LNH2 and FmocGlu(OBn)-X-LNH2, which have previously been employed as platforms for assessing pTyr mimics for inhibition of protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B (PTP1B). Inhibition studies with these and other peptides and PTP1B revealed that good inhibition could be obtained using the tripeptide platform, although the presence of a pTyr mimic was not required for good inhibition. These results suggest that the FmocGlu(OBn)-X-LNH2 tripeptide platform is not suitable for assessing pTyr mimics for PTP1B inhibition.

Synthesis of tripeptides as potent Yersinia protein tyrosine phosphatase inhibitors

We report the synthesis of a series of monoanionic phosphotyrosyl (pTyr) mimetic-containing tripeptides based on 'Fmoc-Glu(OBn)-Xxx-Leu-amide' (where Xxx = pTyr mimetic) and their N-terminally modified derivatives. The inhibitory potencies of compounds were tested against YopH and human PTP1B enzymes. Several compounds exhibited noteworthy activity against both YopH and PTP1B. Among the N-terminally modified analogues, 5-methylindole derivative 30 was found to be the best moiety to replace base-labile Fmoc group. A mode of binding with YopH is proposed for tripeptides 21, 30, and 31.

Discovery and structure–activity relationships of novel sulfonamides as potent PTP1B inhibitors

A series of novel sulfonamides containing a single difluoromethylene-phosphonate group were discovered to be potent inhibitors of protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B. Structure-activity relationships around the scaffold were investigated, leading to the identification of compounds with IC50 or Ki values in the low nanomolar range. These sulfonamide-based inhibitors exhibit 100 and 30 times higher inhibitory activity than the corresponding tertiary amines and carboxamides, respectively.

Investigations of linker structure on the potency of a series of bidentate protein tyrosine phosphatase inhibitors

Protein tyrosine phosphatases (PTPases) and protein tyrosine kinase (PTKases) regulate the phosphorylation and dephosphorylation of tyrosine residues in proteins, events that are essential for a variety of cellular functions. PTPases such as PTP1B and the Yersinia PTPase play an important role in diseases including type II diabetes and bubonic plague. A library of 67 bidentate PTPase inhibitors that are based on the alpha-ketocarboxylic acid motif has been synthesized using parallel solution-phase methods. Two aryl alpha-ketocarboxylic acids were tethered to a variety of different diamine linkers through amide bonds. The compounds were assayed in crude form against the Yersinia PTPase, PTP1B, and TCPTP. Six compounds were selected for further evaluation, in purified form, against the Yersinia PTPase, PTP1B, TCPTP, LAR, and CD45. These compounds had IC50 values in the low micromolar range against the Yersinia PTPase, PTP1B, and TCPTP, showed good selectivity for PTP1B over LAR, and modest selectivity over CD45. The correlation between linker structure and inhibitor activity shows that aromatic groups in the linker can play an important role in determining binding affinity in this class of inhibitors.

Parallel synthesis of a library of bidentate protein tyrosine phosphatase inhibitors based on the alpha-ketoacid motif

Protein tyrosine phosphatases (PTPases) regulate intracellular signal transduction pathways by controlling the level of tyrosine phosphorylation in cells. These enzymes play an important role in a variety of diseases including type II diabetes and infection by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, which is the causative agent of bubonic plague. This report describes the synthesis, using parallel solution-phase methods, of a library of 104 potential inhibitors of PTPases. The library members are based on the bis(aryl alpha-ketocarboxylic acid) motif that incorporates a carboxylic acid on the central benzene linker. This carboxylic acid was coupled with a variety of different aromatic amines through an amide linkage. The aromatic component of the resulting amides is designed to make contacts with residues that surround the active site of the PTPase. The library was screened against the Yersinia PTPase and PTP1B. Based upon the screening results, four members of the library were selected for further study. These four compounds were evaluated against the Yersinia PTPase, PTP1B, TCPTP, CD45, and LAR. Compound 14 has an IC(50) value of 590nM against PTP1B and is a reversible competitive inhibitor. This affinity represents a greater than 120-fold increase in potency over compound 2, the parent structure upon which the library was based. A second inhibitor, compound 12, has an IC(50) value of 240nM against the Yersinia PTPase. In general, the selectivity of the inhibitors for PTP1B was good compared to LAR, but modest when compared to TCPTP and CD45.