Design, Synthesis and Docking Studies of Thioimidazolyl Diketoacid Derivatives Targeting HIV-1 Integrase
Background: Integrase enzyme is a validated drug target to discover novel structures as anti-HIV-1 agents. Objective: Novel series of thioimidazolyl diketo acid derivatives characterizing various substituents at N-1 and 2-thio positions of central ring were developed as HIV-1 integrase inhibitors. Results: The obtained molecules were evaluated in the enzyme assay, displaying promising integrase inhibitory activity with IC50 values ranging from 0.9 to 7.7 M. The synthesized compounds were also tested for antiviral activity and cytotoxicity using HeLa cells infected by the single-cycle replicable HIV-1 NL4-3. Conclusion: The most potent compound was 18i with EC50=19 µM, IC50 0.9 µM and SI= 10.5. Docking studies indicated that the binding mode of the active molecule is well aligned with the known HIV-1 integrase inhibitors.