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Giroud M, Kuhn B, Haap W. Drug Discovery Efforts to Identify Novel Treatments for Neglected Tropical Diseases - Cysteine Protease Inhibitors. Curr Med Chem 2024; 31:2170-2194. [PMID: 37916489 DOI: 10.2174/0109298673249097231017051733] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/14/2023] [Revised: 06/19/2023] [Accepted: 09/14/2023] [Indexed: 11/03/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Neglected tropical diseases are a severe burden for mankind, affecting an increasing number of people around the globe. Many of those diseases are caused by protozoan parasites in which cysteine proteases play a key role in the parasite's pathogenesis. OBJECTIVE In this review article, we summarize the drug discovery efforts of the research community from 2017 - 2022 with a special focus on the optimization of small molecule cysteine protease inhibitors in terms of selectivity profiles or drug-like properties as well as in vivo studies. The cysteine proteases evaluated by this methodology include Cathepsin B1 from Schistosoma mansoni, papain, cruzain, falcipain, and rhodesain. METHODS Exhaustive literature searches were performed using the keywords "Cysteine Proteases" and "Neglected Tropical Diseases" including the years 2017 - 2022. Overall, approximately 3'000 scientific papers were retrieved, which were filtered using specific keywords enabling the focus on drug discovery efforts. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION Potent and selective cysteine protease inhibitors to treat neglected tropical diseases were identified, which progressed to pharmacokinetic and in vivo efficacy studies. As far as the authors are aware of, none of those inhibitors reached the stage of active clinical development. Either the inhibitor's potency or pharmacokinetic properties or safety profile or a combination thereof prevented further development of the compounds. More efforts with particular emphasis on optimizing pharmacokinetic and safety properties are needed, potentially by collaborations of academic and industrial research groups with complementary expertise. Furthermore, new warheads reacting with the catalytic cysteine should be exploited to advance the research field in order to make a meaningful impact on society.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maude Giroud
- Pharma Research and Early Development pRED, Roche Innovation Center Basel, Medicinal Chemistry, F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd, Grenzacherstrasse 124, Basel, CH-4070, Switzerland
| | - Bernd Kuhn
- Pharma Research and Early Development pRED, Roche Innovation Center Basel, Medicinal Chemistry, F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd, Grenzacherstrasse 124, Basel, CH-4070, Switzerland
| | - Wolfgang Haap
- Pharma Research and Early Development pRED, Roche Innovation Center Basel, Medicinal Chemistry, F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd, Grenzacherstrasse 124, Basel, CH-4070, Switzerland
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Issa I, Lamine MM, Hubert V, Ilagouma A, Adehossi E, Mahamadou A, Lobo NF, Sarr D, Shollenberger LM, Sandrine H, Jambou R, Laminou IM. Prevalence of Mutations in the Pfdhfr, Pfdhps, and Pfmdr1 Genes of Malarial Parasites Isolated from Symptomatic Patients in Dogondoutchi, Niger. Trop Med Infect Dis 2022; 7:tropicalmed7080155. [PMID: 36006247 PMCID: PMC9413624 DOI: 10.3390/tropicalmed7080155] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/26/2022] [Revised: 07/15/2022] [Accepted: 07/19/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
The effectiveness of artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs) depends not only on that of artemisinin but also on that of partner molecules. This study aims to evaluate the prevalence of mutations in the Pfdhfr, Pfdhps, and Pfmdr1 genes from isolates collected during a clinical study. Plasmodium genomic DNA samples extracted from symptomatic malaria patients from Dogondoutchi, Niger, were sequenced by the Sanger method to determine mutations in the Pfdhfr (codons 51, 59, 108, and 164), Pfdhps (codons 436, 437, 540, 581, and 613), and Pfmdr1 (codons 86, 184, 1034, and 1246) genes. One hundred fifty-five (155) pre-treatment samples were sequenced for the Pfdhfr, Pfdhps, and Pfmdr1 genes. A high prevalence of mutations in the Pfdhfr gene was observed at the level of the N51I (84.97%), C59R (92.62%), and S108N (97.39%) codons. The key K540E mutation in the Pfdhps gene was not observed. Only one isolate was found to harbor a mutation at codon I431V. The most common mutation on the Pfmdr1 gene was Y184F in 71.43% of the mutations found, followed by N86Y in 10.20%. The triple-mutant haplotype N51I/C59R/S108N (IRN) was detected in 97% of the samples. Single-mutant (ICS and NCN) and double-mutant (IRS, NRN, and ICN) haplotypes were prevalent at 97% and 95%, respectively. Double-mutant haplotypes of the Pfdhps (581 and 613) and Pfmdr (86 and 184) were found in 3% and 25.45% of the isolates studied, respectively. The study focused on the molecular analysis of the sequencing of the Pfdhfr, Pfdhps, and Pfmdr1 genes. Although a high prevalence of mutations in the Pfdhfr gene have been observed, there is a lack of sulfadoxine pyrimethamine resistance. There is a high prevalence of mutation in the Pfmdr184 codon associated with resistance to amodiaquine. These data will be used by Niger’s National Malaria Control Program to better monitor the resistance of Plasmodium to partner molecules in artemisinin-based combination therapies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ibrahima Issa
- Centre de Recherche Médicale et Sanitaire, Niamey P.O. Box 10887, Niger; (I.I.); (A.M.); (R.J.)
| | | | - Veronique Hubert
- Centre National de Référence du Paludisme à Paris en France, 75013 Paris, France; (V.H.); (H.S.)
| | - Amadou Ilagouma
- Faculty of Sciences, University Abdou Moumouni of Niamey, Niamey P.O. Box 10662, Niger; (A.I.); (E.A.)
| | - Eric Adehossi
- Faculty of Sciences, University Abdou Moumouni of Niamey, Niamey P.O. Box 10662, Niger; (A.I.); (E.A.)
| | - Aboubacar Mahamadou
- Centre de Recherche Médicale et Sanitaire, Niamey P.O. Box 10887, Niger; (I.I.); (A.M.); (R.J.)
| | - Neil F. Lobo
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556, USA;
| | - Demba Sarr
- Department of Infectious Diseases, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA;
| | | | - Houze Sandrine
- Centre National de Référence du Paludisme à Paris en France, 75013 Paris, France; (V.H.); (H.S.)
| | - Ronan Jambou
- Centre de Recherche Médicale et Sanitaire, Niamey P.O. Box 10887, Niger; (I.I.); (A.M.); (R.J.)
| | - Ibrahim Maman Laminou
- Centre de Recherche Médicale et Sanitaire, Niamey P.O. Box 10887, Niger; (I.I.); (A.M.); (R.J.)
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +227-80-88-20-22
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Chaturvedi R, Chhibber-Goel J, Verma I, Gopinathan S, Parvez S, Sharma A. Geographical spread and structural basis of sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine drug-resistant malaria parasites. Int J Parasitol 2021; 51:505-525. [PMID: 33775670 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpara.2020.12.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/28/2020] [Revised: 11/24/2020] [Accepted: 12/03/2020] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
The global spread of sulfadoxine (Sdx, S) and pyrimethamine (Pyr, P) resistance is attributed to increasing number of mutations in DHPS and DHFR enzymes encoded by malaria parasites. The association between drug resistance mutations and SP efficacy is complex. Here we provide an overview of the geographical spread of SP resistance mutations in Plasmodium falciparum (Pf) and Plasmodium vivax (Pv) encoded dhps and dhfr genes. In addition, we have collated the mutation data and mapped it on to the three-dimensional structures of DHPS and DHFR which have become available. Data from genomic databases and 286 studies were collated to provide a comprehensive landscape of mutational data from 2005 to 2019. Our analyses show that the Pyr-resistant double mutations are widespread in Pf/PvDHFR (P. falciparum ∼61% in Asia and the Middle East, and in the Indian sub-continent; in P. vivax ∼33% globally) with triple mutations prevailing in Africa (∼66%) and South America (∼33%). For PfDHPS, triple mutations dominate South America (∼44%), Asia and the Middle East (∼34%) and the Indian sub-continent (∼27%), while single mutations are widespread in Africa (∼45%). Contrary to the status for P. falciparum, Sdx-resistant single point mutations in PvDHPS dominate globally. Alarmingly, highly resistant quintuple and sextuple mutations are rising in Africa (PfDHFR-DHPS) and Asia (Pf/PvDHFR-DHPS). Structural analyses of DHFR and DHPS proteins in complexes with substrates/drugs have revealed that resistance mutations map proximal to Sdx and Pyr binding sites. Thus new studies can focus on discovery of novel inhibitors that target the non-substrate binding grooves in these two validated malaria parasite drug targets.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rini Chaturvedi
- Molecular Medicine Group, International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, New Delhi, India; Department of Toxicology, Jamia Hamdard, New Delhi, India
| | - Jyoti Chhibber-Goel
- Molecular Medicine Group, International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, New Delhi, India
| | - Ishika Verma
- Molecular Medicine Group, International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, New Delhi, India
| | - Sreehari Gopinathan
- Molecular Medicine Group, International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, New Delhi, India
| | - Suhel Parvez
- Department of Toxicology, Jamia Hamdard, New Delhi, India
| | - Amit Sharma
- Molecular Medicine Group, International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, New Delhi, India; National Institute of Malaria Research, Dwarka, New Delhi, India.
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Liang Y, Zeng D, You Y, Ma B, Li X, Chen T. Designing Dihydrofolate Reductase Inhibitors as X-ray Radiosensitizers to Reverse Radioresistance of Cervical Cancer. ACS Med Chem Lett 2020; 11:1421-1428. [PMID: 32676149 DOI: 10.1021/acsmedchemlett.0c00105] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/11/2020] [Accepted: 06/17/2020] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
X-ray radiotherapy has been widely used in the treatment of cervical cancer, a common gynecologic malignant tumor. However, the therapeutic efficacy tends to be indistinctive. One major reason for this is amplification of the dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) gene, which causes an increase in DHFR activity and attenuation of the treatment effect. To solve this problem, we synthesized a series of DHFR inhibitors derived from methotrexate (MTX) analogues as radiotherapy sensitizers. Activity screening revealed that compound 2a exerted the best inhibitory effect toward DHFR activity. In combination with X-ray radiotherapy (4 Gy), 2a showed much more prominent antiproliferative activity on cervical cancer cells than 2a or X-rays alone and revealed higher selectivity and radiosensitization than MTX. In vitro experiments showed that 2a + X-rays significantly induced cell apoptosis, as revealed by the increase in the Sub-G1 population and activation of caspase 3, 8, and 9. The in vivo antitumor effect demonstrated that in the presence of X-rays, 2a effectively suppressed tumor growth and did not cause obvious side effects. In conclusion, as a DHFR inhibitor, 2a successfully reversed the radioresistance problem induced by radiotherapy and greatly promoted the therapeutic effect. This is a promising candidate for tumor treatment that deserves further research and development. This study clearly demonstrates that DHFR inhibitors could be developed as promising radiosensitizers in the treatment of cervical cancer and that further research to improve their activity and potential in future clinical use is deserved.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuanwei Liang
- The First Affiliated Hospital and Department of Chemistry, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, China
| | - Delong Zeng
- The First Affiliated Hospital and Department of Chemistry, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, China
| | - Yuanyuan You
- The First Affiliated Hospital and Department of Chemistry, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, China
- Shenzhen Agricultural Product Quality and Safety Inspection and Testing Center (Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Supervision and Administration of Edible Agricultural Products, Market Supervision Administration), Shenzhen, China
| | - Bin Ma
- The First Affiliated Hospital and Department of Chemistry, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, China
| | - Xiaoling Li
- The First Affiliated Hospital and Department of Chemistry, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, China
- Institute of Food Safety and Nutrition, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, China
| | - Tianfeng Chen
- The First Affiliated Hospital and Department of Chemistry, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, China
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Molecular detection of antimalarial drug resistance in Plasmodium vivax from returned travellers to NSW, Australia during 2008-2018. Pathogens 2020; 9:pathogens9020101. [PMID: 32033493 PMCID: PMC7168284 DOI: 10.3390/pathogens9020101] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/23/2019] [Revised: 01/27/2020] [Accepted: 01/27/2020] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
To monitor drug resistance in Plasmodium vivax, a multidrug resistance 1 (Pvmdr1) gene and a putative transporter protein (Pvcrt-o) gene were used as molecular markers for chloroquine resistance. The biomarkers, the dihydrofolate reductase (Pvdhfr) gene and the dihydropteroate synthetase (Pvdhps) gene, were also used for the detection of resistance to sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP); this drug is often accidentally used to treat P. vivax infections. Clinical blood samples (n = 120) were collected from patients who had been to one of eight malaria-endemic countries and diagnosed with P. vivax infection. The chloroquine resistance marker, the Pvmdr1 gene, showed F976:L1076 mutations and L1076 mutation. A K10 insertion in the Pvcrt-o gene was also found among the samples successfully sequenced. A combination of L/I57:R58:M61:T117 mutations in the Pvdhfr gene and G383:G553 mutations in the Pvdhps gene were also observed. Mutations found in these genes indicate that drug resistance is present in these eight countries. Whether or not countries are using chloroquine to treat P. vivax, there appears to be an increase in mutation numbers in resistance gene markers. The detected changes in mutation rates of these genes do suggest that there is still a trend towards increasing P. vivax resistance to chloroquine. The presence of the mutations associated with SP resistance indicates that P. vivax has had exposure to SP and this may be a consequence of either misdiagnosis or coinfections with P. falciparum in the past.
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Chen W, Yao X, Huang Z, Mao F, Guan L, Tang Y, Jiang H, Li J, Huang J, Jiang L, Zhu J. Novel dual inhibitors against FP-2 and PfDHFR as potential antimalarial agents: Design, synthesis and biological evaluation. CHINESE CHEM LETT 2019. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cclet.2017.11.041] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
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Chen W, Huang Z, Wang W, Mao F, Guan L, Tang Y, Jiang H, Li J, Huang J, Jiang L, Zhu J. Discovery of new antimalarial agents: Second-generation dual inhibitors against FP-2 and PfDHFR via fragments assembely. Bioorg Med Chem 2017; 25:6467-6478. [DOI: 10.1016/j.bmc.2017.10.017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/08/2017] [Revised: 10/07/2017] [Accepted: 10/16/2017] [Indexed: 02/02/2023]
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