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Balestri LI, Trivisani CI, Orofino F, Fiorucci D, Truglio GI, D’Agostino I, Poggialini F, Botta L, Docquier JD, Dreassi E. Discovery and Optimization of a Novel Macrocyclic Amidinourea Series Active as Acidic Mammalian Chitinase Inhibitors. ACS Med Chem Lett 2023; 14:417-424. [PMID: 37077400 PMCID: PMC10107916 DOI: 10.1021/acsmedchemlett.2c00472] [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] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/19/2022] [Accepted: 03/14/2023] [Indexed: 04/21/2023] Open
Abstract
Our research group has been involved for a long time in the development of macrocyclic amidinoureas (MCAs) as antifungal agents. The mechanistic investigation drove us to perform an in silico target fishing study, which allowed the identification of chitinases as one of their putative targets, with 1a showing a submicromolar inhibition of Trichoderma viride chitinase. In this work, we investigated the possibility to further inhibit the corresponding human enzymes, acidic mammalian chitinase (AMCase) and chitotriosidase (CHIT1), involved in several chronic inflammatory lung diseases. Thus, we first validated the inhibitory activity of 1a against AMCase and CHIT1 and then designed and synthesized new derivatives aimed at improving the potency and selectivity against AMCase. Among them, compound 3f emerged for its activity profile along with its promising in vitro ADME properties. We also gained a good understanding of the key interactions with the target enzyme through in silico studies.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Francesco Orofino
- Department
of Biotechnology, Chemistry and Pharmacy, University of Siena, via Aldo Moro 2, I-53100 Siena, Italy
| | - Diego Fiorucci
- Department
of Biotechnology, Chemistry and Pharmacy, University of Siena, via Aldo Moro 2, I-53100 Siena, Italy
| | - Giuseppina Ivana Truglio
- Department
of Biotechnology, Chemistry and Pharmacy, University of Siena, via Aldo Moro 2, I-53100 Siena, Italy
| | - Ilaria D’Agostino
- Department
of Biotechnology, Chemistry and Pharmacy, University of Siena, via Aldo Moro 2, I-53100 Siena, Italy
| | - Federica Poggialini
- Department
of Biotechnology, Chemistry and Pharmacy, University of Siena, via Aldo Moro 2, I-53100 Siena, Italy
| | - Lorenzo Botta
- Lead
Discovery Siena s.r.l., Via Vittorio Alfieri 31, I-53019 Castelnuovo Berardenga, Italy
- Department
of Ecological and Biological Sciences, University
of Tuscia, Largo Università s.n.c., I-01100 Viterbo, Italy
| | - Jean-Denis Docquier
- Dipartimento
di Biotecnologie Mediche, University of
Siena, Viale Bracci 16, I-53100, Siena, Italy
- Laboratoire
de Bactériologie Moléculaire, Centre d’Ingénierie
des Protéines, UR-InBioS, University
of Liège, Allée
du 6 Août, 4000 Liège, Belgium
| | - Elena Dreassi
- Department
of Biotechnology, Chemistry and Pharmacy, University of Siena, via Aldo Moro 2, I-53100 Siena, Italy
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