This article describes discovery of 29 novel bisindolylmethanes consisting of thiourea moiety, which had been synthesized through three steps. These novel bisindolylmethane derivatives evaluated for their potential inhibitory activity against carbonic anhydrase (CA) II. The results for in vitro assay of carbonic anhydrase II inhibition activity showed that some of the compounds are capable of suppressing the activity of carbonic anhydrase II. Bisindoles having halogen at fifth position showed better inhibitory activity as compared to unsubstituted bisindoles. Derivatives showing inhibition activity docked to further, understand the binding behavior of these compounds with carbonic anhydrase II. Docking studies for the active compound 3j showed that nitro substituent at para position fits into the core of the active site. The nitro substituent of compound 3j is capable of interacting with Zn ion. This interaction believed to be the main factor causing inhibition activity to take place.
In this study, 45 bisindolylmethanes having sulfonamide moiety had been synthesized through 3 steps. In vitro assay for inhibition of carbonic anhydrase showed that some of the compounds having sulfonamide moiety are capable of inhibiting carbonic anhydrase II. Bisindoles having halogens at fifth position showed better inhibitory activity as compared to unsubstituted bisindoles. The results obtained from in vitro inhibitory activity were subjected through 3D QSAR and docking studies to identify important features contributing to the activity and further improve the structure. Pharmacophore studies suggest that bisindolylmethane moiety is contributing significantly towards the inhibition activity. Docking studies showed that compounds having nitro substituent (5g and 5i) were found to be able interact with Zn(2+) ion, Thr199, His94, His96, and His119, which interferes with the ZnOHThr199Glu106 hydrogen bond network. Bulky nitro substituent at ortho position for compound 5g prevents the compound from interacting with other residues like Thr199 and Thr200. Methyl substituent at ortho position for Compound 5i induces less steric hindrance effect, thus allowing second oxygen atom of sulfonamide to interact with Thr199 (2.51Å). Hydrogen bonding between NH on indole ring with Glu69 might have increased stability of ligand-receptor complex.
Condensation of substituted anthranilic acids with 4-isothiocyanatoethyl-benzenesulfonamide led to series of heterocyclic benzenesulfonamides incorporating 2-mercapto-quinazolin-4-one tails. These sulfonamides were investigated as inhibitors of the human carbonic anhydrase (hCA, EC 4.2.1.1) isoforms hCA I and II (cytosolic isozymes), as well as hCA XII (a transmembrane, tumor-associated enzyme also involved in glaucoma-genesis). The new sulfonamides acted as medium potency inhibitors of hCA I (KIs of 28.5-2954nM), being highly effective as hCA II (KIs in the range of 0.62-12.4nM) and XII (KIs of 0.54-7.11nM) inhibitors. All substitution patterns present in these compounds (e.g., halogens, methyl and methoxy moieties, in positions 6, 7 and/or 8 of the 2-mercapto-quinazolin-4-one ring) led to highly effective hCA II/XII inhibitors. These compounds should thus be of interest as preclinical candidates in pathologies in which the activity of these enzymes should be inhibited, such as glaucoma (CA II and XII as targets) or some tumors in which the activity of isoforms CA II and XII is dysregulated.
In recent decade, the entrance of α-N-heterocyclic thiosemicarbazones derivates (Triapne, COTI-2 and DpC) in clinical trials for cancer and HIV-1 has vastly increased the interests of medicinal chemists towards this class of organic compounds. In the given study, a series of eighteen new (3a-r) 3-ethoxy salicylaldehyde-based thiosemicarbazones (TSC), bearing aryl and cycloalkyl substituents, were synthesized and assayed for their pharmacological potential against carbonic anhydrases (hCA I and hCA II), cholinesterases (AChE and BChE) and α-glycosidase. The hCA I isoform was inhibited by these novel 3-ethoxysalicylaldehyde thiosemicarbazone derivatives (3a-r) in low nanomolar levels, the Ki of which differed between 144.18 ± 26.74 and 454.92 ± 48.32 nM. Against the physiologically dominant isoform hCA II, the novel compounds demonstrated Kis varying from 110.54 ± 14.05 to 444.12 ± 36.08 nM. Also, these novel derivatives (3a-r) effectively inhibited AChE, with Ki values in the range of 385.38 ± 45.03 to 983.04 ± 104.64 nM. For BChE was obtained with Ki values in the range of 400.21 ± 35.68 to 1003.02 ± 154.27 nM. For α-glycosidase the most effective Ki values of 3l, 3n, and 3q were with Ki values of 12.85 ± 1.05, 16.03 ± 2.84, and 19.16 ± 2.66 nM, respectively. Moreover, the synthesized TCSs were simulated using force field methods whereas the binding energies of the selected compounds were estimated using MM-GBSA method. The findings indicate the present novel 3-ethoxy salicylaldehyde-based thiosemicarbazones to be excellent hits for pharmaceutical applications.