The Isolation and Characterization of β-Glucogallin as a Novel Aldose Reductase Inhibitor from Emblica officinalis

Diabetes mellitus is recognized as a leading cause of new cases of blindness. The prevalence of diabetic eye disease is expected to continue to increase worldwide as a result of the dramatic increase in the number of people with diabetes. At present, there is no medical treatment to delay or prevent the onset and progression of cataract or retinopathy, the most common causes of vision loss in diabetics. The plant Emblica officinalis (gooseberry) has been used for thousands of years as a traditional Indian Ayurvedic preparation for the treatment of diabetes in humans. Extracts from this plant have been shown to be efficacious against the progression of cataract in a diabetic rat model. Aldose reductase (ALR2) is implicated in the development of secondary complications of diabetes including cataract and, therefore, has been a major drug target for the development of therapies to treat diabetic disease. Herein, we present the bioassay-guided isolation and structure elucidation of 1-O-galloyl-β-D-glucose (β-glucogallin), a major component from the fruit of the gooseberry that displays selective as well as relatively potent inhibition (IC50 = 17 µM) of AKR1B1 in vitro. Molecular modeling demonstrates that this inhibitor is able to favorably bind in the active site. Further, we show that β-glucogallin effectively inhibits sorbitol accumulation by 73% at 30 µM under hyperglycemic conditions in an ex-vivo organ culture model of lenses excised from transgenic mice overexpressing human ALR2 in the lens. This study supports the continued development of natural products such as β-glucogallin as therapeutic leads in the development of novel therapies to treat diabetic complications such as cataract

Neoamphimedine Circumvents Metnase-Enhanced DNA Topoisomerase IIα Activity Through ATP-Competitive Inhibition

Type IIα DNA topoisomerase (TopoIIα) is among the most important clinical drug targets for the treatment of cancer. Recently, the DNA repair protein Metnase was shown to enhance TopoIIα activity and increase resistance to TopoIIα poisons. Using in vitro DNA decatenation assays we show that neoamphimedine potently inhibits TopoIIα-dependent DNA decatenation in the presence of Metnase. Cell proliferation assays demonstrate that neoamphimedine can inhibit Metnase-enhanced cell growth with an IC50 of 0.5 μM. Additionally, we find that the apparent Km of TopoIIα for ATP increases linearly with higher concentrations of neoamphimedine, indicating ATP-competitive inhibition, which is substantiated by molecular modeling. These findings support the continued development of neoamphimedine as an anticancer agent, particularly in solid tumors that over-express Metnase

The Synthesis of Vinylogous Amidine Heterocycles

We report herein a convenient synthetic methodology for the conversion of <i>meta</i>-dinitro heterocyclic rings to iminoquinones with vinylogous amidine functionality. These structures are found in nature, particularly in marine organisms, and may be important for the pigments and biological activity observed with such marine secondary metabolites. Using benzimidazole and indole ring systems we show the versatility of these vinylogous amidines for organic synthesis, including the following: transamination substitution reactions with virtually any primary amine, regional control of the substitution with substituents between the vinylogous amidine, and hydrolytic properties that can be controlled or optimized based on the properties of the chosen ring system. Taken together, this versatile chemistry and functionalization of organic molecules may be useful in the preparation of a variety of chemical products such as drug pharmacophores or assembling macromolecular structures

Larrea tridentata: A novel source for anti-parasitic agents active against Entamoeba histolytica, Giardia lamblia and Naegleria fowleri.

Protozoan parasites infect and kill millions of people worldwide every year, particularly in developing countries where access to clean fresh water is limited. Among the most common are intestinal parasites, including Giardia lamblia and Entamoeba histolytica. These parasites wreak havoc on the epithelium lining the small intestines (G. lamblia) and colon (E. histolytica) causing giardiasis and amebiasis, respectively. In addition, there are less common but far more deadly pathogens such as Naegleria fowleri that thrive in warm waters and infect the central nervous systems of their victims via the nasal passages. Despite their prevalence and associated high mortality rates, there remains an unmet need to identify more effective therapeutics for people infected with these opportunistic parasites. To address this unmet need, we have surveyed plants and traditional herbal medicines known throughout the world to identify novel antiparasitic agents with activity against G. lamblia, E. histolytica, and N. fowleri. Herein, we report Larrea tridentata, known as creosote bush, as a novel source for secondary metabolites that display antiparasitic activity against all three pathogens. This report also characterizes the lignan compound classes, nordihydroguairetic acid and demethoxyisoguaiacin, as novel antiparasitic lead agents to further develop more effective drug therapy options for millions of people worldwide

AST-487 Inhibits RET Kinase Driven TERT Expression in Bladder Cancer

Mutations in the promoter of the human Telomerase Reverse Transcriptase (hTERT) gene are common and associated with its elevated expression in bladder cancer, melanoma, and glioblastoma. Though these mutations and TERT overexpression are associated with aggressive disease and poor outcome, an incomplete understanding of mutant TERT regulation limits treatment options directed at this gene. Herein, we unravel a signaling pathway that leads to upregulated hTERT expression resulting from the −124 bp promoter mutation, the most frequent variant across human cancer. We employed engineered bladder cancer cells that harbor a GFP insertion at the TSS region on −124 hTERT promoter for high-content screening drug discovery using a focused library of ~800 kinase inhibitors. Studies using in vitro and in vivo models prioritized AST-487, an inhibitor of the wild-type, and mutant RET (rearranged during transfection) proto-oncogene as a novel drug inhibitor of both wild-type and mutant promoter-driven hTERT expression. We also identified the RET kinase pathway, targeted by AST-487, as a novel regulator of mutant hTERT promoter-driven transcription in bladder cancer cells. Collectively, our work provides new potential precision medicine approaches for cancer patients with upregulated hTERT expression, perhaps, especially those harboring mutations in both the RET gene and the hTERT promoter, such as in thyroid cancer

Percent inhibition of <i>N</i>. <i>fowleri</i> and human HUVEC cell proliferation by 1 and 2.

<p>(A) The EC₅₀ dose response curves for <b>1</b> and <b>2</b> against <i>N</i>. <i>fowleri</i> trophozoites. (B) The EC₅₀ dose response curves for <b>1</b> and <b>2</b> against HUVEC cells. (C) Compound <b>1</b> and <b>2</b> displayed more potent inhibition of <i>N</i>. <i>fowleri</i> proliferation compared to HUVEC cells, which was statistically significant by Student’s t test analysis.</p

Key HMBC correlations of compound 9.

<p>The 3D energy minimized conformer was generated using BIOVIA Discovery Studio 2017 software.</p

¹H (400 MHz) and ¹³C NMR (100 MHz) data for 9 (CDCl₃ + CD₃OD) compared to the crude reported ¹H NMR data (CD₃OD)^a.

<p>¹H (400 MHz) and ¹³C NMR (100 MHz) data for 9 (CDCl₃ + CD₃OD) compared to the crude reported ¹H NMR data (CD₃OD)<a href="http://www.plosntds.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pntd.0005832#t002fn001" target="_blank">^a</a>.</p