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Olías-Molero AI, de la Fuente C, Cuquerella M, Torrado JJ, Alunda JM. Antileishmanial Drug Discovery and Development: Time to Reset the Model? Microorganisms 2021; 9:2500. [PMID: 34946102 PMCID: PMC8703564 DOI: 10.3390/microorganisms9122500] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/17/2021] [Revised: 11/26/2021] [Accepted: 12/01/2021] [Indexed: 01/27/2023] Open
Abstract
Leishmaniasis is a vector-borne parasitic disease caused by Leishmania species. The disease affects humans and animals, particularly dogs, provoking cutaneous, mucocutaneous, or visceral processes depending on the Leishmania sp. and the host immune response. No vaccine for humans is available, and the control relies mainly on chemotherapy. However, currently used drugs are old, some are toxic, and the safer presentations are largely unaffordable by the most severely affected human populations. Moreover, its efficacy has shortcomings, and it has been challenged by the growing reports of resistance and therapeutic failure. This manuscript presents an overview of the currently used drugs, the prevailing model to develop new antileishmanial drugs and its low efficiency, and the impact of deconstruction of the drug pipeline on the high failure rate of potential drugs. To improve the predictive value of preclinical research in the chemotherapy of leishmaniasis, several proposals are presented to circumvent critical hurdles-namely, lack of common goals of collaborative research, particularly in public-private partnership; fragmented efforts; use of inadequate surrogate models, especially for in vivo trials; shortcomings of target product profile (TPP) guides.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ana Isabel Olías-Molero
- Department of Animal Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain; (A.I.O.-M.); (C.d.l.F.); (M.C.)
| | - Concepción de la Fuente
- Department of Animal Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain; (A.I.O.-M.); (C.d.l.F.); (M.C.)
| | - Montserrat Cuquerella
- Department of Animal Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain; (A.I.O.-M.); (C.d.l.F.); (M.C.)
| | - Juan J. Torrado
- Department of Pharmaceutics and Food Technology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain;
| | - José M. Alunda
- Department of Animal Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain; (A.I.O.-M.); (C.d.l.F.); (M.C.)
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De Araújo JS, da Silva PB, Batista MM, Peres RB, Cardoso-Santos C, Kalejaiye TD, Munday JC, De Heuvel E, Sterk GJ, Augustyns K, Salado IG, Matheeussen A, De Esch I, De Koning HP, Leurs R, Maes L, Soeiro MDNC. Evaluation of phthalazinone phosphodiesterase inhibitors with improved activity and selectivity against Trypanosoma cruzi. J Antimicrob Chemother 2021; 75:958-967. [PMID: 31860098 DOI: 10.1093/jac/dkz516] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/19/2019] [Revised: 10/15/2019] [Accepted: 11/08/2019] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Chagas' disease, caused by the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi, needs urgent alternative therapeutic options as the treatments currently available display severe limitations, mainly related to efficacy and toxicity. OBJECTIVES As phosphodiesterases (PDEs) have been claimed as novel targets against T. cruzi, our aim was to evaluate the biological aspects of 12 new phthalazinone PDE inhibitors against different T. cruzi strains and parasite forms relevant for human infection. METHODS In vitro trypanocidal activity of the inhibitors was assessed alone and in combination with benznidazole. Their effects on parasite ultrastructural and cAMP levels were determined. PDE mRNA levels from the different T. cruzi forms were measured by quantitative reverse transcription PCR. RESULTS Five TcrPDEs were found to be expressed in all parasite stages. Four compounds displayed strong effects against intracellular amastigotes. Against bloodstream trypomastigotes (BTs), three were at least as potent as benznidazole. In vitro combination therapy with one of the most active inhibitors on both parasite forms (NPD-040) plus benznidazole demonstrated a quite synergistic profile (xΣ FICI = 0.58) against intracellular amastigotes but no interaction (xΣ FICI = 1.27) when BTs were assayed. BTs treated with NPD-040 presented disrupted Golgi apparatus, a swollen flagellar pocket and signs of autophagy. cAMP measurements of untreated parasites showed that amastigotes have higher ability to efflux this second messenger than BTs. NPD-001 and NPD-040 increase the intracellular cAMP content in both BTs and amastigotes, which is also released into the extracellular milieu. CONCLUSIONS The findings demonstrate the potential of PDE inhibitors as anti-T. cruzi drug candidates.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Marcos Meuser Batista
- Laboratório de Biologia Celular, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Raiza Brandão Peres
- Laboratório de Biologia Celular, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Camila Cardoso-Santos
- Laboratório de Biologia Celular, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Titilola D Kalejaiye
- Institute of Infection, Immunity & Inflammation, College of Medical, Veterinary & Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK
| | - Jane C Munday
- Institute of Infection, Immunity & Inflammation, College of Medical, Veterinary & Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK
| | - Erik De Heuvel
- Medicinal Chemistry, Amsterdam Institute for Molecules, Medicines & Systems, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Geert Jan Sterk
- Medicinal Chemistry, Amsterdam Institute for Molecules, Medicines & Systems, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Koen Augustyns
- Laboratory of Medicinal Chemistry, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium
| | - Irene G Salado
- Laboratory of Medicinal Chemistry, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium
| | - An Matheeussen
- Laboratory for Microbiology, Parasitology and Hygiene (LMPH), University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium
| | - Iwan De Esch
- Medicinal Chemistry, Amsterdam Institute for Molecules, Medicines & Systems, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Harry P De Koning
- Institute of Infection, Immunity & Inflammation, College of Medical, Veterinary & Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK
| | - Rob Leurs
- Medicinal Chemistry, Amsterdam Institute for Molecules, Medicines & Systems, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Louis Maes
- Laboratory for Microbiology, Parasitology and Hygiene (LMPH), University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium
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de Almeida Fiuza LF, Batista DDGJ, Nunes DF, Moreira OC, Cascabulho C, Soeiro MDNC. Benznidazole modulates release of inflammatory mediators by cardiac spheroids infected with Trypanosoma cruzi. Exp Parasitol 2020; 221:108061. [PMID: 33383023 DOI: 10.1016/j.exppara.2020.108061] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/30/2020] [Accepted: 12/22/2020] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Abstract
Chagas disease (CD) caused by Trypanosoma cruzi remains a serious public health problem in Latin America. The available treatment is limited to two old drugs, benznidazole (Bz) and nifurtimox, which exhibit limited efficacy and trigger side effects, justifying the search for new therapies. Also, more accurate and sensitive experimental protocols for drug discovery programs are necessary to shrink the translational gaps found among pre-clinical and clinical trials. Presently, cardiac spheroids were used to evaluate host cell cytotoxicity and anti-T.cruzi activity of benznidazole, exploring its effect on the release of inflammatory mediators. Bz presented low toxic profile on 3D matrices (LC50 > 200 μM) and high potency in vitro (EC50 = 0.99 μM) evidenced by qPCR analysis of T.cruzi-infected cardiac spheroids. Flow cytometry appraisal of inflammatory mediators released at the cellular supernatant showed increases in IL - 6 and TNF contents (≈190 and ≈ 25-fold) in parasitized spheroids as compared to uninfected cultures. Bz at 10 μM suppressed parasite load (92%) concomitantly decreasing in IL-6 (36%) and TNF (68%). Our findings corroborate the successful use of 3D cardiac matrices for in vitro identification of novel anti-parasitic agents and potential impact in host cell physiology.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Denise da Gama Jaen Batista
- Laboratório de Biologia Celular, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Daniela Ferreira Nunes
- Laboratório de Biologia Molecular e Doenças Endêmicas, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Otacílio Cruz Moreira
- Laboratório de Biologia Molecular e Doenças Endêmicas, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Cynthia Cascabulho
- Laboratório de Inovações Em Terapias, Ensino e Bioprodutos, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
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Mello JDFRE, Gomes RA, Vital-Fujii DG, Ferreira GM, Trossini GHG. Fragment-based drug discovery as alternative strategy to the drug development for neglected diseases. Chem Biol Drug Des 2017; 90:1067-1078. [PMID: 28547936 DOI: 10.1111/cbdd.13030] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/02/2017] [Revised: 04/12/2017] [Accepted: 05/08/2017] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
Neglected diseases (NDs) affect large populations and almost whole continents, representing 12% of the global health burden. In contrast, the treatment available today is limited and sometimes ineffective. Under this scenery, the Fragment-Based Drug Discovery emerged as one of the most promising alternatives to the traditional methods of drug development. This method allows achieving new lead compounds with smaller size of fragment libraries. Even with the wide Fragment-Based Drug Discovery success resulting in new effective therapeutic agents against different diseases, until this moment few studies have been applied this approach for NDs area. In this article, we discuss the basic Fragment-Based Drug Discovery process, brief successful ideas of general applications and show a landscape of its use in NDs, encouraging the implementation of this strategy as an interesting way to optimize the development of new drugs to NDs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Juliana da Fonseca Rezende E Mello
- Litec, Laboratório de Integração Entre Técnicas Computacionais e Experimentais no Planejamento de Fármacos, Departamento de Farmácia, Faculdade de Ciências Farmacêuticas, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Renan Augusto Gomes
- Litec, Laboratório de Integração Entre Técnicas Computacionais e Experimentais no Planejamento de Fármacos, Departamento de Farmácia, Faculdade de Ciências Farmacêuticas, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Drielli Gomes Vital-Fujii
- Litec, Laboratório de Integração Entre Técnicas Computacionais e Experimentais no Planejamento de Fármacos, Departamento de Farmácia, Faculdade de Ciências Farmacêuticas, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Glaucio Monteiro Ferreira
- Litec, Laboratório de Integração Entre Técnicas Computacionais e Experimentais no Planejamento de Fármacos, Departamento de Farmácia, Faculdade de Ciências Farmacêuticas, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.,Programa de Pós-graduação em Toxicologia e Análises Toxicológicas, Faculdade de Ciências Farmacêuticas, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Gustavo Henrique Goulart Trossini
- Litec, Laboratório de Integração Entre Técnicas Computacionais e Experimentais no Planejamento de Fármacos, Departamento de Farmácia, Faculdade de Ciências Farmacêuticas, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.,Programa de Pós-graduação em Toxicologia e Análises Toxicológicas, Faculdade de Ciências Farmacêuticas, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
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Ormeño F, Barrientos C, Ramirez S, Ponce I, Valenzuela L, Sepúlveda S, Bitar M, Kemmerling U, Machado CR, Cabrera G, Galanti N. Expression and the Peculiar Enzymatic Behavior of the Trypanosoma cruzi NTH1 DNA Glycosylase. PLoS One 2016; 11:e0157270. [PMID: 27284968 PMCID: PMC4902261 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0157270] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/11/2016] [Accepted: 05/26/2016] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Trypanosoma cruzi, the etiological agent of Chagas’ disease, presents three cellular forms (trypomastigotes, epimastigotes and amastigotes), all of which are submitted to oxidative species in its hosts. However, T. cruzi is able to resist oxidative stress suggesting a high efficiency of its DNA repair machinery.The Base Excision Repair (BER) pathway is one of the main DNA repair mechanisms in other eukaryotes and in T. cruzi as well. DNA glycosylases are enzymes involved in the recognition of oxidative DNA damage and in the removal of oxidized bases, constituting the first step of the BER pathway. Here, we describe the presence and activity of TcNTH1, a nuclear T. cruzi DNA glycosylase. Surprisingly, purified recombinant TcNTH1 does not remove the thymine glycol base, but catalyzes the cleavage of a probe showing an AP site. The same activity was found in epimastigote and trypomastigote homogenates suggesting that the BER pathway is not involved in thymine glycol DNA repair. TcNTH1 DNA-binding properties assayed in silico are in agreement with the absence of a thymine glycol removing function of that parasite enzyme. Over expression of TcNTH1 decrease parasite viability when transfected epimastigotes are submitted to a sustained production of H2O2.Therefore, TcNTH1 is the only known NTH1 orthologous unable to eliminate thymine glycol derivatives but that recognizes and cuts an AP site, most probably by a beta-elimination mechanism. We cannot discard that TcNTH1 presents DNA glycosylase activity on other DNA base lesions. Accordingly, a different DNA repair mechanism should be expected leading to eliminate thymine glycol from oxidized parasite DNA. Furthermore, TcNTH1 may play a role in the AP site recognition and processing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fernando Ormeño
- Programa de Biología Celular y Molecular, Instituto de Ciencias Biomédicas, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - Camila Barrientos
- Programa de Biología Celular y Molecular, Instituto de Ciencias Biomédicas, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - Santiago Ramirez
- Programa de Biología Celular y Molecular, Instituto de Ciencias Biomédicas, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - Iván Ponce
- Programa de Biología Celular y Molecular, Instituto de Ciencias Biomédicas, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - Lucía Valenzuela
- Programa de Biología Celular y Molecular, Instituto de Ciencias Biomédicas, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - Sofía Sepúlveda
- Programa de Biología Celular y Molecular, Instituto de Ciencias Biomédicas, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - Mainá Bitar
- Departamento de Bioquímica e Imunologia, ICB, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil
| | - Ulrike Kemmerling
- Programa de Anatomía y Biología del Desarrollo, Instituto de Ciencias Biomédicas, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - Carlos Renato Machado
- Departamento de Bioquímica e Imunologia, ICB, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil
| | - Gonzalo Cabrera
- Programa de Biología Celular y Molecular, Instituto de Ciencias Biomédicas, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile
- * E-mail: (GC); (NG)
| | - Norbel Galanti
- Programa de Biología Celular y Molecular, Instituto de Ciencias Biomédicas, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile
- * E-mail: (GC); (NG)
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Pérez-Silanes S, Torres E, Arbillaga L, Varela J, Cerecetto H, González M, Azqueta A, Moreno-Viguri E. Synthesis and biological evaluation of quinoxaline di-N-oxide derivatives with in vitro trypanocidal activity. Bioorg Med Chem Lett 2015; 26:903-906. [PMID: 26750255 DOI: 10.1016/j.bmcl.2015.12.070] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/16/2015] [Revised: 12/18/2015] [Accepted: 12/19/2015] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
We report the synthesis and in vitro activity against Trypanosoma cruzi epimastigotes of 15 novel quinoxaline derivatives. Ten of the derivatives presented IC50 values lower than the reference drugs Nfx and Bzn; four of them standed out with IC50 values lower than 1.5 μM. Moreover, unspecific cytotoxicity and genotoxicity studies are also reported. Compound 14 showed a SI higher than 24, whereas compound 10 was the only one that was negative in the genotoxicity screening.
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Affiliation(s)
- Silvia Pérez-Silanes
- Department of Organic and Pharmaceutical Chemistry, University of Navarra, Irunlarrea s/n, 31008 Pamplona, Spain; Institute of Tropical Health, University of Navarra, Irunlarrea s/n, 31008 Pamplona, Spain
| | - Enrique Torres
- Department of Organic and Pharmaceutical Chemistry, University of Navarra, Irunlarrea s/n, 31008 Pamplona, Spain
| | - Leire Arbillaga
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Navarra, Irunlarrea s/n, 31008 Pamplona, Spain
| | - Javier Varela
- Grupo de Química Medicinal, Laboratorio de Química Orgánica, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de la República, Iguá 4225, 11400 Montevideo, Uruguay
| | - Hugo Cerecetto
- Grupo de Química Medicinal, Laboratorio de Química Orgánica, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de la República, Iguá 4225, 11400 Montevideo, Uruguay
| | - Mercedes González
- Grupo de Química Medicinal, Laboratorio de Química Orgánica, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de la República, Iguá 4225, 11400 Montevideo, Uruguay
| | - Amaya Azqueta
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Navarra, Irunlarrea s/n, 31008 Pamplona, Spain; IdiSNA, Navarra Institute for Health Research, Recinto de Complejo Hospitalario de Navarra c/Irunlarrea 3, Pamplona 31008, Spain
| | - Elsa Moreno-Viguri
- Department of Organic and Pharmaceutical Chemistry, University of Navarra, Irunlarrea s/n, 31008 Pamplona, Spain; Institute of Tropical Health, University of Navarra, Irunlarrea s/n, 31008 Pamplona, Spain.
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Melesina J, Robaa D, Pierce RJ, Romier C, Sippl W. Homology modeling of parasite histone deacetylases to guide the structure-based design of selective inhibitors. J Mol Graph Model 2015; 62:342-361. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jmgm.2015.10.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2015] [Revised: 10/09/2015] [Accepted: 10/12/2015] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
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