The protective role of two oxindole derivatives is mediated by modulating NLRP3/caspase-1 and PI3K/AKT pathways in a preclinical animal model of hepatic ischemia reperfusion injury

Aim Hepatic ischemia reperfusion injury (HIRI) is a leading cause of mortality post liver transplantation, hypovolemic shock and trauma. In this study, we tested, on molecular bases, the possible protective role of two different derivatives of 2-oxindole in a preclinical model of HIRI in rats.

MAIN METHODS

HIRI was operated in male Wistar albino rats and prophylactic treatment with oxindole-curcumin (Coxi) or oxindole-vanillin (Voxi) was carried out before the operation. The biochemical and histopathological investigations, in addition to the mechanistic characterizations of the effect of the tested drugs were performed.

KEY FINDINGS

HIRI was assured with elevated liver enzymes and marked changes in histopathological features, inflammatory response and oxidative stress. Pretreatment with Coxi and Voxi improved the hepatic histopathological alterations, reduced the elevated serum liver enzymes level and hepatic Malondialdehyde (MDA) content, increased the hepatic Superoxide Dismutase (SOD) activity and reduced Glutathione (GSH) content, downregulated the expression of TNF-α, IL-6, Nod-Like Receptor p3 (NLRP3), Cleaved caspase1, Cleaved caspase 3 proteins, alongside the expression level of IL-1β, ICAM-1, VCAM-1 and BAX genes, attenuated NF-кB p-P65 Ser536 and Myeloperoxidase (MPO)-positive neutrophils, and activated the PI3K/AKT pathway.

SIGNIFICANCE

Coxi and Voxi have promising hepatoprotective activity against HIRI in rats through ameliorating the biochemical and histopathological alterations, attenuating inflammatory and oxidative stress status by modulating the inflammatory TNF-α/ICAM-1, the pyroptosis NLRP3/Caspase-1, and the antioxidant PI3K/AKT pathways.

Dual inhibition of glycolysis and glutaminolysis for synergistic therapy of rheumatoid arthritis

BACKGROUND

Synovial fibroblasts in rheumatoid arthritis (RAFLS) exhibit a pathological aberration of glycolysis and glutaminolysis. Henceforth, we aimed to investigate if dual inhibition of these pathways by phytobiological compound c28MS has the potential of synergistic therapy for arthritis by targeting both glucose and glutamine metabolism.

METHODS

The presence of HK2 and GLS across various cell types and associated gene expression in human synovial cells and a murine model of arthritis was evaluated by scRNA-seq. The metabolic profiling of RAFLS cells was done using H1-nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy under glycolytic and glutaminolytic inhibitory conditions by incubating with 3-bromopyruvate, CB839, or dual inhibitor c28MS. FLS functional analysis was conducted under similar conditions. ELISA was employed for the quantification of IL-6, CCL2, and MMP3. K/BxN sera was administered to mice to induce arthritis for in vivo arthritis experiments.

RESULTS

scRNA-seq analysis revealed that many fibroblasts expressed Hk2 along with Gls with several genes including Ptgs2, Hif1a, Timp1, Cxcl5, and Plod2 only associated with double-positive fibroblasts, suggesting that dual inhibition can be an attractive target for fibroblasts. Metabolomic and functional analysis revealed that c28MS decreased the aggressive behavior of RAFLS by targeting both upregulated glycolysis and glutaminolysis. c28MS administered in vivo significantly decreased the severity of arthritis in the K/BxN model.

CONCLUSION

Our findings imply that dual inhibition of glycolysis and glutaminolysis could be an effective approach for the treatment of RA. It also suggests that targeting more than one metabolic pathway can be a novel treatment approach in non-cancer diseases.

Stereoselective Construction of Unsymmetrically Linked Heterocycles via Palladium-Catalyzed Alkyne Insertion/Cycloimidoylation Cascade

A novel strategy to access unsymmetrically linked heterocycles via palladium-catalyzed acylcycloimidoylation of alkyne-tethered carbamoyl chlorides with isocyanides has been developed. Functionalized isocyanides were successfully applied as imine-containing heterocycle precursors to capture the vinyl-Pd^II intermediate, which was generated from a syn-carbopalladation of alkyne, followed by subsequent intramolecular C-H bond activation/imidoylative Heck reactions. Methylene oxindoles within Z-tetrasubstituted olefins were obtained in high yields with excellent stereoselectivities. Broad functional groups were well tolerated under mild reaction conditions.

Some important inhibitors and mechanisms of rheumatoid arthritis

Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic disease that seriously affects human health and quality of life, and it is one of the main causes of labor loss and disability. Many countries have listed rheumatoid arthritis as one of the national a key diseases to tackle. The pathogenesis of RA in humans is still unknown, and medical researchers believe that the pathogenesis of RA may be the result of a combination of genetic and environmental factors. RA is an incurable condition that can only be controlled and treated with conventional drugs. In this paper, the pathologic features and pathogenesis of RA were introduced, and the research progress of new anti-rheumatoid arthritis chemical drugs in recent years was reviewed.

Oxindole and its derivatives: A review on recent progress in biological activities

Oxindole has been shown to be a pharmacologically advantageous scaffold having many biological properties that are relevant to medicinal chemistry. The simplicity and widespread occurrence of this scaffold in plant-based alkaloids have further reinforced oxindole's merit in the domain of novel drug discovery. First extracted from Uncaria tomentosa, commonly the known as cat claw's plant which was found abundantly in the Amazon rainforest, molecules with the oxindole moiety have been shown to be common in a wide variety of compounds extracted from plant sources. The role of oxindole as a chemical scaffold for fabricating and designing biological drugs agents can be ascribed to its ability to be modified by a number of chemical groups to generate novel biological functions. This review is aimed at providing a description of the general chemistry based on existing corresponding structure-activity relationships (SARs) and compile all recent developmentary studies on oxindole-derived compounds as a successful pharmaceutical agent. A substantial group of oxindole derivatives are chiefly being tested as anticancer agents, however, a several oxindole derivatives have been shown to possesses antimicrobial, α-glucosidase inhibitory, antiviral, antileishmanial, antitubercular, antioxidative, tyrosinase inhibitory, PAK4 inhibitory, antirheumatoid arthritis and intraocular pressure reducing activities, to name a few. In this review we show the potential value of developing newer oxindole derivatives with an improved range of pharmacological implications as well as identifying drugs possessing oxindole core, that are showing and serving increased efficacy in clinical practice.

Activity Prediction of Small Molecule Inhibitors for Antirheumatoid Arthritis Targets Based on Artificial Intelligence

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic autoimmune disease, which is compared to "immortal cancer" in industry. Currently, SYK, BTK, and JAK are the three major targets of protein tyrosine kinase for this disease. According to existing research, marketed and research drugs for RA are mostly based on single target, which limits their efficacy. Therefore, designing multitarget or dual-target inhibitors provide new insights for the treatment of RA regarding of the specific association between SYK, BTK, and JAK from two signal transduction pathways. In this study, machine learning (XGBoost, SVM) and deep learning (DNN) models were combined for the first time to build a powerful integrated model for SYK, BTK, and JAK. The predictive power of the integrated model was proved to be superior to that of a single classifier. In order to accurately assess the generalization ability of the integrated model, comprehensive similarity analysis was performed on the training and the test set, and the prediction accuracy of the integrated model was specifically analyzed under different similarity thresholds. External validation was conducted using single-target and dual-target inhibitors, respectively. Results showed that our model not only obtained a high recall rate (97%) in single-target prediction, but also achieved a favorable yield (54.4%) in dual-target prediction. Furthermore, by clustering dual-target inhibitors, the prediction performance of model in various classes were proved, evaluating the applicability domain of the model in the dual-target drug screening. In summary, the integrated model proposed is promising to screen dual-target inhibitors of SYK/JAK or BTK/JAK as RA drugs, which is beneficial for the clinical treatment of rheumatoid arthritis.

Traditional and modern management strategies for rheumatoid arthritis

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a serious disorder of the joints affecting 1 or 2% of the population aged between 20 and 50 years worldwide. RA is the foremost cause of disability in developing and Western populations. It is an autoimmune disease-causing inflammation and pain involving synovial joints. Pro-inflammatory markers, including cytokines, such as interleukin -1 (IL-1), IL-6, IL-7, IL-8, and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) are involved in RA. RA treatment involves TNF-α blockade, B cell therapy, IL-1 and IL-6 blockade, and angiogenesis inhibition. Synthetic drugs available for the treatment of RA include disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARD), such as cyclophosphamide, sulfasalazine, methotrexate, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), and intramuscular gold. These agents induce adverse hepatorenal effects, hypertension, and gastric ulcers. We found that patients diagnosed with chronic pain, as in RA, and those refractory to contemporary management are most likely to seek traditional medicine. Approximately 60-90% of patients with arthritis use traditional medicines. Therefore, the efficacy and safety of these traditional medicines need to be established. The treatment for RA entails a comprehensive multidisciplinary strategy to reduce pain and inflammation and to restore the activity of joints. The potential medicinal plants exhibiting anti-arthritic and anti-rheumatic pharmacological activity are reviewed here.

In silico guided designing of 4-(1H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-yl)phenol-based mutual-prodrugs of NSAIDs: synthesis and biological evaluation

The free COOH group of conventional NSAIDs is a structural feature for non-selective cyclooxygenase (COX) inhibition and the molecular cause of their gastrointestinal (GI) toxicity. In this context, an in house database of synthesizable ester prodrugs of some well-known NSAIDs was developed by combining their -COOH group with -OH of a newly identified antioxidant 4-(1H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-yl)phenol (BZ). The antioxidant potential of BZ was unveiled through in silico PASS prediction and in vitro/in vivo evaluation. The in house database of NSAIDs-BZ prodrugs was first subjected to screening with our previously reported pharmacophore models of hCES1 (AAHRR.430) and hCES2 (AHHR.21) for determining hydrolytic susceptibility. Biotransformation behaviour of screened prodrugs was then assessed by using QM/MM and sterimol parameterization, followed by ADMET calculations to predict the drug likeness. On the basis of in silico results, five prodrugs were duly synthesized and the best three were subject to the in vivo evaluation for their anti-inflammatory, analgesic, antioxidant activities, and ulcerogenic index. Among these prodrugs, BN₂ and BN₅ displayed better anti-inflammatory and analgesics potential in comparison to their parent drugs. All the prodrugs were found to be gastro sparing in the rat model and significantly improved the levels of oxidative stress biomarkers in both blood plasma as well as gastric homogenate.

The Giants (biologicals) against the Pigmies (small molecules), pros and cons of two different approaches to the disease modifying treatment in rheumatoid arthritis

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic autoimmune inflammatory disease that, if untreated, can lead to disability and reduce the life expectancy of affected patients. Over the last two decades the improvement of knowledge of the pathogenetic mechanisms leading to the development of the disease has profoundly changed the treatment strategies of RA through the development of biotechnological drugs (bDMARDs) directed towards specific pro-inflammatory targets involved in the RA network. To date, the therapeutic armamentarium for RA includes ten bDMARDs able to produce the depletion B-cells, the blockade of three different pro-inflammatory cytokines (tumour necrosis factor alpha, interleukin-6 and interleukin-1), or the inhibition of T-cell co-stimulation. The introduction of these new compounds has dramatically improved outcomes in the short and long term, although still a significant proportion of patients are unable to reach or maintain the treatment target over time. The identification of the fundamental role of Janus kinases in the process of transduction of the inflammatory signal within the immune cells has recently provided the opportunity to use the new pharmacological class of small molecules for the therapy of RA, further increasing the number of treatment options. In this review the PROS and CONS of these two drug classes will be discussed, trying to provide the evidence currently available to make the right choice based on the analysis of the efficacy and safety profile of the different drugs on the market and close to marketing.

Discovery of a Natural Syk Inhibitor from Chinese Medicine through a Docking-Based Virtual Screening and Biological Assay Study

Spleen tyrosine kinase (Syk) is a critical target protein for treating immunoreceptor signalling-mediated allergies. In this study, a virtual screening of an in-house Chinese medicine database followed by biological assays was carried out to identify novel Syk inhibitors. A molecular docking method was employed to screen for compounds with potential Syk inhibitory activity. Then, an in vitro kinase inhibition assay was performed to verify the Syk inhibitory activity of the virtual screening hits. Subsequently, a β-hexosaminidase release assay was conducted to evaluate the anti-mast cell degranulation activity of the active compounds. Finally, tanshinone I was confirmed as a Syk inhibitor (IC₅₀ = 1.64 μM) and exhibited anti-mast cell degranulation activity in vitro (IC₅₀ = 2.76 μM). Docking studies showed that Pro455, Gln462, Leu377, and Lys458 were key amino acid residues for Syk inhibitory activity. This study demonstrated that tanshinone I is a Syk inhibitor with mast cell degranulation inhibitory activity. Tanshinone I may be a potential lead compound for developing effective and safe Syk-inhibiting drugs.