Academic literature on the topic 'Pteridine ligands'

The modification of lead-compound aimed to the increasing of activity, decrement of toxicity or improvement of selectivity is one of the most important methods used for elaboration of novel medications. Natural compounds, approved or investigational drugs or just compounds with proved biological activity could be the lead-compound. Often the chemical modification of lead compounds is directed at the enhancement of ligand-biological target interactions. Abovementioned approach, namely structural modification of known drug triamterene was used for purposeful search for novel diuretics. The preliminary prognostication of ligand-target interactions and affinity levels allow to reduce quantity of experimental animals, synthesis, and pharmacological studies costs. Conducted studies revealed the series of promising 6,7-disubstituted pteridine-2,4(1H,3H)-diones with diuretic activity that comparable with pharmacological effect of triamterene. Aim – purposeful search for promising diuretics among structural analogues of triamterene that includes preliminary in silico studies, synthesis and in vivo screening of novel compounds for diuretic activity. Methods used: organic synthesis, physicochemical methods of analysis of organic compounds (NMR 1H-spectroscopy, chromato-mass spectrometry, elemental analysis). Prediction of affinity for a biological target, prediction of toxicity and lipophilicity of the combinatorial library, which was created on the basis of the drug triamterene, was carried out using computer services. Studies of compounds that affect the excretory function of the kidneys of rats were performed according to the generally accepted method of E.B. Berkhin with water load. Research of the probable mechanism was conducted by flexible molecular docking, as an approach of finding molecules with affinity to a specific biological target. Macromolecular data were downloaded from the Protein Data Bank (PDB) namely, the crystal structures of epithelial sodium channel (ENaC) ((PDB ID – 6WTH). The substantiation of potential diuretics design was conducted by in silico methods (prediction of affinity, ligand-enzyme interactions and pharmacokinetic characteristics). The structural modification of triamterene molecule was carried out by replacing of amino-group in positions 2, 4 and 7 by others “pharmacophore” fragments. Abovementioned transformation is aimed at the changing of ligand-enzyme interactions in active site, lipophility and toxicity. Synthesis of 6,7-disubstituted pteridine-2,4(1H,3H)-diones was conducted by condensation 5,6-diamino-2-oxo-(thioxo-)-2,3-dihydropyrimidin-4(1H)-ones with carbonyl-containing compounds or oxocarboxylic acids. The further modification of obtained compounds was performed by alkylation, hydrazinolysis and nucleophilic addition/elimination. The structure of obtained compounds was proven by elemental analysis, chromato-mass and 1H NMR-spectral analysis. The studies of synthesized compounds effect on excretion function of kidneys allowed to detect series of promising structural analogues of triamterene that exceed it in pharmacological activity by 27.3-99.0%. The “structure-biological activity” relationship was discussed and perspective of the further search of diuretics among abovementioned compounds were shown. The design of new biologically active compounds with diuretic activity was performed using in silico methodologies and realized by structural modification of the well-known diuretic triamterene. Traditional organic synthesis was used for preparation of target compounds, in vivo experiments were used to detect compounds with significant biological activity. Several effective compounds were identified among pteridines, which exceed the reference drug triamterene in terms of daily diuresis. The obtained results substantiate further purposeful search, in-depth research on experimental pathologies and study of the mechanism of action of potential diuretics among this class of compounds.

Background: Human African trypanosomiasis is a fatal disease prevalent in approximately 36 sub-Saharan countries. Emerging reports of drug resistance in Trypanosoma brucei are a serious cause of concern as only limited drugs are available for the treatment of the disease. Pteridine reductase is an enzyme of Trypanosoma brucei. Methods: It plays a critical role in the pterin metabolic pathway that is absolutely essential for its survival in the human host. The success of finding a potent inhibitor in structure-based drug design lies within the ability of computational tools to efficiently and accurately dock a ligand into the binding cavity of the target protein. Here we report the computational characterization of Trypanosoma brucei pteridine reductase (Tb-PR) active-site using twenty-four high-resolution co-crystal structures with various drugs. Structurally, the Tb-PR active site can be grouped in two clusters; one with high Root Mean Square Deviation (RMSD) of atomic positions and another with low RMSD of atomic positions. These clusters provide fresh insight for rational drug design against Tb-PR. Henceforth, the effect of several factors on docking accuracy, including ligand and protein flexibility were analyzed using Fred. Results: The online server was used to analyze the side chain flexibility and four proteins were selected on the basis of results. The proteins were subjected to small-scale virtual screening using 85 compounds, and statistics were calculated using Bedroc and roc curves. The enrichment factor was also calculated for the proteins and scoring functions. The best scoring function was used to understand the ligand protein interactions with top common compounds of four proteins. In addition, we made a 3D structural comparison between the active site of Tb-PR and Leishmania major pteridine reductase (Lm- PR). We described key structural differences between Tb-PR and Lm-PR that can be exploited for rational drug design against these two human parasites. Conclusion: The results indicated that relying just on re-docking and cross-docking experiments for virtual screening of libraries isn’t enough and results might be misleading. Hence it has been suggested that small scale virtual screening should be performed prior to large scale screening.

Pteridine reductase 1 (PTR1) is a trypanosomatid multifunctional enzyme that provides a mechanism for escape of dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) inhibition. This is because PTR1 can reduce pterins and folates. Trypanosomes require folates and pterins for survival and are unable to synthesize them de novo. Currently there are no anti-folate based Human African Trypanosomiasis (HAT) chemotherapeutics in use. Thus, successful dual inhibition of Trypanosoma brucei dihydrofolate reductase (TbDHFR) and Trypanosoma brucei pteridine reductase 1 (TbPTR1) has implications in the exploitation of anti-folates. We carried out molecular docking of a ligand library of 5742 compounds against TbPTR1 and identified 18 compounds showing promising binding modes. The protein-ligand complexes were subjected to molecular dynamics to characterize their molecular interactions and energetics, followed by in vitro testing. In this study, we identified five compounds which showed low micromolar Trypanosome growth inhibition in in vitro experiments that might be acting by inhibition of TbPTR1. Compounds RUBi004, RUBi007, RUBi014, and RUBi018 displayed moderate to strong antagonism (mutual reduction in potency) when used in combination with the known TbDHFR inhibitor, WR99210. This gave an indication that the compounds might inhibit both TbPTR1 and TbDHFR. RUBi016 showed an additive effect in the isobologram assay. Overall, our results provide a basis for scaffold optimization for further studies in the development of HAT anti-folates.

Abstract We investigated the effects of troglitazone, which is a ligand of nuclear transcription factor peroxisome proliferator- activated receptor-γ (PPAR-γ), on insulin-induced tetrahydrobiopterin (BH4) synthesis in mouse brain microvascular endothelial cells (MBMECs). BH4 content was determined as biopterin, by reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography using fluorometric detection. Measurement of mRNA level of GTP cyclohydrolase I (GTPCH), which is a rate-limiting enzyme for de novo BH4 synthesis, was performed by reverse transcription- polymerase chain reaction (RT -PCR). Addition of insulin (10µg/ml) to endothelial cells increased intracellular BH4 content and GTPCH mRNA level, and the insulin-induced increase in BH4 content and GTPCH mRNA level was further stimulated by co-treatment with troglitazone (0.3-3 µM). However, the expression of PPAR-γ mRNA in untreated and insulin-treated endothelial cells was not detected. Moreover, bezafibrate (1-10 µM), a ligand of PPAR-δ, did not affect BH4 synthesis in insulin-treated endothehal cells. These findings suggest that troglitazone stimulates insulin-induced BH4 synthesis in endothelial cells with the induction of GTPCH through PPAR-γ- and PPAR-δ-independent mechanism

SummaryEvidence accumulates suggesting that the pathogenesis in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is associated with modulations in the Fas/FasL system. Serum concentrations of soluble Fas ligand (sFasL) were found to be elevated in patients with SLE. In this study we wanted to determine the levels of sFasL and the status of immune activation - monitored by neopterin secretion - in patients with SLE and cutaneous discoid lupus erythematosus (CDLE). Sixty-five serum samples were assayed. We found elevated concentrations of sFasL in patients with SLE and CDLE. The levels of sFasL in COLE patients were significant lower compared to SLE patients. Neopterin concentrations in serum were found to be slightly increased in patients with CDLE. Compared to patients with SLE, activation of the immune system was significant lower in COLE. Taken together, we found d evated levels of sFasL in patients with SLE as well as CDLE, connected with ar activation of the immune system and thereby increased concentration of neopterin in serum.