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The multidrug-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is one of the most prevalent human pathogens involved in many minor to major disease burdens throughout the world. Inhibition of biofilm formation is an attractive strategy to treat diseases associated with MRSA infection. In the present investigation, a series of functional group diverse (hetero)aryl fluorosulfonyl analogs were designed, synthesized and tested as antibacterial agents against Staphylococcal spp., and as anti-biofilm candidates. Compounds 8, 15, and 67 were found to possess potent in vitro antibacterial activity among this class of sulfonyl fluorides (MIC = 0.818 ± 0.42, 0.840 ± 0.37 and 0.811 ± 0.37 μg/mL respectively). The analogs 8, 15, 36, and 67 exhibited outstanding anti-biofilm properties compared to other available synthetic antibiotics. The efficacy of synthetic analogs displayed membrane-damaging effect and they are also validated by cellular content release assay. The insight physiological changes were explored by studying the intracellular redox activities through changing cyclic voltammetric (CV) method. The compounds 8, 15, 22, 32, 36, 51, and 67 were found to participate in the interfering in the electron transport chain (ETC) of MRSA. The analogs 8, 15, and 67 possess great potentiality for discovery and development of anti-staphylococcal drugs to treat the MRSA infections.

A novel series of coumarin-lipoic acid conjugates were synthesized via cycloaddition click reaction to find out new multi-target-directed ligands (MTDLs) for treatment of Alzheimer's disease (AD). All of synthesized compounds were screened for neuroprotective and anti-cholinesterase activities. Based on primary screening, two compounds (5 and 11) were subjected to further biological evaluations. In particular, compound 11 which was the most potent AChE inhibitor showed good inhibitory effect on Aβ-aggregation and intracellular ROS (reactive oxygen species) formation, as well as the ability of selective bio-metal chelation and neuroprotection against H2O2- and Aβ1-42-induced cytotoxicity. In the light of these results, the applied hybridization approach introduced new promising lead compound with desired multifunctional properties, being useful in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease.

The combination of heterocycles offers a new opportunity to create novel multicyclic compounds having improved biological activity. Coumarins are ubiquitous natural heterocycle widely adopted in the design of various biologically active compounds. Fusing different heterocycles with coumarin ring is one of the interesting approaches to generating novel hybrid molecules having highlighted biological activities. In the efforts to develop heterocyclic-fused coumarins, a wide range of 3,4-heterocycle-fused coumarins have been introduced bearing outstanding biological activity. The effect of heterocycles annulation at 3,4-positions of coumarin ring on the biological activity of the target structures were discussed. This review focuses on the important progress of 3,4-heterocycle-fused coumarins providing better insight for medicinal chemists on the design and preparation of biologically active heterocycle-fused coumarins with a significant therapeutic effect in the future.

A series of novel compounds carrying 1,2,4-triazole scaffold were prepared and evaluated for their antiproliferative activities against NCI 60 cell line. Compounds 10 (a, c), 11 (a-d), and 14 (a-e) were selected for evaluation at single concentration of 10 μM towards panel of sixty cancer cell lines. Some of nitric oxide (NO) donating triazole/oxime hybrids 11a-d showed antiproliferative activity better than their corresponding ketones. On the other hand, the thiazolo [3,2-b][1,2,4]-triazoles 14a-e showed remarkable antiproliferative activities against the same cell lines. Compound 14d was selected for five dose testing against the full panel of 60 human tumor cell lines. Compound 14d showed high selectivity against renal subpanel with selectivity ratio of 6.99 at GI50 level. Compounds 11a-d, 10a-d and 14a-e were tested against four cell lines using MTT assay then compounds of the least IC50 were evaluated against three known anticancer targets including EGFR, BRAF and Tubulin. The results revealed that compound 14d showed promising EGFR inhibitory activity of cancer cell proliferation and were also observed to be moderate BRAF and tubulin inhibitors. Moreover, cell cycle analysis and apoptosis assay were finished for compounds 14d and 14f. Finally molecular modeling studies were performed to explore the binding mode of the most active compounds to the target enzymes.

Alzheimer's disease (AD), the most common form of dementia, is a multifactorial neurodegenerative disease. The target enzymes inhibition including cholinesterase, beta-secretase, monoamine oxidase and inhibition of amyloid-β aggregation as well as oxidative stress and metal chelation play an important role in the pathogenesis of AD. Chroman-4-one scaffold with benzo-γ-pyrone network is a privileged structure in organic synthesis and drug design. A large number of research has been carried out on modified naturally occurring chromanone scaffolds and/or synthesized new analogues, to obtain effective drugs for AD management. The present review summarizes aspects related to the multi-target-directed ligands (MTDLs) strategy in enzyme targets modulation performed with natural and synthesized chroman-4-one-based structures to look at their potential in the management of multifactorial Alzheimer's disease.

Butyrylcholinesterase (BuChE) inhibitors have become interesting target for treatment of Alzheimer's disease (AD). A series of dual binding site BuChE inhibitors were designed and synthesized based on 2,3,4,9-tetrahydro-1H-carbazole attached benzyl pyridine moieties. In-vitro assay revealed that all of the designed compounds were selective and potent BuChE inhibitors. The most potent BuChE inhibitor was compound 6i (IC50 = 0.088 ± 0.0009 μM) with the mixed-type inhibition. Docking study revealed that 6i is a dual binding site BuChE inhibitor. Also, Pharmacokinetic properties for 6i were accurate to Lipinski's rule. In addition, compound 6i demonstrated neuroprotective and β-secretase (BACE1) inhibition activities. This compound could also inhibit AChE-induced and self-induced Aβ peptide aggregation at concentration of 100 μM and 10 μM respectively. Generally, the results are presented as new potent selective BuChE inhibitors with a therapeutic potential for the treatment of AD.

The drug research and development nowadays is focusing on multi-target drugs. In the treatment of cancer, therapies using drugs inhibiting one numerous targets signify a novel viewpoint. In comparison with traditional therapy, multi-targeted drugs directly aim cell subpopulations which are involved in progression of tumor. The current study comprises the synthesis of 34 novel ligustrazine-containing α, β-unsaturated carbonyl-based compounds and oximes. The growth of 5 various cancer cell types was strongly inhibited by ligustrazine-containing oximes as revealed by biological evaluation. A strong SAR was provided by the antiproliferative activity. The mechanistic effects of most active antiproliferative compounds on tubulin polymerization, EGFR TK kinases, KAF and BRAFV600E were investigated, followed by in vitro investigation of reversal of efflux-based resistance developed by cancer cells. EGFR was strongly inhibited by two oximes 7e and 8o. Out of all linkers including positive control, 1-isopropyl-piperidin-4-one linker-bearing compounds showed best inhibition of FAK. The strongest inhibitory activity of BRAFV600E was showed by compound 5e with an IC50 of 0.7 μM. Analogs such as 5 and 7 (b,e,f) exhibited a dual role as anticancer as well as MDR reversal agents. For understanding the target protein integrations with new compounds, molecular docking studies were also carried out.

A novel series of tacrine-like compounds 7a-u possessing a fused pyrazolo[1,2-b]phthalazine structure were designed and synthesized as potent and selective inhibitors of AChE. The in-vitro biological assessments demonstrated that several compounds had high anti-AChE activity at nano-molar level. The more promising compound 7l with IC50 of 49 nM was 7-fold more potent than tacrine and unlike tacrine, it was highly selective against AChE over BuChE. The cell-based assays against hepatocytes (HepG2) and neuronal cell line (PC12) revealed that 7l had significantly lower hepatotoxicity compared to tacrine, with additional neuroprotective activity against H2O2-induced damage in PC12 cells. This compound could also inhibit AChE-induced and self-induced Aβ peptide aggregation. The advantages including synthetic accessibility, high potency and selectivity, low toxicity, adjunctive neuroprotective and Aβ aggregation inhibitory activity, make this compound as a new multifunctional lead for Alzheimer's disease drug discovery.