Displaying publications 1 - 20 of 27 in total

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  1. Zhong L, Liu Q, Ting YS, Thien VY, Binti Kalong NS, Yang D, et al.
    Chem Biol Drug Des, 2018 12;92(6):1998-2008.
    PMID: 30043441 DOI: 10.1111/cbdd.13371
    Overexpression of thioredoxin-interacting protein (TXNIP) is associated with reduced insulin sensitivity and β-cell apoptosis. We have previously shown that W2476 inhibited high glucose-induced TXNIP expression at both mRNA and protein levels in INS-1E cells. In this study, we describe structural modification and optimization of W2476 leading to three more active derivatives, 8d, 8g, and 9h, capable of suppressing TXNIP expression in BG73 and INS-1E cells, increasing insulin production, and reducing high glucose-induced apoptosis in INS-1E cells.
  2. Yeong KY, Tan SC, Mai CW, Leong CO, Chung FF, Lee YK, et al.
    Chem Biol Drug Des, 2018 01;91(1):213-219.
    PMID: 28719017 DOI: 10.1111/cbdd.13072
    Both sirtuin and poly(ADP-ribose)polymerase (PARP) family of enzymes utilize NAD+ as co-substrate. Inhibitors of sirtuins and PARPs are important tools in drug discovery as they are reported to be linked to multiple diseases such as cancer. New potent sirtuin inhibitors (2,4,6-trisubstituted benzimidazole) were discovered from reported PARP inhibitor scaffold. Interestingly, the synthesized compounds have contrasting sirtuin and PARP-1 inhibitory activities. We showed that modification on benzimidazoles may alter their selectivity toward sirtuin or PARP-1 enzymes. This offers an opportunity for further discovery and development of new promising sirtuin inhibitors. Molecular docking studies were carried out to aid the rationalization of these observations. Preliminary antiproliferative studies of selected compounds against nasopharyngeal cancer cells also showed relatively promising results.
  3. Teo CY, Tejo BA, Leow ATC, Salleh AB, Abdul Rahman MB
    Chem Biol Drug Des, 2017 Dec;90(6):1134-1146.
    PMID: 28581157 DOI: 10.1111/cbdd.13033
    Protein arginine deiminase type IV (PAD4) is responsible for the posttranslational conversion of peptidylarginine to peptidylcitrulline. Citrullinated protein is the autoantigen in rheumatoid arthritis, and therefore, PAD4 is currently a promising therapeutic target for the disease. Recently, we reported the importance of the furan ring in the structure of PAD4 inhibitors. In this study, the furan ring was incorporated into peptides to act as the "warhead" of the inhibitors for PAD4. IC50 studies showed that the furan-containing peptide-based inhibitors were able to inhibit PAD4 to a better extent than the furan-containing small molecules that were previously reported. The best peptide-based inhibitor inhibited PAD4 reversibly and competitively with an IC50 value of 243.2 ± 2.4 μm. NMR spectroscopy and NMR-restrained molecular dynamic simulations revealed that the peptide-based inhibitor had a random structure. Molecular docking studies showed that the peptide-based inhibitor entered the binding site and interacted with the essential amino acids involved in the catalytic activity. The peptide-based inhibitor could be further developed into a therapeutic drug for rheumatoid arthritis.
  4. Ravichandran V, Jain A, Kumar KS, Rajak H, Agrawal RK
    Chem Biol Drug Des, 2011 Sep;78(3):464-70.
    PMID: 21615706 DOI: 10.1111/j.1747-0285.2011.01149.x
    A series of 1,3-thiazolidin-4-one derivatives were prepared by the reaction of respective aromatic amine, aromatic aldehyde, and thioglycolic acid in dry benzene/toluene. The newly synthesized compounds were characterized on the basis of elemental analysis, IR, (1) HNMR, and mass spectra. The newly synthesized final compounds were evaluated for their in vitro antibacterial, antifungal, and anti-viral activities. Preliminary results indicated that some of the compounds demonstrated antibacterial activity in the range of 7-13 μg/mL, antifungal activity in the range of 13-17 μg/mL, comparable with the standard drugs, ciprofloxacin and fluconazole. Structure-activity relationship studies revealed that the nature of the substituents at the 2 and 3 positions of the thiazolidinone nucleus had a significant impact on the in vitro antimicrobial and anti-viral activity of these classes of agents.
  5. Qin HL, Leng J, Youssif BG, Amjad MW, Raja MA, Hussain MA, et al.
    Chem Biol Drug Des, 2017 Feb 10.
    PMID: 28186369 DOI: 10.1111/cbdd.12964
    The incidence of cancer can be decreased by chemoprevention using either natural or synthetic agents. Apart from synthetic compounds, numerous natural products have exhibited promising potential to inhibit carcinogenesis in vivo. In this study, α, β-unsaturated carbonyl-based anticancer compounds were used as starting materials to synthesize new oxime analogs. The findings from the antiproliferative assay using seven different human cancer cell lines provided a clear picture of structure-activity relationship. The oxime analogs namely 7a and 8a showed strong antiproliferative activity against the cell lines. The mechanistic effects of compounds on EGFR-TK kinases and tubulin polymerization and BRAF(V)(600E) were investigated. In addition, the efficacy of compounds in reversing the efflux-mediated resistance developed by cancer cells was also studied. The compounds 5a and 6a displayed potent activity on various targets such as BRAF(V)(600E) and EGFR-TK kinases and also exhibited strong antiproliferative activity against different cell lines hence showing potential of multifunctional anticancer agents.
  6. Pawar S, Liew TO, Stanam A, Lahiri C
    Chem Biol Drug Des, 2020 09;96(3):995-1004.
    PMID: 32410355 DOI: 10.1111/cbdd.13672
    Biomarkers can offer great promise for improving prevention and treatment of complex diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular diseases, and diabetes. These can be used as either diagnostic or predictive or as prognostic biomarkers. The revolution brought about in biological big data analytics by artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to identify a broader range of genetic differences and support the generation of more robust biomarkers in medicine. AI is invigorating biomarker research on various fronts, right from the cataloguing of key mutations driving the complex diseases like cancer to the elucidation of molecular networks underlying diseases. In this study, we have explored the potential of AI through machine learning approaches to propose that these methods can act as recommendation systems to sort and prioritize important genes and finally predict the presence of specific biomarkers. Essentially, we have utilized microarray datasets from open-source databases, like GEO, for breast, lung, colon, and ovarian cancer. In this context, different clustering analyses like hierarchical and k-means along with random forest algorithm have been utilized to classify important genes from a pool of several thousand genes. To this end, network centrality and pathway analysis have been implemented to identify the most potential target as CREB1.
  7. Nour SM, Abbasi N, Sadi S, Ravan N, Alipourian A, Yarizadeh M, et al.
    Chem Biol Drug Des, 2023 Oct;102(4):939-950.
    PMID: 37402595 DOI: 10.1111/cbdd.14285
    The tumor microenvironment (TME) is well-defined target for understanding tumor progression and various cell types. Major elements of the tumor microenvironment are the followings: endothelial cells, fibroblasts, signaling molecules, extracellular matrix, and infiltrating immune cells. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a group of small noncoding RNAs with major functions in the gene expression regulation at post-transcriptional level that have also appeared to exerts key functions in the cancer initiation/progression in diverse biological processes and the tumor microenvironment. This study summarized various roles of miRNAs in the complex interactions between the tumor and normal cells in their microenvironment.
  8. Munusamy V, Yap BK, Buckle MJ, Doughty SW, Chung LY
    Chem Biol Drug Des, 2013 Feb;81(2):250-6.
    PMID: 23039820 DOI: 10.1111/cbdd.12069
    Selective blockade of the serotonin 5-HT(2A) receptor is a useful therapeutic approach for a number of disorders, including schizophrenia, insomnia and ischaemic heart disease. A series of aporphines were docked into a homology model of the rat 5-HT(2A) receptor using AutoDock. Selected compounds with high in silico binding affinities were screened in vitro using radioligand-binding assays against rat serotonin (5-HT(1A) and 5-HT(2A)) and dopamine (D1 and D2) receptors. (R)-Roemerine and (±)-nuciferine were found to have high affinity for the 5-HT(2A) receptor (K(i) = 62 and 139 nM, respectively), with (R)-roemerine showing 20- to 400-fold selectivity for the 5-HT(2A) receptor over the 5-HT(1A), D1 and D2 receptors. Investigation into the ligand-receptor interactions suggested that the selectivity of (R)-roemerine is due to it having stronger H-bonding and dipole-dipole interactions with several of the key residues in the 5-HT(2A) receptor-binding site.
  9. Muhamad A, Ho KL, Rahman MB, Uhrín D, Tan WS
    Chem Biol Drug Des, 2013 Jun;81(6):784-94.
    PMID: 23405984 DOI: 10.1111/cbdd.12120
    A specific ligand targeting the immunodominant region of hepatitis B virus is desired in neutralizing the infectivity of the virus. In a previous study, a disulfide constrained cyclic peptide cyclo S(1) ,S(9) Cys-Glu-Thr-Gly-Ala-Lys-Pro-His-Cys (S(1) , S(9) -cyclo-CETGAKPHC) was isolated from a phage displayed cyclic peptide library using an affinity selection method against hepatitis B surface antigen. The cyclic peptide binds tightly to hepatitis B surface antigen with a relative dissociation constant (KD (rel) ) of 2.9 nm. The binding site of the peptide was located at the immunodominant region on hepatitis B surface antigen. Consequently, this study was aimed to elucidate the structure of the cyclic peptide and its interaction with hepatitis B surface antigen in silico. The solution structure of this cyclic peptide was solved using (1) H, (13) C, and (15) N NMR spectroscopy and molecular dynamics simulations with NMR-derived distance and torsion angle restraints. The cyclic peptide adopted two distinct conformations due to the isomerization of the Pro residue with one structured region in the ETGA sequence. Docking studies of the peptide ensemble with a model structure of hepatitis B surface antigen revealed that the cyclic peptide can potentially be developed as a therapeutic drug that inhibits the virus-host interactions.
  10. Mphahlele MJ, Magwaza NM, Malindisa ST, Choong YS
    Chem Biol Drug Des, 2021 08;98(2):234-247.
    PMID: 34013660 DOI: 10.1111/cbdd.13893
    The 2-aryl-2,3-dihydrobenzodiazaborinin-4(1H)-ones (azaborininone) were synthesized as analogues of the 2-arylquinazoline-4-ones and screened through enzymatic assay in vitro for inhibitory effect against α-glucosidase and α-amylase activities. These azaborininones exhibited moderate to good inhibitory effect against these enzymes compared to acarbose used as a reference standard. The results are supported by the enzyme-ligand interactions through kinetics (in vitro) and molecular docking (in silico) studies. The test compounds also exhibited significant antioxidant activity through the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and nitric oxide (NO) free radical scavenging assays. These azaborininone derivatives exhibited no effect on the viability of the human lung cancer (A549) cell line after 24 hr and were also not toxic towards the Vero cells.
  11. Loo JSE, Yong AYY, Yong YN
    Chem Biol Drug Des, 2020 11;96(5):1244-1254.
    PMID: 32462752 DOI: 10.1111/cbdd.13733
    Both the inactive- and active-state CB1 receptor crystal structures have now been solved, allowing their application in various structure-based drug design methods. One potential method utilizing these crystal structures is the Molecular Mechanics/Poisson-Boltzmann Surface Area (MM/PBSA) method of predicting relative binding free.
  12. Lim SK, Othman R, Yusof R, Heh CH
    Chem Biol Drug Des, 2021 01;97(1):28-40.
    PMID: 32657543 DOI: 10.1111/cbdd.13756
    Structure-based virtual screening (SBVS) has served as a popular strategy for rational drug discovery. In this study, we aimed to discover novel benzopyran-based inhibitors that targeted the NS3 enzymes (NS3/4A protease and NS3 helicase) of HCV G3 using a combination of in silico and in vitro approaches. With the aid of SBVS, six novel compounds were discovered to inhibit HCV G3 NS3/4A protease and two phytochemicals (ellagic acid and myricetin) were identified as dual-target inhibitors that inhibited both NS3/4A protease and NS3 helicase in vitro (IC50  = 40.37 ± 5.47 nm and 6.58 ± 0.99 µm, respectively). Inhibitory activities against the replication of HCV G3 replicons were further assessed in a cell-based system with four compounds showed dose-dependent inhibition. Compound P8 was determined to be the most potent compound from the cell-based assay with an EC50 of 19.05 µm. The dual-target inhibitor, ellagic acid, was determined as the second most potent (EC50  = 32.37 µm) and the most selective in its inhibitory activity against the replication of HCV replicons, without severely affecting the viability of the host cells (selectivity index > 6.18).
  13. Leng J, Qin HL, Zhu K, Jantan I, Hussain MA, Sher M, et al.
    Chem Biol Drug Des, 2016 Jul 19.
    PMID: 27434226 DOI: 10.1111/cbdd.12822
    Neurodegeneration, a complex disease state, comprises several pathways that contribute to cell death. Conventional approach of targeting only one of these pathways has not been proven to be entirely successful and has demanded a hypothetical change as to how researchers design and develop new drugs. In this study, effects of a series of α, β-unsaturated carbonyl-based tetralone derivatives against Alzheimer's disease (AD) were investigated. Moreover, their activity toward amyloid β-induced cytotoxicity was also studied. Six compounds including 3f, 3o, 3u, 3ae, 3af, and 3ag were discovered to be most protective against Aβ-induced neuronal cell death in PC12 cells. The findings of in vitro experiment revealed that most of these compounds exhibited potent inhibitory activity against MAO-B, AChE, and self-induced Aβ1-42 aggregation. The compound 3f exhibited best AChE (IC50  = 0.045 ± 0.02 μm) inhibitory potential in addition to potent inhibition of MAO-B (IC50  = 0.88 ± 0.12 μm). Furthermore, compound 3f disassembled the Aβ fibrils produced by self-induced Aβ aggregation by 78.2 ± 4.8%. Collectively, these findings suggest that some compounds from this series have potential to be promising multifunctional agents for AD treatment.
  14. Kar SS, Bhat VG, Shenoy VP, Bairy I, Shenoy GG
    Chem Biol Drug Des, 2019 01;93(1):60-66.
    PMID: 30118192 DOI: 10.1111/cbdd.13379
    In our efforts to develop druggable diphenyl ethers as potential antitubercular agents, a series of novel diphenyl ether derivatives (5a-f, 6a-f) were designed and synthesized. The representative compounds showed promising in vitro activity against drug-susceptible, isoniazid-resistant, and multidrug-resistant strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis with MIC values of 1.56 μg/ml (6b), 6.25 μg/ml (6a-d), and 3.125 μg/ml (6b-c), respectively. All the synthesized compounds exhibited satisfactory safety profile (CC50  > 300 μg/ml) against Vero and HepG2 cells. Reverse phase HPLC method was used to probe the physicochemical properties of the synthesized compounds. This series of compounds demonstrated comparatively low logP values. pKa values of representative compounds indicated that they were weak acids. Additionally, in vitro human liver microsomal stability assay confirmed that the synthesized compounds possessed acceptable stability under study conditions. The present study thus establishes compound 6b as the most promising antitubercular agent with acceptable drug-likeness.
  15. Imran S, Taha M, Ismail NH, Kashif SM, Rahim F, Jamil W, et al.
    Chem Biol Drug Des, 2016 Mar;87(3):361-73.
    PMID: 26362113 DOI: 10.1111/cbdd.12666
    We report herein the synthesis, α-glucosidase inhibition and docking studies for a series of 3-15 new flavones. A simple nucleophilic substitution reaction takes place between 3'hydroxyflavone (2) with halides to afford the new flavones. Chalcone (1), 3'hydroxyflavone (2) and the newly synthesized flavones (3-15) were being evaluated for their ability to inhibit activity of α-glucosidase. Compounds 2, 3, 5, 7-10 and 13 showed good inhibitory activity with IC50 values ranging between 1.26 and 36.44 μm as compared to acarbose (IC50 = 38.25 ± 0.12 μm). Compounds 5 (5.45 ± 0.08 μm), 7 (1.26 ± 0.01 μm) and 8 (8.66 ± 0.08 μm) showed excellent inhibitory activity, and this may be due to trifluoromethyl substitution that is common for these compounds. Compound 7, a 2,5-trifluoromethyl-substituted compound, recorded the highest inhibition activity, and it is thirty times better than the standard drug. Docking studies for compound 7 suggest that both trifluoromethyl substituents are well positioned in a binding pocket surrounded by Phe300, Phe177, Phe157, Ala278, Asp68, Tyr71 and Asp214. The ability of compound 7 to interact with Tyr71 and Phe177 is extremely significant as they are found to be important for substrates recognition by α-glucosidase.
  16. Huq AM, Wai LK, Rullah K, Mohd Aluwi MFF, Stanslas J, Jamal JA
    Chem Biol Drug Des, 2019 03;93(3):222-231.
    PMID: 30251480 DOI: 10.1111/cbdd.13404
    Hormone replacement therapy has been a conventional treatment for postmenopausal symptoms in women. However, it has potential risks of breast and endometrial cancers. The aim of this study was to evaluate the oestrogenicity of a plant-based compound, mimosine, in MCF-7 cells by in silico model. Cell viability and proliferation, ERα-SRC1 coactivator activity and expression of specific ERα-dependent marker TFF1 and PGR genes were evaluated. Binding modes of 17β-oestradiol and mimosine at the ERα ligand binding domain were compared using docking and molecular dynamics simulation experiments followed by binding interaction free energy calculation with molecular mechanics/Poisson-Boltzmann surface area. Mimosine showed increased cellular viability (64,450 cells/ml) at 0.1 μM with significant cell proliferation (120.5%) compared to 17β-oestradiol (135.2%). ER antagonist tamoxifen significantly reduced proliferative activity mediated by mimosine (49.9%). Mimosine at 1 μM showed the highest ERα binding activity through increased SRC1 recruitment at 186.9%. It expressed TFF1 (11.1-fold at 0.1 μM) and PGR (13.9-fold at 0.01 μM) genes. ERα-mimosine binding energy was -49.9 kJ/mol, and it interacted with Thr347, Gly521 and His524 of ERα-LBD. The results suggested that mimosine has oestrogenic activity.
  17. Heng HL, Chee CF, Thy CK, Tee JT, Chin SP, Herr DR, et al.
    Chem Biol Drug Des, 2019 02;93(2):132-138.
    PMID: 30216681 DOI: 10.1111/cbdd.13390
    Compounds with activity at serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine) 5-HT2 and α1 adrenergic receptors have potential for the treatment of central nervous system disorders, drug addiction or overdose. Isolaureline, dicentrine and glaucine enantiomers were synthesized, and their in vitro functional activities at human 5-HT2 and adrenergic α1 receptor subtypes were evaluated. The enantiomers of isolaureline and dicentrine acted as antagonists at 5-HT2 and α1 receptors with (R)-isolaureline showing the greatest potency (pKb  = 8.14 at the 5-HT2C receptor). Both (R)- and (S)-glaucine also antagonized α1 receptors, but they behaved very differently to the other compounds at 5-HT2 receptors: (S)-glaucine acted as a partial agonist at all three 5-HT2 receptor subtypes, whereas (R)-glaucine appeared to act as a positive allosteric modulator at the 5-HT2A receptor.
  18. Heh CH, Othman R, Buckle MJ, Sharifuddin Y, Yusof R, Rahman NA
    Chem Biol Drug Des, 2013 Jul;82(1):1-11.
    PMID: 23421589 DOI: 10.1111/cbdd.12122
    Various works have been carried out in developing therapeutics against dengue. However, to date, no effective vaccine or anti-dengue agent has yet been discovered. The development of protease inhibitors is considered as a promising option, but most previous works have involved competitive inhibition. In this study, we focused on rational discovery of potential anti-dengue agents based on non-competitive inhibition of DEN-2 NS2B/NS3 protease. A homology model of the DEN-2 NS2B/NS3 protease (using West Nile Virus NS2B/NS3 protease complex, 2FP7, as the template) was used as the target, and pinostrobin, a flavanone, was used as the standard ligand. Virtual screening was performed involving a total of 13 341 small compounds, with the backbone structures of chalcone, flavanone, and flavone, available in the ZINC database. Ranking of the resulting compounds yielded compounds with higher binding affinities compared with the standard ligand. Inhibition assay of the selected top-ranking compounds against DEN-2 NS2B/NS3 proteolytic activity resulted in significantly better inhibition compared with the standard and correlated well with in silico results. In conclusion, via this rational discovery technique, better inhibitors were identified. This method can be used in further work to discover lead compounds for anti-dengue agents.
  19. Gan CS, Lim SK, Chee CF, Yusof R, Heh CH
    Chem Biol Drug Des, 2018 02;91(2):448-455.
    PMID: 28834304 DOI: 10.1111/cbdd.13091
    Dengvaxia® (CTD-TDV), the only licensed tetravalent dengue vaccine by Sanofi Pasteur, was made available since 2015. However, administration of CTD-TDV, in general, has not received the prequalification recommendation from the World Health Organization. Having a universal antidengue agent for treatment will therefore beneficial. Accordingly, the development of nucleoside inhibitors specific to dengue viral polymerase that perturb dengue infection has been studied by many. Alternatively, we have used a marketed anti-HCV prodrug sofosbuvir to study its in silico and in vitro effects against dengue. As a result, the active metabolite of sofosbuvir (GS-461203) was predicted to bind to the catalytic motif (Gly-Asp-Asp) of dengue viral polymerase with binding affinity of -6.9 kcal/mol. Furthermore, sofosbuvir demonstrated excellent in vitro viral inhibition with an EC90 of 0.4 μm. In addition, this study demonstrated the requirement of specific liver enzymes to activate the prodrug into GS-461203 to exert its antidengue potential. All in all, sofosbuvir should be subjected to in-depth studies to provide information of its efficacy toward dengue and its lead potential as DENV polymerase inhibitor in human subjects. In conclusion, we have expended the potential of the clinically available drug sofosbuvir as treatment for dengue.
  20. Bukhari SN, Zhang X, Jantan I, Zhu HL, Amjad MW, Masand VH
    Chem Biol Drug Des, 2015 Jun;85(6):729-42.
    PMID: 25328063 DOI: 10.1111/cbdd.12457
    A novel series of 1,3-diphenyl-2-propen-1-one (chalcone) derivatives was synthesized by a simple, eco-friendly, and efficient Claisen-Schmidt condensation reaction and used as precursors for the synthesis of new pyrazoline derivatives. All the synthesized compounds were screened for anti-inflammatory related activities such as inhibition of phospholipase A(2) (PLA(2)), cyclooxygenases (COX-1 and COX-2), IL-6, and TNF-α. The results of the above studies show that the compounds synthesized are effective inhibitors of above pro-inflammatory enzymes and cytokines. Overall, the results of the studies reveal that the pyrazolines with chlorophenyl substitution (1b-6b) seem to be important for inhibition of enzymes and cytokines. Molecular docking experiments were performed to clarify the molecular aspects of the observed COX-inhibitory activities of the investigated compounds.
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