Molecular hybridization design and synthesis of novel spirooxindole-based MDM2 inhibitors endowed with BCL2 signaling attenuation:A step towards the next generation p53 activators

Despite the achieved progress in developing efficient MDM2-p53 protein-protein interaction inhibitors (MDM2 inhibitors), the acquired resistance of tumor cells to such p53 activators posed an argument about the druggability of the pathway. Combination studies disclosed that concomitant inhibition of MDM2 and BCL2 functions can sensitize the tumor cells and synergistically induce apoptosis. Herein, we employed a rapid combinatorial approach to generate a novel series of hybrid spirooxindole-based MDM2 inhibitors (5a-s) endowed with BCL2 signaling attenuation. The adducts were designed to mimic the thematic features of the chemically stable potent spiro[3H-indole-3,2′-pyrrolidin]-2(1H)-ones MDM2 inhibitors while installing a pyrrole ring on the core via a carbonyl spacer inspired by the natural product marinopyrrole A that efficiently inhibits BCL2 family functions by various mechanisms. NCI 60 cell-line panel screening revealed their promising broad-spectrum antiproliferative activities. The NCI-selected derivatives were screened for cytotoxic activities against normal fibroblasts, MDA-MB 231, HepG-2, and Caco-2 cells via MTT assay, subjected to mechanistic apoptosis studies for assessment of p53, BCL2, p21, and caspase 3/7 status, then evaluated for potential MDM2 inhibition utilizing MST assay. The most balanced potent and safe derivatives; 5i and 5q were more active than 5-fluorouracil, exhibited low μM range MDM2 binding (KD =1.32 and 1.72 μM, respectively), induced apoptosis-dependent anticancer activities up to 50%, activated p53 by 47-63%, downregulated the BCL2 gene to 59.8%, and reduced its protein level (13.75%) in the treated cancer cells. Further downstream p53 signaling studies revealed > 2 folds p21 upregulation and > 3 folds caspase 3/7 activation. Docking simulations displayed that the active MDM2 inhibitors resided well into the p53 binding sites of MDM2, and shared key interactions with the co-crystalized inhibitor posed by the indolinone scaffold (5i, 5p, and 5q), the halogen substituents (5r), or the installed spiro ring (5s). Finally, in silico ADMET profiling predicted acceptable drug-like properties with full accordance to Lipinski's, Veber's, and Muegge's bioavailability parameters for 5i and a single violation for 5q

Investigation of furo[2,3-h]- and pyridazino[3,4-f]cinnolin-3-ol scaffolds as substrates for the development of novel HIV-1 integrase inhibitors

With the aim to develop novel HIV-1 integrase inhibitors, we obtained a set of condensed ring systems based on the furo[2,3-h]cinnolin-3(2H)-one and pyridazino[3,4-f]cinnolin-3-ol scaffolds bearing a potential chelating pharmacophore, which can be involved in the inhibition mechanism of the enzyme. Herein, we report the design, synthesis, structural investigation and preliminary biological results of these heteroaromatic systems

Design, Synthesis, Chemical and Biochemical Insights Into Novel Hybrid Spirooxindole-Based p53-MDM2 Inhibitors With Potential Bcl2 Signaling Attenuation

The tumor resistance to p53 activators posed a clinical challenge. Combination studies disclosed that concomitant administration of Bcl2 inhibitors can sensitize the tumor cells and induce apoptosis. In this study, we utilized a rapid synthetic route to synthesize two novel hybrid spirooxindole-based p53-MDM2 inhibitors endowed with Bcl2 signaling attenuation. The adducts mimic the thematic features of the chemically stable potent spiro [3H-indole-3,2′-pyrrolidin]-2(1H)-ones p53-MDM2 inhibitors, while installing a pyrrole ring via a carbonyl spacer inspired by the natural marine or synthetic products that efficiently inhibit Bcl2 family functions. A chemical insight into the two synthesized spirooxindoles including single crystal x-ray diffraction analysis unambiguously confirmed their structures. The synthesized spirooxindoles 2a and 2b were preliminarily tested for cytotoxic activities against normal cells, MDA-MB 231, HepG-2, and Caco-2 via MTT assay. 2b was superior to 5-fluorouracil. Mechanistically, 2b induced apoptosis-dependent anticancer effect (43%) higher than that of 5-fluorouracil (34.95%) in three studied cancer cell lines, activated p53 (47%), downregulated the Bcl2 gene (1.25-fold), and upregulated p21 (2-fold) in the treated cancer cells. Docking simulations declared the possible binding modes of the synthesized compounds within MDM2

A new synthetic access to 2-N-(glycosyl)thiosemicarbazides from 3-N-(glycosyl)oxadiazolinethiones and the regioselectivity of the glycosylation of their oxadiazolinethione precursors

Glycosylations of 5-(1H-indol-2-yl)-1,3,4-oxadiazoline-2(3H)-thione delivered various degrees of S- and/or N-glycosides depending on the reaction conditions. S-Glycosides were obtained regiospecifically by grinding oxadiazolinethiones with acylated α-D-glycosyl halides in basic alumina, whereas 3-N-(glycosyl)oxadiazolinethiones were selectively obtained by reaction with HgCl2 followed by heating the resultant chloromercuric salt with α-D-glycosyl halides in toluene under reflux. On using Et3N or K2CO3 as a base, mixtures of S- (major degree) and N-glycosides (minor degree) were obtained. Pure 3-N-(glycosyl)oxadiazolinethiones can also be selectively obtained from glycosylsulfanyloxadiazoles by the thermal S→N migration of the glycosyl moiety, which is proposed to occur by a tight-ion-pair mechanism. Thermal S→N migration of the glycosyl moiety can be used for purification of mixtures of S- or N-glycosides to obtain the pure N-glycosides. The aminolysis of the respective S- or N-glycosides with ammonia in aqueous methanol served as further confirmation of their structures. While in S-glycosides the glycosyl moiety was cleaved off again, 3-N-(glycosyl)oxadiazolinethiones showed a ring opening of the oxadiazoline ring (without affecting the glycosyl moiety) to give N-(glycosyl)thiosemicarbazides. Herewith, a new synthetic access to one of the four classes of glycosylthiosemicarbazides was found. The ultimate confirmation of new structures was achieved by X-ray crystallography. Finally, action of ammonia on benzylated 3-N-(galactosyl)oxadiazolinethione unexpectedly yielded 3-N-(galactosyl)triazolinethione. This represents a new path to the conversion of glycosyloxadiazolinethiones to new glycosyltriazolinethione nucleosides, which was until now unknown

Synthesis, structure combined with conformational analysis, biological activities and docking studies of bis benzylidene cyclohexanone derivatives

We report the synthesis and biological evaluation of bis benzylidne cyclohexanone derivatives 2,6-di(4-fluorobenzylidene)cyclohexanone 3a and (2E,6E)‐2,6‐bis({[4‐(trifluoromethyl)phenyl]methylidene})cyclohexanone 3b. Compound 3b crystallized in the monoclinic space group P21/n with unit cell parameters a = 29.3527(12) Å, b = 8.3147(3) Å, c = 32.7452(14) Å, β = 112.437(2)°, and V = 7386.8(5) Å3, Z = 16, and Rint = 0.072 at T = 100 K. The asymmetric unit contains four independent molecules, each of which has slight differences in the bond lengths and angles. One non-classical C11D–H11F⋯F3A hydrogen bond connects the molecules. Density functional theory was used to optimize the structures and calculate the natural charges, dipole moments, frontier molecular orbitals, and NMR and UV–Vis spectroscopic properties, which are discussed and compared with the experimental data. The synthetic derivatives were evaluated for α-glucosidase inhibitory activity, and we found that compound 3a (IC50 = 96.3 ± 0.51 μM) is a potent α-glucosidase inhibitor, showing superior activity to the standard drug acarbose (IC50 = 841 ± 1.73 μM). Compound 3b (IC50 = 7.92 ± 1.3 μg/mL) was found to be a potent antileishmanial compound, especially compared to the antileishmanial drugs pentamidine (IC50 = 5.09 ± 0.04 μM) and amphotericine B (IC50 = 0.29 ± 0.05 μg/mL). In addition, 3a and 3b have cytotoxic effects against PC3 (prostate cancer), HeLa (cervical cancer), and MCF-3 (breast cancer) cell lines. Docking study for compounds activity was performed with Openeye software in order to understanding their pose of interaction in the target receptors

3(2<em>H</em>)-Furanones promising candidates for synthesis of new fluorescent organic probes

567-575Several novel 3-arylidene-5-(4-methoxy-3-nitrophenyl)-2(3H)-furanones (2a-d) have been successfully prepared and used as precursors for building up of other new heterocyclic architectures such as pyrrolones (4a-c), (5) and unsaturated aroyl-hydrazides (7a-d). These aroyl-hydrazides have been subsequently converted into pyridazinone derivatives (8a-d) by refluxing in HCl/AcOH mixture. Eventually, benzoylation of the hydrazides (7a-c) with benzoyl chloride affords the corresponding N-benzoyl-3(2H)-pyridazinones (9a-c). The structures of all synthesized compounds have been established using elemental analysis and spectral methods. The photophysical (fluorescence and electronic absorption spectra) properties of newly synthesized compounds have also been investigated