MedChemCommPub Date : 2024-11-01DOI: 10.1039/D4MD00654B
Madison R. Nuske, Junlang Zhong, Renjie Huang, Vijayalekshmi Sarojini, Jack L. Y. Chen, Christopher J. Squire, Mark A. T. Blaskovich and Ivanhoe K. H. Leung
{"title":"Adjuvant strategies to tackle mcr-mediated polymyxin resistance","authors":"Madison R. Nuske, Junlang Zhong, Renjie Huang, Vijayalekshmi Sarojini, Jack L. Y. Chen, Christopher J. Squire, Mark A. T. Blaskovich and Ivanhoe K. H. Leung","doi":"10.1039/D4MD00654B","DOIUrl":"10.1039/D4MD00654B","url":null,"abstract":"<p >The emergence of the <em>mobile colistin resistance</em> (<em>mcr</em>) gene is a demonstrable threat contributing to the worldwide antibiotic resistance crisis. The gene is encoded on plasmids and can easily spread between different bacterial strains. <em>mcr</em> encodes a phosphoethanolamine (pEtN) transferase, which catalyses the transfer of the pEtN moiety from phosphatidylethanolamine to lipid A, the head group of lipopolysaccharides (LPS). This neutralises the overall negative charge of the LPS and prevents the binding of polymyxins to bacterial membranes. We believe that the development of polymyxin adjuvants could be a promising approach to prolong the use of this important class of last-resort antibiotics. This review discusses recent progress in the identification, design and development of adjuvants to restore polymyxin sensitivity in these resistant bacteria, and focuses on both MCR inhibitors as well as alternative approaches that modulate polymyxin resistance.</p>","PeriodicalId":88,"journal":{"name":"MedChemComm","volume":" 2","pages":" 465-480"},"PeriodicalIF":3.597,"publicationDate":"2024-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142627398","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Medicinal chemistry-based perspectives on thiophene and its derivatives: exploring structural insights to discover plausible druggable leads","authors":"Shikha Thakur, Devendra Kumar, Shivani Jaiswal, Kapil Kumar Goel, Pramod Rawat, Vivek Srivastava, Sonia Dhiman, Hemant R. Jadhav and Ashish Ranjan Dwivedi","doi":"10.1039/D4MD00450G","DOIUrl":"10.1039/D4MD00450G","url":null,"abstract":"<p >Thiophene is a privileged pharmacophore in medicinal chemistry owing to its diversified biological attributes. The thiophene moiety has been ranked 4th in the US FDA drug approval of small drug molecules, with around 7 drug approvals over the last decade. The present review covers USFDA-approved drugs possessing a thiophene ring system. Our analysis reveals that 26 drugs possessing thiophene nuclei have been approved under different pharmacological classes. The review further covers reported thiophene and its substituted analogues with diverse biological activities, including anti-diabetic, anticancer, anti-inflammatory, anticonvulsant, and antioxidant activity. Besides, a section is dedicated to appreciating the implications of structural bioinformatics in drug discovery. Additionally, the manuscript delves into structure–activity relationship studies to explore the chemical groups responsible for eliciting potential therapeutic activities. The review may provide invaluable insights for researchers working with thiophene nuclei in developing novel analogues with greater efficacy and fewer side effects.</p>","PeriodicalId":88,"journal":{"name":"MedChemComm","volume":" 2","pages":" 481-510"},"PeriodicalIF":3.597,"publicationDate":"2024-10-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142732190","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
MedChemCommPub Date : 2024-10-24DOI: 10.1039/D4MD00495G
Yakup Berkay Yilmaz, Tuğba Güngör, Serhat Dönmez, Hazal Nazlıcan Atalay, Pınar Siyah, Serdar Durdağı, Mehmet Ay and Tugba Boyunegmez Tumer
{"title":"Synthesis, in silico and bio-evaluation studies of new isothiocyanate derivatives with respect to COX inhibition and H2S release profiles†","authors":"Yakup Berkay Yilmaz, Tuğba Güngör, Serhat Dönmez, Hazal Nazlıcan Atalay, Pınar Siyah, Serdar Durdağı, Mehmet Ay and Tugba Boyunegmez Tumer","doi":"10.1039/D4MD00495G","DOIUrl":"10.1039/D4MD00495G","url":null,"abstract":"<p >The development of H<small><sub>2</sub></small>S-donating derivatives of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) is considered important to reduce or overcome their gastrointestinal side effects. Sulforaphane, one of the most extensively studied isothiocyanates (ITCs), effectively releases H<small><sub>2</sub></small>S at a slow rate. Thus, we rationally designed, synthesized, and characterized new ITC derivatives (<strong>I1–3</strong> and <strong>I1a–e</strong>) inspired by the natural compound sulforaphane. The anti-inflammatory properties of these compounds were evaluated by their inhibitory activities against cyclooxygenase targets COX-1 and COX-2. Additionally, the cytotoxicity of the compounds was tested using the MTT assay on LPS-induced RAW 264.7 cells, revealing no cytotoxic effects at low doses. Notably, compounds <strong>I1</strong> and fluorine-containing ester derivative <strong>I1c</strong> emerged as the most potent and selective COX-2 inhibitors, with selectivity indexes of 2611.5 and 2582.4, respectively. The H<small><sub>2</sub></small>S-releasing capacities of ITC derivatives were investigated and compared with that of sulforaphane, showing that while compounds <strong>I1–3</strong> exhibit slow and similar H<small><sub>2</sub></small>S release to sulforaphane, the release from compounds <strong>I1a–e</strong> was not as pronounced as that of the standard. Physics-based molecular modeling studies including molecular docking and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, binding free energy calculations and absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion (ADME) analyses were also conducted. MD simulations analysis underscored the crucial amino acids such as Tyr385, Trp387, Phe518, Val523, and Ser530 in the interactions between <strong>I1c</strong> hit compound and COX-2. The combined <em>in silico</em> and <em>in vitro</em> findings suggest that compounds <strong>I1</strong> and <strong>I1c</strong> are promising NSAID candidates against selective COX-2 inhibition.</p>","PeriodicalId":88,"journal":{"name":"MedChemComm","volume":" 2","pages":" 732-746"},"PeriodicalIF":3.597,"publicationDate":"2024-10-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142590952","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
MedChemCommPub Date : 2024-10-23DOI: 10.1039/D4MD00594E
Nagat Ghareb, Khaled M. Darwish, Mohamed S. Nafie, Ranwa Elrayess, Noha M. Abourobe, Shaimaa A. Fattah, Reem M. Hazem, Eman T. Mehanna and Ranza Elrayess
{"title":"Development, biological evaluation, and molecular modelling of some benzene-sulfonamide derivatives as protein tyrosine phosphatase-1B inhibitors for managing diabetes mellitus and associated metabolic disorders†","authors":"Nagat Ghareb, Khaled M. Darwish, Mohamed S. Nafie, Ranwa Elrayess, Noha M. Abourobe, Shaimaa A. Fattah, Reem M. Hazem, Eman T. Mehanna and Ranza Elrayess","doi":"10.1039/D4MD00594E","DOIUrl":"10.1039/D4MD00594E","url":null,"abstract":"<p >Exploring new inhibitors with good bioavailability and high selectivity for managing type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and its associated complications is a major challenge for research, academia, and the pharmaceutical industry. Protein tyrosine phosphatase-1B (PTP1B) arose as an important negative regulator in insulin signaling pathways associated with metabolic disorders, including T2DM and obesity. Novel neutral compounds with a benzene-sulfonamide scaffold were designed and synthesized based on structural- and ligand-based drug design strategies for fragment growth. Promising hits against PTP1B were identified through <em>in vitro</em> enzymology inhibition assay. Mechanistic aspects of the compound's different inhibition activities were rigorously investigated through molecular docking coupled with explicit dynamics simulations. Four identified hits, <strong>3c</strong>, <strong>8</strong>, <strong>10a</strong>, and <strong>11</strong>, with sub-micromolar PTP-1B IC<small><sub>50</sub></small> and significant predicted pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic parameters, were further biologically evaluated for their anti-diabetic, anti-obesity, anti-inflammatory, and anti-oxidant effects in a high-fat diet (HFD) + streptozotocin (STZ)-induced T2DM rat model. All these hit compounds exhibited a significant anti-diabetic and anti-obesity effect and a significant efficacy in reducing oxidative stress and increasing anti-oxidant enzymes while reducing inflammatory markers. Improving compound potency was further highlighted by improving the pharmacokinetic profile of the most active compound, <strong>10a</strong>, through nano formulation. Compound <strong>10a</strong> nano formulation showed the most promising anti-diabetic and anti-obesity effects and a remarkable histopathological improvement in all organs studied.</p>","PeriodicalId":88,"journal":{"name":"MedChemComm","volume":" 1","pages":" 247-273"},"PeriodicalIF":3.597,"publicationDate":"2024-10-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142516596","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
MedChemCommPub Date : 2024-10-22DOI: 10.1039/D4MD00623B
Ojaswitha Ommi, Priyanka Sudhir Dhopat, Shashikanta Sau, Madhu Rekha Estharla, Srinivas Nanduri, Nitin Pal Kalia and Venkata Madhavi Yaddanapudi
{"title":"Design, synthesis, and biological evaluation of pyrazole–ciprofloxacin hybrids as antibacterial and antibiofilm agents against Staphylococcus aureus†","authors":"Ojaswitha Ommi, Priyanka Sudhir Dhopat, Shashikanta Sau, Madhu Rekha Estharla, Srinivas Nanduri, Nitin Pal Kalia and Venkata Madhavi Yaddanapudi","doi":"10.1039/D4MD00623B","DOIUrl":"10.1039/D4MD00623B","url":null,"abstract":"<p >In our continued efforts to tackle antibiotic resistance, a new series of pyrazole–ciprofloxacin hybrids were designed, synthesized, and evaluated for their antibacterial activity against <em>Staphylococcus aureus</em> (<em>S. aureus</em>), <em>Pseudomonas aeruginosa</em> (<em>P. aeruginosa</em>), and <em>Mycobacterium tuberculosis</em> (<em>Mtb</em>). Most of the compounds exhibited good to excellent activities against <em>S. aureus</em>, and six compounds (<strong>7a</strong>, <strong>7b</strong>, <strong>7d</strong>, <strong>7g</strong>, <strong>7k</strong>, and <strong>7p</strong>) exhibited higher or comparable activity (MIC = 0.125–0.5 μg mL<small><sup>−1</sup></small>) to ciprofloxacin (0.125 μg mL<small><sup>−1</sup></small>). Further, these selected compounds were non-toxic (CC<small><sub>50</sub></small> ≥ 1000 μg mL<small><sup>−1</sup></small>) when evaluated for cell viability test against the Hep-G2 cell line. Three compounds (<strong>7a</strong>, <strong>7d</strong>, and <strong>7g</strong>) demonstrated excellent activity against ciprofloxacin-resistant <em>S. aureus</em> with MIC values ranging from 0.125–0.5 μg mL<small><sup>−1</sup></small> and good antibiofilm activity. Among them, <strong>7g</strong> displayed remarkable antibiofilm activity with an MBIC<small><sub>50</sub></small> value of 0.02 μg mL<small><sup>−1</sup></small>, which is 50 times lower than ciprofloxacin (MBIC<small><sub>50</sub></small> = 1.06 μg mL<small><sup>−1</sup></small>). A time-kill kinetics study indicated that <strong>7g</strong> showed both concentration and time-dependent bactericidal properties. In addition, <strong>7g</strong> effectively inhibited DNA-gyrase supercoiling activity at 1 μg mL<small><sup>−1</sup></small> (8× MIC). Two compounds <strong>7b</strong> and <strong>7d</strong> exhibited the highest activity against <em>Mtb</em> with a MIC of 0.5 μg mL<small><sup>−1</sup></small>, while <strong>7c</strong> showed the highest activity against <em>P. aeruginosa</em> with a MIC value of 2 μg mL<small><sup>−1</sup></small>. Molecular docking studies revealed that <strong>7g</strong> formed stable interactions at the DNA active site.</p>","PeriodicalId":88,"journal":{"name":"MedChemComm","volume":" 1","pages":" 420-428"},"PeriodicalIF":3.597,"publicationDate":"2024-10-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142568508","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
MedChemCommPub Date : 2024-10-22DOI: 10.1039/D4MD90039A
Marcel Hollenstein and Eugen Stulz
{"title":"Introduction to the themed collection in honour of Professor Christian Leumann","authors":"Marcel Hollenstein and Eugen Stulz","doi":"10.1039/D4MD90039A","DOIUrl":"10.1039/D4MD90039A","url":null,"abstract":"<p >A graphical abstract is available for this content</p>","PeriodicalId":88,"journal":{"name":"MedChemComm","volume":" 11","pages":" 3636-3638"},"PeriodicalIF":3.597,"publicationDate":"2024-10-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142507036","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
MedChemCommPub Date : 2024-10-22DOI: 10.1039/D4MD00614C
Vijay Babu Pathi, Pranotosh Das, Abhyuday Guin, Manish Debnath and Biswadip Banerji
{"title":"Metal-free synthesis of N-fused quinazolino-quinazoline-diones as a MALAT1 RNA triple helix intercalator†","authors":"Vijay Babu Pathi, Pranotosh Das, Abhyuday Guin, Manish Debnath and Biswadip Banerji","doi":"10.1039/D4MD00614C","DOIUrl":"10.1039/D4MD00614C","url":null,"abstract":"<p >The development of chemical scaffolds that target highly conserved <em>MALAT1</em> RNA received attention due to its significance in splicing, nuclear organization, and gene expression in disease progression pathways. Here, we synthesized a series of N-fused quinazolino-quinazoline-diones <em>via</em> a PIDA-induced C–N coupling methodology to target <em>MALAT1</em>. Interestingly, compound <strong>2z</strong> binds to the UUG pocket of a <em>MALAT1</em> RNA triple-helix through intercalation, evidenced from molecular docking studies, fluorescence-based assay and CD experiments. <strong>2z</strong> exhibited cytotoxicity towards <em>MALAT1</em> overexpressing cancer cells (SKOV-3, IC<small><sub>50</sub></small> of 8.0 ± 0.4 μM). These findings demonstrated <strong>2z</strong> as a <em>MALAT1</em> RNA triple-helix intercalator with therapeutic potential, offering an important chemical scaffold to understand <em>MALAT1</em> activity in disease development pathways.</p>","PeriodicalId":88,"journal":{"name":"MedChemComm","volume":" 1","pages":" 429-434"},"PeriodicalIF":3.597,"publicationDate":"2024-10-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142590945","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Synthesis of cationic N-acylated thiazolidine for selective activity against Gram-positive bacteria and evaluation of N-acylation's role in membrane-disrupting activity†","authors":"Aleena Pious, Vignesh Venkatasubramanian, Dharshini Karnan Singaravelu, Subburethinam Ramesh, Fuad Ameen and Anbazhagan Veerappan","doi":"10.1039/D4MD00626G","DOIUrl":"10.1039/D4MD00626G","url":null,"abstract":"<p >The evolution of antimicrobial-resistant strains jeopardizes the existing clinical drugs and demands new therapeutic interventions. Herein, we report the synthesis of cationic thiazolidine bearing a quaternary pyridinium group, in which thiazolidine was <em>N</em>-acylated with fatty acid to establish a hydrophilic–lipophilic balance that disrupts bacterial membranes. The bacterial growth inhibition assays and hemolytic activity against human red blood cells indicate that the <em>N</em>-acylated cationic thiazolidine (QPyNATh) inhibits Gram-positive bacteria at lower minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) and is selective for bacteria over mammalian cells. <em>N</em>-Acylation modulates MIC, and it is found that the <em>N</em>-palmitoylated compound, QPyN16Th, had the lowest MIC (1.95 μM) against Gram-positive, <em>Enterococcus faecalis</em>, <em>Staphylococcus aureus</em> and methicillin-resistant <em>Staphylococcus aureus</em> (MRSA). In contrast, the <em>N</em>-myristoylated compound, QPyN14Th, showed the lowest MIC (31.25 μM) against Gram-negative, <em>Escherichia coli</em>, uropathogenic <em>Escherichia coli</em>, and <em>Pseudomonas aeruginosa</em>. At 1× MIC, QPyNATh permeabilizes the bacterial membrane, depolarizes the cytoplasmic membranes, and produces excess reactive oxygen species to kill the bacteria, as evidenced by live and dead staining. Interestingly, only QPyNATh containing a palmitoyl acyl chain demonstrated membrane-damaging activity at 2 μM concentrations, suggesting that the optimal hydrophilic–lipophilic balance enables QPyN16Th to selectively kill Gram-positive bacteria at lower doses. <em>S. aureus</em> develops resistance to ciprofloxacin quickly; however, no resistance to QPyN16Th is observed after several passages. As a proof of concept, the animal study revealed that QPyN16Th treatment reduced the bacterial burden in MRSA-infected zebrafish, allowing them to recover from infection and resume normal life. The results imply that lipidation and derivatizing thiazolidine with cationic charge offer an antimicrobial that is selective to treat Gram-positive bacterial infections, biocompatible, and less prone to develop resistance.</p>","PeriodicalId":88,"journal":{"name":"MedChemComm","volume":" 2","pages":" 721-731"},"PeriodicalIF":3.597,"publicationDate":"2024-10-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142590949","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
MedChemCommPub Date : 2024-10-21DOI: 10.1039/D4MD00685B
Samantha J. Bann and Stephen A. Cochrane
{"title":"A novel approach for the synthesis of the cyclic lipopeptide globomycin†","authors":"Samantha J. Bann and Stephen A. Cochrane","doi":"10.1039/D4MD00685B","DOIUrl":"10.1039/D4MD00685B","url":null,"abstract":"<p >Cyclic lipopeptides (CLiPs) are a highly diverse class of secondary metabolites produced by bacteria and fungi. Examples of CLiPs have been found that possess potent antimicrobial activity against multidrug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria. Globomycin is a 19-membered CLiP that kills both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria through inhibition of lipoprotein signal peptidase II (Lsp). It can only be obtained in small quantities from its <em>Streptomyces</em> producer strain, so there has been much interest in development of synthetic methods to access globomycin and analogues. Globomycin contains an N-terminal anti-α-methyl-β-hydroxy nonanoyl lipid tail, whose hydroxyl group forms an ester with the C-terminal carboxylate. Constructing the anti-arrangement between the α-methyl and β-hydroxy is synthetically challenging and previous globomycin syntheses are not compatible with diversification of the lipid tail after the stereocenters have been installed. Herein, we describe a new approach for the synthesis of globomycin that allows for facile lipid diversification. Using an anti-Evans Aldol condensation, a common intermediate is obtained that allows different “lipid swapping” through Grubbs-catalyzed cross-metathesis. Upon auxiliary cleavage, the resulting lipid can then be utilized in solid-phase peptide synthesis. Given the plethora of lipopeptides that contain β-hydroxy lipids, this method offers a convenient approach for convergent generation of lipopeptide analogues.</p>","PeriodicalId":88,"journal":{"name":"MedChemComm","volume":" 1","pages":" 373-378"},"PeriodicalIF":3.597,"publicationDate":"2024-10-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11528322/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142568166","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
MedChemCommPub Date : 2024-10-18DOI: 10.1039/D4MD00555D
Shenghua Gao, Letian Song, Bing Ye, Mianling Yang, Junyi Li, Manyu Gu, Ann E. Tollefson, Karoly Toth, Peng Zhan and Xinyong Liu
{"title":"Miniaturized click chemistry and direct screening facilitate the discovery of triazole piperazine SARS-CoV-2 Mpro inhibitors with improved metabolic stability†","authors":"Shenghua Gao, Letian Song, Bing Ye, Mianling Yang, Junyi Li, Manyu Gu, Ann E. Tollefson, Karoly Toth, Peng Zhan and Xinyong Liu","doi":"10.1039/D4MD00555D","DOIUrl":"10.1039/D4MD00555D","url":null,"abstract":"<p >The continuous mutational nature of SARS-CoV-2 and its inter-species' similarities emphasize the urgent need to design and develop more direct-acting antiviral agents against highly infectious variants. Herein, we report on the efficient discovery of potent non-covalent non-peptide-derived M<small><sup>pro</sup></small> inhibitors using miniaturized click chemistry and direct screening. Based on the privileged piperazine scaffold, 68 triazole-containing derivatives were assembled and screened. Notably, representative compound <strong>C1N46</strong> (IC<small><sub>50</sub></small> = 1.87 μM, EC<small><sub>50</sub></small> = 6.99 μM, CC<small><sub>50</sub></small> > 100 μM) displayed potent inhibition activity against M<small><sup>pro</sup></small> and showed promising anti-SARS-CoV-2 properties <em>in vitro</em>. Additionally, <strong>C1N46</strong> exhibited improved liver microsome stability compared to lead compound <strong>GC-14</strong>. Docking studies predicted a multi-site binding mode of the triazole-based compounds. In conclusion, our studies validate the efficacy and feasibility of click chemistry in rapidly discovering antiviral agents.</p>","PeriodicalId":88,"journal":{"name":"MedChemComm","volume":" 1","pages":" 400-411"},"PeriodicalIF":3.597,"publicationDate":"2024-10-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142568512","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}