Discrimination of Potent Inhibitors of Toxoplasma gondii Enoyl-Acyl Carrier Protein Reductase by a Thermal Shift Assay

Many microbial pathogens rely on a type II fatty acid synthesis (FASII) pathway that is distinct from the type I pathway found in humans. Enoyl-acyl carrier protein reductase (ENR) is an essential FASII pathway enzyme and the target of a number of antimicrobial drug discovery efforts. The biocide triclosan is established as a potent inhibitor of ENR and has been the starting point for medicinal chemistry studies. We evaluated a series of triclosan analogues for their ability to inhibit the growth of Toxoplasma gondii, a pervasive human pathogen, and its ENR enzyme (TgENR). Several compounds that inhibited TgENR at low nanomolar concentrations were identified but could not be further differentiated because of the limited dynamic range of the TgENR activity assay. Thus, we adapted a thermal shift assay (TSA) to directly measure the dissociation constant (Kd) of the most potent inhibitors identified in this study as well as inhibitors from previous studies. Furthermore, the TSA allowed us to determine the mode of action of these compounds in the presence of the reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) or nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) cofactor. We found that all of the inhibitors bind to a TgENR–NAD+ complex but that they differed in their dependence on NAD+ concentration. Ultimately, we were able to identify compounds that bind to the TgENR–NAD+ complex in the low femtomolar range. This shows how TSA data combined with enzyme inhibition, parasite growth inhibition data, and ADMET predictions allow for better discrimination between potent ENR inhibitors for the future development of medicine

Development of a triclosan scaffold which allows for adaptations on both the A- and B-ring for transport peptides

The enoyl acyl-carrier protein reductase (ENR) enzyme is harbored within the apicoplast of apicomplexan parasites providing a significant challenge for drug delivery, which may be overcome through the addition of transductive peptides, which facilitates crossing the apicoplast membranes. The binding site of triclosan, a potent ENR inhibitor, is occluded from the solvent making the attachment of these linkers challenging. Herein, we have produced 3 new triclosan analogs with bulky A- and B-ring motifs, which protrude into the solvent allowing for the future attachment of molecular transporters for delivery

Protein trafficking through the endosomal system prepares intracellular parasites for a home invasion

Toxoplasma (toxoplasmosis) and Plasmodium (malaria) use unique secretory organelles for migration, cell invasion, manipulation of host cell functions, and cell egress. In particular, the apical secretory micronemes and rhoptries of apicomplexan parasites are essential for successful host infection. New findings reveal that the contents of these organelles, which are transported through the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and Golgi, also require the parasite endosome-like system to access their respective organelles. In this review, we discuss recent findings that demonstrate that these parasites reduced their endosomal system and modified classical regulators of this pathway for the biogenesis of apical organelles

The benzimidazole based drugs show good activity against T. gondii but poor activity against its proposed enoyl reductase enzyme target

The enoyl acyl-carrier protein reductase (ENR) enzyme of the apicomplexan parasite family has been intensely studied for antiparasitic drug design for over a decade, with the most potent inhibitors targeting the NAD(+) bound form of the enzyme. However, the higher affinity for the NADH co-factor over NAD(+) and its availability in the natural environment makes the NADH complex form of ENR an attractive target. Herein, we have examined a benzimidazole family of inhibitors which target the NADH form of Francisella ENR, but despite good efficacy against Toxoplasma gondii, the IC50 for T. gondii ENR is poor, with no inhibitory activity at 1μM. Moreover similar benzimidazole scaffolds are potent against fungi which lack the ENR enzyme and as such we believe that there may be significant off target effects for this family of inhibitors

Salicylanilide inhibitors of toxoplasma gondii

Toxoplasma gondii ( T. gondii ) is an apicomplexan parasite that can cause eye disease, brain disease, and death, especially in congenitally infected and immune-compromised people. Novel medicines effective against both active and latent forms of the parasite are greatly needed. The current study focused on the discovery of such medicines by exploring a family of potential inhibitors whose antiapicomplexan activity has not been previously reported. Initial screening efforts revealed that niclosamide, a drug approved for anthelmintic use, possessed promising activity in vitro against T. gondii . This observation inspired the evaluation of the activity of a series of salicylanilides and derivatives. Several inhibitors with activities in the nanomolar range with no appreciable in vitro toxicity to human cells were identified. An initial structure-activity relationship was explored. Four compounds were selected for evaluation in an in vivo model of infection, and two derivatives with potentially enhanced pharmacological parameters demonstrated the best activity profiles

Design, synthesis, and biological activity of diaryl ether inhibitors of Toxoplasma gondii enoyl reductase

Triclosan is a potent inhibitor of Toxoplasma gondii enoyl reductase (TgENR), which is an essential enzyme for parasite survival. In view of triclosan's poor druggability, which limits its therapeutic use, a new set of B-ring modified analogs were designed to optimize its physico-chemical properties. These derivatives were synthesized and evaluated by in vitro assay and TgENR enzyme assay. Some analogs display improved solubility, permeability and a comparable MIC50 value to that of triclosan. Modeling of these inhibitors revealed the same overall binding mode with the enzyme as triclosan, but the B-ring modifications have additional interactions with the strongly conserved Asn130

Novel N-Benzoyl-2-hydroxybenzamide disrupts unique parasite secretory pathway

Toxoplasma gondii is a protozoan parasite that can damage the human brain and eyes. There are no curative medicines. Herein, we describe our discovery of N-benzoyl-2-hydroxybenzamides as a class of compounds effective in low nanomolar range against T. gondii in vitro and in vivo. Our lead compound QQ-437 displays robust activity against the parasite, useful as a new scaffold for development of novel and improved inhibitors of T. gondii. Our genome-wide investigations reveal a specific mechanism of resistance to N-benzoyl-2-hydroxybenzamides mediated by Adaptin-3β, a large protein from the secretory protein complex. N-benzoyl-2-hydroxybenzamide -resistant clones have alterations of their secretory pathway which traffics proteins to micronemes, rhoptries, dense granules and acidocalcisome/Plant-Like Vacuole (PLV). N-benzoyl-2-hydroxybenzamide treatment also alters micronemes, rhoptries, the contents of dense granules and most markedly acidocalcisomes/PLV. Furthermore, QQ-437 is active against chloroquine-resistant Plasmodium falciparum. Our studies reveal a novel class of compounds that disrupts a unique secretory pathway of T. gondii, with potential to be used as scaffolds to discover improved compounds to treat the devastating diseases caused by apicomplexan parasites

Synthesis, biological evaluation and structure-activity relationships of N-benzoyl-2-hydroxybenzamides as agents active against P. falciparum (K1 strain), Trypanosomes, and Leishmania

In our efforts to identify novel chemical scaffolds for the development of new anti-protozoal drugs, a compound library was screened against T. gondii tachyzoites with activity discovered for N-(4-ethylbenzoyl)-2-hydroxybenzamide 1a against T. gondii as described elsewhere.1 Synthesis of a compound set was guided by T. gondii SAR with 1r found to be superior for T. gondii, also active against Thai and Sierra Leone strains of P. falciparum, and with superior ADMET properties as described elsewhere.1 Herein, synthesis methods and details of the chemical analysis of the compounds in this series are described. Further, this series of N-benzoyl-2-hydroxybenzamides was re-purposed for testing against four other protozoan parasites: T. b. rhodesiense, T. cruzi, L. donovani, and P. falciparum (K1 isolate). Structure-activity analyses led to the identification of compounds in this set with excellent anti-leishmanial activity (compound 1d). Overall, compound 1r was the best and had activity 21-fold superior to that of the standard anti-malarial drug chloroquine against the K1 P. falciparum isolat