Hydroxytriamides as potent γ-secretase inhibitors

Biomimetic catalytic transformation of toxic α-oxoaldehydes to high-value chiral α-hydroxythioesters using artificial glyoxalase I

Glyoxalase I plays a critical role in the enzymatic defence against glycation by catalysing the isomerization of hemithioacetal, formed spontaneously from cytotoxic α-oxoaldehydes and glutathione, to (S)-α-hydroxyacylglutathione derivatives. Upon the hydrolysis of the thioesters catalysed by glyoxalase II, inert (S)-α-hydroxy acids, that is, lactic acid, are then produced. Herein, we demonstrate highly enantioselective glyoxalase I mimic catalytic isomerization of in-situ-generated hemithioacetals, providing facile access to both enantiomers of α-hydroxy thioesters. Owing to the flexibility of thioesters, a family of optically pure α-hydroxyamides, which are highly important drug candidates in the pharmaceutical industry, were prepared without any coupling reagents. Similar to real enzymes, the enforced proximity of the catalyst and substrates by the chiral cage in situ formed by the incorporation of potassium salt can enhance the reactivity and efficiently transfer the stereochemical information.

Biocatalytic synthesis of chiral alcohols and amino acids for development of pharmaceuticals

Chirality is a key factor in the safety and efficacy of many drug products and thus the production of single enantiomers of drug intermediates and drugs has become increasingly important in the pharmaceutical industry. There has been an increasing awareness of the enormous potential of microorganisms and enzymes derived there from for the transformation of synthetic chemicals with high chemo-, regio- and enatioselectivities. In this article, biocatalytic processes are described for the synthesis of chiral alcohols and unntural aminoacids for pharmaceuticals.

In silico prediction and screening of gamma-secretase inhibitors by molecular descriptors and machine learning methods

Gamma-secretase inhibitors have been explored for the prevention and treatment of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Methods for prediction and screening of gamma-secretase inhibitors are highly desired for facilitating the design of novel therapeutic agents against AD, especially when incomplete knowledge about the mechanism and three-dimensional structure of gamma-secretase. We explored two machine learning methods, support vector machine (SVM) and random forest (RF), to develop models for predicting gamma-secretase inhibitors of diverse structures. Quantitative analysis of the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was performed to further examine and optimize the models. Especially, the Youden index (YI) was initially introduced into the ROC curve of RF so as to obtain an optimal threshold of probability for prediction. The developed models were validated by an external testing set with the prediction accuracies of SVM and RF 96.48 and 98.83% for gamma-secretase inhibitors and 98.18 and 99.27% for noninhibitors, respectively. The different feature selection methods were used to extract the physicochemical features most relevant to gamma-secretase inhibition. To the best of our knowledge, the RF model developed in this work is the first model with a broad applicability domain, based on which the virtual screening of gamma-secretase inhibitors against the ZINC database was performed, resulting in 368 potential hit candidates.

BACE and gamma-secretase characterization and their sorting as therapeutic targets to reduce amyloidogenesis

Secretases are named for enzymes processing amyloid precursor protein (APP), a prototypic type-1 membrane protein. This led directly to discovery of novel Aspartyl proteases (beta-secretases or BACE), a tetramer complex gamma-secretase (gamma-SC) containing presenilins, nicastrin, aph-1 and pen-2, and a new role for metalloprotease(s) of the ADAM family as a alpha-secretases. Recent advances in defining pathways that mediate endosomal-lysosomal-autophagic-exosomal trafficking now provide targets for new drugs to attenuate abnormal production of fibril forming products characteristic of AD. A key to success includes not only characterization of relevant secretases but mechanisms for sorting and transport of key metabolites to abnormal vesicles or sites for assembly of fibrils. New developments we highlight include an important role for an 'early recycling endosome' coated in retromer complex containing lipoprotein receptor LRP-II (SorLA) for switching APP to a non-amyloidogenic pathway for alpha-secretases processing, or to shuttle APP to a 'late endosome compartment' to form Abeta or AICD. LRP11 (SorLA) is of particular importance since it decreases in sporadic AD whose etiology otherwise is unknown.

Discovery of (S)-2-((S)-2-(3,5-difluorophenyl)-2-hydroxyacetamido)-N-((S,Z)-3-methyl-4-oxo-4,5-dihydro-3H-benzo[d][1,2]diazepin-5-yl)propanamide (BMS-433796): a gamma-secretase inhibitor with Abeta lowering activity in a transgenic mouse model of Alzheimer's disease

We report on the design of benzodiazepinones as peptidomimetics at the carboxy terminus of hydroxyamides. Structure-activity relationships of diazepinones were investigated and orally active gamma-secretase inhibitors were synthesized. Active metabolites contributing to Abeta reduction were identified by analysis of plasma samples from Tg2576 mice. In particular, (S)-2-((S)-2-(3,5-difluorophenyl)-2-hydroxyacetamido)-N-((S,Z)-3-methyl-4-oxo-4,5-dihydro-3H-benzo[d][1,2]diazepin-5-yl)propanamide (BMS-433796) was identified with an acceptable pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic profile. Chronic dosing of BMS-433796 in Tg2576 mice suggested a narrow therapeutic window and Notch-mediated toxicity at higher doses.

Synthesis, characterization, antimicrobial and single crystal X-ray crystallographic studies of some new sulfonyl, 4-chloro phenoxy benzene and dibenzoazepine substituted benzamides

A new class of benzamide derivatives 3a(I-VI) and 3b(I-VI), bearing different bioactive moieties were synthesized and evaluated for their efficacy as antimicrobials in vitro. Compounds 3bVI, 3aII, 3aV, 3bIII, 3aVI, 3bII showed significant antibacterial activity and 3bIII, 3bII, 3aIV, 3bV, 3bVI, 3aI exhibit significant antifungal activity. The title compounds are characterized by spectral and elemental analysis. Compounds 2-methoxy-N-[4-(thiazol-2-yl-sulfamoyl)-phenyl]-benzamide 3aII and 2-(2-(2-ethoxybenzoylamino) phenethyl)-N-(2-ethoxybenzoyl) benzenamine 3bV are characterized by the single crystal X-ray studies. Compound 3aII crystallizes in monoclinic space group P2(1) and 3bV in triclinic space group P-1. Compounds 3aII and 3bV exhibit both inter and intra molecular hydrogen bonding.

Direct Synthesis of Esters and Amides from Unprotected Hydroxyaromatic and -aliphatic Carboxylic Acids

A facile method for the activation of hydroxy-substituted carboxylic acids using benzotriazole chemistry without prior protection of the hydroxy substituents is presented. The N-acylbenzotriazole intermediates 2a-g, 6a-d, and 9a-c have been used for high-yielding synthesis of both aliphatic (3a-l) and aromatic (7a-h, 10a-f) hydroxy carboxamides. High yields of aromatic hydroxy esters 12a-h and 13a-i were obtained using either neat alcohols in neutral microwave conditions or nucleophilic alkoxides and the intermediate N-(arylacyl)benzotriazoles. Moderate yields were obtained in the case of aliphatic hydroxy esters 11a,b and thiolesters 11e-g from the intermediates 2a-c.

2,3-Benzodiazepin-1,4-diones as peptidomimetic inhibitors of gamma-secretase

2,3-Benzodiazepin-1,4-diones were designed as peptidomimetics at the carboxy terminus of hydroxyamides. Inhibition of brain Abeta production was improved by one of the compounds containing constrained modification.