Iodine-mediated one-pot intramolecular decarboxylation domino reaction for accessing functionalised 2-(1,3,4-oxadiazol-2-yl)anilines with carbonic anhydrase inhibitory action

A practical and transition metal-free one-pot domino synthesis of diversified (1,3,4-oxadiazol-2-yl)anilines has been developed employing isatins and hydrazides as the starting materials, in the presence of molecular iodine. The prominent feature of this domino process involves consecutive condensation, hydrolytic ring cleavage, and an intramolecular decarboxylation, in a one-pot process that leads to the oxidative formation of a C–O bond. Fluorescence properties of some of the representative molecules obtained in this way were studied. The synthesised 2-(1,3,4-oxadiazolo-2-yl)aniline-benzene sulphonamides (8a–o) were screened for their carbonic anhydrase (CA, EC 4.2.1.1) inhibitory activity. Most of the compounds exhibited low micromolar to nanomolar activity against human (h) isoforms hCA I, hCA II, hCA IV, and XII, with some compounds displaying selective CA inhibitory activity towards hCA II with KIs of 6.4–17.6 nM

Modulation of cellular signaling by herpesvirus-encoded G protein-coupled receptors

Human herpesviruses are widespread infectious pathogens that have been associated with proliferative and inflammatory diseases. During viral evolution, human herpesviruses have pirated genes encoding viral G protein-coupled receptors (vGPCRs), which are expressed on infected host cells. These vGPCRs show highest homology to human chemokine receptors, which play a key role in the immune system. Importantly, vGPCRs have acquired unique properties such as constitutive activity and the ability to bind a broad range of human chemokines. This allows vGPCRs to hijack human proteins and modulate cellular signaling for the benefit of the virus, ultimately resulting in immune evasion and viral dissemination to establish a widespread and lifelong infection. Knowledge on the mechanisms by which herpesviruses reprogram cellular signaling might provide insight in the contribution of vGPCRs to viral survival and herpesvirus-associated pathologies