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Souza BGD, Choudhary S, Vilela GG, Passos GFS, Costa CACB, Freitas JDD, Coelho GL, Brandão JDA, Anderson L, Bassi ÊJ, Araújo-Júnior JXD, Tomar S, Silva-Júnior EFD. Design, synthesis, antiviral evaluation, and In silico studies of acrylamides targeting nsP2 from Chikungunya virus. Eur J Med Chem 2023; 258:115572. [PMID: 37364511 DOI: 10.1016/j.ejmech.2023.115572] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/01/2023] [Revised: 06/11/2023] [Accepted: 06/11/2023] [Indexed: 06/28/2023]
Abstract
The Togaviridae family comprises several New- and Old-World Alphaviruses that have been responsible for thousands of human illnesses, including the RNA arbovirus Chikungunya virus (CHIKV). Firstly, it was reported in Tanzania in 1952 but rapidly it spread to several countries from Europe, Asia, and the Americas. Since then, CHIKV has been circulating in diverse countries around the world, leading to increased morbidity rates. Currently, there are no FDA-approved drugs or licensed vaccines to specifically treat CHIKV infections. Thus, there is a lack of alternatives to fight against this viral disease, making it an unmet need. Structurally, CHIKV is composed of five structural proteins (E3, E2, E1, C, and 6k) and four non-structural proteins (nsP1-4), in which nsP2 represents an attractive antiviral target for designing novel inhibitors since it has an essential role in the virus replication and transcription. Herein, we used a rational drug design strategy to select some acrylamide derivatives to be synthesized and evaluated against CHIKV nsP2 and also screened on CHIKV-infected cells. Thus, two regions of modifications were considered for these types of inhibitors, based on a previous study of our group, generating 1560 possible inhibitors. Then, the 24 most promising ones were synthesized and screened by using a FRET-based enzymatic assay protocol targeting CHIKV nsP2, identifying LQM330, 333, 336, and 338 as the most potent inhibitors, with Ki values of 48.6 ± 2.8, 92.3 ± 1.4, 2.3 ± 1.5, and 181.8 ± 2.5 μM, respectively. Still, their Km and Vmax kinetic parameters were also determined, along with their competitive binding modes of CHIKV nsP2 inhibition. Then, ITC analyses revealed KD values of 127, 159, 198, and 218 μM for LQM330, 333, 336, and 338, respectively. Also, their ΔH, ΔS, and ΔG physicochemical parameters were determined. MD simulations demonstrated that these inhibitors present a stable binding mode with nsP2, interacting with important residues of this protease, according to docking analyzes. Moreover, MM/PBSA calculations displayed that van der Waals interactions are mainly responsible for stabilizing the inhibitor-nsP2 complex, and their binding energies corroborated with their Ki values, having -198.7 ± 15.68, -124.8 ± 17.27, -247.4 ± 23.78, and -100.6 ± 19.21 kcal/mol for LQM330, 333, 336, and 338, respectively. Since Sindbis (SINV) nsP2 is similar to CHIKV nsP2, these best inhibitors were screened against SINV-infected cells, and it was verified that LQM330 presented the best result, with an EC50 value of 0.95 ± 0.09 μM. Even at 50 μM concentration, LQM338 was found to be cytotoxic on Vero cells after 48 h. Then, LQM330, 333, and 336 were evaluated against CHIKV-infected cells in antiviral assays, in which LQM330 was found to be the most promising antiviral candidate in this study, exhibiting an EC50 value of 5.2 ± 0.52 μM and SI of 31.78. The intracellular flow cytometry demonstrated that LQM330 is able to reduce the CHIKV cytopathogenic effect on cells, and also reduce the percentage of CHIKV-positive cells from 66.1% ± 7.05 to 35.8% ± 5.78 at 50 μM concentration. Finally, qPCR studies demonstrated that LQM330 was capable of reducing the number of viral RNA copies/μL, suggesting that CHIKV nsP2 is targeted by this inhibitor as its mechanism of action.
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Affiliation(s)
- Beatriz Gois de Souza
- Laboratory of Medicinal Chemistry, Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Federal University of Alagoas, Lourival Melo Mota Avenue, AC. Simões Campus, 57072-970, Alagoas, Maceió, Brazil
| | - Shweta Choudhary
- Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee, 247667, Uttarakhand, India
| | - Gabriel Gomes Vilela
- Laboratory of Medicinal Chemistry, Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Federal University of Alagoas, Lourival Melo Mota Avenue, AC. Simões Campus, 57072-970, Alagoas, Maceió, Brazil
| | - Gabriel Felipe Silva Passos
- Laboratory of Medicinal Chemistry, Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Federal University of Alagoas, Lourival Melo Mota Avenue, AC. Simões Campus, 57072-970, Alagoas, Maceió, Brazil
| | | | - Johnnatan Duarte de Freitas
- Department of Chemistry, Federal Institute of Alagoas, Maceió Campus, Mizael Domingues Street, 57020-600, Alagoas, Maceió, Brazil
| | - Grazielle Lobo Coelho
- Immunoregulation Research Group, Laboratory of Research in Virology and Immunology, Institute of Biological and Health Sciences, Lourival Melo Mota Avenue, AC. Simões Campus, 57072-970, Alagoas, Maceió, Brazil
| | - Júlia de Andrade Brandão
- Immunoregulation Research Group, Laboratory of Research in Virology and Immunology, Institute of Biological and Health Sciences, Lourival Melo Mota Avenue, AC. Simões Campus, 57072-970, Alagoas, Maceió, Brazil
| | - Leticia Anderson
- Immunoregulation Research Group, Laboratory of Research in Virology and Immunology, Institute of Biological and Health Sciences, Lourival Melo Mota Avenue, AC. Simões Campus, 57072-970, Alagoas, Maceió, Brazil; CESMAC University Center, 57051-160, Alagoas, Maceió, Brazil
| | - Ênio José Bassi
- Immunoregulation Research Group, Laboratory of Research in Virology and Immunology, Institute of Biological and Health Sciences, Lourival Melo Mota Avenue, AC. Simões Campus, 57072-970, Alagoas, Maceió, Brazil
| | - João Xavier de Araújo-Júnior
- Laboratory of Medicinal Chemistry, Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Federal University of Alagoas, Lourival Melo Mota Avenue, AC. Simões Campus, 57072-970, Alagoas, Maceió, Brazil
| | - Shailly Tomar
- Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee, 247667, Uttarakhand, India
| | - Edeildo Ferreira da Silva-Júnior
- Laboratory of Medicinal Chemistry, Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Federal University of Alagoas, Lourival Melo Mota Avenue, AC. Simões Campus, 57072-970, Alagoas, Maceió, Brazil; Biological and Molecular Chemistry Research Group, Institute of Chemistry and Biotechnology, Federal University of Alagoas, Lourival Melo Mota Avenue, AC. Simões Campus, 57072-970, Alagoas, Maceió, Brazil.
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Sousa Mourão P, de Oliveira Gomes R, Crisóstomo Bezerra Costa CA, da Silva Moura OF, Sousa HG, Lemos Martins Júnior GR, Cabral Leão Ferreira D, Martins Maia Filho AL, Duarte de Freitas J, Rai M, Das Chagas Alves Lima F, Gourlart Santana AE, Chaves MH, Dos Santos Alves W, Uchôa VT. Cecropia pachystachya Trécul: identification, isolation of secondary metabolites, in silico study of toxicological evaluation and interaction with the enzymes 5-LOX and α-1-antitrypsin. J Toxicol Environ Health A 2022; 85:827-849. [PMID: 35815836 DOI: 10.1080/15287394.2022.2095546] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Cecropia pachystachya Tréc., popularly known as embaúba, belongs to the Cecropiaceae family and is used by the native population in the treatment of bronchitis, asthma, high blood pressure, fever, and as a diuretic. The pharmacological actions including anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, cardiotonic and sedative were previously reported. The objective of this study was to (1) isolate and identify bioactive compounds extracted from the ethanolic extract of C. pachystachya roots (ERCP), as well as (2) verify the affinity of these metabolites with the enzymes 5-lipoxygenase (5-LOX) and α-1-antitrypsin through in silico tests. Isolation and/or identification were performed using GC-MS, HPLC, Infrared (IR), and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) techniques. After isolation and identification of the active compounds, these substances were subjected to the in silico investigation that proceeded by performing PreADMET simulations and molecular docking calculations. The bioactive compounds identified were 1-(+)-ascorbic acid 2,6-dihexadecanoate, ethyl hexadecanoate, ethyl (9E,12E)-octadec-9,12-dienoate, ethyl (Z)-octadec-9-enoate and ethyl octadecanoate by GC-MS; chlorogenic acid, catechin, epicatechin, syringaldehyde by HPLC; β-sitosterol, sitostenone, beccaridiol, tormentic acid, lupeol, α- and β-amyrin by classical chromatography, IR, 1H and 13C NMR techniques. The ADMET (absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion, and toxicity) properties were determined for each bioactive compound. Tormentic acid demonstrated a greater affinity for 5-LOX enzyme while sitostenone demonstrated a higher affinity for the α-1-antitrypsin enzyme. Our findings demonstrated a diverse range of secondary metabolites isolated from C. pachystachya that showed relevant interactions with the enzymes 5-LOX and α-1-antitrypsin. Thus, "embaúba" may be employed in in vivo experimental studies as a form of alternative treatment for chronic lung diseases.Abbreviations: ADT: Autodock Tools; BBB: Blood-brain barrier; CaCo2: Human colonic adenocarcinoma cells; CC: Classic/open Column; TLC: Thin Layer Chromatography; CD40: Differentiation Cluster 40; CENAUREMN: Centro Nordestino de Aplicação e Uso da Ressonância Magnética Nuclear; GC-MS: Gas Chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry; HPLC: High-Perfomance Liquid Chromatography; CYP2C9, CYP2C19, CYP2D6 and CYP3A4: Cytochrome P450 isoenzymes; COPD: Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease; DRX-500: X-Ray Diffraction - 500; ERCP: Ethanolic extract of the roots of C. pachystachya; FAPEPI: Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Piauí; HIA: Human Intestinal Absorption; IR: Infrared; Ki: Inhibition constant; 5-LOX: 5-Lipoxygenase; mM: miliMolar; nM: nanoMolar; OECD423: acute toxic class method; PDB: Protein Data Bank; P-gP: P-glycoprotein; PM2,5: Small inhalable particles 2,5; PPB: Plasm Protein Binding; PreADMET: Prediction Absorption, Distribution, Metabolization, Excretion and Toxicity; NMR: Nuclear Magnetic Resonance; +S9: with metabolic activation; -S9: no metabolic activation; SisGen: Sistema Nacional de Gestão de Patrimônio Genético e do Conhecimento Tradicional Associado; RT: Retention time; TA100: Ames test with TA100 cells line; TA1535: Ames test with cells of the TA1535 cell line; UESPI: State University of Piauí; V79: lung fibroblast cells; ΔG: Gibbs free energy (Kcal/mol); μM: microMolar.
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Affiliation(s)
- Penina Sousa Mourão
- Department of Chemistry, Natural Science Center, Piauí State University, Teresina, Brazil
| | | | | | | | - Herbert Gonzaga Sousa
- Department of Chemistry, Natural Science Center, Federal University of Piauí, Teresina, Brazil
| | | | | | - Antônio Luiz Martins Maia Filho
- Department of Chemistry, Natural Science Center, Piauí State University, Teresina, Brazil
- Health Sciences Department, Piauí State University, Teresina, Brazil
| | | | - Mahendra Rai
- Department of Microbiology, Nicolaus Copernicus University, Torun, Poland
| | - Francisco Das Chagas Alves Lima
- Department of Chemistry, Natural Science Center, Piauí State University, Teresina, Brazil
- Biotechnology Department, Piauí State University, Teresina, Brazil
| | | | - Mariana Helena Chaves
- Department of Chemistry, Natural Science Center, Federal University of Piauí, Teresina, Brazil
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de Melo ISV, Costa CACB, dos Santos JVL, dos Santos AF, Florêncio TMDMT, Bueno NB. Consumption of minimally processed food is inversely associated with excess weight in adolescents living in an underdeveloped city. PLoS One 2017; 12:e0188401. [PMID: 29190789 PMCID: PMC5708826 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0188401] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/26/2017] [Accepted: 11/06/2017] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The consumption of ultra-processed foods may be associated with the development of chronic diseases, both in adults and in children/adolescents. This consumption is growing worldwide, especially in low and middle-income countries. Nevertheless, its magnitude in small, poor cities from the countryside is not well characterized, especially in adolescents. This study aimed to assess the consumption of minimally processed, processed and ultra-processed foods by adolescents from a poor Brazilian city and to determine if it was associated with excess weight, high waist circumference and high blood pressure. METHODS Cross-sectional study, conducted at a public federal school that offers technical education together with high school, located in the city of Murici. Adolescents of both sexes and aged between 14-19 years old were included. Anthropometric characteristics (weight, height, waist circumference), blood pressure, and dietary intake data were assessed. Associations were calculated using Poisson regression models, adjusted by sex and age. RESULTS At total, 249 adolescents were included, being 55.8% girls, with a mean age of 16 years-old. The consumption of minimally processed foods was inversely associated with excess weight (Adjusted Prevalence Ratio: 0.61, 95% Confidence Interval: [0.39-0.96], P = 0.03). Although the consumption of ultra-processed foods was not associated with excess weight, high blood pressure and high waist circumference, 46.2% of the sample reported eating these products more than weekly. CONCLUSION Consumption of minimally processed food is inversely associated with excess weight in adolescents. Investments in nutritional education aiming the prevention of chronic diseases associated with the consumption of these foods are necessary.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | | | - Nassib Bezerra Bueno
- Faculty of Nutrition, Federal University of Alagoas (UFAL), Maceió, Alagoas, Brazil
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