Novel carbocyclic nucleosides containing a cyclobutyl ring: adenosine analogues

Synthesis of New Indanyl Nucleoside Analogues and their Biological Evaluation on Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) Replicon

Here, we report a convenient synthetic procedure for the preparation of four novel indanyl carbanucleoside derivatives in the racemic form. The action of these compounds against hepatitis C virus was evaluated in vitro using the replicon cell line, Huh7.5 SG. Contrary to our expectations, all these compounds did not inhibit, but rather promoted HCV genotype 1b (HCVg1b) replication. Similar effects have been reported for morphine in the replicon cell lines, Huh7 and Huh8. Several biological experiments and computational studies were performed to elucidate the effect of these compounds on HCVg1b replication. Based on all the experiments performed, we propose that the increase in HCVg1b replication could be mediated, at least in part, by a similar mechanism to that of morphine on the enhancement of this replication. The presence of opioid receptors in Huh7.5 SG cells was indirectly determined for the first time in this work.

Novel 5'-Norcarbocyclic Pyrimidine Derivatives as Antibacterial Agents

A series of novel 5'-norcarbocyclic derivatives of 5-alkoxymethyl or 5-alkyltriazolyl-methyl uracil were synthesized and the activity of the compounds evaluated against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. The growth of Mycobacterium smegmatis was completely inhibited by the most active compounds at a MIC99 of 67 μg/mL (mc²155) and a MIC99 of 6.7⁻67 μg/mL (VKPM Ac 1339). Several compounds also showed the ability to inhibit the growth of attenuated strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis ATCC 25177 (MIC99 28⁻61 μg/mL) and Mycobacterium bovis ATCC 35737 (MIC99 50⁻60 μg/mL), as well as two virulent strains of M. tuberculosis; a laboratory strain H37Rv (MIC99 20⁻50 μg/mL) and a clinical strain with multiple drug resistance MS-115 (MIC99 20⁻50 μg/mL). Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) evaluation of M. tuberculosis H37Rv bacterial cells treated with one of the compounds demonstrated destruction of the bacterial cell wall, suggesting that the mechanism of action for these compounds may be related to their interactions with bacteria cell walls.

Design, Synthesis, and Evaluation of Antineoplastic Activity of Novel Carbocyclic Nucleosides

Cancer is the leading cause of death among men and women under age 85. Every year, millions of individuals are diagnosed with cancer. But finding new drugs is a complex, expensive, and very time-consuming task. Over the past decade, the cancer research community has begun to address the in silico modeling approaches, such as Quantitative Structure-Activity Relationships (QSAR), as an important alternative tool for targeting potential anticancer drugs. With the compilation of a large dataset of nucleosides synthesized in our laboratories, or elsewhere, and tested in a single cytotoxic assay under the same experimental conditions, we recognized a unique opportunity to attempt to build predictive QSAR models. Early efforts with 2D classification models built from part of this dataset were very encouraging. Here we report a further detailed evaluation of classification models to flag potential anticancer activities derived from a variety of 3D molecular representations. A quantitative 3D-model model that discriminates anticancer compounds from the inactive ones was attained, which allowed the correct classification of 82 % of compounds in such a large and diverse dataset, with only 5 % of false inactives and 11 % of false actives. The model developed here was then used to select and design a new series of nucleosides, by classifying beforehand them as active/inactive anticancer compounds. From the compounds so designed, 22 were synthesized and evaluated for their inhibitory effects on the proliferation of murine leukemia cells (L1210/0), of which 86 % were well-classified as active or inactive, and only two were false actives, corroborating the good predictive ability of the present discriminant model. The results of this study thus provide a valuable tool for the design of novel potent anticancer nucleoside analogues.

Probing the anticancer activity of nucleoside analogues: a QSAR model approach using an internally consistent training set

The cancer research community has begun to address the in silico modeling approaches, such as quantitative structure-activity relationships (QSAR), as an important alternative tool for screening potential anticancer drugs. With the compilation of a large dataset of nucleosides synthesized in our laboratories, or elsewhere, and tested in a single cytotoxic assay under the same experimental conditions, we recognized a unique opportunity to attempt to build predictive QSAR models. Here, we report a systematic evaluation of classification models to probe anticancer activity, based on linear discriminant analysis along with 2D-molecular descriptors. This strategy afforded a final QSAR model with very good overall accuracy and predictability on external data. Finally, we search for similarities between the natural nucleosides, present in RNA/DNA, and the active nucleosides well-predicted by the model. The structural information then gathered and the QSAR model per se shall aid in the future design of novel potent anticancer nucleosides.

Synthesis and preliminary biological evaluation of a new pyridocarbazole derivative covalently linked to a thymidine nucleoside as a potential targeted antitumoral agent. I

The therapy of human cancer is one of the more pursued goals by medicinal chemistry research. Most of the compounds clinically used as a treatment owe their efficacy to their cytotoxic interaction (direct or indirect) with nuclear DNA. This interaction results in the inhibition of DNA synthesis and the degradation of nucleic strands. Ellipticine is a naturally occurring 6H-pyrido[4,3-b]carbazole alkaloid endowed with antitumor activity, and several ellipticine derivatives have been used in clinical trials. We previously reported some 1,4-dimethyl-9H-carbazole derivatives structurally related to ellipticine. The purpose of our research was to transform the pyridocarbazole in a prodrug so that it would have more penetration in the tumor cells and block their replication. Our prodrug is slowly hydrolyzed in human plasma in the corresponding acid. From these preliminary results, we deduce that our compound can block cellular replication. Our hypothesis is that the antitumoral activity is probably related to the induction of damage to DNA, without cellular lysis in the short term.