A One-Pot Three-Component Synthesis and Investigation of the In Vitro Mechanistic Anticancer Activity of Highly Functionalized Spirooxindole-Pyrrolidine Heterocyclic Hybrids

Computational refinement identifies functional destructive single nucleotide polymorphisms associated with human retinoid X receptor gene

Alterations in the nuclear retinoid X receptor (RXRs) signalling have been implicated in neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, stroke, multiple sclerosis and glaucoma. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are the main cause underlying single nucleic acid variations which in turn determine heterogeneity within various populations. These genetic polymorphisms have been suggested to associate with various degenerative disorders in population-wide analysis. This bioinformatics study was designed to investigate, search, retrieve and identify deleterious SNPs which may affect the structure and function of various RXR isoforms through a computational and molecular modelling approach. Amongst the 1,813 retrieved SNPs several were found to be deleterious with rs140464195_G139R, rs368400425_R358W and rs368586400_L383F RXRα mutant variants being the most detrimental ones causing changes in the interatomic interactions and decreasing the flexibility of the mutant proteins. Molecular genetics analysis identified seven missense mutations in RXRα/β/γ isoforms. Two novel mutations SNP IDs (rs1588299621 and rs1057519958) were identified in RXRα isoform. We used several in silico prediction tools such as SIFT, PolyPhen, I-Mutant, Protein Variation Effect Analyzer (PROVEAN), PANTHER, SNP&Go, PhD-SNP and SNPeffect to predict pathogenicity and protein stability associated with RXR mutations. The structural assessment by DynaMut tool revealed that hydrogen bonds were affected along with hydrophobic and carbonyl interactions resulting in reduced flexibility at the mutated residue positions but ultimately stabilizing the molecule as a whole. Summarizing, analysis of the missense mutations in RXR isoforms showed a mix of conclusive and inconclusive genotype-phenotype correlations suggesting the use of sophisticated computational analysis tools for studying RXR variants.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.

Spirooxindole: A Versatile Biologically Active Heterocyclic Scaffold

Spirooxindoles occupy an important place in heterocyclic chemistry. Many natural spirooxindole-containing compounds have been identified as bio-promising agents. Synthetic analogs have also been synthesized utilizing different pathways. The present article summarizes the recent development of both natural and synthetic spirooxindole-containing compounds prepared from isatin or its derivatives reported in the last five years. The spirooxindoles are categorized based on their mentioned biological properties.

Design of Novel Enantiopure Dispirooxindolopyrrolidine-Piperidones as Promising Candidates toward COVID-19: Asymmetric Synthesis, Crystal Structure and In Silico Studies

Despite the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines, there is still an urgent need for discovering new anti-viral drugs to address the awful spread and transmission of the rapidly modifiable virus. In this study, the ability of a small library of enantiomerically pure spirooxindolopyrrolidine-grafted piperidones to inhibit the main protease of SARS-CoV-2 (M^pro) is evaluated. These spiroheterocycles were synthesized by 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of various stabilized azomethine ylides with chiral dipolarophiles derived from N-[(S)-(-)-methylbenzyl]-4-piperidone. The absolute configuration of contiguous carbons was confirmed by a single crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. The binding of these compounds to SARS-CoV-2 M^pro was investigated using molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulation. Three compounds 4a, 4b and 4e exhibited stable binding modes interacting with the key subsites of the substrate-binding pocket of SARS-CoV-2 M^pro. The synthesized compounds represent potential leads for the development of novel inhibitors of SARS-CoV-2 main protease protein for COVID-19 treatment.