Rational Optimization of Mechanism-Based Inhibitors through Determination of the Microscopic Rate Constants of Inactivation

Review of phage display: A jack-of-all-trades and master of most biomolecule display

Phage display was first described by George P. Smith when it was shown that virus particles were capable of presenting foreign proteins on their surface. The technology has paved the way for the evolution of various biomolecules presentation and diverse selection strategies. This unique feature has been applied as a versatile platform for numerous applications in drug discovery, protein engineering, diagnostics, and vaccine development. Over the decades, the limits of biomolecules displayed on phage particles have expanded from peptides to proteomes and even alternative scaffolds. This has allowed phage display to be viewed as a versatile display platform to accommodate various biomolecules ranging from small peptides to larger proteomes which has significantly impacted advancements in the biomedical industry. This review will explore the vast array of biomolecules that have been successfully employed in phage display technology in biomedical research.

Theoretical and Mechanistic Validation of Global Kinetic Parameters of the Inactivation of GABA Aminotransferase by OV329 and CPP-115

((S)-3-Amino-(difluoromethylenyl)cyclopent-1-ene-1-carboxylic acid (OV329) is a recently discovered inactivator of γ-aminobutyric acid aminotransferase (GABA-AT), which has 10 times better inactivation efficiency than its predecessor, CPP-115, despite the only structural difference being an endocyclic double bond in OV329. Both compounds are mechanism-based enzyme inactivators (MBEIs), which inactivate GABA-AT by a similar mechanism. Here, a combination of a variety of computational chemistry tools and experimental methods, including quantum mechanical (QM) calculations, molecular dynamic simulations, progress curve analysis, and deuterium kinetic isotope effect (KIE) experiments, are utilized to comprehensively study the mechanism of inactivation of GABA-AT by CPP-115 and OV329 and account for their experimentally obtained global kinetic parameters k_inact and K_I. Our first key finding is that the rate-limiting step of the inactivation mechanism is the deprotonation step, and according to QM calculations and the KIE experiments, k_inact accurately represents the enhancement of the rate-limiting step for the given mechanism. Second, the present study shows that the widely used simple QM models do not accurately represent the geometric criteria that are present in the enzyme for the deprotonation step. In contrast, QM cluster models successfully represent both the ground state destabilization and the transition state stabilization, as revealed by natural bond orbital analysis. Furthermore, the globally derived K_I values for both of the inactivators represent the inhibitor constants for the initial binding complexes (K_d) and indicate the inactivator competition with the substrate according to progress curve analysis and the observed binding isotope effect. The configurational entropy loss accounts for the difference in K_I values between the inactivators. The approach we describe in this work can be employed to determine the validity of globally derived parameters in the process of MBEI optimization for given inactivation mechanisms.

The Biotin Biosynthetic Pathway in Mycobacterium tuberculosis is a Validated Target for the Development of Antibacterial Agents

Mycobacterium tuberculosis, responsible for Tuberculosis (TB), remains the leading cause of mortality among infectious diseases worldwide from a single infectious agent, with an estimated 1.7 million deaths in 2016. Biotin is an essential cofactor in M. tuberculosis that is required for lipid biosynthesis and gluconeogenesis. M. tuberculosis relies on de novo biotin biosynthesis to obtain this vital cofactor since it cannot scavenge sufficient biotin from a mammalian host. The biotin biosynthetic pathway in M. tuberculosis has been well studied and rigorously genetically validated providing a solid foundation for medicinal chemistry efforts. This review examines the mechanism and structure of the enzymes involved in biotin biosynthesis and ligation, summarizes the reported genetic validation studies of the pathway, and then analyzes the most promising inhibitors and natural products obtained from structure-based drug design and phenotypic screening.

The art of suicidal molecular seduction for targeting drug resistance

The development of drug resistance is one of the most significant challenges of the current century in the pharmaceutical industry. Superinfections, cancer chemoresistance, and resistance observed in many non-infectious diseases are nullifying the efforts and monetary supplies, put in the advent of new drug molecules. Millions of people die because of this drug resistance developed gradually through extensive use of the drugs. Inherently, some drugs are less prone to become ineffective by drug resistance than others. Covalent inhibitors bind to their targets via a biologically permanent bound with their cognate receptor and therefore display more potent inhibiting characteristics. Suicide inhibitors or mechanism-based inhibitors are one of the covalent inhibitors, which require a pre-activation step by their targeting enzyme. This step accrues their selectivity and specificity with respect to other covalent inhibitors. After that pre-activation step, they produce an analogue of the transition state of the catalytic enzyme, which is practically incapable of dissociating from the enzyme. Suicide inhibitors, due to their high intrinsic affinity toward the related enzyme, are resistant to many mechanisms involved in the development of drug resistance and can be regarded as one of the enemies of this scientific hurdle. These inhibitors compete even with monoclonal antibodies in terms of their cost-effectiveness and efficacy.

Mechanism of Inactivation of Ornithine Aminotransferase by (1S,3S)-3-Amino-4-(hexafluoropropan-2-ylidenyl)cyclopentane-1-carboxylic Acid

The inhibition of ornithine aminotransferase (OAT), a pyridoxal 5'-phosphate-dependent enzyme, has been implicated as a treatment for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the most common form of liver cancer, for which there is no effective treatment. From a previous evaluation of our aminotransferase inhibitors, (1S,3S)-3-amino-4-(perfluoropropan-2-ylidene)cyclopentane-1-carboxylic acid hydrochloride (1) was found to be a selective and potent inactivator of human OAT (hOAT), which inhibited the growth of HCC in athymic mice implanted with human-derived HCC, even at a dose of 0.1 mg/kg. Currently, investigational new drug (IND)-enabling studies with 1 are underway. The inactivation mechanism of 1, however, has proved to be elusive. Here we propose three possible mechanisms, based on mechanisms of known aminotransferase inactivators: Michael addition, enamine addition, and fluoride ion elimination followed by conjugate addition. On the basis of crystallography and intact protein mass spectrometry, it was determined that 1 inactivates hOAT through fluoride ion elimination to an activated 1,1'-difluoroolefin, followed by conjugate addition and hydrolysis. This result was confirmed with additional studies, including the detection of the cofactor structure by mass spectrometry and through the identification of turnover metabolites. On the basis of this inactivation mechanism and to provide further evidence for the mechanism, analogues of 1 (19, 20) were designed, synthesized, and demonstrated to have the predicted selective inactivation mechanism. These analogues highlight the importance of the trifluoromethyl group and provide a basis for future inactivator design.

Synthesis of a 3-Amino-2,3-dihydropyrid-4-one and Related Heterocyclic Analogues as Mechanism-Based Inhibitors of BioA, a Pyridoxal Phosphate-Dependent Enzyme

Amiclenomycin (ACM) is a chemically unstable antibiotic with selective activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) due to mechanism-based inhibition of BioA, a pyridoxal 5'-phosphate (PLP)-dependent aminotransferase. The first-generation ACM analogue dihydro-2-pyridone 1 maintains a similar bioactivation mechanism concluding with covalent labeling of the PLP cofactor. To improve on 1, we report the synthesis of dihydro-4-pyranone 2, dihydro-4-pyridone 3, and dihydro-4-thiopyranone 13, which were rationally designed to boost the rate of enzyme inactivation by lowering the pK_a of their α-protons. We employed a unified synthetic strategy for construction of the desired heterocycles featuring α-amino ynone generation followed by 6-endo-dig cyclization. However, competitive 5-exo-dig cyclization, β-elimination of the ynone, and dimerization of the resultant α-amino carbonyls all complicated the syntheses of the dihydro-4-pyranone and dihydro-4-pyridone scaffolds. These obstacles were overcome by Teoc protection of the β-amino group in the assembly of 3 and Boc-MOM protection of the α-amino group in the synthesis of 2, enabling the efficient construction of 2 and 3 in seven steps from commercially available starting materials. Dihydro-4-pyridone 3 possessed improved enzyme inhibition as measured by its k_inact value against BioA.