scholarly journals Probing Allosteric Hsp70 Inhibitors by Molecular Modelling Studies to Expedite the Development of Novel Combined F508del CFTR Modulators

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (12) ◽  
pp. 1296
Author(s):  
Roberto Sabbadini ◽  
Emanuela Pesce ◽  
Alice Parodi ◽  
Eleonora Mustorgi ◽  
Santina Bruzzone ◽  
...  

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is caused by different mutations related to the cystic fibrosis transmembrane regulator protein (CFTR), with F508del being the most common. Pioneering the development of CFTR modulators, thanks to the development of effective correctors or potentiators, more recent studies deeply encouraged the administration of triple combination therapeutics. However, combinations of molecules interacting with other proteins involved in functionality of the CFTR channel recently arose as a promising approach to address a large rescue of F508del-CFTR. In this context, the design of compounds properly targeting the molecular chaperone Hsp70, such as the allosteric inhibitor MKT-077, proved to be effective for the development of indirect CFTR modulators, endowed with ability to amplify the accumulation of the rescued protein. Herein we performed structure-based studies of a number of allosteric HSP70 inhibitors, considering the recent X-ray crystallographic structure of the human enzyme. This allowed us to point out the main interaction supporting the binding mode of MKT-077, as well as of the related analogues. In particular, cation-π and π–π stacking with the conserve residue Tyr175 deeply stabilized inhibitor binding at the HSP70 cavity. Molecular docking studies had been followed by QSAR analysis and then by virtual screening of aminoaryl thiazoles (I–IIIa) as putative HSP70 inhibitors. Their effectiveness as CFTR modulators has been verified by biological assays, in combination with VX-809, whose positive results confirmed the reliability of the whole applied computational method. Along with this, the “in-silico” prediction of absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion (ADME) properties highlighted, once more, that AATs may represent a chemical class to be further investigated for the rational design of novel combination of compounds for CF treatment.

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (21) ◽  
pp. 8084
Author(s):  
Giada Righetti ◽  
Monica Casale ◽  
Nara Liessi ◽  
Bruno Tasso ◽  
Annalisa Salis ◽  
...  

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is the autosomal recessive disorder most recurrent in Caucasian populations. Different mutations involving the cystic fibrosis transmembrane regulator protein (CFTR) gene, which encodes the CFTR channel, are involved in CF. A number of life-prolonging therapies have been conceived and deeply investigated to combat this disease. Among them, the administration of the so-called CFTR modulators, such as correctors and potentiators, have led to quite beneficial effects. Recently, based on QSAR (quantitative structure activity relationship) studies, we reported the rational design and synthesis of compound 2, an aminoarylthiazole-VX-809 hybrid derivative exhibiting promising F508del-CFTR corrector ability. Herein, we explored the docking mode of the prototype VX-809 as well as of the aforementioned correctors in order to derive useful guidelines for the rational design of further analogues. In addition, we refined our previous QSAR analysis taking into account our first series of in-house hybrids. This allowed us to optimize the QSAR model based on the chemical structure and the potency profile of hybrids as F508del-CFTR correctors, identifying novel molecular descriptors explaining the SAR of the dataset. This study is expected to speed up the discovery process of novel potent CFTR modulators.


2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (12) ◽  
pp. 445
Author(s):  
Giada Righetti ◽  
Monica Casale ◽  
Michele Tonelli ◽  
Nara Liessi ◽  
Paola Fossa ◽  
...  

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is the autosomal recessive disorder most recurrent in Caucasian populations. To combat this disease, many life-prolonging therapies are required and deeply investigated, including the development of the so-called cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) modulators, such as correctors and potentiators. Combination therapy with the two series of drugs led to the approval of several multi-drug effective treatments, such as Orkambi, and to the recent promising evaluation of the triple-combination Elexacaftor-Tezacaftor-Ivacaftor. This scenario enlightened the effectiveness of the multi-drug approach to pave the way for the discovery of novel therapeutic agents to contrast CF. The recent X-crystallographic data about the human CFTR in complex with the well-known potentiator Ivacaftor (VX-770) opened the possibility to apply a computational study aimed to explore the key features involved in the potentiator binding. Herein, we discussed molecular docking studies performed onto the chemotypes so far discussed in the literature as CFTR potentiator, reporting the most relevant interactions responsible for their mechanism of action, involving Van der Waals interactions and π–π stacking with F236, Y304, F305 and F312, as well as H-bonding F931, Y304, S308 and R933. This kind of positioning will stabilize the effective potentiator at the CFTR channel. These data have been accompanied by pharmacophore analyses, which promoted the design of novel derivatives endowed with a main (hetero)aromatic core connected to proper substituents, featuring H-bonding moieties. A highly predictive quantitative-structure activity relationship (QSAR) model has been developed, giving a cross-validated r2 (r2cv) = 0.74, a non-cross validated r2 (r2ncv) = 0.90, root mean square error (RMSE) = 0.347, and a test set r2 (r2pred) = 0.86. On the whole, the results are expected to gain useful information to guide the further development and optimization of new CFTR potentiators.


2020 ◽  
Vol 16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giada Righetti ◽  
Michele Tonelli ◽  
Paola Fossa ◽  
Elena Cichero

Background: Sigma receptors (σRs), initially classified as an additional class of opioid receptors, are now recognized as a unique entity with no homology to opioid receptors divided into two distinct subtypes namely σ1R and σ2R. 1Rtargeting ligands have been conceived and explored for the treatment of various neurodegenerative disorders and neuropathic pain. Activation of the σ2R appears to be involved in the regulation of cellular proliferation and cell death. Objective: Up to now, the rational design of novel σ1R ligands was efficiently guided by computational methods, especially relying on homology modeling studies. Conversely, the limited number of in silico studies was applied in the search of σ2Rtargeting compounds. Herein we explored by computational methods several series of 1R ligands featuring variable selectivity profile towards σ1R and σR in order to gain useful information guiding the rational design of more selective ligands. Methods: Based on the recent X-ray crystallographic structure of the human σ1R, deepening molecular docking studies on different series of σR ligands have been performed. These calculations have been followed by molecular dynamic simulations (MD) and by two pharmacophore analyses, taking into account the activity levels towards σ1R and σR. Results: Structure-based studies revealed key contacts to be achieved in order to guide selectivity of σ1R-targeting compounds while the two pharmacophore models described the main features turning in effective σ1R or σ2R ligands. Conclusion: The applied computational approach allowed a more comprehensive exploration of the structure-activity relationship (SAR) within the herein analyzed R ligands, deriving useful guidelines for the rational design of more selective compo


2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (9) ◽  
pp. 635-648 ◽  
Author(s):  
Korosh Mashayekh ◽  
Shahrzad Sharifi ◽  
Tahereh Damghani ◽  
Maryam Elyasi ◽  
Mohammad S. Avestan ◽  
...  

Background: c-Met kinase plays a critical role in a myriad of human cancers, and a massive scientific work was devoted to design more potent inhibitors. Objective: In this study, 16 molecular dynamics simulations of different complexes of potent c-Met inhibitors with U-shaped binding mode were carried out regarding the dynamic ensembles to design novel potent inhibitors. Methods: A cluster analysis was performed, and the most representative frame of each complex was subjected to the structure-based pharmacophore screening. The GOLD docking program investigated the interaction energy and pattern of output hits from the virtual screening. The most promising hits with the highest scoring values that showed critical interactions with c-Met were presented for ADME/Tox analysis. Results: The screening yielded 45,324 hits that all of them were subjected to the docking studies and 10 of them with the highest-scoring values having diverse structures were presented for ADME/Tox analyses. Conclusion: The results indicated that all the hits shared critical Pi-Pi stacked and hydrogen bond interactions with Tyr1230 and Met1160 respectively.


2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (10) ◽  
pp. 772-778
Author(s):  
Abdulrhman Alsayari ◽  
Abdullatif Bin Muhsinah ◽  
Yahya I. Asiri ◽  
Jaber Abdullah Alshehri ◽  
Yahia N. Mabkhot ◽  
...  

The aim of this study was to synthesize and evaluate the biological activity of pyrazole derivatives, in particular, to perform a “greener” one-pot synthesis using a solvent-free method as an alternative strategy for synthesizing hydrazono/diazenyl-pyridine-pyrazole hybrid molecules with potential anticancer activity. Effective treatment for all types of cancers is still a long way in the future due to the severe adverse drug reactions and drug resistance associated with current drugs. Therefore, there is a pressing need to develop safer and more effective anticancer agents. In this context, some hybrid analogues containing the bioactive pharmacophores viz. pyrazole, pyridine, and diazo scaffolds were synthesized by one-pot method. Herein, we describe the expedient synthesis of pyrazoles by a onepot three-component condensation of ethyl acetoacetate/acetylacetone, isoniazid, and arenediazonium salts under solvent-free conditions, and the evaluation of their cytotoxicity using a sulforhodamine B assay on three cancer cell lines. Molecular docking studies employing tyrosine kinase were also carried out to evaluate the binding mode of the pyrazole derivatives under study. 1-(4-Pyridinylcarbonyl)-3- methyl-4-(2-arylhydrazono)-2-pyrazolin-5-ones and [4-(2-aryldiazenyl)-3,5-dimethyl-1H-pyrazol-1- yl]-4-pyridinylmethanones, previously described, were prepared using an improved procedure. Among these ten products, 1-isonicotinoyl-3-methyl-4-[2-(4-nitrophenyl)hydrazono]-2-pyrazolin-5-one (1f) displayed promising anticancer activity against the MCF-7, HepG2 and HCT-116 cell lines, with an IC50 value in the range of 0.2-3.4 μM. In summary, our findings suggest that pyrazoles containing hydrazono/ diazenyl and pyridine pharmacophores constitute promising scaffolds for the development of new anticancer agents.


Author(s):  
Miquéias Lopes-Pacheco ◽  
Nicoletta Pedemonte ◽  
Guido Veit

Author(s):  
Jelena Bošković ◽  
Dušan Ružić ◽  
Olivera Čudina ◽  
Katarina Nikolic ◽  
Vladimir Dobričić

Background: Inflammation is common pathogenesis of many diseases progression, such as malignancy, cardiovascular and rheumatic diseases. The inhibition of the synthesis of inflammatory mediators by modulation of cyclooxygenase (COX) and lipoxygenase (LOX) pathways provides a challenging strategy for the development of more effective drugs. Objective: The aim of this study was to design dual COX-2 and 5-LOX inhibitors with iron-chelating properties using a combination of ligand-based (three-dimensional quantitative structure-activity relationship (3D-QSAR)) and structure-based (molecular docking) methods. Methods: The 3D-QSAR analysis was applied on a literature dataset consisting of 28 dual COX-2 and 5-LOX inhibitors in Pentacle software. The quality of developed COX-2 and 5-LOX 3D-QSAR models were evaluated by internal and external validation methods. The molecular docking analysis was performed in GOLD software, while selected ADMET properties were predicted in ADMET predictor software. Results: According to the molecular docking studies, the class of sulfohydroxamic acid analogues, previously designed by 3D-QSAR, was clustered as potential dual COX-2 and 5-LOX inhibitors with iron-chelating properties. Based on the 3D-QSAR and molecular docking, 1j, 1g, and 1l were selected as the most promising dual COX-2 and 5-LOX inhibitors. According to the in silico ADMET predictions, all compounds had an ADMET_Risk score less than 7 and a CYP_Risk score lower than 2.5. Designed compounds were not estimated as hERG inhibitors, and 1j had improved intrinsic solubility (8.704) in comparison to the dataset compounds (0.411-7.946). Conclusion: By combining 3D-QSAR and molecular docking, three compounds (1j, 1g, and 1l) are selected as the most promising designed dual COX-2 and 5-LOX inhibitors, for which good activity, as well as favourable ADMET properties and toxicity, are expected.


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