Search

Drug resistance is a serious concern in a clinical setting jeopardizing treatment for both infectious agents and cancers alike. The wide-spread emergence of multi-drug resistant (MDR) phenotypes from bacteria to cancerous cells necessitates the need to target resistance mechanisms and prevent the emergence of resistant mutants. Drug efflux seems to be one of the preferred approaches embraced by both microbial and mammalian cells alike, to thwart the action of chemotherapeutic agents thereby leading to a drug resistant phenotype. Relative to microbes, which predominantly employs proton motive force (PMF) powered, Major Facilitator Superfamily (MFS)/Resistance Nodulation and Division (RND) classes of efflux pumps to efflux drugs, cancerous cells preferentially use ATP fuelled ATP binding cassette (ABC) transporters to extrude chemotherapeutic agents. The prevalence, evolutionary characteristics and overlapping functions of ABC transporters have been highlighted in this review. Additionally, we outline the role of ABC pumps in conferring MDR phenotype to both bacteria and cancerous cells and underscore the importance of efflux pump inhibitors (EPI) to mitigate drug resistance. Based on the literature reports and analysis, we reason out feasibility of employing bacteria as a tool to screen for EPI's targeting ABC pumps of cancerous cells.

Multi drug resistant (MDR) pathogens pose a serious threat to public health since they can easily render most potent drugs ineffective. Efflux pump inhibitors (EPI) can be used to counter the MDR phenotypes arising due to increased efflux. In the present study, a series of dithiazole thione derivatives were synthesized and checked for its antibacterial and efflux pump inhibitory (EPI) activity. Among 10 dithiazole thione derivatives, real-time efflux studies revealed that seven compounds were potent EPIs relative to CCCP. Zebrafish toxicity studies identified four non-toxic putative EPIs. Both DTT3 and DTT9 perturbed membrane potential and DTT6 was haemolytic. Among DTT6 and DTT10, the latter was less toxic as evidenced by histopathology studies. Since DTT10 was non-haemolytic, did not affect the membrane potential, and was least toxic, it was chosen further for in vivo study, wherein DTT10 potentiated effect of ciprofloxacin against clinical strain of MRSA and reduced bacterial burden in muscle and skin tissue of infected zebrafish by ~ 1.7 and 2.5 log fold respectively. Gene expression profiling of major efflux transport proteins by qPCR revealed that clinical isolate of MRSA, in the absence of antibiotic, upregulated NorA, NorB and MepA pump, whereas it downregulates NorC and MgrA relative to wild-type strain of Staphylococcus aureus. In vitro studies with NorA mutant strains and substrate profiling revealed that at higher concentrations DTT10 is likely to function as a competitive inhibitor of NorA efflux protein in S. aureus, whereas at lower concentrations it might inhibit ciprofloxacin efflux through NorB and MepA as implied by docking studies. A novel non-toxic, non-haemolytic dithiazole thione derivative (DTT10) was identified as a potent competitive inhibitor of NorA efflux pump in S. aureus using in silico, in vitro and in vivo studies. This study also underscores the importance of using zebrafish infection model to screen and evaluate putative EPI for mitigating MDR strains of S. aureus.

Readily available, non-toxic, biodegradable oleic acid was found to catalyse 4H-chromene derivatives syntheses in good yields in a water medium. A facile domino one-pot protocol was also developed for the oleic acid catalysed pyrimidine-fused heterocycle synthesis by pseudo three-component, three-component and four-component reactions. All the products were obtained in good to excellent yields. Oleic acid catalysis was further extended to the synthesis of curcumin based bioactive molecules.

Anhydrous ZnCl2 mediated convenient, one-pot synthesis of 3-arylmethyl and diarylmethyl indoles was accomplished in good yields. Under reaction condition, in situ formation of kinetically stable bis(indolyl)methane product was identified. Its subsequent conversion to the thermodynamically stable 3-diarylmethyl indole at elevated temperature and pressure was confirmed by carrying out pressure tube reaction with bis(indolyl)methane.

This review gives an insight into the recent applications of Mannich reaction and its variants in the construction of bioactive molecules. Emphasis is given to the Mannich reaction that provides bioactive molecules and/or modifies the property of an existing bioactive molecule. The role of Mannich reaction in the construction of antimalarial, antitumour, antimicrobial, antitubercular, antiinflammatory and anticonvulsant molecules and also the significance of aminoalkyl Mannich side chain on the biological property of molecules is discussed here.

The title compounds are prepared by a facile domino one-pot protocol involving pseudo three-component, three-component or four-component reactions.

This review gives an insight into the recent applications of Mannich reaction and its variants in the construction of bioactive molecules. Emphasis is given to the Mannich reaction that provides bioactive molecules and/or modifies the property of an existing bioactive molecule. The role of Mannich reaction in the construction of antimalarial, antitumour, antimicrobial, antitubercular, antiinflammatory and anticonvulsant molecules and also the significance of aminoalkyl Mannich side chain on the biological property of molecules is discussed here.