Design, synthesis, evaluation and thermodynamics of 1-substituted pyridylimidazo[1,5-a]pyridine derivatives as cysteine protease inhibitors

Rapid sorting and auxiliary evaluation of malignant breast tumors by accurate imaging analysis of metastasis-related biomarker

Accurate differentiation of benign and malignant breast tumors is paramount for establishing schemes of breast cancer treatment and prognosis. Here we report a near-infrared (NIR) fluorescence probe (YF-1) with the overexpressed cathepsin C (CTSC) in metastatic breast tumors as the detecting substrate. This probe allows accurate identification of malignant tumor tissue specimens among tumor tissue specimens with unknown properties in a blind study. Importantly, a series of visible to NIR CTSC-activated fluorescence probes based on the same strategy realize effective identification of malignant tumor tissues, suggesting that CTSC could be the specific identification substrate of malignant breast tumors. Furthermore, a hydrophilic PEG moiety is coupled into YF-1, producing another CTSC-activated NIR probe (YF-2). YF-2 has excellent tumor-targeting capability, enabling the visualization of lung-metastatic breast tumors. The excellent detection accuracy and construction versatility of CTSC probes pave the way for preoperative diagnosis of malignant breast tumors.

Divergent Synthesis of Pyrazolo[1,5-a]pyridines and Imidazo[1,5-a]pyridines via Reagent-Controlled Cleavage of the C-N or C-C Azirine Bond in 2-Pyridylazirines

The three-membered ring in 2-(2-pyridyl)azirine-2-carboxylic esters and thioesters can undergo selective cleavage of either the N-C2 bond under copper(II) catalysis or the C-C bond under the action of HCl to provide isomeric azirine ring expansion products of pyrazolo[1,5-a]pyridine or imidazo[1,5-a]pyridine series, respectively. Mild catalytic reaction conditions for the formation of pyrazolopyridines make it possible to obtain them directly from 4-bromoisoxazoles by a one-pot, three-stage procedure without isolating the intermediate 2-bromoazirines and 2-(2-pyridyl)azirines.

Design and Exploration of Catalytic Activity of Two-Dimensional Surface-Engineered Graphene Oxide Nanosheets in the Transannulation of N-Heterocyclic Aldehydes or Ketones with Alkylamines

In this work, pharmaceutically and biologically important compounds containing imidazo[1,5-a]pyridine nuclei have been synthesized via transannulation of N-heteroaryl aldehydes or ketones with alkylamines using a graphene oxide-supported copper catalyst. The nanocatalyst was fabricated by the covalent immobilization of 4-aminoantipyrine onto an amine-functionalized graphene oxide nanosupport followed by its metallation with copper acetate. Structural analysis by transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and X-ray diffraction demonstrates that the two-dimensional sheet-like structure of graphene oxide is maintained even after the chemical modifications, whereas XPS revealed crucial information related to elemental composition and surface electronic states of the metal present in the catalyst. Apart from this, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy helped in identifying the degree of oxidation and the presence of oxygenated groups in graphene oxide nanocomposites. As a heterogeneous catalyst, this graphene oxide-supported copper complex showed moderate to good catalytic activity in the C(sp3)-H bond activation/amination of a variety of substrates. This superior catalytic performance originated from the unique 2-dimensional structure of graphene oxide-based material which provided space between graphitic overlayers due to appropriate positioning of metal on their basal planes, decreasing the diffusion resistances of reactant surfaces, thus making it function as a nanoreactor. More importantly, this nanomaterial could be recovered easily and reused repeatedly by simple washing without chemical treatment with no appreciable loss in its catalytic activity, showing good potential for increasing the overall turnover number of this synthetically useful catalyst.

Synthesis of imidazo[1,5-a]pyridines via I2-mediated sp3 C–H amination

A transition-metal-free sp³ C–H amination reaction has been developed employing molecular iodine for imidazo[1,5-a]pyridine synthesis.

An Anti-Cancer Drug Candidate OSI-027 and its Analog as Inhibitors of mTOR: Computational Insights Into the Inhibitory Mechanisms

The mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) is a serine-threonine kinase, which regulates cellular metabolism and growth, and is a validated therapeutic target in various cancers. Recently, OSI-027, a selective ATP competitive inhibitor of mTOR, has been developed. The OSI-027 is an orally bioavailable compound whose anti-cancer activities were observed in various cancer cell lines and tumor xenograft models. The current study is the first attempt to explore the binding mode and the molecular-interactions of OSI-027 with mTOR using molecular docking and (un)binding simulation approaches. The study identified various interacting residues and their extent of involvement in binding was emphasized using different methods. The (un)binding simulation analyses provided snapshots of various phases in OSI-027 binding and identified residues important for binding but away from the catalytic site. Further, to explore a better binder for mTOR among OSI-027 analogs, the virtual screening led to propose an OSI-027 analog with CID: 73294902 as a better inhibitor than the OSI-027 and the native ligand PI-103. The binding mode of the proposed compound is compared with those of OSI-027 and other native inhibitors. The comparison of (un)binding simulation phases of proposed compound with that of OSI-027 revealed that both, bound to the same catalytic site, follow different (un)binding path. Thus, the current study presents computational insights into the OSI-027 mediated inhibition of mTOR kinase and proposed an OSI-027 analog as better mTOR inhibitor, and thus, a good drug for further research in experimental laboratories. J. Cell. Biochem. 118: 4558-4567, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.