New triazole derivatives containing substituted 1,2,3-triazole side chains: Design, synthesis and antifungal activity

Current advancements and future perspectives of 1,2,3-triazoles to target lanosterol 14α-demethylase (CYP51), a cytochrome P450 enzyme: A computational approach

Antifungal resistance has become a significant challenge, necessitating the development of novel antifungal agents. Resistance often arises from prolonged and widespread use of existing treatments, leading to mutations in fungal enzymes that reduce drug efficacy. Amongst various scaffolds, 1,2,3-triazoles have emerged as antifungal agents due to their ability to bind effectively to fungal enzymes. This review examines the binding interactions of 1,2,3-triazoles with lanosterol 14α-demethylase (CYP51), an enzyme in Candida albicans (PDB IDs:5TZ1and5V5Z), highlighting their potential in fighting resistance. The CYP51 family is a captivating topic to investigate the structural and functional roles of P450 and makes for a key medical focus. It is one of crucial step in biosynthesis of sterol in eukaryotes. Antifungals mostly work on CYP51 and could also be used to treat protozoan diseases in the future. 1,2,3-Triazoles exert their antifungal effects by inhibiting the CYP51 enzyme, which is crucial for ergosterol synthesis in fungal cell membranes thereby leading to disruption of membrane integrity and ultimately leads to death of fungal cell. In silico studies like molecular docking and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, reveal that these compounds establish strong interactions (e.g., π-π, π-alkyl, CH, hydrogen bonding, and Van der Waals interactions) with active site residues, stabilizing the ligand-enzyme complex. This review of virtual screening assays shows the adaptability of the 1,2,3-triazole scaffold and its widespread use in core antifungal compounds, making it a key pharmacophore for new lead development against resistant fungal species.

Click chemistry beyond metal-catalyzed cycloaddition as a remarkable tool for green chemical synthesis of antifungal medications

Click chemistry is widely used for the efficient synthesis of 1,4-disubstituted-1,2,3-triazole, a well-known scaffold with widespread biological activity in the pharmaceutical sciences. In recent years, this magic ring has attracted the attention of scientists for its potential in designing and synthesizing new antifungal agents. Despite scientific and medical advances, fungal infections still account for more than 1.5 million deaths globally per year, especially in people with compromised immune function. This increasing trend is definitely related to a raise in the incidence of fungal infections and prevalence of antifungal drug resistance. In this condition, an urgent need for new alternative antifungals is undeniable. By focusing on the main aspects of reaction conditions in click chemistry, this review was conducted to classify antifungal 1,4-disubstituted-1,2,3-triazole hybrids based on their chemical structures and introduce the most effective triazole antifungal derivatives. It was notable that in all reactions studied, Cu(I) catalysts generated in situ by the reduction in Cu(II) salts or used copper(I) salts directly, as well as mixed solvents of t-BuOH/H2O and DMF/H2O had most application in the synthesis of triazole ring. The most effective antifungal activity was also observed in fluconazole analogs containing 1,2,3-triazole moiety and benzo-fused five/six-membered heterocyclic conjugates with a 1,2,3-triazole ring, even with better activity than fluconazole. The findings of structure-activity relationship and molecular docking of antifungal derivatives synthesized with copper-catalyzed azide-alkyne cycloaddition (CuAAC) could offer medicinal chemistry scientists valuable data on designing and synthesizing novel triazole antifungals with more potent biological activities in their future research.

SAR analysis of heterocyclic compounds with monocyclic and bicyclic structures as antifungal agents

Infections caused by eukaryotic organisms, such as fungi, are generally more difficult to treat than bacterial infections. With the widespread use of antifungal drugs in humans and plants, resistance and toxicity have emerged. Therefore, it is desirable to develop new antifungal drugs with low toxicity that are not susceptible to the development of resistance. This review presents a summary of the past 2017 to 2021 years of research on heterocyclic compounds as antifungal agents for use in humans and plants, focusing on the structure-activity relationships (SAR) of these compounds. This review may provide ideas and data for designing and developing new antifungal drugs with fewer side effects compared with currently available drugs.

Fluconazole-Like Compounds as Potential Antifungal Agents: QSAR, Molecular Docking, and Molecular Dynamics Simulation

Today, fungal infection has become more common disease especially in some cases, such as AIDS, cancer, and organ transplant which the immune system is suppressed. On the other hand, due to the increasing resistance to current antifungal drugs, more and more options for design of novel more efficient compounds with higher resistance are needed. In this study, a series of a fluconazole analogues were subjected to quantitative structure-activity relationship analysis to find the structure requirements for modeling adequate candidate. The best multiple linear regression equation was achieved from GA-PLS and MLR modeling. Subsequently, in silico screening study was applied to found new potent lead compounds based on the resulted model. The ability of the best designed compounds for antifungal activity was investigated by using molecular dynamic (MD) and molecular docking simulation. The results showed that compound F13 can efficiently bind to lanestrol 14-α demethylase target similar to other antifungal azoles. The molecular docking studies revealed an interesting binding profile with very high receptor affinity to the CYP51 active site. The triazole moiety of ligand F13 pointed to HEM group in lanestrol 14-α demethylase site and coordinated to Fe of HEM through its N4 atom. Also, there was a convenient relevance between QSAR and docking results. With the compound F13 which demonstrated the most promising minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values, it can be concluded that F13 is appropriate candidate for the development as antifungal agent.

Novel 1, 2, 4-Triazoles as Antifungal Agents

The development of innovative antifungal agents is essential. Some fungicidal agents are no longer effective due to resistance development, various side effects, and high toxicity. Therefore, the synthesis and development of some new antifungal agents are necessary. 1,2,4-Triazole is one of the most essential pharmacophore systems between five-membered heterocycles. The structure-activity relationship (SAR) of this nitrogen-containing heterocyclic compound showed potential antifungal activity. The 1,2,4-triazole core is present as the nucleus in a variety of antifungal drug categories. The most potent and broad activity of triazoles have confirmed them as pharmacologically significant moieties. The goal of this review is to highlight recent developments in the synthesis and SAR study of 1,2,4-triazole as a potential fungicidal compound. In this study, we provide the results of a biological activity evaluation using various structures and figures. Literature investigation showed that 1, 2, 4-triazole derivatives reveal the extensive span of antifungal activity. This review will assist researchers in the development of new potential antifungal drug candidates with high effectiveness and selectivity.

Current Status and Structure Activity Relationship of Privileged Azoles as Antifungal Agents (2016-2020)

Fungal infections have major contribution to the infectious related deaths in recent century. The issue has gotten worse with the advent of immunity impairing conditions such as HIV epidemic. Eukaryote nature of fungal pathogens leads to harder eradication than bacterial infections. Given the importance of the problem, considerable efforts have been put on the synthesis and biological assessment of azole-based chemical scaffolds and their bioisosteres. The emergence of validated macromolecular targets within different fungal species inspires structure-based drug design strategies toward diverse azole-based agents. Despite of advantageous features, emergence of drug-resistant fungal species restrict the applicability of current azoles as the first-line antifungal agents. Consequently, it appears advisable to elucidate SARs and chemical biodiversity within antifungal azoles. Current contribution was devoted to a brief look at clinically applied drugs, structure-based classification of azole antifungals and their structure activity relationships (SARs). Reviewed molecules belong to the antifungal structures that were reported throughout 2016-2020.

Discovery of a Series of Theophylline Derivatives Containing 1,2,3-Triazole for Treatment of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Chemotherapy is the most common clinical treatment for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), but low efficiency and high toxicity of current chemotherapy drugs limit their clinical application. Therefore, it is urgent to develop hypotoxic and efficient chemotherapy drugs. Theophylline, a natural compound, is safe and easy to get, and it can be used as a modified scaffold structure and hold huge potential for developing safe and efficient antitumor drugs. Herein, we linked theophylline with different azide compounds to synthesize a new type of 1,2,3-triazole ring-containing theophylline derivatives. We found that some theophylline1,2,3-triazole compounds showed a good tumor-suppressive efficacy. Especially, derivative d17 showed strong antiproliferative activity against a variety of cancer cells in vitro, including H460, A549, A2780, LOVO, MB-231, MCF-7, OVCAR3, SW480, and PC-9. It is worth noting that the two NSCLC cell lines H460 H and A549 are sensitive to compound d17 particularly, with IC50 of 5.929 ± 0.97 μM and 6.76 ± 0.25 μM, respectively. Compound d17 can significantly induce cell apoptosis by increasing the ratio of apoptotic protein Bax/Bcl-2 by downregulating the expression of phosphorylated Akt protein, and it has little toxicity to normal hepatocyte cells LO2 at therapeutic concentrations. These data indicate that these theophylline acetic acid-1,2,3-triazole derivatives may be potential drug candidates for anti-NSCLC and are worthy of further study.

Caenorhabditis elegans as an Infection Model for Pathogenic Mold and Dimorphic Fungi: Applications and Challenges

The threat burden from pathogenic fungi is universal and increasing with alarming high mortality and morbidity rates from invasive fungal infections. Understanding the virulence factors of these fungi, screening effective antifungal agents and exploring appropriate treatment approaches in in vivo modeling organisms are vital research projects for controlling mycoses. Caenorhabditis elegans has been proven to be a valuable tool in studies of most clinically relevant dimorphic fungi, helping to identify a number of virulence factors and immune-regulators and screen effective antifungal agents without cytotoxic effects. However, little has been achieved and reported with regard to pathogenic filamentous fungi (molds) in the nematode model. In this review, we have summarized the enormous breakthrough of applying a C. elegans infection model for dimorphic fungi studies and the very few reports for filamentous fungi. We have also identified and discussed the challenges in C. elegans-mold modeling applications as well as the possible approaches to conquer these challenges from our practical knowledge in C. elegans-Aspergillus fumigatus model.

CDATA[Recent Advances in the Development of 1,2,3-Triazole-containing Derivatives as Potential Antifungal Agents and Inhibitors of Lanoster ol 14α-Demethylase

1,2,3-Triazole, a five-membered heterocyclic nucleus, is widely recognized as a key chromophore of great value in medicinal chemistry for delivering compounds possessing innumerable biological activities, including antimicrobial, antitubercular, antidiabetic, antiviral, antitumor, antioxidants, and anti-inflammatory activities. Mainly, in the past years, diverse conjugates carrying this biologically valuable core have been reported due to their attractive fungicidal potential and potent effects on various infective targets. Hence, hybridization of 1,2,3-triazole with other antimicrobial pharmacophores appears to be a judicious strategy to develop new effective anti-fungal candidates to combat the emergence of drug-sensitive and drug-resistant infectious diseases. Thus, the current review highlights the recent advances of this promising category of 1,2,3-triazole-containing hybrids incorporating diverse varieties of bioactive heterocycles such as conozole, coumarin, imidazole, benzimidazole, pyrazole, indole, oxindole, chromene, pyrane, quinazoline, chalcone, isoflavone, carbohydrates, and amides. It underlies their inhibition behavior against a wide array of infectious fungal species during 2015-2020.

New N-phenylacetamide-incorporated 1,2,3-triazoles: [Et3NH][OAc]-mediated efficient synthesis and biological evaluation

A facile, highly efficient, and greener method for the synthesis of new 1,4-disubstituted-1,2,3-triazoles was conducted using [Et3NH][OAc] as a medium by the implementation of ultrasound irradiation via click chemistry, affording excellent yields. The present synthetic method exhibited numerous advantages such as mild reaction conditions, excellent product yields, minimal chemical waste, operational simplicity, shorter reaction time, and a wide range of substrate scope. The synthesized compounds were further evaluated for in vitro antifungal activity against five fungal strains, and some of the compounds displayed equivalent or greater potency than the standard drug. A molecular docking study against the modelled three-dimensional structure of cytochrome P450 lanosterol 14α-demethylase was also performed to understand the binding affinity and binding interactions of the enzyme. Furthermore, the synthesized compounds were evaluated for DPPH radical scavenging activity and antitubercular activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv strain.

Synthesis, Molecular Properties Prediction and Antimicrobial Activity of Imidazolyl Schiff Bases, Triazoles and Azetidinones

Benzylidenehydrazinyl imidazoles (3) are prepared from 2-hydrazinyl imidazoles (2) on treatment with hydrazine. The imine functionality in 3 is utilized to develop 5'-aryl-N-(4-aryl-1H-imidazol-2-yl)-1H-1,2,3-triazol-1-amines (5) by 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of diazomethane followed by aromatization with I₂ in DMSO. Compounds 3 are also explored to prepare 4'-aryl-1-(4-aryl-1H-imidazol-2-ylamino)-3-chloroazetidin-2-ones (6) on treatment with chloroacetyl chloride. The Molinspiration calculations predicted that 3, 5 and 6 have molecular hydrophobicity, conformational flexibility, good intestinal absorption and bioactivity scores. The chloro, bromo and nitro substituted imidazolyl azetidinones (6c, 6d, 6f) and nitro substituted imidazolyl triazole (5f) exhibited excellent antibacterial activity on B. subtilis, whereas chloro and nitro substituted imidazolyl triazoles (5c, 5f) showed prominent antifungal activity on A. niger.

The synthesis of an antifungal 1,2,4-triazole drug and the establishment of a drug delivery system based on zeolitic imidazolate frameworks

Schematic representation of a drug delivery system based on ZIF-8 for the therapy of invasive Candida albicans infections.