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Identification of (4-(9H-fluoren-9-yl) piperazin-1-yl) methanone derivatives as falcipain 2 inhibitors active against Plasmodium falciparum cultures.
- Source :
-
Biochimica et biophysica acta. General subjects [Biochim Biophys Acta Gen Subj] 2018 Dec; Vol. 1862 (12), pp. 2911-2923. Date of Electronic Publication: 2018 Sep 22. - Publication Year :
- 2018
-
Abstract
- Background: Falcipain 2 (FP-2) is the hemoglobin-degrading cysteine protease of Plasmodium falciparum most extensively targeted to develop novel antimalarials. However, no commercial antimalarial drugs based on FP-2 inhibition are available yet due to the low selectivity of most FP-2 inhibitors against the human cysteine proteases.<br />Methods: A structure-based virtual screening (SVBS) using Maybridge HitFinder™ compound database was conducted to identify potential FP-2 inhibitors. In vitro enzymatic and cell-growth inhibition assays were performed for the top-scoring compounds. Docking, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations and free energy calculations were employed to study the interaction of the best hits with FP-2 and other related enzymes.<br />Results and Conclusions: Two hits based on 4-(9H-fluoren-9-yl) piperazin-1-yl) methanone scaffold, HTS07940 and HTS08262, were identified as inhibitors of FP-2 (half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC <subscript>50</subscript> ) = 64 μM and 14.7 μM, respectively) without a detectable inhibition against the human off-target cathepsin K (hCatK). HTS07940 and HTS08262 inhibited the growth of the multidrug-resistant P. falciparum strain FCR3 in culture (half-maximal inhibitory concentrations (IC50) = 2.91 μM and 34 μM, respectively) and exhibited only moderate cytotoxicity against HeLa cells (Half-maximal cytotoxic concentration (CC50) = 133 μM and 350 μM, respectively). Free energy calculations reproduced the experimental affinities of the hits for FP-2 and explained the selectivity with respect to hCatK.<br />General Significance: To the best of our knowledge, HTS07940 stands among the most selective FP-2 inhibitors identified by SBVS reported so far, displaying moderate antiplasmodial activity and low cytotoxicity against human cells. Hence, this compound constitutes a promising lead for the design of more potent and selective FP-2 inhibitors.<br /> (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)
- Subjects :
- Antimalarials isolation & purification
Databases, Factual
Drug Discovery
HeLa Cells
High-Throughput Screening Assays
Humans
Inhibitory Concentration 50
Molecular Docking Simulation
Molecular Dynamics Simulation
Structure-Activity Relationship
Substrate Specificity
Antimalarials chemistry
Antimalarials pharmacology
Cysteine Endopeptidases metabolism
Plasmodium falciparum drug effects
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 1872-8006
- Volume :
- 1862
- Issue :
- 12
- Database :
- MEDLINE
- Journal :
- Biochimica et biophysica acta. General subjects
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 30253205
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbagen.2018.09.015