Sulfonylhydrazones: Design, synthesis and investigation of ectonucleotidase (ALP & e5'NT) inhibition activities

Medicinal importance of the sulfonylhydrazones is well-evident owing to their binding ability with zinc containing metalloenzymes. In the present study, we have synthesized different series of sulfonylhydrazones by using facile synthetic methods in good to excellent yield. All the successfully prepared sulfonylhydrazones were screened for ectonucleotidase (ALP & e5'NT) inhibitory activity. Among the chromen-2-one scaffold based sulfonylhydrazones, the compounds 7 was found to be most potent inhibitor for h-TNAP (human tissue non-specific alkaline phosphatase) and h-IAP (human intestinal alkaline phosphatase) with IC₅₀ values of 1.02 ± 0.13 and 0.32 ± 0.0 3 µM respectively, compared with levamisole (IC₅₀ = 25.2 ± 1.90 µM for h-TNAP) and l-phenylalanine (IC₅₀ = 100 ± 3.00 µM for h-IAP) as standards. Further, the chromen-2-one based molecule 5a showed excellent activity against h-ecto 5'-NT (human ecto-5'-nucleotidase) with IC₅₀ value of 0.29 ± 0.004 µM compared to standard, sulfamic acid (IC₅₀ = 42.1 ± 7.8 µM). However, among the series of phenyl ring based sulfonylhydrazones, compound 9d was found to be most potent against h-TNAP and h-IAP with IC₅₀ values of 0.85 ± 0.08 and 0.52 ± 0.03 µM, respectively. Moreover, in silico studies were also carried to demonstrate their putative binding with the target enzymes. The potent compounds 5a, 7, and 9d against different ectonucleotidases (h-ecto 5'-NT, h-TNAP, h-IAP) could potentially serve as lead for the development of new therapeutic agents.

Design of Arylsulfonylhydrazones as Potential FabH Inhibitors: Synthesis, Antimicrobial Evaluation and Molecular Docking

BACKGROUND

Antimicrobial resistance is a persistent problem regarding infection treatment and calls for developing new antimicrobial agents. Inhibition of bacterial β-ketoacyl acyl carrier protein synthase III (FabH), which catalyzes the condensation reaction between a CoAattached acetyl group and an ACP-attached malonyl group in bacteria is an interesting strategy to find new antibacterial agents.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this work was to design and synthesize arylsulfonylhydrazones potentially FabH inhibitors and evaluate their antimicrobial activity.

METHODS

MIC₅₀ values of sulfonylhydrazones against E. coli and S. aureus were determined. Antioxidant activity was evaluated by DPPH (1-1'-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl) assay and cytotoxicity against LL24 lung fibroblast cells was verified by MTT method. Principal component analysis (PCA) was performed in order to suggest a structure-activity relationship. Molecular docking allowed to propose sulfonylhydrazones interactions with FabH.

RESULTS

The most active compound showed activity against S. aureus and E. coli, with MIC₅₀ = 0.21 and 0.44 μM, respectively. PCA studies correlated better activity to lipophilicity and molecular docking indicated that sulfonylhydrazone moiety is important to hydrogen-bond with FabH while methylcatechol ring performs π-π stacking interaction. The DPPH assay revealed that some sulfonylhydrazones derived from the methylcatechol series had antioxidant activity. None of the evaluated compounds was cytotoxic to human lung fibroblast cells, suggesting that the compounds might be considered safe at the tested concentration.

CONCLUSION

Arylsufonylhydrazones is a promising scaffold to be explored for the design of new antimicrobial agents.

Synthesis, Molecular Modeling, and Evaluation of Novel Sulfonylhydrazones as Acetylcholinesterase Inhibitors for Alzheimer's Disease

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common type of dementia and related to the degeneration of hippocampal cholinergic neurons, which dramatically affects cognitive ability. Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibitors are employed as drugs for AD therapy. Three series of sulfonylhydrazone compounds were designed, and their ability to inhibit AChE was evaluated. Fifteen compounds were synthesized and twelve of them had IC₅₀ values of 0.64-51.09 μM. The preliminary structure-activity relationships indicated that the methylcatechol moiety and arylsulfonyl substituents generated better compounds than both the benzodioxole and alkylsulfonyl chains. Molecular dynamics studies of compound 6d showed that the interaction with the peripheral binding site of AChE was similar to donepezil, which may explain its low IC₅₀ (0.64 μM). Furthermore, the drug-likeness of 6d suggests that the compound may have appropriate oral absorption and brain penetration. Compound 6d also presented antiradical activity and was not cytotoxic to LL24 cells, suggesting that this compound might be considered safe. Our findings indicate that arylsulfonylhydrazones may be a promising scaffold for the design of new drug candidates for the treatment of AD.

Synthesis of sulfonylhydrazone- and acylhydrazone-substituted 8-ethoxy-3-nitro-2H-chromenes as potent antiproliferative and apoptosis inducing agents

3-Nitro-2H-chromenes have recently been identified as a novel class of potent antitumor agents. In view of the favorable effects shown by sulfonylhydrazones and acylhydrazones, we designed and synthesized a series of sulfonylhydrazone- and acylhydrazone-substituted 8-ethoxy-3-nitro-2H-chromene derivatives, and evaluated their cell growth inhibition activities against A549, KG-1, A2780, and K562 cells. All the tested compounds exhibited more potent antiproliferative activity than BENC-511 against KG-1 cells. These compounds displayed IC50 values in the nanomolar range against A2780 cells. Compound 7d showed prominent cytotoxicity against K562 cells with an IC50 of 0.11 µM, which was comparable to that of BENC-511. Compound 7d arrested K562 cells at the G1 phase at high concentrations and induced apoptosis in K562 cells. Furthermore, 7d increased the levels of cleaved caspase-3, decreased the expression of bcl-2 and induced the cleavage of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase in K562 cells. Thus, this study provides the development of a series of novel compounds as effective antitumor agents with apoptotic death ability.