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Argüello-García R, Carrero JC, Ortega-Pierres MG. Extracellular Cysteine Proteases of Key Intestinal Protozoan Pathogens-Factors Linked to Virulence and Pathogenicity. Int J Mol Sci 2023; 24:12850. [PMID: 37629029 PMCID: PMC10454693 DOI: 10.3390/ijms241612850] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/09/2023] [Revised: 08/07/2023] [Accepted: 08/08/2023] [Indexed: 08/27/2023] Open
Abstract
Intestinal diseases caused by protistan parasites of the genera Giardia (giardiasis), Entamoeba (amoebiasis), Cryptosporidium (cryptosporidiosis) and Blastocystis (blastocystosis) represent a major burden in human and animal populations worldwide due to the severity of diarrhea and/or inflammation in susceptible hosts. These pathogens interact with epithelial cells, promoting increased paracellular permeability and enterocyte cell death (mainly apoptosis), which precede physiological and immunological disorders. Some cell-surface-anchored and molecules secreted from these parasites function as virulence markers, of which peptide hydrolases, particularly cysteine proteases (CPs), are abundant and have versatile lytic activities. Upon secretion, CPs can affect host tissues and immune responses beyond the site of parasite colonization, thereby increasing the pathogens' virulence. The four intestinal protists considered here are known to secrete predominantly clan A (C1- and C2-type) CPs, some of which have been characterized. CPs of Giardia duodenalis (e.g., Giardipain-1) and Entamoeba histolytica (EhCPs 1-6 and EhCP112) degrade mucin and villin, cause damage to intercellular junction proteins, induce apoptosis in epithelial cells and degrade immunoglobulins, cytokines and defensins. In Cryptosporidium, five Cryptopains are encoded in its genome, but only Cryptopains 4 and 5 are likely secreted. In Blastocystis sp., a legumain-activated CP, called Blastopain-1, and legumain itself have been detected in the extracellular medium, and the former has similar adverse effects on epithelial integrity and enterocyte survival. Due to their different functions, these enzymes could represent novel drug targets. Indeed, some promising results with CP inhibitors, such as vinyl sulfones (K11777 and WRR605), the garlic derivative, allicin, and purified amoebic CPs have been obtained in experimental models, suggesting that these enzymes might be useful drug targets.
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Affiliation(s)
- Raúl Argüello-García
- Departamento de Genética y Biología Molecular, Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados del Instituto Politécnico Nacional, México City 07360, Mexico;
| | - Julio César Carrero
- Departamento de Inmunología, Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), México City 04510, Mexico
| | - M. Guadalupe Ortega-Pierres
- Departamento de Genética y Biología Molecular, Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados del Instituto Politécnico Nacional, México City 07360, Mexico;
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Lameiro RF, Montanari CA. Investigating the Lack of Translation from Cruzain Inhibition to Trypanosoma cruzi Activity with Machine Learning and Chemical Space Analyses. ChemMedChem 2023; 18:e202200434. [PMID: 36692246 DOI: 10.1002/cmdc.202200434] [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: 10/06/2022] [Revised: 01/17/2023] [Accepted: 01/17/2023] [Indexed: 01/25/2023]
Abstract
Chagas disease is a neglected tropical disease caused by the protozoa Trypanosoma cruzi. Cruzain, its main cysteine protease, is commonly targeted in drug discovery efforts to find new treatments for this disease. Even though the essentiality of this enzyme for the parasite has been established, many cruzain inhibitors fail as trypanocidal agents. This lack of translation from biochemical to biological assays can involve several factors, including suboptimal physicochemical properties. In this work, we aim to rationalize this phenomenon through chemical space analyses of calculated molecular descriptors. These include statistical tests, visualization of projections, scaffold analysis, and creation of machine learning models coupled with interpretability methods. Our results demonstrate a significant difference between the chemical spaces of cruzain and T. cruzi inhibitors, with compounds with more hydrogen bond donors and rotatable bonds being more likely to be good cruzain inhibitors, but less likely to be active on T. cruzi. In addition, cruzain inhibitors seem to occupy specific regions of the chemical space that cannot be easily correlated with T. cruzi activity, which means that using predictive modeling to determine whether cruzain inhibitors will be trypanocidal is not a straightforward task. We believe that the conclusions from this work might be of interest for future projects that aim to develop novel trypanocidal compounds.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rafael F Lameiro
- Medicinal and Biological Chemistry Group, São Carlos Institute of Chemistry, University of São Paulo, Trabalhador São-Carlense Avenue 400, São Carlos, Brazil
| | - Carlos A Montanari
- Medicinal and Biological Chemistry Group, São Carlos Institute of Chemistry, University of São Paulo, Trabalhador São-Carlense Avenue 400, São Carlos, Brazil
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Alzain AA, Elbadwi FA. De Novo Design of Cathepsin B1 Inhibitors as Potential Anti-Schistosomal Agents Using Computational Studies. ADVANCES AND APPLICATIONS IN BIOINFORMATICS AND CHEMISTRY 2022; 15:29-41. [PMID: 35935393 PMCID: PMC9355347 DOI: 10.2147/aabc.s361626] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/22/2022] [Accepted: 07/21/2022] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
Background Schistosomiasis is the world’s second most devastating disease after malaria and the leading cause of disease and mortality for more than 200 million people in developing countries. Cysteine proteases, in particular SmCB1, are the most well-researched biological targets for this disorder. Objective To apply computational techniques to design new antischistosomal agents against SmCB1 protein with favorable pharmacokinetic properties. Methods The smCB1 receptor-based pharmacophore model was created and used to screen 567,000 fragments from the Enamine library. The best scoring fragments have been linked to build novel compounds that were subjected to molecular docking, MM-GBSA free energy estimation, ADME prediction, and molecular dynamics. Results A seven-point pharmacophore hypothesis ADDDRRR was created. The developed hypothesis was used to screen 1.3 M fragment conformations. Among them, 23,732 fragments matched the hypothesis and screened against the protein. The top 50 fragments were used to design new 7745 compounds using the Breed ligand panel which were subjected to docking and MMGBSA binding energy. This led to the identification of 10 compounds with better docking scores (−8.033– −7.483 kcal/mol) and lower-bound free energies (−58.49 – −40.02 kcal/mol) compared to the reference bound ligand. Most of the designed compounds demonstrated good drug-like properties. Concerning Molecular dynamics (MD) simulation results, a low root mean square deviation (RMSD) range (0.25–1.2 Å) was found for the top 3 complexes which indicated their stability. Conclusion We identified compounds that could be potential candidates in the search for novel Schistosoma mansoni inhibitors by targeting SmCB1 utilizing various computational tools. Three newly designed compounds namely breed 1, 2, and 3 showed promising affinity to the target as well as favorable drug-like properties which might be considered potential anti-schistosomal agents.
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Affiliation(s)
- Abdulrahim A Alzain
- Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Gezira, Gezira, Sudan
- Correspondence: Abdulrahim A Alzain, Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Gezira, Gezira, Sudan, Tel +249-511854501, Fax +249-511861180, Email
| | - Fatima A Elbadwi
- Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Gezira, Gezira, Sudan
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Zhu J, Li L, Drelich A, Chenna BC, Mellott DM, Taylor ZW, Tat V, Garcia CZ, Katzfuss A, Tseng CTK, Meek TD. Self-Masked Aldehyde Inhibitors of Human Cathepsin L Are Potent Anti-CoV-2 Agents. Front Chem 2022; 10:867928. [PMID: 35860632 PMCID: PMC9291521 DOI: 10.3389/fchem.2022.867928] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/01/2022] [Accepted: 04/12/2022] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
Cysteine proteases comprise an important class of drug targets, especially for infectious diseases such as Chagas disease (cruzain) and COVID-19 (3CL protease, cathepsin L). Peptide aldehydes have proven to be potent inhibitors for all of these proteases. However, the intrinsic, high electrophilicity of the aldehyde group is associated with safety concerns and metabolic instability, limiting the use of aldehyde inhibitors as drugs. We have developed a novel class of compounds, self-masked aldehyde inhibitors (SMAIs) which are based on the dipeptide aldehyde inhibitor (Cbz-Phe-Phe-CHO, 1), for which the P1 Phe group contains a 1′-hydroxy group, effectively, an o-tyrosinyl aldehyde (Cbz-Phe-o-Tyr-CHO, 2; (Li et al. (2021) J. Med. Chem. 64, 11,267–11,287)). Compound 2 and other SMAIs exist in aqueous mixtures as stable δ-lactols, and apparent catalysis by the cysteine protease cruzain, the major cysteine protease of Trypanosoma cruzi, results in the opening of the lactol ring to afford the aldehydes which then form reversible thiohemiacetals with the enzyme. These SMAIs are also potent, time-dependent inhibitors of human cathepsin L (Ki = 11–60 nM), an enzyme which shares 36% amino acid identity with cruzain. As inactivators of cathepsin L have recently been shown to be potent anti-SARS-CoV-2 agents in infected mammalian cells (Mellott et al. (2021) ACS Chem. Biol. 16, 642–650), we evaluated SMAIs in VeroE6 and A549/ACE2 cells infected with SARS-CoV-2. These SMAIs demonstrated potent anti-SARS-CoV-2 activity with values of EC50 = 2–8 μM. We also synthesized pro-drug forms of the SMAIs in which the hydroxyl groups of the lactols were O-acylated. Such pro-drug SMAIs resulted in significantly enhanced anti-SARS-CoV-2 activity (EC50 = 0.3–0.6 μM), demonstrating that the O-acylated-SMAIs afforded a level of stability within infected cells, and are likely converted to SMAIs by the action of cellular esterases. Lastly, we prepared and characterized an SMAI in which the sidechain adjacent to the terminal aldehyde is a 2-pyridonyl-alanine group, a mimic of both phenylalanine and glutamine. This compound (9) inhibited both cathepsin L and 3CL protease at low nanomolar concentrations, and also exerted anti-CoV-2 activity in an infected human cell line.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jiyun Zhu
- Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Texas A&M University College Station, College Station, TX, United States
| | - Linfeng Li
- Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Texas A&M University College Station, College Station, TX, United States
| | - Aleksandra Drelich
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, John Sealy School of Medicine, University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, Galveston, TX, United States
| | - Bala C. Chenna
- Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Texas A&M University College Station, College Station, TX, United States
| | - Drake M. Mellott
- Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Texas A&M University College Station, College Station, TX, United States
| | - Zane W. Taylor
- Department of Chemistry, College of Science, Texas A&M University College Station, College Station, TX, United States
| | - Vivian Tat
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, John Sealy School of Medicine, University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, Galveston, TX, United States
| | - Christopher Z. Garcia
- Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Texas A&M University College Station, College Station, TX, United States
| | - Ardala Katzfuss
- Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Texas A&M University College Station, College Station, TX, United States
| | - Chien-Te K. Tseng
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, John Sealy School of Medicine, University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, Galveston, TX, United States
| | - Thomas D. Meek
- Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Texas A&M University College Station, College Station, TX, United States
- *Correspondence: Thomas D. Meek,
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Pauli I, Rezende CDO, Slafer BW, Dessoy MA, de Souza ML, Ferreira LLG, Adjanohun ALM, Ferreira RS, Magalhães LG, Krogh R, Michelan-Duarte S, Del Pintor RV, da Silva FBR, Cruz FC, Dias LC, Andricopulo AD. Multiparameter Optimization of Trypanocidal Cruzain Inhibitors With In Vivo Activity and Favorable Pharmacokinetics. Front Pharmacol 2022; 12:774069. [PMID: 35069198 PMCID: PMC8767159 DOI: 10.3389/fphar.2021.774069] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/10/2021] [Accepted: 11/22/2021] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Cruzain, the main cysteine protease of Trypanosoma cruzi, plays key roles in all stages of the parasite's life cycle, including nutrition acquisition, differentiation, evasion of the host immune system, and invasion of host cells. Thus, inhibition of this validated target may lead to the development of novel drugs for the treatment of Chagas disease. In this study, a multiparameter optimization (MPO) approach, molecular modeling, and structure-activity relationships (SARs) were employed for the identification of new benzimidazole derivatives as potent competitive inhibitors of cruzain with trypanocidal activity and suitable pharmacokinetics. Extensive pharmacokinetic studies enabled the identification of metabolically stable and permeable compounds with high selectivity indices. CYP3A4 was found to be involved in the main metabolic pathway, and the identification of metabolic soft spots provided insights into molecular optimization. Compound 28, which showed a promising trade-off between pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics, caused no acute toxicity and reduced parasite burden both in vitro and in vivo.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ivani Pauli
- Laboratório de Química Medicinal e Computacional, Instituto de Física de São Carlos, Universidade de São Paulo, São Carlos, Brazil
| | - Celso de O Rezende
- Instituto de Química, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Campinas, Brazil
| | - Brian W Slafer
- Instituto de Química, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Campinas, Brazil
| | - Marco A Dessoy
- Instituto de Química, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Campinas, Brazil
| | - Mariana L de Souza
- Laboratório de Química Medicinal e Computacional, Instituto de Física de São Carlos, Universidade de São Paulo, São Carlos, Brazil
| | - Leonardo L G Ferreira
- Laboratório de Química Medicinal e Computacional, Instituto de Física de São Carlos, Universidade de São Paulo, São Carlos, Brazil
| | - Abraham L M Adjanohun
- Departamento de Bioquímica e Imunologia, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
| | - Rafaela S Ferreira
- Departamento de Bioquímica e Imunologia, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
| | - Luma G Magalhães
- Laboratório de Química Medicinal e Computacional, Instituto de Física de São Carlos, Universidade de São Paulo, São Carlos, Brazil
| | - Renata Krogh
- Laboratório de Química Medicinal e Computacional, Instituto de Física de São Carlos, Universidade de São Paulo, São Carlos, Brazil
| | - Simone Michelan-Duarte
- Laboratório de Química Medicinal e Computacional, Instituto de Física de São Carlos, Universidade de São Paulo, São Carlos, Brazil
| | | | | | - Fabio C Cruz
- Departamento de Farmacologia, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Luiz C Dias
- Instituto de Química, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Campinas, Brazil
| | - Adriano D Andricopulo
- Laboratório de Química Medicinal e Computacional, Instituto de Física de São Carlos, Universidade de São Paulo, São Carlos, Brazil
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Moreira FF, Portes JDA, Barros Azeredo NF, Fernandes C, Horn A, Santiago CP, Segat BB, Caramori GF, Madureira LMP, Candela DRS, Marques MM, Lamounier Camargos Resende JA, de Souza W, DaMatta RA, Seabra SH. Development of new dinuclear Fe(III) coordination compounds with in vitro nanomolar antitrypanosomal activity. Dalton Trans 2021; 50:12242-12264. [PMID: 34519725 DOI: 10.1039/d1dt01048d] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
Chagas disease is a neglected tropical disease caused by the protozoan pathogen Trypanosoma cruzi. The disease is a major public health problem affecting about 6 to 7 million people worldwide, mostly in Latin America. The available therapy for this disease is based on two drugs, nifurtimox and benznidazole, which exhibit severe side effects, including resistance, severe cytotoxicity, variable efficacy and inefficiency in the chronic phase. Therefore, new drugs are urgently needed. Coordination compounds may be an interesting alternative for antiparasite therapy against Leishmania spp., Toxoplasma gondii and T. cruzi. Herein, we tested the in vitro effect on T. cruzi epimastigotes (Y strain) of two new μ-oxo Fe(III) dinuclear complexes: [(HL1)(Cl)Fe(μ-O)Fe(Cl)(HL2)](Cl)2·(CH3CH2OH)2·H2O (1) and [(HL2)(Cl)Fe(μ-O)Fe(Cl)(HL2)](Cl)2·H2O (2) where HL1 and HL2 are ligands which contain two pyridines, amine and alcohol moieties with a naphthyl pendant unit yielding a N3O coordination environment. Complexes (1) and (2), which are isomers, were completely characterized, including X-ray diffraction studies for complex (1). Parasites were treated with the complexes and the outcome was analyzed. Complex (1) exhibited the lowest IC50 values, which were 99 ± 3, 97 ± 2 and 110 ± 39 nM, after 48, 72 and 120 h of treatment, respectively. Complex (2) showed IC50 values of 118 ± 5, 122 ± 6 and 104 ± 29 nM for the same treatment times. Low cytotoxicity to the host cell LLC-MK2 was found for both complexes, resulting in impressive selectivity indexes of 106 for complex (1) and 178 for (2), after 120 h of treatment. Treatment with both complexes reduced the mitochondrial membrane potential of the parasite. Ultrastructural analysis of the parasite after treatment with complexes showed that the mitochondria outer membrane presented swelling and abnormal disposition around the kinetoplast; in addition, reservosomes presented anomalous spicules and rupture. The complexes showed low nanomolar IC50 values affecting mitochondria and reservosomes, essential organelles for the survival of the parasite. The low IC50 and the high selectivity index show that both complexes act as a new prototype of drugs against T. cruzi and may be used for further development in drug discovery to treat Chagas disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Felipe Figueirôa Moreira
- Laboratório de Tecnologia em Bioquímica e Microscopia, Centro Universitário Estadual da Zona Oeste (UEZO), Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil. .,Laboratório de Biologia Celular e Tecidual, Centro de Biociências e Biotecnologia, Universidade Estadual do Norte Fluminense Darcy Ribeiro (UENF), Campos dos Goytacazes, RJ, Brazil
| | - Juliana de Araujo Portes
- Laboratório de Ultraestrutura Celular Hertha Meyer, Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), RJ, Brazil
| | - Nathália Florência Barros Azeredo
- Laboratório de Ciências Químicas, Centro de Ciência e Tecnologia, Universidade Estadual do Norte Fluminense Darcy Ribeiro (UENF), Campos dos Goytacazes, RJ, Brazil.
| | - Christiane Fernandes
- Laboratório de Ciências Químicas, Centro de Ciência e Tecnologia, Universidade Estadual do Norte Fluminense Darcy Ribeiro (UENF), Campos dos Goytacazes, RJ, Brazil.
| | - Adolfo Horn
- Laboratório de Ciências Químicas, Centro de Ciência e Tecnologia, Universidade Estadual do Norte Fluminense Darcy Ribeiro (UENF), Campos dos Goytacazes, RJ, Brazil.
| | - Cristina Pinheiro Santiago
- Laboratório de Ciências Químicas, Centro de Ciência e Tecnologia, Universidade Estadual do Norte Fluminense Darcy Ribeiro (UENF), Campos dos Goytacazes, RJ, Brazil.
| | - Bruna Barriquel Segat
- Departamento de Química, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC), Florianópolis, SC, Brazil
| | - Giovanni Finoto Caramori
- Departamento de Química, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC), Florianópolis, SC, Brazil
| | | | | | | | | | - Wanderley de Souza
- Laboratório de Ultraestrutura Celular Hertha Meyer, Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), RJ, Brazil
| | - Renato Augusto DaMatta
- Laboratório de Biologia Celular e Tecidual, Centro de Biociências e Biotecnologia, Universidade Estadual do Norte Fluminense Darcy Ribeiro (UENF), Campos dos Goytacazes, RJ, Brazil
| | - Sergio Henrique Seabra
- Laboratório de Tecnologia em Bioquímica e Microscopia, Centro Universitário Estadual da Zona Oeste (UEZO), Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil. .,Laboratório de Biologia Celular e Tecidual, Centro de Biociências e Biotecnologia, Universidade Estadual do Norte Fluminense Darcy Ribeiro (UENF), Campos dos Goytacazes, RJ, Brazil
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7
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Rivero CV, Martínez SJ, Novick P, Cueto JA, Salassa BN, Vanrell MC, Li X, Labriola CA, Polo LM, Engman DM, Clos J, Romano PS. Repurposing Carvedilol as a Novel Inhibitor of the Trypanosoma cruzi Autophagy Flux That Affects Parasite Replication and Survival. Front Cell Infect Microbiol 2021; 11:657257. [PMID: 34476220 PMCID: PMC8406938 DOI: 10.3389/fcimb.2021.657257] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/22/2021] [Accepted: 05/20/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
T. cruzi, the causal agent of Chagas disease, is a parasite able to infect different types of host cells and to persist chronically in the tissues of human and animal hosts. These qualities and the lack of an effective treatment for the chronic stage of the disease have contributed to the durability and the spread of the disease around the world. There is an urgent necessity to find new therapies for Chagas disease. Drug repurposing is a promising and cost-saving strategy for finding new drugs for different illnesses. In this work we describe the effect of carvedilol on T. cruzi. This compound, selected by virtual screening, increased the accumulation of immature autophagosomes characterized by lower acidity and hydrolytic properties. As a consequence of this action, the survival of trypomastigotes and the replication of epimastigotes and amastigotes were impaired, resulting in a significant reduction of infection and parasite load. Furthermore, carvedilol reduced the whole-body parasite burden peak in infected mice. In summary, in this work we present a repurposed drug with a significant in vitro and in vivo activity against T. cruzi. These data in addition to other pharmacological properties make carvedilol an attractive lead for Chagas disease treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cynthia Vanesa Rivero
- Laboratorio de Biología de Trypanosoma cruzi y la célula hospedadora - Instituto de Histología y Embriología "Dr. Mario H. Burgos", IHEM-CONICET- Universidad Nacional de Cuyo, Mendoza, Argentina.,Leishmaniasis Group, Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Santiago José Martínez
- Laboratorio de Biología de Trypanosoma cruzi y la célula hospedadora - Instituto de Histología y Embriología "Dr. Mario H. Burgos", IHEM-CONICET- Universidad Nacional de Cuyo, Mendoza, Argentina.,Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Cedars Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, United States
| | - Paul Novick
- Department of Chemistry, Stanford University, San Francisco, CA, United States
| | - Juan Agustín Cueto
- Laboratorio de Biología de Trypanosoma cruzi y la célula hospedadora - Instituto de Histología y Embriología "Dr. Mario H. Burgos", IHEM-CONICET- Universidad Nacional de Cuyo, Mendoza, Argentina
| | - Betiana Nebaí Salassa
- Laboratorio de Biología de Trypanosoma cruzi y la célula hospedadora - Instituto de Histología y Embriología "Dr. Mario H. Burgos", IHEM-CONICET- Universidad Nacional de Cuyo, Mendoza, Argentina
| | - María Cristina Vanrell
- Laboratorio de Biología de Trypanosoma cruzi y la célula hospedadora - Instituto de Histología y Embriología "Dr. Mario H. Burgos", IHEM-CONICET- Universidad Nacional de Cuyo, Mendoza, Argentina
| | - Xiaomo Li
- Leishmaniasis Group, Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Carlos Alberto Labriola
- Laboratorio de Biología estructural y celular, Fundación Instituto Leloir (FIL-CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Luis Mariano Polo
- Instituto de Histología y Embriología "Dr. Mario H. Burgos", IHEM-CONICET- Universidad Nacional de Cuyo, Mendoza, Argentina
| | - David M Engman
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Cedars Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, United States
| | - Joachim Clos
- Leishmaniasis Group, Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Patricia Silvia Romano
- Laboratorio de Biología de Trypanosoma cruzi y la célula hospedadora - Instituto de Histología y Embriología "Dr. Mario H. Burgos", IHEM-CONICET- Universidad Nacional de Cuyo, Mendoza, Argentina
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8
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Kourbeli V, Chontzopoulou E, Moschovou K, Pavlos D, Mavromoustakos T, Papanastasiou IP. An Overview on Target-Based Drug Design against Kinetoplastid Protozoan Infections: Human African Trypanosomiasis, Chagas Disease and Leishmaniases. Molecules 2021; 26:molecules26154629. [PMID: 34361781 PMCID: PMC8348971 DOI: 10.3390/molecules26154629] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2021] [Revised: 07/23/2021] [Accepted: 07/27/2021] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
The protozoan diseases Human African Trypanosomiasis (HAT), Chagas disease (CD), and leishmaniases span worldwide and therefore their impact is a universal concern. The present regimen against kinetoplastid protozoan infections is poor and insufficient. Target-based design expands the horizon of drug design and development and offers novel chemical entities and potential drug candidates to the therapeutic arsenal against the aforementioned neglected diseases. In this review, we report the most promising targets of the main kinetoplastid parasites, as well as their corresponding inhibitors. This overview is part of the Special Issue, entitled "Advances of Medicinal Chemistry against Kinetoplastid Protozoa (Trypanosoma brucei, Trypanosoma cruzi and Leishmania spp.) Infections: Drug Design, Synthesis and Pharmacology".
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Affiliation(s)
- Violeta Kourbeli
- Department of Pharmacy, Division of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, School of Health Sciences, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Panepistimioupoli-Zografou, 157 84 Athens, Greece;
| | - Eleni Chontzopoulou
- Department of Organic Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Panepistimioupoli-Zografou, 157 71 Athens, Greece; (E.C.); (K.M.); (D.P.); (T.M.)
| | - Kalliopi Moschovou
- Department of Organic Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Panepistimioupoli-Zografou, 157 71 Athens, Greece; (E.C.); (K.M.); (D.P.); (T.M.)
| | - Dimitrios Pavlos
- Department of Organic Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Panepistimioupoli-Zografou, 157 71 Athens, Greece; (E.C.); (K.M.); (D.P.); (T.M.)
| | - Thomas Mavromoustakos
- Department of Organic Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Panepistimioupoli-Zografou, 157 71 Athens, Greece; (E.C.); (K.M.); (D.P.); (T.M.)
| | - Ioannis P. Papanastasiou
- Department of Pharmacy, Division of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, School of Health Sciences, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Panepistimioupoli-Zografou, 157 84 Athens, Greece;
- Correspondence:
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9
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Losinno AD, Martínez SJ, Labriola CA, Carrillo C, Romano PS. Induction of autophagy increases the proteolytic activity of reservosomes during Trypanosoma cruzi metacyclogenesis. Autophagy 2021; 17:439-456. [PMID: 31983275 PMCID: PMC8007142 DOI: 10.1080/15548627.2020.1720428] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/20/2019] [Revised: 01/16/2020] [Accepted: 01/17/2020] [Indexed: 02/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Cruzipain, the major cysteine protease of the pathogenic protozoa Trypanosoma cruzi, is an important virulence factor that plays a key role in the parasite nutrition, differentiation and host cell infection. Cruzipain is synthesized as a zymogen, matured, and delivered to reservosomes. These organelles that store proteins and lipids ingested by endocytosis undergo a dramatic decrease in number during the metacyclogenesis of T. cruzi. Autophagy is a process that digests the own cell components to supply energy under starvation or different stress situations. This pathway is important during cell growth, differentiation and death. Previously, we showed that the autophagy pathway of T. cruzi is induced during metacyclogenesis. This work aimed to evaluate the participation of macroautophagy/autophagy in the distribution and function of reservosomes and cruzipain during this process. We found that parasite starvation promotes the cruzipain delivery to reservosomes. Enhanced autophagy increases acidity and hydrolytic activity in these compartments resulting in cruzipain enzymatic activation and self- processing. Inhibition of autophagy similarly impairs cruzipain traffic and activity than protease inhibitors, whereas mutant parasites that exhibit increased basal autophagy, also display increased cruzipain processing under control conditions. Further experiments showed that autophagy induced cruzipain activation and self-processing promote T. cruzi differentiation and host cell infection. These findings highlight the key role of T. cruzi autophagy in these processes and reveal a potential new target for Chagas disease therapy.Abbreviations: Baf: bafilomycin A1; CTE: C-terminal extension; Cz: cruzipain; IIF: indirect immunofluorescence; K777: vinyl sulfone with specific Cz inhibitory activity; Prot Inh: broad-spectrum protease inhibitor; Spa1: spautin-1; Wort: wortmannin.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antonella Denise Losinno
- Laboratorio de Biología de Trypanosoma Cruzi y la célula hospedadora, Instituto de Histología y Embriología (IHEM-CONICET), Mendoza, Argentina
- Facultad de Ciencias Médicas, Universidad Nacional de Cuyo (FCM-UNCUYO), Mendoza, Argentina
| | - Santiago José Martínez
- Laboratorio de Biología de Trypanosoma Cruzi y la célula hospedadora, Instituto de Histología y Embriología (IHEM-CONICET), Mendoza, Argentina
| | - Carlos Alberto Labriola
- Laboratorio de Biología estructural y celular, Fundación Instituto Leloir (FIL-CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Carolina Carrillo
- Laboratorio de Parasitología molecular y bioquímica, Instituto de Ciencias y Tecnología Dr. César Milstein (ICT—CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Patricia Silvia Romano
- Laboratorio de Biología de Trypanosoma Cruzi y la célula hospedadora, Instituto de Histología y Embriología (IHEM-CONICET), Mendoza, Argentina
- Facultad de Ciencias Médicas, Universidad Nacional de Cuyo (FCM-UNCUYO), Mendoza, Argentina
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10
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Gulin JEN, Eagleson MA, López-Muñoz RA, Solana ME, Altcheh J, García-Bournissen F. In vitro and in vivo activity of voriconazole and benznidazole combination on trypanosoma cruzi infection models. Acta Trop 2020; 211:105606. [PMID: 32598923 DOI: 10.1016/j.actatropica.2020.105606] [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: 03/20/2020] [Revised: 06/23/2020] [Accepted: 06/25/2020] [Indexed: 01/09/2023]
Abstract
Combination therapy has been proposed as an ideal strategy to reduce drug toxicity and improve treatment efficacy in Chagas disease. Previously, we demonstrated potent in vivo anti-Trypanosoma cruzi activity of voriconazole. In this work, we aimed to study the synergistic effect of voriconazole (VCZ) and benznidazole (BZ) both in vitro and in vivo models of T. cruzi infection using the Tulahuen strain. Combining VCZ and BZ at fixed concentrations, the inhibitory concentration 50% (IC50) on amastigotes was lower than the obtained IC50 for BZ alone and the Fractional Inhibitory Concentration Index (∑FIC) suggested an in vitro additive effect on T. cruzi amastigotes inhibition at concentrations devoid of cytotoxic effects. Treatment response in the in vivo model was evaluated by comparing behavior and physical aspects, parasitemia and mortality of mice infected with Tulahuen strain. VCZ and BZ treatments alone or in combination were well tolerated. All treated animals displayed significantly lower mean peak parasitemia and mortality compared to infected non-treated controls (p< 0.05). However, VCZ + BZ combination elicited no additional benefits over BZ monotherapy. VCZ efficacy was not enhanced by combination therapy with BZ at the doses studied, requiring further and astringent non-clinical studies to establish the VCZ efficacy and eventually moving forward to clinical trials.
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11
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Benzimidazole inhibitors of the major cysteine protease of Trypanosoma brucei. Future Med Chem 2020; 11:1537-1551. [PMID: 31469332 DOI: 10.4155/fmc-2018-0523] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Aim: Limitations in available therapies for trypanosomiases indicate the need for improved medicines. Cysteine proteases cruzain and rhodesain are validated targets for treatment of Chagas disease and human African trypanosomiasis. Previous studies reported a benzimidazole series as potent cruzain inhibitors. Results & methodology: Considering the high similarity between these proteases, we evaluated 40 benzimidazoles against rhodesain. We describe their structure-activity relationships (SAR), revealing trends similar to those observed for cruzain and features that lead to enzyme selectivity. This series comprises noncovalent competitive inhibitors (best Ki = 0.21 μM against rhodesain) and micromolar activity against Trypanosoma brucei brucei. A cheminformatics analysis confirms scaffold novelty, and the inhibitors described have favorable predicted physicochemical properties. Conclusion: Our results support this series as a starting point for new human African trypanosomiasis medicines.
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12
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Chenna BC, Li L, Mellott DM, Zhai X, Siqueira-Neto JL, Calvet Alvarez C, Bernatchez JA, Desormeaux E, Alvarez Hernandez E, Gomez J, McKerrow JH, Cruz-Reyes J, Meek TD. Peptidomimetic Vinyl Heterocyclic Inhibitors of Cruzain Effect Antitrypanosomal Activity. J Med Chem 2020; 63:3298-3316. [PMID: 32125159 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.9b02078] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Cruzain, an essential cysteine protease of the parasitic protozoan, Trypanosoma cruzi, is an important drug target for Chagas disease. We describe here a new series of reversible but time-dependent inhibitors of cruzain, composed of a dipeptide scaffold appended to vinyl heterocycles meant to provide replacements for the irreversible reactive "warheads" of vinyl sulfone inactivators of cruzain. Peptidomimetic vinyl heterocyclic inhibitors (PVHIs) containing Cbz-Phe-Phe/homoPhe scaffolds with vinyl-2-pyrimidine, vinyl-2-pyridine, and vinyl-2-(N-methyl)-pyridine groups conferred reversible, time-dependent inhibition of cruzain (Ki* = 0.1-0.4 μM). These cruzain inhibitors exhibited moderate to excellent selectivity versus human cathepsins B, L, and S and showed no apparent toxicity to human cells but were effective in cell cultures of Trypanosoma brucei brucei (EC50 = 1-15 μM) and eliminated T. cruzi in infected murine cardiomyoblasts (EC50 = 5-8 μM). PVHIs represent a new class of cruzain inhibitors that could progress to viable candidate compounds to treat Chagas disease and human sleeping sickness.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bala C Chenna
- Department of Biochemistry & Biophysics, Texas A&M University, 301 Old Main Drive, College Station, Texas 77843, United States
| | - Linfeng Li
- Department of Biochemistry & Biophysics, Texas A&M University, 301 Old Main Drive, College Station, Texas 77843, United States
| | - Drake M Mellott
- Department of Biochemistry & Biophysics, Texas A&M University, 301 Old Main Drive, College Station, Texas 77843, United States
| | - Xiang Zhai
- Department of Biochemistry & Biophysics, Texas A&M University, 301 Old Main Drive, College Station, Texas 77843, United States
| | - Jair L Siqueira-Neto
- Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of California-San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, California 92093, United States
| | - Claudia Calvet Alvarez
- Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of California-San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, California 92093, United States
| | - Jean A Bernatchez
- Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of California-San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, California 92093, United States
| | - Emily Desormeaux
- Department of Biochemistry & Biophysics, Texas A&M University, 301 Old Main Drive, College Station, Texas 77843, United States
| | - Elizabeth Alvarez Hernandez
- Department of Biochemistry & Biophysics, Texas A&M University, 301 Old Main Drive, College Station, Texas 77843, United States
| | - Jana Gomez
- Department of Biochemistry & Biophysics, Texas A&M University, 301 Old Main Drive, College Station, Texas 77843, United States
| | - James H McKerrow
- Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of California-San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, California 92093, United States
| | - Jorge Cruz-Reyes
- Department of Biochemistry & Biophysics, Texas A&M University, 301 Old Main Drive, College Station, Texas 77843, United States
| | - Thomas D Meek
- Department of Biochemistry & Biophysics, Texas A&M University, 301 Old Main Drive, College Station, Texas 77843, United States
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13
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Abstract
Aim: Cysteine proteases are important molecular targets involved in the replication, virulence and survival of parasitic organisms, including Trypanosoma and Leishmania species. Methodology & results: Analogs of the 7-chloro-N-[3-(morpholin-4-yl)propyl]quinolin-4-amine were synthesized and their inhibitory activity against the enzymes cruzain and rhodesain as well as against promastigotes forms of Leishmania species and epimastigotes forms of Trypanosoma cruzi were evaluated. Five compounds showed activity against both enzymes with half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) values ranging from 23 to 123 μM. Among these, compounds 3 and 4 displayed leishmanicidal activity; compound 4 was the most promising with IC50 values <10 μM and no cytotoxicity for uninfected cells. Conclusion: The results obtained indicate that cysteine proteases are likely to be the molecular target of compounds 3 and 4.
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14
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Acyclic nucleoside phosphonates as possible chemotherapeutics against Trypanosoma brucei. Drug Discov Today 2020; 25:1043-1053. [PMID: 32135205 DOI: 10.1016/j.drudis.2020.02.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/09/2019] [Revised: 01/24/2020] [Accepted: 02/20/2020] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
Human African trypanosomiasis is a life-threatening illness caused by Trypanosoma brucei. Owing to the toxic side effects of the available therapeutics, new medications for this disease are needed. One potential drug target is the 6-oxopurine phosphoribosyltransferases (PRTs), the activity of which is crucial to produce purine nucleotide monophosphates required for DNA and RNA synthesis. Inhibitors of the 6-oxopurine PRTs that show promising results as drug leads are the acyclic nucleoside phosphonates (ANPs). ANPs are very flexible in their structure, enabling important conformational changes to facilitate the binding of this class of compounds in the active site of the 6-oxopurine PRTs.
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15
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Santos SS, de Araújo RV, Giarolla J, Seoud OE, Ferreira EI. Searching for drugs for Chagas disease, leishmaniasis and schistosomiasis: a review. Int J Antimicrob Agents 2020; 55:105906. [PMID: 31987883 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijantimicag.2020.105906] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/07/2019] [Revised: 01/14/2020] [Accepted: 01/18/2020] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
Chagas disease, leishmaniasis and schistosomiasis are neglected diseases (NDs) and are a considerable global challenge. Despite the huge number of people infected, NDs do not create interest from pharmaceutical companies because the associated revenue is generally low. Most of the research on these diseases has been conducted in academic institutions. The chemotherapeutic armamentarium for NDs is scarce and inefficient and better drugs are needed. Researchers have found some promising potential drug candidates using medicinal chemistry and computational approaches. Most of these compounds are synthetic but some are from natural sources or are semi-synthetic. Drug repurposing or repositioning has also been greatly stimulated for NDs. This review considers some potential drug candidates and provides details of their design, discovery and activity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Soraya Silva Santos
- Laboratory of Design and Synthesis of Chemotherapeutics Potentially Active in Neglected Diseases (LAPEN), Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of São Paulo-USP, Avenue Professor Lineu Prestes, 580-Building 13, São Paulo SP, 05508-900, Brazil
| | - Renan Vinicius de Araújo
- Laboratory of Design and Synthesis of Chemotherapeutics Potentially Active in Neglected Diseases (LAPEN), Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of São Paulo-USP, Avenue Professor Lineu Prestes, 580-Building 13, São Paulo SP, 05508-900, Brazil
| | - Jeanine Giarolla
- Laboratory of Design and Synthesis of Chemotherapeutics Potentially Active in Neglected Diseases (LAPEN), Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of São Paulo-USP, Avenue Professor Lineu Prestes, 580-Building 13, São Paulo SP, 05508-900, Brazil
| | - Omar El Seoud
- Laboratory of Design and Synthesis of Chemotherapeutics Potentially Active in Neglected Diseases (LAPEN), Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of São Paulo-USP, Avenue Professor Lineu Prestes, 580-Building 13, São Paulo SP, 05508-900, Brazil
| | - Elizabeth Igne Ferreira
- Laboratory of Design and Synthesis of Chemotherapeutics Potentially Active in Neglected Diseases (LAPEN), Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of São Paulo-USP, Avenue Professor Lineu Prestes, 580-Building 13, São Paulo SP, 05508-900, Brazil.
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16
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Talevi A, Bellera CL. Challenges and opportunities with drug repurposing: finding strategies to find alternative uses of therapeutics. Expert Opin Drug Discov 2019; 15:397-401. [PMID: 31847616 DOI: 10.1080/17460441.2020.1704729] [Citation(s) in RCA: 135] [Impact Index Per Article: 27.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/22/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Alan Talevi
- Laboratory of Bioactive Research and Development, Faculty of Exact Sciences, University of La Plata (UNLP), La Plata, Argentina.,Argentinean National Council of Scientific and Technical Research (CONICET), CCT La Plata, La Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Carolina L Bellera
- Laboratory of Bioactive Research and Development, Faculty of Exact Sciences, University of La Plata (UNLP), La Plata, Argentina.,Argentinean National Council of Scientific and Technical Research (CONICET), CCT La Plata, La Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina
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17
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Vermelho AB, Rodrigues GC, Supuran CT. Why hasn't there been more progress in new Chagas disease drug discovery? Expert Opin Drug Discov 2019; 15:145-158. [PMID: 31670987 DOI: 10.1080/17460441.2020.1681394] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
Introduction: Chagas disease (CD) is a neglected disease caused by the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi. In terms of novel drug discovery, there has been no progress since the 1960s with the same two drugs, benznidazole and nifurtimox, still in use. The complex life cycle, genetic diversity of T. cruzi strains, different sensitivities to the available drugs, as well as little interest from pharmaceutical companies and inadequate methodologies for translating in vitro and in vivo findings to the discovery of new drugs have all contributed to the lack of progress.Areas covered: In this perspective, the authors give discussion to the relevant points connected to the lack of developments in CD drug discovery and provide their expert perspectives.Expert opinion: There are few drugs currently in the preclinical pipeline for the treatment of CD. Only three classes of compounds have been shown to achieve high cure rates in mouse models of infection: nitroimidazoles (fexinidazole), oxaborole DNDi-6148 and proteasome inhibitors (GNF6702). New biomarkers for Chagas' disease are urgently needed for the diagnosis and detection of cure/treatment efficacy. Efforts from academia and pharmaceutical companies are in progress and more intense interaction to accelerate the process of new drugs development is necessary.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alane Beatriz Vermelho
- BIOINOVAR - Biotechnology Laboratories: Biocatalysis, Bioproducts and Bioenergy, Institute of Microbiology Paulo de Góes,Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Giseli Capaci Rodrigues
- Postgraduate Program in Teaching of Sciences, University of Grande Rio, Duque de Caxias, Brazil
| | - Claudiu T Supuran
- Department of NEUROFARBA, Pharmaceutical and Nutraceutical Section, University of Florence, Sesto Fiorentino (Firenze), Italy
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18
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Silva ACC, Brelaz-de-Castro MCA, Leite ACL, Pereira VRA, Hernandes MZ. Chagas Disease Treatment and Rational Drug Discovery: A Challenge That Remains. Front Pharmacol 2019; 10:873. [PMID: 31427977 PMCID: PMC6690016 DOI: 10.3389/fphar.2019.00873] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/17/2019] [Accepted: 07/08/2019] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Ana Catarina Cristovão Silva
- Laboratório de Imunopatologia e Biologia Molecular, Departamento de Imunologia, Instituto Aggeu Magalhães, Recife, Brazil.,Programa de Pós-graduação em Inovação Terapêutica, Centro de Biociências, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Recife, Brazil
| | - Maria Carolina Accioly Brelaz-de-Castro
- Laboratório de Imunopatologia e Biologia Molecular, Departamento de Imunologia, Instituto Aggeu Magalhães, Recife, Brazil.,Laboratório de Parasitologia, Centro Acadêmico de Vitória, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Vitória de Santo Antão, Brazil
| | | | - Valéria Rêgo Alves Pereira
- Laboratório de Imunopatologia e Biologia Molecular, Departamento de Imunologia, Instituto Aggeu Magalhães, Recife, Brazil
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19
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Ward DJ, Van de Langemheen H, Koehne E, Kreidenweiss A, Liskamp RMJ. Highly tunable thiosulfonates as a novel class of cysteine protease inhibitors with anti-parasitic activity against Schistosoma mansoni. Bioorg Med Chem 2019; 27:2857-2870. [PMID: 31126821 DOI: 10.1016/j.bmc.2019.05.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/12/2019] [Revised: 04/30/2019] [Accepted: 05/09/2019] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
The development of a new class of cysteine protease inhibitors utilising the thiosulfonate moiety as an SH specific electrophile is described. This moiety has been introduced into suitable amino acid derived building blocks, which were incorporated into peptidic sequences leading to very potent i.e. sub micromolar inhibitors of the cysteine protease papain in the same range as the vinyl sulfone based inhibitor K11777. Therefore, their inhibitory effect on Schistosoma mansoni, a human blood parasite, that expresses several cysteine proteases, was evaluated. The homophenylalanine side chain containing compounds 27-30 and especially 36 showed promising activities compared with K11777 and warrant further investigations of these peptidic thiosulfonate inhibitors as new potential anti-parasitic compounds.
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Affiliation(s)
- D J Ward
- School of Chemistry, Joseph Black Building, University of Glasgow, University Avenue, Glasgow G12 8QQ, UK
| | - H Van de Langemheen
- School of Chemistry, Joseph Black Building, University of Glasgow, University Avenue, Glasgow G12 8QQ, UK
| | - E Koehne
- Institute of Tropical Medicine, University of Tübingen, Wilhelmstrasse 27, D-72074 Tübingen, Germany
| | - A Kreidenweiss
- Institute of Tropical Medicine, University of Tübingen, Wilhelmstrasse 27, D-72074 Tübingen, Germany.
| | - R M J Liskamp
- School of Chemistry, Joseph Black Building, University of Glasgow, University Avenue, Glasgow G12 8QQ, UK.
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20
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Guedes-da-Silva FH, Batista DDGJ, Da Silva CF, Pavão BP, Batista MM, Moreira OC, Souza LRQ, Britto C, Rachakonda G, Villalta F, Lepesheva GI, Soeiro MDNC. Successful Aspects of the Coadministration of Sterol 14α-Demethylase Inhibitor VFV and Benznidazole in Experimental Mouse Models of Chagas Disease Caused by the Drug-Resistant Strain of Trypanosoma cruzi. ACS Infect Dis 2019; 5:365-371. [PMID: 30625275 DOI: 10.1021/acsinfecdis.8b00253] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
Up to now, no vaccines are available for Chagas disease, and the current therapy is largely unsatisfactory. Novel imidazole-based scaffolds of protozoan sterol 14α-demethylase (CYP51) inhibitors have demonstrated potent antiparasitic activity with no acute toxicity. Presently our aim was to investigate the effectiveness of the experimental 14α-demethylase inhibitor VFV in the mouse models of Trypanosoma cruzi infection using a naturally drug-resistant Colombiana strain, under monotherapy and in association with the reference drug, benznidazole (Bz). The treatment with VFV resulted in complete parasitemia suppression and 100% animal survival when administered orally (given in 10% DMSO plus 5% Arabic gum) at 25 mg/kg (bid) for 60 days. However, as parasite relapse was found using VFV alone under this treatment scheme, the coadministration of VFV with Bz was assayed giving simultaneously (for 60 days, bid) by oral route, under two different drug vehicles (10% DMSO plus 5% Gum Arabic with or without 3% Tween 80). All tested mice groups resulted in >99.9% of parasitemia decrease and 100% animal survival. qPCR analysis performed on cyclophosphamide immunosuppressed mice revealed that, although presenting lack of cure, VFV given as monotherapy was 14-fold more active than Bz, and the coadministration of Bz plus VFV (given simultaneously, using 10% DMSO plus 5% Gum Arabic as vehicle) resulted in 106-fold lower blood parasitism as compared to the monotherapy of Bz. Another interesting finding was the parasitological cure in 70% of the animals treated with Bz and VFV when the coadministration was given using the VFV suspension in 10% DMSO + Arabic gum + Tween 80 (a formulation that we have found to provide a better pharmacokinetics), even after immunosuppression using cyclophosphamide cycles, supporting the promising aspect of the drug coadministration in improving the efficacy of therapeutic arsenal against T. cruzi.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | - Girish Rachakonda
- Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Physiology, Meharry Medical College, 1005 Dr. DB Todd Jr. Blvd., Nashville, Tennessee 37208, United States,
| | - Fernando Villalta
- Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Physiology, Meharry Medical College, 1005 Dr. DB Todd Jr. Blvd., Nashville, Tennessee 37208, United States,
| | - Galina I. Lepesheva
- Department of Biochemistry School of Medicine, Institute for Global Health, Vanderbilt University, 622A RRB, 2200 Pierce Avenue, Nashville, Tennessee 37232, United States
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21
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Menna-Barreto RFS. Cell death pathways in pathogenic trypanosomatids: lessons of (over)kill. Cell Death Dis 2019; 10:93. [PMID: 30700697 PMCID: PMC6353990 DOI: 10.1038/s41419-019-1370-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 66] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/15/2018] [Revised: 12/10/2018] [Accepted: 12/13/2018] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
Especially in tropical and developing countries, the clinically relevant protozoa Trypanosoma cruzi (Chagas disease), Trypanosoma brucei (sleeping sickness) and Leishmania species (leishmaniasis) stand out and infect millions of people worldwide leading to critical social-economic implications. Low-income populations are mainly affected by these three illnesses that are neglected by the pharmaceutical industry. Current anti-trypanosomatid drugs present variable efficacy with remarkable side effects that almost lead to treatment discontinuation, justifying a continuous search for alternative compounds that interfere with essential and specific parasite pathways. In this scenario, the triggering of trypanosomatid cell death machinery emerges as a promising approach, although the exact mechanisms involved in unicellular eukaryotes are still unclear as well as the controversial biological importance of programmed cell death (PCD). In this review, the mechanisms of autophagy, apoptosis-like cell death and necrosis found in pathogenic trypanosomatids are discussed, as well as their roles in successful infection. Based on the published genomic and proteomic maps, the panel of trypanosomatid cell death molecules was constructed under different experimental conditions. The lack of PCD molecular regulators and executioners in these parasites up to now has led to cell death being classified as an unregulated process or incidental necrosis, despite all morphological evidence published. In this context, the participation of metacaspases in PCD was also not described, and these proteases play a crucial role in proliferation and differentiation processes. On the other hand, autophagic phenotype has been described in trypanosomatids under a great variety of stress conditions (drugs, starvation, among others) suggesting that this process is involved in the turnover of damaged structures in the protozoa and is not a cell death pathway. Death mechanisms of pathogenic trypanosomatids may be involved in pathogenesis, and the identification of parasite-specific regulators could represent a rational and attractive alternative target for drug development for these neglected diseases.
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22
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Discovery of Non-Peptidic Compounds against Chagas Disease Applying Pharmacophore Guided Molecular Modelling Approaches. Molecules 2018; 23:molecules23123054. [PMID: 30469538 PMCID: PMC6321154 DOI: 10.3390/molecules23123054] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/21/2018] [Revised: 11/12/2018] [Accepted: 11/14/2018] [Indexed: 01/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Chagas disease is one of the primary causes of heart diseases accounting to 50,000 lives annually and is listed as the neglected tropical disease. Because the currently available therapies have greater toxic effects with higher resistance, there is a dire need to develop new drugs to combat the disease. In this pursuit, the 3D QSAR ligand-pharmacophore (pharm 1) and receptor-based pharmacophore (pharm 2) search was initiated to retrieve the candidate compounds from universal natural compounds database. The validated models were allowed to map the universal natural compounds database. The obtained lead candidates were subjected to molecular docking against cysteine protease (PDB code: 1ME3) employing -Cdocker available on the discovery studio. Subsequently, two Hits have satisfied the selection criteria and were escalated to molecular dynamics simulation and binding free energy calculations. These Hits have demonstrated higher dock scores, displayed interactions with the key residues portraying an ideal binding mode complemented by mapping to all the features of pharm 1 and pharm 2. Additionally, they have rendered stable root mean square deviation (RMSD) and potential energy profiles illuminating their potentiality as the prospective antichagastic agents. The study further demonstrates the mechanism of inhibition by tetrad residues compromising of Gly23 and Asn70 holding the ligand at each ends and the residues Gly65 and Gly160 clamping the Hits at the center. The notable feature is that the Hits lie in close proximity with the residues Glu66 and Leu67, accommodating within the S1, S2 and S3 subsites. Considering these findings, the study suggests that the Hits may be regarded as effective therapeutics against Chagas disease.
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Hiller NDJ, Silva NAAE, Faria RX, Souza ALA, Resende JALC, Borges Farias A, Correia Romeiro N, de Luna Martins D. Synthesis and Evaluation of the Anticancer and Trypanocidal Activities of Boronic Tyrphostins. ChemMedChem 2018; 13:1395-1404. [PMID: 29856519 DOI: 10.1002/cmdc.201800206] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/29/2018] [Revised: 05/14/2018] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Molecules containing an (cyanovinyl)arene moiety are known as tyrphostins because of their ability to inhibit proteins from the tyrosine kinase family, an interesting target for the development of anticancer and trypanocidal drugs. In the present work, (E)-(cyanovinyl)benzeneboronic acids were synthesized by Knoevenagel condensations without the use of any catalysts in water through a simple protocol that completely avoided the use of organic solvents in the synthesis and workup process. The in vitro anticancer and trypanocidal activities of the synthesized boronic acids were also evaluated, and it was discovered that the introduction of the boronic acid functionality improved the activity of the boronic tyrphostins. In silico target fishing with the use of a chemogenomic approach suggested that tyrosine-phosphorylation-regulated kinase 1a (DYRK1A) was a potential target for some of the designed compounds.
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Affiliation(s)
- Noemi de J Hiller
- Research Group on Catalysis and Synthesis (CSI), Universidade Federal Fluminense, Laboratório 413, Instituto de Química, Campus do Valonguinho, Centro, Niterói, RJ, 24020-141, Brazil
| | - Nayane A A E Silva
- Research Group on Catalysis and Synthesis (CSI), Universidade Federal Fluminense, Laboratório 413, Instituto de Química, Campus do Valonguinho, Centro, Niterói, RJ, 24020-141, Brazil
| | - Robson X Faria
- Laboratory of Toxoplasmosis and other Protozoan Diseases, Oswaldo Cruz Institute (Fiocruz), Brasil
| | - André Luís A Souza
- Laboratory of Biochemistry of Peptides, Oswaldo Cruz Institute (Fiocruz), Brazil
| | - Jackson A L C Resende
- Laboratory of Solid-State Chemistry, Universidade Federal do Mato Grosso, Instituto de Ciências Exatas e da Terra, Campus Universitário do Araguaia, Barra do Garças, MT, 78600-000, Brazil
| | - André Borges Farias
- Núcleo de Pesquisas em Ecologia e Desenvolvimento Social (NUPEM), Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Campus de Macaé, Av. Rotary Club s/n; São José do Barreto, Macaé, RJ, 27901-000, Brazil
| | - Nelilma Correia Romeiro
- Núcleo de Pesquisas em Ecologia e Desenvolvimento Social (NUPEM), Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Campus de Macaé, Av. Rotary Club s/n; São José do Barreto, Macaé, RJ, 27901-000, Brazil
| | - Daniela de Luna Martins
- Research Group on Catalysis and Synthesis (CSI), Universidade Federal Fluminense, Laboratório 413, Instituto de Química, Campus do Valonguinho, Centro, Niterói, RJ, 24020-141, Brazil
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Otta DA, de Araújo FF, de Rezende VB, Souza-Fagundes EM, Elói-Santos SM, Costa-Silva MF, Santos RA, Costa HA, Siqueira-Neto JL, Martins-Filho OA, Teixeira-Carvalho A. Identification of Anti-Trypanosoma cruzi Lead Compounds with Putative Immunomodulatory Activity. Antimicrob Agents Chemother 2018; 62:e01834-17. [PMID: 29437629 PMCID: PMC5913944 DOI: 10.1128/aac.01834-17] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/06/2017] [Accepted: 01/21/2018] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
In seeking substitutions for the current Chagas disease treatment, which has several relevant side effects, new therapeutic candidates have been extensively investigated. In this context, a balanced interaction between mediators of the host immune response seems to be a key element for therapeutic success, as a proinflammatory microenvironment modulated by interleukin-10 (IL-10) is shown to be relevant to potentiate anti-Trypanosoma cruzi drug activity. This study aimed to identify the potential immunomodulatory activities of the anti-T. cruzi K777, pyronaridine (PYR), and furazolidone (FUR) compounds in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from noninfected (NI) subjects and chronic Chagas disease (CD) patients. Our results showed low cytotoxicity to PBMC populations, with 50% cytotoxic concentrations (CC50) of 71.0 μM (K777), 9.0 μM (PYR), and greater than 20 μM (FUR). In addition, K777 showed no impact on the exposure index (EI) of phytohemagglutinin-stimulated leukocytes (PHA), while PYR and FUR treatments induced increased EI of monocytes and T lymphocytes at late stages of apoptosis in NI subjects. Moreover, K777 induced a more prominent proinflammatory response (tumor necrosis factor alpha-positive [TNF-α+] CD8+/CD4+, gamma interferon-positive [IFN-γ+] CD4+/CD8+ modulated by interleukin-10-positive [IL-10+] CD4+ T/CD8+ T) than did PYR (TNF-α+ CD8+, IL-10+ CD8+) and FUR (TNF-α+ CD8+, IL-10+ CD8+). Signature analysis of intracytoplasmic cytokines corroborated the proinflammatory/modulated (K777) and proinflammatory (PYR and FUR) profiles previously found. In conclusion, the lead compound K777 may induce beneficial changes in the immunological profile of patients presenting the chronic phase of Chagas disease and may contribute to a more effective therapy against the disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dayane Andriotti Otta
- Grupo Integrado de Pesquisas em Biomarcadores, Instituto René Rachou, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz-FIOCRUZ, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - Fernanda Fortes de Araújo
- Grupo Integrado de Pesquisas em Biomarcadores, Instituto René Rachou, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz-FIOCRUZ, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
- Programa de Pós-graduação em Sanidade e Produção Animal nos Trópicos, Medicina Veterinária, Universidade de Uberaba (UNIUBE), Uberaba, Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - Vitor Bortolo de Rezende
- Grupo Integrado de Pesquisas em Biomarcadores, Instituto René Rachou, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz-FIOCRUZ, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - Elaine Maria Souza-Fagundes
- Departamento de Fisiologia e Biofísica, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - Silvana Maria Elói-Santos
- Grupo Integrado de Pesquisas em Biomarcadores, Instituto René Rachou, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz-FIOCRUZ, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
- Departamento de Propedêutica Complementar, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - Matheus Fernandes Costa-Silva
- Grupo Integrado de Pesquisas em Biomarcadores, Instituto René Rachou, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz-FIOCRUZ, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - Raiany Araújo Santos
- Grupo Integrado de Pesquisas em Biomarcadores, Instituto René Rachou, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz-FIOCRUZ, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - Heloísa Alves Costa
- Grupo Integrado de Pesquisas em Biomarcadores, Instituto René Rachou, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz-FIOCRUZ, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - Jair Lage Siqueira-Neto
- Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of California, San Diego, California, USA
| | - Olindo Assis Martins-Filho
- Grupo Integrado de Pesquisas em Biomarcadores, Instituto René Rachou, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz-FIOCRUZ, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - Andréa Teixeira-Carvalho
- Grupo Integrado de Pesquisas em Biomarcadores, Instituto René Rachou, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz-FIOCRUZ, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
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Martins LC, Torres PHM, de Oliveira RB, Pascutti PG, Cino EA, Ferreira RS. Investigation of the binding mode of a novel cruzain inhibitor by docking, molecular dynamics, ab initio and MM/PBSA calculations. J Comput Aided Mol Des 2018; 32:591-605. [PMID: 29564808 DOI: 10.1007/s10822-018-0112-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2017] [Accepted: 03/14/2018] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
Chagas disease remains a major health problem in South America, and throughout the world. The two drugs clinically available for its treatment have limited efficacy and cause serious adverse effects. Cruzain is an established therapeutic target of Trypanosoma cruzi, the protozoan that causes Chagas disease. Our group recently identified a competitive cruzain inhibitor (compound 1) with an IC50 = 15 µM that is also more synthetically accessible than the previously reported lead, compound 2. Prior studies, however, did not propose a binding mode for compound 1, hindering understanding of the structure-activity relationship and optimization. Here, the cruzain binding mode of compound 1 was investigated using docking, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations with ab initio derived parameters, ab initio calculations, and MM/PBSA. Two ligand protonation states and four binding poses were evaluated. A careful ligand parameterization method was employed to derive more physically meaningful parameters than those obtained by automated tools. The poses of unprotonated 1 were unstable in MD, showing large conformational changes and diffusing away from the binding site, whereas the protonated form showed higher stability and interaction with negatively charged residues Asp161 and Cys25. MM/PBSA also suggested that these two residues contribute favorably to binding of compound 1. By combining results from MD, ab initio calculations, and MM/PBSA, a binding mode of 1 is proposed. The results also provide insights for further optimization of 1, an interesting lead compound for the development of new cruzain inhibitors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luan Carvalho Martins
- Laboratório de Modelagem Molecular e Planejamento de Fármacos, Departamento de Bioquímica e Imunologia, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Av. Antônio Carlos, 6627, Belo Horizonte, MG, CEP 31270-901, Brazil.,Laboratório de Química Farmacêutica, Departamento de Produtos Farmacêuticos, Faculdade de Farmácia, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Av. Antônio Carlos, 6627, Belo Horizonte, MG, CEP 31270-901, Brazil
| | - Pedro Henrique Monteiro Torres
- Programa de Computação Científica, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz - FIOCRUZ, Av. Brasil, 4365, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, CEP 21040-900, Brazil
| | - Renata Barbosa de Oliveira
- Laboratório de Química Farmacêutica, Departamento de Produtos Farmacêuticos, Faculdade de Farmácia, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Av. Antônio Carlos, 6627, Belo Horizonte, MG, CEP 31270-901, Brazil
| | - Pedro Geraldo Pascutti
- Laboratório de Modelagem e Dinâmica Molecular, Instituto de Biofísica, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Av. Carlos Chagas Filho, 373, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, CEP 21944-970, Brazil
| | - Elio A Cino
- Departamento de Bioquímica e Imunologia, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Av. Antônio Carlos, 6627, Belo Horizonte, MG, CEP 31270-901, Brazil
| | - Rafaela Salgado Ferreira
- Laboratório de Modelagem Molecular e Planejamento de Fármacos, Departamento de Bioquímica e Imunologia, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Av. Antônio Carlos, 6627, Belo Horizonte, MG, CEP 31270-901, Brazil.
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Franco J, Scarone L, Comini MA. Drugs and Drug Resistance in African and American Trypanosomiasis. ANNUAL REPORTS IN MEDICINAL CHEMISTRY 2018. [DOI: 10.1016/bs.armc.2018.08.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
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Treatment with 3′-deoxyadenosine and deoxycoformycin in mice infected by Trypanosoma cruzi and its side effect on purinergic enzymes. Microb Pathog 2017; 113:51-56. [DOI: 10.1016/j.micpath.2017.10.030] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/10/2017] [Revised: 10/14/2017] [Accepted: 10/16/2017] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
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Characterization and Trypanocidal Activity of a Novel Pyranaphthoquinone. MOLECULES (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2017; 22:molecules22101631. [PMID: 28973960 PMCID: PMC6151607 DOI: 10.3390/molecules22101631] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/12/2017] [Revised: 09/25/2017] [Accepted: 09/28/2017] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
Chagas disease is an endemic parasitic infection that occurs in 21 Latin American countries. New therapies for this disease are urgently needed, as the only two drugs available (nifurtimox and benznidazol) have high toxicity and variable efficacy in the disease’s chronic phase. Recently, a new chemical entity (NCE) named Pyranaphthoquinone (IVS320) was synthesized from lawsone. We report herein, a detailed study of the physicochemical properties and in vitro trypanocidal activity of IVS320. A series of assays were performed for characterization, where thermal, diffractometric, and morphological analysis were performed. In addition, the solubility, permeability, and hygroscopicity of IVS320 were determined. The results show that its poor solubility and low permeability may be due to its high degree of crystallinity (99.19%), which might require the use of proper techniques to increase the IVS320’s aqueous solubility and permeability. The trypanocidal activity study demonstrated that IVS320 is more potent than the reference drug benznidazole, with IC50/24 h of 1.49 ± 0.1 μM, which indicates that IVS320 has potential as a new drug candidate for the treatment of Chagas disease.
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de Oliveira Filho GB, Cardoso MVDO, Espíndola JWP, Oliveira E Silva DA, Ferreira RS, Coelho PL, Anjos PSD, Santos EDS, Meira CS, Moreira DRM, Soares MBP, Leite ACL. Structural design, synthesis and pharmacological evaluation of thiazoles against Trypanosoma cruzi. Eur J Med Chem 2017; 141:346-361. [PMID: 29031078 DOI: 10.1016/j.ejmech.2017.09.047] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/05/2017] [Revised: 08/29/2017] [Accepted: 09/21/2017] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
Chagas disease is one of the most significant health problems in the American continent. benznidazole (BDZ) and nifurtimox (NFX) are the only drugs approved for treatment and exhibit strong side effects and ineffectiveness in the chronic stage, besides different susceptibility among T. cruzi DTUs (Discrete Typing Units). Therefore, new drugs to treat this disease are necessary. Thiazole compounds have been described as potent trypanocidal agents. Here we report the structural planning, synthesis and anti-T. cruzi evaluation of a new series of 1,3-thiazoles (7-28), which were designed by placing this heterocycle instead of thiazolidin-4-one ring. The synthesis was conducted in an ultrasonic bath with 2-propanol as solvent at room temperature. By varying substituents attached to the phenyl and thiazole rings, substituents were observed to retain, enhance or greatly increase their anti-T. cruzi activity. In some cases, methyl at position 5 of the thiazole (compounds 9, 12 and 23) increased trypanocidal property. The exchange of phenyl for pyridinyl heterocycle resulted in increased activity, giving rise to the most potent compound against the trypomasigote form (14, IC50trypo = 0.37 μM). Importantly, these new thiazoles were toxic for trypomastigotes without affecting macrophages and cardiomyoblast viability. The compounds were also evaluated against cruzain, and five of the most active compounds against trypomastigotes (7, 9, 12, 16 and 23) inhibited more than 70% of enzymatic activity at 10 μM, among which compound 7 had an IC50 in the submicromolar range, suggesting a possible mechanism of action. In addition, examination of T. cruzi cell death showed that compound 14 induces apoptosis. We also examined the activity against intracellular parasites, revealing that compound 14 inhibited T. cruzi infection with potency similar to benznidazole. The antiparasitic effect of 14 and benznidazole in combination was also investigated against trypomastigotes and revealed that they have synergistic effects, showing a promising profile for drug combination. Finally, in mice acutely-infected with T. cruzi,14 treatment significanty reduced the blood parasitaemia and had a protective effect on mortality. In conclusion, we report the identification of compounds (7), (12), (15), (23) and (26) with similar trypanocidal activity of benznidazole; compounds (9) and (21) as trypanocidal agents equipotent with BDZ, and compound 14 with potency 28 times better than the reference drug without affecting macrophages and cardiomyoblast viability. Mechanistically, the compounds inhibit cruzain, and 14 induces T. cruzi cell death by an apoptotic process, being considered a good starting point for the development of new anti-Chagas drug candidates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gevanio Bezerra de Oliveira Filho
- Laboratório de Planejamento em Química Medicinal - LpQM, Departamento de Ciências Farmacêuticas, Centro de Ciências da Saúde, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco - UFPE, 50740-520, Recife, PE, Brazil; Faculdade de Integração do Sertão - FIS, Rua João Luiz de Melo, 2110, COHAB, Serra Talhada, PE, Brazil.
| | | | - José Wanderlan Pontes Espíndola
- Laboratório de Planejamento em Química Medicinal - LpQM, Departamento de Ciências Farmacêuticas, Centro de Ciências da Saúde, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco - UFPE, 50740-520, Recife, PE, Brazil
| | - Dayane Albuquerque Oliveira E Silva
- Laboratório de Planejamento em Química Medicinal - LpQM, Departamento de Ciências Farmacêuticas, Centro de Ciências da Saúde, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco - UFPE, 50740-520, Recife, PE, Brazil
| | - Rafaela Salgado Ferreira
- Departamento de Bioquímica e Imunologia, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, CEP 31270-901, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil
| | - Pollyanne Lacerda Coelho
- Departamento de Bioquímica e Imunologia, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, CEP 31270-901, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil
| | | | | | - Cássio Santana Meira
- Instituto Gonçalo Moniz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, CEP 40296-710, Salvador, BA, Brazil
| | | | - Milena Botelho Pereira Soares
- Instituto Gonçalo Moniz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, CEP 40296-710, Salvador, BA, Brazil; Centro de Biotecnologia e Terapia Celular, Hospital São Rafael, Salvador, BA, Brazil
| | - Ana Cristina Lima Leite
- Laboratório de Planejamento em Química Medicinal - LpQM, Departamento de Ciências Farmacêuticas, Centro de Ciências da Saúde, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco - UFPE, 50740-520, Recife, PE, Brazil.
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Jain V, Sharma A, Singh G, Yogavel M, Sharma A. Structure-Based Targeting of Orthologous Pathogen Proteins Accelerates Antiparasitic Drug Discovery. ACS Infect Dis 2017; 3:281-292. [PMID: 28195698 DOI: 10.1021/acsinfecdis.6b00181] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
Abstract
Parasitic diseases caused by eukaryotic pathogens impose significant health and economic burden worldwide. The level of research funding available for many parasitic diseases is insufficient in relation to their adverse social and economic impact. In this article, we discuss that extant 3D structural data on protein-inhibitor complexes can be harnessed to accelerate drug discovery against many related pathogens. Assessment of sequence conservation within drug/inhibitor-binding residues in enzyme-inhibitor complexes can be leveraged to predict and validate both new lead compounds and their molecular targets in multiple parasitic diseases. Hence, structure-based targeting of orthologous pathogen proteins accelerates the discovery of new antiparasitic drugs. This approach offers significant benefits for jumpstarting the discovery of new lead compounds and their molecular targets in diverse human, livestock, and plant pathogens.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vitul Jain
- Molecular Medicine Group, International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB), Aruna Asaf Ali Road, New Delhi 110067, India
| | - Arvind Sharma
- Molecular Medicine Group, International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB), Aruna Asaf Ali Road, New Delhi 110067, India
| | - Gajinder Singh
- Molecular Medicine Group, International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB), Aruna Asaf Ali Road, New Delhi 110067, India
| | - Manickam Yogavel
- Molecular Medicine Group, International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB), Aruna Asaf Ali Road, New Delhi 110067, India
| | - Amit Sharma
- Molecular Medicine Group, International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB), Aruna Asaf Ali Road, New Delhi 110067, India
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Braga SFP, Martins LC, da Silva EB, Sales Júnior PA, Murta SMF, Romanha AJ, Soh WT, Brandstetter H, Ferreira RS, de Oliveira RB. Synthesis and biological evaluation of potential inhibitors of the cysteine proteases cruzain and rhodesain designed by molecular simplification. Bioorg Med Chem 2017; 25:1889-1900. [DOI: 10.1016/j.bmc.2017.02.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/09/2017] [Revised: 01/31/2017] [Accepted: 02/06/2017] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
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Olmo F, Costas M, Marín C, Rosales MJ, Martín-Escolano R, Cussó O, Gutierrez-Sánchez R, Ribas X, Sánchez-Moreno M. Tetradentate polyamines as efficient metallodrugs for Chagas disease treatment in murine model. J Chemother 2016; 29:83-93. [DOI: 10.1080/1120009x.2016.1190536] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Francisco Olmo
- Departamento de Parasitología, Instituto de Investigación Biosanitaria (ibs.GRANADA), Hospitales Universitarios De Granada/Universidad de Granada, Granada, Spain
| | - Miquel Costas
- QBIS Research Group, Departament de Química, Institut de Quimica Computacional i Catàlisi (IQCC), Universitat de Girona, Campus de Montilivi, E-17071, Girona, Spain
| | - Clotilde Marín
- Departamento de Parasitología, Instituto de Investigación Biosanitaria (ibs.GRANADA), Hospitales Universitarios De Granada/Universidad de Granada, Granada, Spain
| | - Maria José Rosales
- Departamento de Parasitología, Instituto de Investigación Biosanitaria (ibs.GRANADA), Hospitales Universitarios De Granada/Universidad de Granada, Granada, Spain
| | - Rubén Martín-Escolano
- Departamento de Parasitología, Instituto de Investigación Biosanitaria (ibs.GRANADA), Hospitales Universitarios De Granada/Universidad de Granada, Granada, Spain
| | - Olaf Cussó
- QBIS Research Group, Departament de Química, Institut de Quimica Computacional i Catàlisi (IQCC), Universitat de Girona, Campus de Montilivi, E-17071, Girona, Spain
| | | | - Xavi Ribas
- QBIS Research Group, Departament de Química, Institut de Quimica Computacional i Catàlisi (IQCC), Universitat de Girona, Campus de Montilivi, E-17071, Girona, Spain
| | - Manuel Sánchez-Moreno
- Departamento de Parasitología, Instituto de Investigación Biosanitaria (ibs.GRANADA), Hospitales Universitarios De Granada/Universidad de Granada, Granada, Spain
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In vitro and in vivo identification of tetradentated polyamine complexes as highly efficient metallodrugs against Trypanosoma cruzi. Exp Parasitol 2016; 164:20-30. [DOI: 10.1016/j.exppara.2016.02.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/24/2015] [Revised: 02/04/2016] [Accepted: 02/05/2016] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
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De Rycker M, Thomas J, Riley J, Brough SJ, Miles TJ, Gray DW. Identification of Trypanocidal Activity for Known Clinical Compounds Using a New Trypanosoma cruzi Hit-Discovery Screening Cascade. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 2016; 10:e0004584. [PMID: 27082760 PMCID: PMC4833300 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0004584] [Citation(s) in RCA: 54] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/07/2016] [Accepted: 03/07/2016] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
Chagas disease is a significant health problem in Latin America and the available treatments have significant issues in terms of toxicity and efficacy. There is thus an urgent need to develop new treatments either via a repurposing strategy or through the development of new chemical entities. A key first step is the identification of compounds with anti-Trypanosoma cruzi activity from compound libraries. Here we describe a hit discovery screening cascade designed to specifically identify hits that have the appropriate anti-parasitic properties to warrant further development. The cascade consists of a primary imaging-based assay followed by newly developed and appropriately scaled secondary assays to predict the cidality and rate-of-kill of the compounds. Finally, we incorporated a cytochrome P450 CYP51 biochemical assay to remove compounds that owe their phenotypic response to inhibition of this enzyme. We report the use of the cascade in profiling two small libraries containing clinically tested compounds and identify Clemastine, Azelastine, Ifenprodil, Ziprasidone and Clofibrate as molecules having appropriate profiles. Analysis of clinical derived pharmacokinetic and toxicity data indicates that none of these are appropriate for repurposing but they may represent suitable start points for further optimisation for the treatment of Chagas disease. Chagas disease is an important health problem in Latin America. The disease is caused by the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi, which is transmitted to people via insects of the Triatomine family. There are currently only two treatments available, Nifurtimox and Benznidazole. These have serious problems including poor efficacy, strain-dependent drug sensitivity, resistance and toxicity to the patients. There is thus a great need to find new drugs for this disease. The first step in a typical drug discovery project is to find compounds that kill the parasite by screening large amounts of compounds in the laboratory. To do this one requires assays in which the effect of the compounds on the parasites can be seen. In this paper we describe two assays that together try to identify compounds that kill T.cruzi parasites. Such compounds are good candidates for further development and may eventually become new drugs. We tested our assays against a library of compounds with known clinical activity and identified several interesting hits. As a great deal of data already exists for these compounds they could potentially be developed into new treatments much faster than completely new compounds.
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Affiliation(s)
- Manu De Rycker
- Drug Discovery Unit, Division of Biological Chemistry and Drug Discovery, University of Dundee, Dundee, United Kingdom
- * E-mail: (MDR); (DWG)
| | - John Thomas
- Drug Discovery Unit, Division of Biological Chemistry and Drug Discovery, University of Dundee, Dundee, United Kingdom
| | - Jennifer Riley
- Drug Discovery Unit, Division of Biological Chemistry and Drug Discovery, University of Dundee, Dundee, United Kingdom
| | - Stephen J. Brough
- GlaxoSmithKline, Biological Sciences, Medicines Research Centre, Stevenage, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom
| | - Tim J. Miles
- GlaxoSmithKline, Diseases of the Developing World, Parque Tecnologico de Madrid, Servero Ochoa, Madrid, Spain
| | - David W. Gray
- Drug Discovery Unit, Division of Biological Chemistry and Drug Discovery, University of Dundee, Dundee, United Kingdom
- * E-mail: (MDR); (DWG)
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Bermudez J, Davies C, Simonazzi A, Pablo Real J, Palma S. Current drug therapy and pharmaceutical challenges for Chagas disease. Acta Trop 2016; 156:1-16. [PMID: 26747009 DOI: 10.1016/j.actatropica.2015.12.017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 161] [Impact Index Per Article: 20.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/17/2015] [Revised: 12/23/2015] [Accepted: 12/25/2015] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
One of the most significant health problems in the American continent in terms of human health, and socioeconomic impact is Chagas disease, caused by the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi. Infection was originally transmitted by reduviid insects, congenitally from mother to fetus, and by oral ingestion in sylvatic/rural environments, but blood transfusions, organ transplants, laboratory accidents, and sharing of contaminated syringes also contribute to modern day transmission. Likewise, Chagas disease used to be endemic from Northern Mexico to Argentina, but migrations have earned it global. The parasite has a complex life cycle, infecting different species, and invading a variety of cells - including muscle and nerve cells of the heart and gastrointestinal tract - in the mammalian host. Human infection outcome is a potentially fatal cardiomyopathy, and gastrointestinal tract lesions. In absence of a vaccine, vector control and treatment of patients are the only tools to control the disease. Unfortunately, the only drugs now available for Chagas' disease, Nifurtimox and Benznidazole, are relatively toxic for adult patients, and require prolonged administration. Benznidazole is the first choice for Chagas disease treatment due to its lower side effects than Nifurtimox. However, different strategies are being sought to overcome Benznidazole's toxicity including shorter or intermittent administration schedules-either alone or in combination with other drugs. In addition, a long list of compounds has shown trypanocidal activity, ranging from natural products to specially designed molecules, re-purposing drugs commercialized to treat other maladies, and homeopathy. In the present review, we will briefly summarize the upturns of current treatment of Chagas disease, discuss the increment on research and scientific publications about this topic, and give an overview of the state-of-the-art research aiming to produce an alternative medication to treat T. cruzi infection.
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Kiemele ER, Wathier M, Bichler P, Love JA. Total Synthesis of K777: Successful Application of Transition-Metal-Catalyzed Alkyne Hydrothiolation toward the Modular Synthesis of a Potent Cysteine Protease Inhibitor. Org Lett 2016; 18:492-5. [PMID: 26811991 DOI: 10.1021/acs.orglett.5b03535] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/26/2023]
Abstract
We report the total synthesis of K777 and a series of analogues via alkyne hydrothiolation catalyzed by Wilkinson's complex (ClRh(PPh3)3). The alkyne hydrothiolation reactions proceeded with excellent regio- and diastereoselectivity to generate the desired E-linear vinyl sulfides in high yield. The use of Ellman's auxiliary generates the requisite propargyl amines in excellent enantiomeric excess (ee) and obviates the use of L-homophenylalanine, an expensive unnatural amino acid. The vinyl sulfone derivatives exhibit a large difference in rate toward Michael addition. Kinetic data are consistent with rate-limiting nucleophilic attack to generate the carbanion intermediate.
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Affiliation(s)
- Erica R Kiemele
- Department of Chemistry, 2036 Main Mall, The University of British Columbia , Vancouver, BC, Canada , V6T 1Z1
| | - Matthew Wathier
- Department of Chemistry, 2036 Main Mall, The University of British Columbia , Vancouver, BC, Canada , V6T 1Z1
| | - Paul Bichler
- Department of Chemistry, 2036 Main Mall, The University of British Columbia , Vancouver, BC, Canada , V6T 1Z1
| | - Jennifer A Love
- Department of Chemistry, 2036 Main Mall, The University of British Columbia , Vancouver, BC, Canada , V6T 1Z1
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Semisynthesis of new aphidicolin derivatives with high activity against Trypanosoma cruzi. Bioorg Med Chem Lett 2016; 26:1205-8. [PMID: 26810263 DOI: 10.1016/j.bmcl.2016.01.033] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/03/2015] [Revised: 01/11/2016] [Accepted: 01/12/2016] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
Chagas disease continues to be a difficult disease to eradicate, largely because of the widespread populations it affects as well as the highly toxic effects of current therapies. Thus, the exploration of innovative scaffolds, ideally with distinct mechanisms of action, is urgently needed. The natural product aphidicolin and its effects on cell cycle division have been widely studied; it is a potent inhibitor of parasitic cells. In the present study, we report for the first time the semisynthesis of a series of aphidicolin derivatives, their unique structural features, and demonstration of their activity against Trypanosoma cruzi cells. Two demonstrated high potency and selectivity against parasitic amastigote cells, and thus show promise as new leads for Chagas disease treatment.
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Development of a New Antileishmanial Aziridine-2,3-Dicarboxylate-Based Inhibitor with High Selectivity for Parasite Cysteine Proteases. Antimicrob Agents Chemother 2015; 60:797-805. [PMID: 26596939 DOI: 10.1128/aac.00426-15] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/03/2015] [Accepted: 11/13/2015] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Leishmaniasis is one of the major neglected tropical diseases of the world. Druggable targets are the parasite cysteine proteases (CPs) of clan CA, family C1 (CAC1). In previous studies, we identified two peptidomimetic compounds, the aziridine-2,3-dicarboxylate compounds 13b and 13e, in a series of inhibitors of the cathepsin L (CL) subfamily of the papain clan CAC1. Both displayed antileishmanial activity in vitro while not showing cytotoxicity against host cells. In further investigations, the mode of action was characterized in Leishmania major. It was demonstrated that aziridines 13b and 13e mainly inhibited the parasitic cathepsin B (CB)-like CPC enzyme and, additionally, mammalian CL. Although these compounds induced cell death of Leishmania promastigotes and amastigotes in vitro, the induction of a proleishmanial T helper type 2 (Th2) response caused by host CL inhibition was observed in vivo. Therefore, we describe here the synthesis of a new library of more selective peptidomimetic aziridine-2,3-dicarboxylates discriminating between host and parasite CPs. The new compounds are based on 13b and 13e as lead structures. One of the most promising compounds of this series is compound s9, showing selective inhibition of the parasite CPs LmaCatB (a CB-like enzyme of L. major; also named L. major CPC) and LmCPB2.8 (a CL-like enzyme of Leishmania mexicana) while not affecting mammalian CL and CB. It displayed excellent leishmanicidal activities against L. major promastigotes (50% inhibitory concentration [IC50] = 37.4 μM) and amastigotes (IC50 = 2.3 μM). In summary, we demonstrate a new selective aziridine-2,3-dicarboxylate, compound s9, which might be a good candidate for future in vivo studies.
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McShan D, Kathman S, Lowe B, Xu Z, Zhan J, Statsyuk A, Ogungbe IV. Identification of non-peptidic cysteine reactive fragments as inhibitors of cysteine protease rhodesain. Bioorg Med Chem Lett 2015; 25:4509-12. [PMID: 26342866 PMCID: PMC4592840 DOI: 10.1016/j.bmcl.2015.08.074] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2015] [Revised: 08/24/2015] [Accepted: 08/27/2015] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Rhodesain, the major cathepsin L-like cysteine protease in the protozoan Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense, the causative agent of African sleeping sickness, is a well-validated drug target. In this work, we used a fragment-based approach to identify inhibitors of this cysteine protease, and identified inhibitors of T. brucei. To discover inhibitors active against rhodesain and T. brucei, we screened a library of covalent fragments against rhodesain and conducted preliminary SAR studies. We envision that in vitro enzymatic assays will further expand the use of the covalent tethering method, a simple fragment-based drug discovery technique to discover covalent drug leads.
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Affiliation(s)
- Danielle McShan
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Jackson State University, Jackson, MS 39217, United States
| | - Stefan Kathman
- Department of Chemistry, Center for Molecular Innovation and Drug Discovery, Chemistry of Life Processes Institute, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, United States
| | - Brittiney Lowe
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Jackson State University, Jackson, MS 39217, United States
| | - Ziyang Xu
- Department of Chemistry, Center for Molecular Innovation and Drug Discovery, Chemistry of Life Processes Institute, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, United States
| | - Jennifer Zhan
- Department of Chemistry, Center for Molecular Innovation and Drug Discovery, Chemistry of Life Processes Institute, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, United States
| | - Alexander Statsyuk
- Department of Chemistry, Center for Molecular Innovation and Drug Discovery, Chemistry of Life Processes Institute, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, United States
| | - Ifedayo Victor Ogungbe
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Jackson State University, Jackson, MS 39217, United States
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Noguera GJ, Fabian LE, Lombardo E, Finkielsztein L. QSAR study and conformational analysis of 4-arylthiazolylhydrazones derived from 1-indanones with anti-Trypanosoma cruzi activity. Eur J Pharm Sci 2015. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ejps.2015.07.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
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de Menezes DDR, Calvet CM, Rodrigues GC, de Souza Pereira MC, Almeida IR, de Aguiar AP, Supuran CT, Vermelho AB. Hydroxamic acid derivatives: a promising scaffold for rational compound optimization in Chagas disease. J Enzyme Inhib Med Chem 2015; 31:964-73. [PMID: 26327246 DOI: 10.3109/14756366.2015.1077330] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/29/2023] Open
Abstract
This work describes the antitrypanocidal activity of two hydroxamic acid derivatives containing o-ethoxy (HAD1) and p-ethoxy (HAD2) as substituent in the aromatic ring linked to the isoxazoline ring. HAD1 and HAD2 induced a significant reduction in the number of intracellular parasites and consequently showed activity on the multiplication of the parasite. Treatment of cardiomyocytes and macrophages with the compounds revealed no significant loss in cell viability. Ultrastructural alterations after treatment of cardiomyocytes or macrophages infected by Trypanosoma cruzi with the IC50 value of HAD1 revealed alterations to amastigotes, showing initial damage seen as swelling of the kinetoplast. This gave a good indication of the ability of the drug to permeate through the host cell membrane as well as its selectivity to the parasite target. Both compounds HAD1 and 2 were able to reduce the cysteine peptidases and decrease the activity of metallopeptidases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dayanne da Rocha de Menezes
- a BIOINOVAR - Biotechnology Laboratories: Biocatalysis, Bioproducts and Bioenergy, Institute of Microbiology Paulo de Góes, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro , Rio de Janeiro , Brazil .,b Faculdade São Francisco de Barreiras (FASB) , Barreiras , BA , Brazil
| | - Claudia Magalhães Calvet
- c Laboratório de Ultra-estrutura Celular, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz - Fiocruz , Rio de Janeiro , RJ , Brazil
| | - Giseli Capaci Rodrigues
- d Escola de Ciência e Tecnologia e Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ensino das Ciências, Universidade do Grande Rio , Duque de Caxias , RJ , Brazil
| | | | - Igor Rodrigues Almeida
- e Departamento de Produtos Naturais e Alimentos , Faculdade de Farmácia, UFRJ , Rio de Janeiro , RJ , Brazil
| | - Alcino Palermo de Aguiar
- f Laboratório de Síntese Orgânica, Departamento de Química , Instituto Militar de Engenharia , Rio de Janeiro , Brazil , and
| | - Claudiu T Supuran
- g Laboratorio di Chimica Bioinorganica , Università degli Studi di Firenze, Polo Scientifico , Sesto Fiorentino (Florence) , Italy
| | - Alane Beatriz Vermelho
- a BIOINOVAR - Biotechnology Laboratories: Biocatalysis, Bioproducts and Bioenergy, Institute of Microbiology Paulo de Góes, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro , Rio de Janeiro , Brazil
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Orlowski GM, Colbert JD, Sharma S, Bogyo M, Robertson SA, Rock KL. Multiple Cathepsins Promote Pro-IL-1β Synthesis and NLRP3-Mediated IL-1β Activation. JOURNAL OF IMMUNOLOGY (BALTIMORE, MD. : 1950) 2015; 195:1685-97. [PMID: 26195813 PMCID: PMC4530060 DOI: 10.4049/jimmunol.1500509] [Citation(s) in RCA: 198] [Impact Index Per Article: 22.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/03/2015] [Accepted: 06/02/2015] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
Sterile particles induce robust inflammatory responses that underlie the pathogenesis of diseases like silicosis, gout, and atherosclerosis. A key cytokine mediating this response is IL-1β. The generation of bioactive IL-1β by sterile particles is mediated by the NOD-like receptor containing a pyrin domain 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome, although exactly how this occurs is incompletely resolved. Prior studies have found that the cathepsin B inhibitor, Ca074Me, suppresses this response, supporting a model whereby ingested particles disrupt lysosomes and release cathepsin B into the cytosol, somehow activating NLRP3. However, reports that cathepsin B-deficient macrophages have no defect in particle-induced IL-1β generation have questioned cathepsin B's involvement. In this study, we examine the hypothesis that multiple redundant cathepsins (not just cathepsin B) mediate this process by evaluating IL-1β generation in murine macrophages, singly or multiply deficient in cathepsins B, L, C, S and X. Using an activity-based probe, we measure specific cathepsin activity in living cells, documenting compensatory changes in cathepsin-deficient cells, and Ca074Me's dose-dependent cathepsin inhibition profile is analyzed in parallel with its suppression of particle-induced IL-1β secretion. Also, we evaluate endogenous cathepsin inhibitors cystatins C and B. Surprisingly, we find that multiple redundant cathepsins, inhibited by Ca074Me and cystatins, promote pro-IL-1β synthesis, and to our knowledge, we provide the first evidence that cathepsin X plays a nonredundant role in nonparticulate NLRP3 activation. Finally, we find cathepsin inhibitors selectively block particle-induced NLRP3 activation, independently of suppressing pro-IL-1β synthesis. Altogether, we demonstrate that both small molecule and endogenous cathepsin inhibitors suppress particle-induced IL-1β secretion, implicating roles for multiple cathepsins in both pro-IL-1β synthesis and NLRP3 activation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gregory M Orlowski
- Department of Pathology, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA 01655
| | - Jeff D Colbert
- Department of Pathology, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA 01655
| | - Shruti Sharma
- Department of Medicine, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA 01655
| | - Matthew Bogyo
- Department of Pathology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305; Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305; and
| | - Stephanie A Robertson
- Sandler Center for Drug Discovery, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94158
| | - Kenneth L Rock
- Department of Pathology, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA 01655;
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Synthesis and biological evaluation of quinones derived from natural product komaroviquinone as anti-Trypanosoma cruzi agents. Bioorg Med Chem Lett 2015; 25:2967-71. [DOI: 10.1016/j.bmcl.2015.05.022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2014] [Revised: 05/11/2015] [Accepted: 05/13/2015] [Indexed: 01/23/2023]
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Khare S, Roach SL, Barnes SW, Hoepfner D, Walker JR, Chatterjee AK, Neitz RJ, Arkin MR, McNamara CW, Ballard J, Lai Y, Fu Y, Molteni V, Yeh V, McKerrow JH, Glynne RJ, Supek F. Utilizing Chemical Genomics to Identify Cytochrome b as a Novel Drug Target for Chagas Disease. PLoS Pathog 2015; 11:e1005058. [PMID: 26186534 PMCID: PMC4506092 DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1005058] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/17/2015] [Accepted: 06/30/2015] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Unbiased phenotypic screens enable identification of small molecules that inhibit pathogen growth by unanticipated mechanisms. These small molecules can be used as starting points for drug discovery programs that target such mechanisms. A major challenge of the approach is the identification of the cellular targets. Here we report GNF7686, a small molecule inhibitor of Trypanosoma cruzi, the causative agent of Chagas disease, and identification of cytochrome b as its target. Following discovery of GNF7686 in a parasite growth inhibition high throughput screen, we were able to evolve a GNF7686-resistant culture of T. cruzi epimastigotes. Clones from this culture bore a mutation coding for a substitution of leucine by phenylalanine at amino acid position 197 in cytochrome b. Cytochrome b is a component of complex III (cytochrome bc1) in the mitochondrial electron transport chain and catalyzes the transfer of electrons from ubiquinol to cytochrome c by a mechanism that utilizes two distinct catalytic sites, QN and QP. The L197F mutation is located in the QN site and confers resistance to GNF7686 in both parasite cell growth and biochemical cytochrome b assays. Additionally, the mutant cytochrome b confers resistance to antimycin A, another QN site inhibitor, but not to strobilurin or myxothiazol, which target the QP site. GNF7686 represents a promising starting point for Chagas disease drug discovery as it potently inhibits growth of intracellular T. cruzi amastigotes with a half maximal effective concentration (EC50) of 0.15 µM, and is highly specific for T. cruzi cytochrome b. No effect on the mammalian respiratory chain or mammalian cell proliferation was observed with up to 25 µM of GNF7686. Our approach, which combines T. cruzi chemical genetics with biochemical target validation, can be broadly applied to the discovery of additional novel drug targets and drug leads for Chagas disease. Chagas Disease, or American trypanosomiasis, is caused by the kinetoplastid protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi and is primarily transmitted to a mammalian host via a triatomine insect vector (the “kissing bug”) infected with T. cruzi parasites. Although discovered in 1909 by the physician Dr. Carlos Chagas, the disease gained recognition by the public health community only following a major outbreak in Brazil during the 1960s. Approximately eight million people (primarily in Central and South America) are infected with T. cruzi and cases are becoming more widespread due to migration out of the endemic regions. Current treatment options have severe problems with toxicity, limited efficacy, and long administration. Hence, discovery of new drugs for treatment of Chagas disease has become of prime interest to the biomedical research community. In this study, we report identification of a potent inhibitor of T. cruzi growth and use a chemical genetics-based approach to elucidate the associated mechanism of action. We found that this compound, GNF7686, targets cytochrome b, a component of the mitochondrial electron transport chain crucial for ATP generation. Our study provides new insights into the use of phenotypic screening to identify novel targets for kinetoplastid drug discovery.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shilpi Khare
- Department of Genetics and Neglected Diseases, Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation, San Diego, California, United States of America
| | - Steven L. Roach
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation, San Diego, California, United States of America
| | - S. Whitney Barnes
- Department of Genetics and Neglected Diseases, Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation, San Diego, California, United States of America
| | - Dominic Hoepfner
- Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research, Novartis Campus, Basel, Switzerland
| | - John R. Walker
- Department of Genetics and Neglected Diseases, Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation, San Diego, California, United States of America
| | - Arnab K. Chatterjee
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation, San Diego, California, United States of America
| | - R. Jeffrey Neitz
- Small Molecule Discovery Center and Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California, United States of America
| | - Michelle R. Arkin
- Small Molecule Discovery Center and Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California, United States of America
| | - Case W. McNamara
- Department of Genetics and Neglected Diseases, Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation, San Diego, California, United States of America
| | - Jaime Ballard
- Department of Genetics and Neglected Diseases, Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation, San Diego, California, United States of America
| | - Yin Lai
- Department of Genetics and Neglected Diseases, Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation, San Diego, California, United States of America
| | - Yue Fu
- Department of Genetics and Neglected Diseases, Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation, San Diego, California, United States of America
| | - Valentina Molteni
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation, San Diego, California, United States of America
| | - Vince Yeh
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation, San Diego, California, United States of America
| | - James H. McKerrow
- Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California, United States of America
| | - Richard J. Glynne
- Department of Genetics and Neglected Diseases, Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation, San Diego, California, United States of America
| | - Frantisek Supek
- Department of Genetics and Neglected Diseases, Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation, San Diego, California, United States of America
- * E-mail:
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Hol WGJ. Three-dimensional structures in the design of therapeutics targeting parasitic protozoa: reflections on the past, present and future. Acta Crystallogr F Struct Biol Commun 2015; 71:485-99. [PMID: 25945701 PMCID: PMC4427157 DOI: 10.1107/s2053230x15004987] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/11/2015] [Accepted: 03/11/2015] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
Parasitic protozoa cause a range of diseases which threaten billions of human beings. They are responsible for tremendous mortality and morbidity in the least-developed areas of the world. Presented here is an overview of the evolution over the last three to four decades of structure-guided design of inhibitors, leads and drug candidates aiming at targets from parasitic protozoa. Target selection is a crucial and multi-faceted aspect of structure-guided drug design. The major impact of advances in molecular biology, genome sequencing and high-throughput screening is touched upon. The most advanced crystallographic techniques, including XFEL, have already been applied to structure determinations of drug targets from parasitic protozoa. Even cryo-electron microscopy is contributing to our understanding of the mode of binding of inhibitors to parasite ribosomes. A number of projects have been selected to illustrate how structural information has assisted in arriving at promising compounds that are currently being evaluated by pharmacological, pharmacodynamic and safety tests to assess their suitability as pharmaceutical agents. Structure-guided approaches are also applied to incorporate properties into compounds such that they are less likely to become the victim of resistance mechanisms. A great increase in the number of novel antiparasitic compounds will be needed in the future. These should then be combined into various multi-compound therapeutics to circumvent the diverse resistance mechanisms that render single-compound, or even multi-compound, drugs ineffective. The future should also see (i) an increase in the number of projects with a tight integration of structural biology, medicinal chemistry, parasitology and pharmaceutical sciences; (ii) the education of more `medicinal structural biologists' who are familiar with the properties that compounds need to have for a high probability of success in the later steps of the drug-development process; and (iii) the expansion of drug-development capabilities in middle- and low-income countries.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wim G. J. Hol
- Department of Biochemistry and Biomolecular Structure Center, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
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Synthesis of a sugar-based thiosemicarbazone series and structure-activity relationship versus the parasite cysteine proteases rhodesain, cruzain, and Schistosoma mansoni cathepsin B1. Antimicrob Agents Chemother 2015; 59:2666-77. [PMID: 25712353 DOI: 10.1128/aac.04601-14] [Citation(s) in RCA: 47] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/22/2014] [Accepted: 02/02/2015] [Indexed: 01/27/2023] Open
Abstract
The pressing need for better drugs against Chagas disease, African sleeping sickness, and schistosomiasis motivates the search for inhibitors of cruzain, rhodesain, and Schistosoma mansoni CB1 (SmCB1), the major cysteine proteases from Trypanosoma cruzi, Trypanosoma brucei, and S. mansoni, respectively. Thiosemicarbazones and heterocyclic analogues have been shown to be both antitrypanocidal and inhibitory against parasite cysteine proteases. A series of compounds was synthesized and evaluated against cruzain, rhodesain, and SmCB1 through biochemical assays to determine their potency and structure-activity relationships (SAR). This approach led to the discovery of 6 rhodesain, 4 cruzain, and 5 SmCB1 inhibitors with 50% inhibitory concentrations (IC50s) of ≤ 10 μM. Among the compounds tested, the thiosemicarbazone derivative of peracetylated galactoside (compound 4i) was discovered to be a potent rhodesain inhibitor (IC50 = 1.2 ± 1.0 μM). The impact of a range of modifications was determined; removal of thiosemicarbazone or its replacement by semicarbazone resulted in virtually inactive compounds, and modifications in the sugar also diminished potency. Compounds were also evaluated in vitro against the parasites T. cruzi, T. brucei, and S. mansoni, revealing active compounds among this series.
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Vieira DF, Choi JY, Calvet CM, Siqueira-Neto JL, Johnston JB, Kellar D, Gut J, Cameron MD, McKerrow JH, Roush WR, Podust LM. Binding mode and potency of N-indolyloxopyridinyl-4-aminopropanyl-based inhibitors targeting Trypanosoma cruzi CYP51. J Med Chem 2014; 57:10162-75. [PMID: 25393646 PMCID: PMC4266343 DOI: 10.1021/jm501568b] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
![]()
Chagas disease is a chronic infection
in humans caused by Trypanosoma cruzi and manifested
in progressive cardiomyopathy
and/or gastrointestinal dysfunction. Limited therapeutic options to
prevent and treat Chagas disease put 8 million people infected with T. cruzi worldwide at risk. CYP51, involved in the biosynthesis
of the membrane sterol component in eukaryotes, is a promising drug
target in T. cruzi. We report the structure–activity
relationships (SAR) of an N-arylpiperazine series
of N-indolyloxopyridinyl-4-aminopropanyl-based inhibitors
designed to probe the impact of substituents in the terminal N-phenyl
ring on binding mode, selectivity and potency. Depending on the substituents
at C-4, two distinct ring binding modes, buried and solvent-exposed,
have been observed by X-ray structure analysis (resolution of 1.95–2.48
Å). The 5-chloro-substituted analogs 9 and 10 with no substituent at C-4 demonstrated improved selectivity
and potency, suppressing ≥99.8% parasitemia in mice when administered
orally at 25 mg/kg, b.i.d., for 4 days.
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Affiliation(s)
- Debora F Vieira
- Center for Discovery and Innovation in Parasitic Diseases, ‡Department of Pathology, and §Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, University of California-San Francisco , San Francisco, California 94158, United States
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Calvet C, Vieira D, Choi JY, Kellar D, Cameron MD, Siqueira-Neto JL, Gut J, Johnston JB, Lin L, Khan S, McKerrow JH, Roush WR, Podust LM. 4-Aminopyridyl-based CYP51 inhibitors as anti-Trypanosoma cruzi drug leads with improved pharmacokinetic profile and in vivo potency. J Med Chem 2014; 57:6989-7005. [PMID: 25101801 PMCID: PMC4148169 DOI: 10.1021/jm500448u] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/21/2014] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
Abstract
CYP51 is a P450 enzyme involved in the biosynthesis of the sterol components of eukaryotic cell membranes. CYP51 inhibitors have been developed to treat infections caused by fungi, and more recently the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi, the causative agent of Chagas disease. To specifically optimize drug candidates for T. cruzi CYP51 (TcCYP51), we explored the structure-activity relationship (SAR) of a N-indolyl-oxopyridinyl-4-aminopropanyl-based scaffold originally identified in a target-based screen. This scaffold evolved via medicinal chemistry to yield orally bioavailable leads with potent anti-T. cruzi activity in vivo. Using an animal model of infection with a transgenic T. cruzi Y luc strain expressing firefly luciferase, we prioritized the biaryl and N-arylpiperazine analogues by oral bioavailability and potency. The drug-target complexes for both scaffold variants were characterized by X-ray structure analysis. Optimization of both binding mode and pharmacokinetic properties of these compounds led to potent inhibitors against experimental T. cruzi infection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Claudia
M. Calvet
- Center for Discovery and Innovation in Parasitic
Diseases, Department of Pathology and Department of Medicine, Department of Pharmaceutical
Chemistry, University of California San
Francisco, San Francisco, California 94158, United States
- Cellular
Ultra-Structure Laboratory, Oswaldo Cruz
Institute (IOC), FIOCRUZ, Rio de
Janeiro, Re de Janeiro 21040-362, Brazil
| | - Debora
F. Vieira
- Center for Discovery and Innovation in Parasitic
Diseases, Department of Pathology and Department of Medicine, Department of Pharmaceutical
Chemistry, University of California San
Francisco, San Francisco, California 94158, United States
| | - Jun Yong Choi
- Department
of Chemistry, Department of Molecular Therapeutics, Scripps
Florida, Jupiter, Florida 33458, United
States
| | - Danielle Kellar
- Center for Discovery and Innovation in Parasitic
Diseases, Department of Pathology and Department of Medicine, Department of Pharmaceutical
Chemistry, University of California San
Francisco, San Francisco, California 94158, United States
| | - Michael D. Cameron
- Department
of Chemistry, Department of Molecular Therapeutics, Scripps
Florida, Jupiter, Florida 33458, United
States
| | - Jair Lage Siqueira-Neto
- Center for Discovery and Innovation in Parasitic
Diseases, Department of Pathology and Department of Medicine, Department of Pharmaceutical
Chemistry, University of California San
Francisco, San Francisco, California 94158, United States
| | - Jiri Gut
- Center for Discovery and Innovation in Parasitic
Diseases, Department of Pathology and Department of Medicine, Department of Pharmaceutical
Chemistry, University of California San
Francisco, San Francisco, California 94158, United States
| | - Jonathan B. Johnston
- Center for Discovery and Innovation in Parasitic
Diseases, Department of Pathology and Department of Medicine, Department of Pharmaceutical
Chemistry, University of California San
Francisco, San Francisco, California 94158, United States
| | - Li Lin
- Department
of Chemistry, Department of Molecular Therapeutics, Scripps
Florida, Jupiter, Florida 33458, United
States
| | - Susan Khan
- Department
of Chemistry, Department of Molecular Therapeutics, Scripps
Florida, Jupiter, Florida 33458, United
States
| | - James H. McKerrow
- Center for Discovery and Innovation in Parasitic
Diseases, Department of Pathology and Department of Medicine, Department of Pharmaceutical
Chemistry, University of California San
Francisco, San Francisco, California 94158, United States
| | - William R. Roush
- Department
of Chemistry, Department of Molecular Therapeutics, Scripps
Florida, Jupiter, Florida 33458, United
States
| | - Larissa M. Podust
- Center for Discovery and Innovation in Parasitic
Diseases, Department of Pathology and Department of Medicine, Department of Pharmaceutical
Chemistry, University of California San
Francisco, San Francisco, California 94158, United States
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49
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Ferreira RS, Dessoy MA, Pauli I, Souza ML, Krogh R, Sales AIL, Oliva G, Dias LC, Andricopulo AD. Synthesis, biological evaluation, and structure-activity relationships of potent noncovalent and nonpeptidic cruzain inhibitors as anti-Trypanosoma cruzi agents. J Med Chem 2014; 57:2380-92. [PMID: 24533839 DOI: 10.1021/jm401709b] [Citation(s) in RCA: 50] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
The development of cruzain inhibitors has been driven by the urgent need to develop novel and more effective drugs for the treatment of Chagas' disease. Herein, we report the lead optimization of a class of noncovalent cruzain inhibitors, starting from an inhibitor previously cocrystallized with the enzyme (K(i) = 0.8 μM). With the goal of achieving a better understanding of the structure-activity relationships, we have synthesized and evaluated a series of over 40 analogues, leading to the development of a very promising competitive inhibitor (8r, IC50 = 200 nM, K(i) = 82 nM). Investigation of the in vitro trypanocidal activity and preliminary cytotoxicity revealed the potential of the most potent cruzain inhibitors in guiding further medicinal chemistry efforts to develop drug candidates for Chagas' disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rafaela S Ferreira
- Laboratório de Química Medicinal e Computacional, Centro de Pesquisa e Inovação em Biodiversidade e Fármacos, Instituto de Física de São Carlos, Universidade de São Paulo , Avenida João Dagnone 1100, Jardim Santa Angelina, São Carlos, SP 13563-120, Brazil
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50
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Reversible cysteine protease inhibitors show promise for a Chagas disease cure. Antimicrob Agents Chemother 2013; 58:1167-78. [PMID: 24323474 DOI: 10.1128/aac.01855-13] [Citation(s) in RCA: 66] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/26/2022] Open
Abstract
The cysteine protease cruzipain is essential for the viability, infectivity, and virulence of Trypanosoma cruzi, the causative agent of Chagas disease. Thus, inhibitors of cruzipain are considered promising anti-T. cruzi chemotherapeutic agents. Reversible cruzipain inhibitors containing a nitrile "warhead" were prepared and demonstrated 50% inhibitory concentrations (IC50s) as potent as 1 nM in baculovirus-generated cruzipain enzyme assays. In epimastigote and intracellular amastigote in vitro assays, the most potent compounds demonstrated antiparasitic behavior in the 5 to 10 μM IC50 range; however, trypomastigote production from the amastigote form was ∼90 to 95% inhibited at 2 μM. Two key compounds, Cz007 and Cz008, with IC50s of 1.1 and 1.8 nM, respectively, against the recombinant enzyme were tested in a murine model of acute T. cruzi infection, with oral dosing in chow for 28 days at doses from 3 to 50 mg/kg of body weight. At 3 mg/kg of Cz007 and 3 mg/kg of Cz008, the blood parasitemia areas under the concentration-time curves were 16% and 25% of the untreated group, respectively. At sacrifice, 24 days after immunosuppression with cyclophosphamide, parasite presence in blood, heart, and esophagus was evaluated. Based on negative quantitative PCR results in all three tissues, cure rates in surviving animals were 90% for Cz007 at 3 mg/kg, 78% for Cz008 at 3 mg/kg, and 71% for benznidazole, the control compound, at 50 mg/kg.
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