Unveiling novel 2-cyclopropyl-3-ethynyl-4-(4-fluorophenyl)quinolines as GPCR ligands via PI3-kinase/PAR-1 antagonism and platelet aggregation valuations; development of a new class of anticancer drugs with thrombolytic effects

Melanogenesis Inhibitory Activity, Chemical Components and Molecular Docking Studies of Prunus cerasoides Buch.-Ham. D. Don. Flowers

Safe depigmenting agents are currently increasing in the cosmetic or pharmaceutical industry because various compounds have been found to have undesirable side effects. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the melanogenesis inhibitory effects of Prunus cerasoides Buch. -Ham. D. Don. flower extracts and their molecular mechanism in B16F10 mouse melanoma cells. Moreover, we also examined phenolic and flavonoid contents, antioxidant activity, chemical constituents of potential extracts, and molecular docking. The highest phenolic and flavonoid contents with the greatest scavenging activity were found in the butanol extract of the P. cerasoides flower compared to other extracts. From all extracts, only crude, diethyl ether, and butanol extracts showed an inhibition of mushroom tyrosinase activity, cellular tyrosinase activity, and melanin content as well as the downregulation of the gene expression of the microphthalmia-associated transcription factor (MITF), tyrosinase, tyrosinase-related protein-1 (TRP-1), and tyrosinase-related protein-2 (TRP-2) in α-MSH-stimulated B16F10 cells. Based on the molecular docking study, n-hexadecanoic acid, heptadecanoic acid, octadecanoic acid, 9,12-octadecadienoic acid, 9,12,15-octadecanoic acid, and eicosanoic acid might show an inhibitory effect against tyrosinase and MITF. In conclusion, this finding demonstrates that both the diethyl ether and butanol extracts of the P. cerasoides flower can effectively reduce tyrosinase activity and melanin synthesis through the downregulation of the melanogenic gene expression in B16F10 cells and through the molecular docking study. Taken together, the diethyl ether and butanol extracts of the P. cerasoides flower could be an anti-melanogenic ingredient for hyperpigmentary or melasma treatment.

Unraveling the multi-targeted curative potential of bioactive molecules against cervical cancer through integrated omics and systems pharmacology approach

Molecular level understanding on the role of viral infections causing cervical cancer is highly essential for therapeutic development. In these instances, systems pharmacology along with multi omics approach helps in unraveling the multi-targeted mechanisms of novel biologically active compounds to combat cervical cancer. The immuno-transcriptomic dataset of healthy and infected cervical cancer patients was retrieved from the array express. Further, the phytocompounds from medicinal plants were collected from the literature. Network Analyst 3.0 has been used to identify the immune genes around 384 which are differentially expressed and responsible for cervical cancer. Among the 87 compounds reported in plants for treating cervical cancer, only 79 compounds were targeting the identified immune genes of cervical cancer. The significant genes responsible for the domination in cervical cancer are identified in this study. The virogenomic signatures observed from cervical cancer caused by E7 oncoproteins serve as the potential therapeutic targets whereas, the identified compounds can act as anti-HPV drug deliveries. In future, the exploratory rationale of the acquired results will be useful in optimizing small molecules which can be a viable drug candidate.

Identifying the Novel Inhibitors Against the Mycolic Acid Biosynthesis Pathway Target "mtFabH" of Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Mycolic acids are the key constituents of mycobacterial cell wall, which protect the bacteria from antibiotic susceptibility, helping to subvert and escape from the host immune system. Thus, the enzymes involved in regulating and biosynthesis of mycolic acids can be explored as potential drug targets to kill Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb). Herein, Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes is used to understand the fatty acid metabolism signaling pathway and integrative computational approach to identify the novel lead molecules against the mtFabH (β-ketoacyl-acyl carrier protein synthase III), the key regulatory enzyme of the mycolic acid pathway. The structure-based virtual screening of antimycobacterial compounds from ChEMBL library against mtFabH results in the selection of 10 lead molecules. Molecular binding and drug-likeness properties of lead molecules compared with mtFabH inhibitor suggest that only two compounds, ChEMBL414848 (C1) and ChEMBL363794 (C2), may be explored as potential lead molecules. However, the spatial stability and binding free energy estimation of thiolactomycin (TLM) and compounds C1 and C2 with mtFabH using molecular dynamics simulation, followed by molecular mechanics Poisson-Boltzmann surface area (MM/PBSA) indicate the better activity of C2 (ΔG = -14.18 kcal/mol) as compared with TLM (ΔG = -9.21 kcal/mol) and C1 (ΔG = -13.50 kcal/mol). Thus, compound C1 may be explored as promising drug candidate for the structure-based drug designing of mtFabH inhibitors in the therapy of Mtb.

Discovering potent inhibitors against the Mpro of the SARS-CoV-2. A medicinal chemistry approach

The global pandemic caused by a single-stranded RNA (ssRNA) virus known as the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is still at its peak, with new cases being reported daily. Although the vaccines have been administered on a massive scale, the frequent mutations in the viral gene and resilience of the future strains could be more problematic. Therefore, new compounds are always needed to be available for therapeutic approaches. We carried out the present study to discover potential drug compounds against the SARS-CoV-2 main protease (Mpro). A total of 16,000 drug-like small molecules from the ChemBridge database were virtually screened to obtain the top hits. As a result, 1032 hits were selected based on their docking scores. Next, these structures were prepared for molecular docking, and each small molecule was docked into the active site of the Mpro. Only compounds with solid interactions with the active site residues and the highest docking score were subjected to molecular dynamics (MD) simulation. The post-simulation analyses were carried out using the in-built GROMACS tools to gauge the stability, flexibility, and compactness. Principal component analysis (PCA) and hydrogen bonding were also calculated to observe trends and affinity of the drugs towards the target. Among the five top compounds, C1, C3, and C6 revealed strong interaction with the target's active site and remained highly stable throughout the simulation. We believe the predicted compounds in this study could be potential inhibitors in the natural system and can be utilized in designing therapeutic strategies against the SARS-CoV-2.

Recent contributions of quinolines to antimalarial and anticancer drug discovery research

Quinoline, a privileged scaffold in medicinal chemistry, has always been associated with a multitude of biological activities. Especially in antimalarial and anticancer research, quinoline played (and still plays) a central role, giving rise to the development of an array of quinoline-containing pharmaceuticals in these therapeutic areas. However, both diseases still affect millions of people every year, pointing to the necessity of new therapies. Quinolines have a long-standing history as antimalarial agents, but established quinoline-containing antimalarial drugs are now facing widespread resistance of the Plasmodium parasite. Nevertheless, as evidenced by a massive number of recent literature contributions, they are still of great value for future developments in this field. On the other hand, the number of currently approved anticancer drugs containing a quinoline scaffold are limited, but a strong increase and interest in quinoline compounds as potential anticancer agents can be seen in the last few years. In this review, a literature overview of recent contributions made by quinoline-containing compounds as potent antimalarial or anticancer agents is provided, covering publications between 2018 and 2020.

Molecular modeling in cardiovascular pharmacology: Current state of the art and perspectives

Molecular modeling in pharmacology is a promising emerging tool for exploring drug interactions with cellular components. Recent advances in molecular simulations, big data analysis, and artificial intelligence (AI) have opened new opportunities for rationalizing drug interactions with their pharmacological targets. Despite the obvious utility and increasing impact of computational approaches, their development is not progressing at the same speed in different fields of pharmacology. Here, we review current in silico techniques used in cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), cardiological drug discovery, and assessment of cardiotoxicity. In silico techniques are paving the way to a new era in cardiovascular medicine, but their use somewhat lags behind that in other fields.

Tailored Quinolines Demonstrate Flexibility to Exert Antitumor Effects through Varied Mechanisms-A Medicinal Perspective

BACKGROUND

Quinoline is considered to be a privileged heterocyclic ring owing to its presence in diverse scaffolds endowed with promising activity profiles. In particular, quinoline containing compounds have exhibited substantial antiproliferative effects through the diverse mechanism of actions, which indicates that the heteroaryl unit is flexible as well as accessible to subtle structural changes that enable its inclusion in chemically distinct anti-tumor constructs.

METHODS

Herein, we describe a medicinal chemistry perspective on quinolines as anticancer agents by digging into the peer-reviewed literature as well as patents published in the past few years.

RESULTS

This review will serve as a guiding tool for medicinal chemists and chemical biologists to gain insights about the benefits of quinoline ring installation to tune the chemical architectures for inducing potent anticancer effects.

CONCLUSION

Quinoline ring containing anticancer agents presents enough optimism and promise in the field of drug discovery to motivate the researchers towards the continued explorations on such scaffolds. It is highly likely that adequate efforts in this direction might yield some potential cancer therapeutics in the future.

Exploration of anti-breast cancer effects of Terminalia chebula extract on DMBA-induced mammary carcinoma in Sprague Dawley rats

Background

Plant extracts are effectively acting as the natural medicinal cocktail, non-side effective, efficacious, and freely available. The present study aimed to unveil the pharmacological and medicinal effects of Terminalia chebula plant extract in 7,12-dimethylbenzanthracene (DMBA)-induced mammary carcinoma in Sprague Dawley rats. The plant extract obtained was subjected to in vivo antioxidant and anticancer studies in various concentrations after an analytical technique such as FTIR, GCMS, and HPLC-based chemo-profiling in Sprague Dawley rats.

Results

Apart from the antiproliferative effect on breast cancer cell line (MCF-7) and normal breast epithelial cells (MCF-10a), we have measured the changes in body weight, along with other tumor parameters such as tumor volume, tumor incidence, tumor weight, tumor burden, serum biochemical parameters, and histopathological findings of breast tissue. As the oxidative stress further enhances the development of cancer, the antioxidant property of the plant extract demonstrates its use against cancer treatment. One hundred fifty milligrams per milliliter (IC50 250 μg/mL) concentration of the ethanolic extract was vital for the proliferation of MCF-7 cell lines (Fig. 7a). Meanwhile, 300 μg/mL (IC50 150 μg/mL) was an effective dose to attain a maximum HDAC inhibition of 78%. Also, the normal liver and kidney functioning revealed the non-toxicity nature of the plant.

Conclusion

Terminalia chebula could be one of the effective naturally obtained anti-breast cancer medications. Isolation and characterization of individual bioactive compounds of T. chebula would be the future perspective.

p-TSA.H2O mediated one-pot, multi-component synthesis of isatin derived imidazoles as dual-purpose drugs against inflammation and cancer

A novel one-pot multicomponent reaction was performed to synthesize different imidazole and benzotriazole (BTA) isatin-based medicinally important compounds using (p-TSA·H₂O) as an economical and operative acid catalyst. The yield of the products was found to be up to a maximum of 92% when using this catalyst. Antioxidant, anti-breast cancer and anti-inflammatory activities of these 13 isatin-based derivatives (named as 5a-m) were assessed. The inhibitory effects of these compounds were tested in vitro against cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2, an enzyme responsible for inflammation) and phosphoinositide-3 kinase (PI3K, a key enzyme in breast cancer). "Among the 13 isatin-based Imidazole derivatives, five compounds (5a, 5d, 5f, 5 k and 5l) were found to exhibit anti-inflammatory as well as anti-cancer activity, which was validated using HRBC stabilization assay (to show anti-inflammatory activity) and cytotoxicity in MCF-7 (breast cancer cell line) to provide proof for anti-cancer property of the compounds". The molecular interactions between the two enzymes were probed using molecular docking. Structure-Activity Relationship (SAR) and ADMET prediction results were also useful to screen the most effective imidazole derivatives and to establish them as putative COX-2 inhibitors/anti-inflammatory drugs. These selected compounds which showed appreciable activity against COX-2 and PI3K are promising drug candidates for the treatment of breast cancer and inflammation which is often associated with breast cancer pathophysiology.

Novel Mixed Complexes Derived from Benzoimidazolphenylethanamine and 4-(Benzoimidazol-2-yl)aniline: Synthesis, Characterization, Antibacterial Evaluation and Theoretical Prediction of Toxicity

Benzoimidazolphenylethanamine (BPE) has been synthesized using condensation reaction from o-phenyldiamine and L-phenylalanine. Some metal complexes have been synthesized from 4-(benzoimidazol-2-yl)aniline, benzoimidazolylphenylethanamine and cadmium(II), tin(II), copper(II) and nickel(II) metal in a molar ratio (1:1:1). All new metal complexes were characterized by spectroscopic data of FTIR, UV-visible electronic absorption, X-ray powder diffraction and thermal analysis. Spectra analysis of the mixed metal complexes showed the coordination of ligands to the metal ions via nitrogen atoms. The XRD powder showed that metal complexes have a monoclinic system. The preliminary tested in vitro antibacterial activities of Sn(II) complex was assayed against four bacterial isolates namely Micrococcus luteus, Staphylococcus aureus as Gram-positive, Pseudomonas aerugmosa and Escherichia coli.

Anticancer Effects of Novel Tetrahydro-Dimethyl-Xanthene-Diones

BACKGROUND

The derivatives of xanthene are known to have promising anticancer properties, in comparison to xanthene itself.

OBJECTIVE

The object of our study was to develop few xanthene derivatives (a family of fifteen novel 3,4,6,7- tetrahydro-3,3-dimethyl-9-phenyl-2H-xanthene-1,8(5H, 9H)-diones encoded as 4a-4m), which were effectively prepared through regioselective synthesis approach, and to test their anticancer effects.

METHODS

A series of cell lines were used in this study, first to assess the cytotoxicity and then the drug efficacy of target compounds, consecutively. Prior to MTT assay, the compounds were analysed for their antioxidant properties, since oxidative stress is an important factor in the development of many cancer types. The anticancer properties of 4a-m have been assessed over in silico (molecular docking and ADMET assessments) and in vitro (MTT assay) methods.

RESULTS

Compounds 4h and 4i showed a relative percentage anticancer activity of 86.25±1.25 & 89.74±1.64 against BT474 (ER+HER2+), and 90.56±1.18 & 93.24±1.80 against MCF-7 (ER-HER2), respectively.

CONCLUSION

The animal model and pre-clinical studies for 4h and 4i should be performed in order to develop them as future anticancer agents.

Discovery and synthesis of 2-amino-1-methyl-1H-imidazol-4(5H)-ones as GPCR ligands; an approach to develop breast cancer drugs via GPCR associated PAR1 and PI3Kinase inhibition mechanism

Efforts were taken to synthesis and characterize 2-amino-1-methyl-1H-imidazole-4(5H)-one derivatives (4a-u) through a four-step reaction. The achieved compounds in remarkable yield have characterized through standard analytical techniques such as FTIR, LC-MS, NMR, HRMS, and elemental analysis. Present study mainly aimed to evaluate 4a-u as G protein-coupled receptors (GPCR). In the mechanism, stimulation of phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) and Akt (protein kinase B) is a general reaction activated by a series of membrane-bound receptors such as GPCR. Protease-activated receptor-1 (PAR1) is a subfamily of related GPCR, which triggered by the division of fragment of its extracellular domain. Therefore, molecular docking is done to ensure the inhibition of PAR1 and PI3Kinase. PI3Kinase is a chief enzyme in the development of breast cancer via the Akt/mTOR pathway. Thus, in vitro PI3Kinase inhibition and anti-breast cancer studies has also done to screen medicinally important compounds among (4a-u). Based on the best binding affinity, in vitro relative % activity and IC₅₀ values, compounds 4a, 4g, 4i, 4n, and 4u were screened for further preclinical studies in animal model evaluations.