In an effort to design and synthesize a new class of α-glucosidase inhibitor, we synthesized benzothiazole hybrid having benzohydrazide moiety (5). Compound 5 was reacted with various substituted aryl aldehyde to generate a small library of compounds 6-35. Synthesis of compounds was confirmed by the spectral information. These compounds were screened for their α-glucosidase activity. They showed a varying degree of α-glucosidase inhibition with IC50 values ranging between 5.31 and 53.34 μM. Compounds 6, 7, 9-16, 19, 21-30, 32-35 showed superior activity as compared to standard acarbose (IC50 = 906 ± 6.3 μM). This has identified a new class of α-glucosidase inhibitors. The predicted physico-chemical properties indicated the drug appropriateness for most of these compounds, as they obey Lipinski's rule of five (RO5). A hybrid B3LYP density functional theory (DFT) was employed for energy, minimization of 3D structures for all synthetic compounds using 6-311 + G(d,p) basis sets followed by molecular docking to explore their interactions with human intestinal C- and N-terminal domains of α-glucosidase. All compounds bind to the prospective allosteric site of the C- terminal domain, and consequently, may be considered as mixed inhibitors. It was hypothesized that both the dipole moment and H-bond interactions govern the biological activation of these compounds.
4-Methylbenzimidazole 1-28 novel derivatives were synthesized and evaluated for their antiglycation and antioxidant activities. Compounds 1-7 and 11 showed excellent activities ranged 140-280 μM, better than standard drug rutin (294.46 ± 1.50 μM). Compound 1-28 were also evaluated for DPPH activities. Compounds 1-8 showed excellent activities, ranging 12-29 μM, better than standard drug n-propylgallate (IC50 = 30.30 ± 0.40 μM). For superoxide anion scavenging activity, compounds 1-7 showed better activity than standard n-propylgallate (IC50 = 106.34 ± 1.6 μM), ranged 82-104 μM. These compounds were found to be nontoxic to THP-1 cells.
In our effort directed toward the discovery of new anti-diabetic agent for the treatment of diabetes, a library of biscoumarin derivative 1-18 was synthesized and evaluated for α-glucosidase inhibitory potential. All eighteen (18) compounds displayed assorted α-glucosidase activity with IC50 values 16.5-385.9 μM, if compared with the standard acarbose (IC50 = 906 ± 6.387 μM). In addition, molecular docking studies were carried out to explore the binding interactions of biscoumarin derivatives with the enzyme. This study has identified a new class of potent α-glucosidase inhibitors.
Thiourea derivatives (1-38) were synthesized and evaluated for their urease inhibition potential. The synthetic compounds showed a varying degree of in vitro urease inhibition with IC50 values 5.53 ± 0.02-91.50 ± 0.08 μM, most of which are superior to the standard thiourea (IC₅₀ = 21.00 ± 0.11 μM). In order to ensure the mode of inhibition of these compounds, the kinetic study of the most active compounds has been carried out. Most of these inhibitors were found to be mixed-type of inhibitors, except compounds 13 and 30 which were competitive, while compound 19 was identified as non-competitive inhibitor with Ki values between 8.6 and 19.29 μM.
Thirty derivatives of flavone hydrazone (5-34) had been synthesized through a five-step reaction and screened for their α-glucosidase inhibition activity. Chalcone 1 was synthesized through aldol condensation then subjected through oxidative cyclization, esterification, and condensation reaction to afford the final products. The result for baker's yeast α-glucosidase (EC 3.2.1.20) inhibition assay showed that all compounds are active with reference to the IC50 value of the acarbose (standard drug) except for compound 3. Increase in activity observed for compounds 2 to 34 clearly highlights the importance of flavone, hydrazide and hydrazone linkage in suppressing the activity of α-glucosidase. Additional functional group on N-benzylidene moiety further enhances the activity significantly. Compound 5 (15.4 ± 0.22 μM), a 2,4,6-trihydroxy substituted compound, is the most active compound in the series. Other compounds which were found to be active are those having chlorine, fluorine, and nitro substituents. Compounds with methoxy, pyridine, and methyl substituents are weakly active. Further studies showed that they are not active in inhibiting histone deacetylase activity and do not possess any cytotoxic properties. QSAR model was being developed to further identify the structural requirements contributing to the activity. Using Discovery Studio (DS) 2.5, various 2D descriptors were being used to develop the model. The QSAR model is able to predict the pIC50 and could be used as a prediction tool for compounds having the same skeletal framework. Molecular docking was done for all compounds using homology model of α-glucosidase to identify important binding modes responsible for inhibition activity.
Benzotriazoles (4-6) were synthesized which were further reacted with different substituted benzoic acids and phenacyl bromides to synthesize benzotriazole derivatives (7-40). The synthetic compounds (7-40) were characterized via different spectroscopic techniques including EI-MS, HREI-MS, 1H-, and 13C NMR. These molecules were examined for their anti-hyperglycemic potential hence were evaluated for α-glucosidase and α-amylase inhibitory activities. All benzotriazoles displayed moderate to good inhibitory activity in the range of IC50 values of 2.00-5.6 and 2.04-5.72 μM against α-glucosidase and α-amylase enzymes, respectively. The synthetic compounds were divided into two categories "A" and "B", in order to understand the structure-activity relationship. Compounds 25 (IC50 = 2.41 ± 1.31 μM), (IC50 = 2.5 ± 1.21 μM), 36 (IC50 = 2.12 ± 1.35 μM), (IC50 = 2.21 ± 1.08 μM), and 37 (IC50 = 2.00 ± 1.22 μM), (IC50 = 2.04 ± 1.4 μM) with chloro substitution/s at aryl ring were found to be most active against α-glucosidase and α-amylase enzymes. Molecular docking studies on all compounds were performed which revealed that chloro substitutions are playing a pivotal role in the binding interactions. The enzyme inhibition mode was also studied and the kinetic studies revealed that the synthetic molecules have shown competitive mode of inhibition against α-amylase and non-competitive mode of inhibition against α-glucosidase enzyme.
3-Thiazolylcoumarin derivatives 1-14 were synthesized via one-pot two step reactions, and screened for in vitro α-glucosidase inhibitory activity. All compounds showed inhibitory activity in the range of IC50 = 0.12 ± 0.01-16.20 ± 0.23 μM as compared to standard acarbose (IC50 = 38.25 ± 0.12 μM), and also found to be nontoxic. Molecular docking study was carried out in order to establish the structure-activity relationship (SAR) which demonstrated that electron rich centers at one and electron withdrawing centers at the other end of the molecules showed strong inhibitory activity. All the synthesized compounds were characterized by spectroscopic techniques such as EI-MS, HREI-MS, (1)H NMR and (13)C NMR. CHN analysis was also performed.
Current study is based on the biology-oriented drug synthesis (BIODS) of 2-(2-methyl-5-nitro-1H-imidazol-1-yl)ethyl aryl carboxylate derivatives 1-26, by treating metronidazole with different aryl and hetero-aryl carboxylic acids in the presence of 1,1'-carbonyl diimidazole (CDI) as a coupling agent. Structures of all synthetic derivatives were confirmed with the help of various spectroscopic techniques such as EI-MS, (1)H -NMR and (13)C NMR. CHN elemental analyses were also found in agreement with the calculated values. Synthetic derivatives were evaluated to check their β-glucuronidase inhibitory activity which revealed that except few derivatives, all demonstrated good inhibition in the range of IC50 = 1.20 ± 0.01-60.30 ± 1.40 μM as compared to the standard d-saccharic acid 1,4-lactone (IC50 = 48.38 ± 1.05 μM). Compounds 1, 3, 4, 6, 9-19, and 21-24 were found to be potent analogs and showed superior activity than standard. Limited structure-activity relationship is suggested that the molecules having electron withdrawing groups like NO2, F, Cl, and Br, were displayed better activity than the compounds with electron donating groups such as Me, OMe and BuO. To verify these interpretations, in silico study was also performed, a good correlation was observed between bioactivities and docking studies.
In this study synthesis and β-glucuronidase inhibitory potential of 3/5/8 sulfonamide and 8-sulfonate derivatives of quinoline (1-40) are discussed. Studies reveal that all the synthetic compounds were found to have good inhibitory activity against β-glucuronidase. Nonetheless, compounds 1, 2, 5, 13, and 22-24 having IC50 values in the range of 1.60-8.40 μM showed superior activity than the standard saccharic acid 1,4-lactone (IC50 = 48.4 ± 1.25 μM). Moreover, molecular docking studies of selected compounds were also performed to see interactions between active compounds and binding sites. Structures of all the synthetic compounds were confirmed through (1)H NMR, EI-MS and HREI-MS spectroscopic techniques.
Piperazine Sulfonamide analogs (1-19) have been synthesized, characterized by different spectroscopic techniques and evaluated for α-amylase Inhibition. Analogs 1-19 exhibited a varying degree of α-amylase inhibitory activity with IC50 values ranging in between 1.571 ± 0.05 to 3.98 ± 0.397 μM when compared with the standard acarbose (IC50 = 1.353 ± 0.232 μM). Compound 1, 2, 3 and 7 showed significant inhibitory effects with IC50 value 2.348 ± 0.444, 2.064 ± 0.04, 1.571 ± 0.05 and 2.118 ± 0.204 μM, respectively better than the rest of the series. Structure activity relationships were established. Molecular docking studies were performed to understand the binding interaction of the compounds.
Thirty-two (32) bis-indolylmethane-hydrazone hybrids 1-32 were synthesized and characterized by 1HNMR, 13CNNMR and HREI-MS. All compounds were evaluated in vitro for β-glucuronidase inhibitory potential. All analogs showed varying degree of β-glucuronidase inhibitory potential ranging from 0.10 ± 0.01 to 48.50 ± 1.10 μM when compared with the standard drug d-saccharic acid-1,4-lactone (IC50 value 48.30 ± 1.20 μM). Derivatives 1-32 showed the highest β-glucuronidase inhibitory potentials which is many folds better than the standard drug d-saccharic acid-1,4-lactone. Further molecular docking study validated the experimental results. It was proposed that bis-indolylmethane may interact with some amino acid residues located within the active site of β-glucuronidase enzyme. This study has culminated in the identification of a new class of potent β-glucuronidase inhibitors.
Acarbose, miglitol, and voglibose are the inhibitors of α-glucosidase enzyme and being clinically used for the management of type-II diabetes mellitus. However, many adverse effects are also associated with them. So, the development of new therapeutic agents is an utmost interest in medicinal chemistry research. Current study is based on the identification of new α-glucosidase inhibitors. For that purpose, hydrazinyl arylthiazole based pyridine derivatives 1-39 were synthesized via two step reaction and fully characterized by spectroscopic techniques EI-MS, HREI-MS, (1)H-, and (13)C NMR. However, stereochemistry of the iminic bond was confirmed by NOESY. All compounds were subjected to in vitro α-glucosidase inhibitory activity and found many folds active (IC50 = 1.40 ± 0.01-236.10 ± 2.20 μM) as compared to the standard acarbose having IC50 value of 856.45 ± 5.60 μM. A limited structure-activity relationship was carried out in order to make a presumption about the substituent's effect on inhibitory activity which predicted that substituents of more negative inductive effect played important role in the activity as compared to the substituents of less negative inductive effect. However, in order to have a good understanding of ligand enzyme interactions, molecular docking study was also conducted. In silico study was confirmed that substituents like halogens (Cl) and nitro (NO2) which have negative inductive effect were found to make important interactions with active site residues.
Molecular hybridization yielded phenyl linked oxadiazole-benzohydrazones hybrids 6-35 and were evaluated for their antileishmanial potentials. Compound 10, a 3,4-dihydroxy analog with IC50 value of 0.95 ± 0.01 μM, was found to be the most potent antileishmanial agent (7 times more active) than the standard drug pentamidine (IC50 = 7.02 ± 0.09 μM). The current series 6-35 conceded in the identification of thirteen (13) potent antileishmanial compounds with the IC50 values ranging between 0.95 ± 0.01-78.6 ± 1.78 μM. Molecular docking analysis against pteridine reductase (PTR1) were also performed to probe the mode of action. Selectivity index showed that compounds with higher number of hydroxyl groups have low selectivity index. Theoretical stereochemical assignment was also done for certain derivatives by using density functional calculations.
Despite of many diverse biological activities exhibited by benzimidazole scaffold, it is rarely explored for the α-amylase inhibitory activity. For that purpose, 2-aryl benzimidazole derivatives 1-45 were synthesized and screened for in vitro α-amylase inhibitory activity. Structures of all synthetic compounds were deduced by various spectroscopic techniques. All compounds revealed inhibition potential with IC50 values of 1.48 ± 0.38-2.99 ± 0.14 μM, when compared to the standard acarbose (IC50 = 1.46 ± 0.26 μM). Limited SAR suggested that the variation in the inhibitory activities of the compounds are the result of different substitutions on aryl ring. In order to rationalize the binding interactions of most active compounds with the active site of α-amylase enzyme, in silico study was conducted.
Changing the growth environment for microalgae can overall lead to the fundamental alteration in cellular biochemicals whilst attaching onto palm kernel expeller (PKE) waste to form adhesion complex in easing harvesting at stationary growth phase. This study had initially optimized the PKE dosage, light intensity and photoperiod in maximizing the attached microalgal productivity being attained at 0.72 g/g day. Lipid content increased progressively from pH 3 to pH 11, with the highest value observed at pH 11. Meanwhile, in terms of protein and carbohydrate contents, the highest values were obtained by cultivation medium of pH 5 with 9.92 g and 17.72 g, respectively followed by pH 7 with 9.16 g and 16.36 g, respectively. Moreover, the findings also suggested that the low pH mediums utilized polar interactions in the formation of complexes between PKE and microalgae, whereas at higher pH levels, the non-polar interactions became more significant. The work of attachment was thermodynamically favourable towards the attachment formation with values greater than zero which was also aligned with the microscopic surface topography, i.e., revealing a clustering pattern of microalgae colonizing the PKE surface. These findings contribute to comprehensive understanding of optimizing growth condition and harvesting strategy of attached microalgae in attaining the cellular biochemical components, facilitating the development of efficient and sustainable bioresource utilization.
Bisindolylmethane and its derivatives are pharmacologically active and applicable in the field of pharmaceutical chemistry. Bisindolylmethanes have a variety of biological activities such as antihyperglycemic, antiinflammatory, antibacterial, anticancer, and antileishmanial activities, including enzyme inhibition activity. They play a crucial role in many diseases especially anticancer activity. Modifying their structure had proven to be useful in the search of new therapeutic agents. Extensive research carried out on bisindolylmethane and its derivatives shows that they are pharmacologically significant. The present review focuses on the pharmacological profile of bisindolylmethane derivatives. This review includes the current literature with an update of research findings as well as the perspectives that they hold for future research.
Life cycle assessments of microalgal cultivation systems are often conducted to evaluate the sustainability and feasibility factors of the entire production chain. Unlike widely reported conventional microalgal cultivation systems, the present work adopted a microalgal-bacterial cultivation approach which was upscaled into a pilot-scale continuous photobioreactor for microalgal biomass production into biodiesel from wastewater resources. A multiple cradle-to-cradle system ranging from microalgal biomass-to-lipid-to-biodiesel was evaluated to provide insights into the energy demand of each processes making up the microalgae-to-biodiesel value chain system. Energy feasibility studies revealed positive NER values (4.95-8.38) for producing microalgal biomass but deficit values for microalgal-to-biodiesel (0.14-0.23), stemming from the high energy input requirements in the downstream processes for converting biomass into lipid and biodiesel accounting to 88-90% of the cumulative energy demand. Although the energy balance for microalgae-to-biodiesel is in the deficits, it is comparable with other reported biodiesel production case studies (0.12-0.40). Nevertheless, the approach to using microalgal-bacterial cultivation system has improved the overall energy efficiency especially in the upstream processes compared to conventional microalgal cultivation systems. Energy life cycle assessments with other microalgal based biofuel systems also proposed effective measures in increasing the energy feasibility either by utilizing the residual biomass and less energy demanding downstream extraction processes from microalgal biomass. The microalgal-bacterial cultivation system is anticipated to offer both environmental and economic prospects for upscaling by effectively exploiting the low-cost nutrients from wastewaters via bioconversion into valuable microalgal biomass and biodiesel.
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.
Nigella sativa is also known for its properties as a traditional herbal healing for many ailments. In this study, the anticancer properties of thyomquinone (TQ), the active ingredient of N. sativa, were studied using ovarian cancer cell line (Caov-3 cells). The anti-proliferative activity of TQ was determined using MTT and the apoptosis was investigated using Flowcytometry and Annexin-V Assays. Multiparameteric cytotoxicity bioassays were used to quantify the changes in cell permeability and mitochondrial membrane potential. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) and apoptosis-involved cell markers were examined to verify cell death mechanism. The MTT-assay showed that TQ induces anti-proliferative activity on Caov-3 with an IC50 of 6.0±0.03 μg/mL, without any cytotoxic activity towards WRL-68 normal hepatocytes. A significant induction of early phase of apoptosis was shown by annexin-V analysis. Treatment of Caov-3 cells with TQ induces decreases in plasma membrane permeability and mitochondrial membrane potential. Visible decrease in the nuclear area was also observed. A significant decrease is observed in Bcl-2 while Bax is down-regulated. TQ-triggered ROS-mediated has found to be associated with Hsp70 dysregulation, an indicator of oxidative injury. We found that TQ induced anti-cancer effect involves intrinsic pathway of apoptosis and cellular oxidative stress. Our results considered collectively indicated that thyomquinone may be a potential agent for ovarian cancer drug development.
The current in vitro study was designed to investigate the anti-inflammatory, cytotoxic and antioxidant activities of boesenbergin A (BA), a chalcone derivative of known structure isolated from Boesenbergia rotunda. Human hepatocellular carcinoma (HepG2), colon adenocarcinoma (HT-29), non-small cell lung cancer (A549), prostate adenocarcinoma (PC3), and normal hepatic cells (WRL-68) were used to evaluate the cytotoxicity of BA using the MTT assay. The antioxidant activity of BA was assessed by the ORAC assay and compared to quercetin as a standard reference antioxidant. ORAC results are reported as the equivalent concentration of Trolox that produces the same level of antioxidant activity as the sample tested at 20 µg/mL. The toxic effect of BA on different cell types, reported as IC50, yielded 20.22 ± 3.15, 10.69 ± 2.64, 20.31 ± 1.34, 94.10 ± 1.19, and 9.324 ± 0.24 µg/mL for A549, PC3, HepG2, HT-29, and WRL-68, respectively. BA displayed considerable antioxidant activity, when the results of ORAC assay were reported as Trolox equivalents. BA (20 µg/mL) and quercetin (5 µg/mL) were equivalent to a Trolox concentration of 11.91 ± 0.23 and 160.32 ± 2.75 µM, respectively. Moreover, the anti-inflammatory activity of BA was significant at 12.5 to 50 µM and without any significant cytotoxicity for the murine macrophage cell line RAW 264.7 at 50 µM. The significant biological activities observed in this study indicated that BA may be one of the agents responsible for the reported biological activities of B. rotunda crude extract.