Biotransformations and plasma-level curves of chiral 1,4-benzodiazepine-2-ones

Biotransformations of chiral 1,4-benzodiazepine-2-ones, (S)- and (R)-1 (7-chloro-1,3-dihydro-3 (S and R)-methyl-5-phenyl-2H-1,4-benzodiazepin-2-one) in untreated and phenobarbital-pretreated rats were investigated. In urine, a 4'-oxygenated metabolite (compound 2) was identified as the biotransformation product from both enantiomers, (S)-2 being present in much higher amounts than (R)-2. Unchanged parent compounds were not found in urine. In plasma, 3'- and 4'-oxygenated metabolites were identified after administration of (S)-1 and (R)-1, respectively. The metabolite possessing an R-configuration was present in much lower amounts. The maximum concentrations of (R)-1 in plasma, following a single dose, was about 6 time as high as the maximum plasma concentration of (S)-1. Faster biotransformation and elimination of (S)-1 is assumed to be the explanation of these findings.     

Synthesis of substituted 3-anilino-5-phenyl-1,3-dihydro-2H-1,4-benzodiazepine-2-ones and their evaluation as cholecystokinin-ligands

3-Amino-1,4-benzodiazepines as well as chemically related diverse amines were prepared from oxazepam and subsequently screened on the cholecystokinin receptor in a radiolabel binding assay. Oxazepam 2 was activated via its 3-chloro-1,4-benzodiazepine intermediate 3 and was reacted with a large series of aliphatic and aromatic amines. The substituted 3-anilino-1,4-benzodiazepine structure was identified as lead structure in a diverse series of 3-amino-1,4-benzodiazepines 4-38 and the full SAR (structure-activity relationship) optimisation provided 3-anilinobenzodiazepines 16-38 with CCK1 receptor selectivity to CCK2. The compounds 18, 24, 28 and 33 have shown affinities at the CCK1 receptor of 11, 10, 11 and 9 nM, respectively. These equipotent CCK1 ligands were fully evaluated in behaviour pharmacological essays. An antidepressant effect was identified in the tail suspension- and the Porsolt swimming-test. The ED50 values for 24 and 28 were determined in these assays as 0.46 and 0.49 mg/kg. The mixed antagonist 37 showed in addition to the antidepressant effects anxiolytic properties.     

Synthesis and evaluation of N1-substituted-3-propyl-1,4-benzodiazepine-2-ones as cholecystokinin (CCK2) receptor ligands

A novel synthetic approach towards N1-alkylated 3-propyl-1,4-benzodiazepines was developed in five synthetic steps from 2-amino-4-chlorobenzophenone, in which the N-oxide 4 served as a key intermediate. The structure-activity relationship optimization of this 3-propyl-1,4-benzodiazepine template was carried out on the N1-position by selective alkylation reactions and resulted in a ligand with an improved affinity on the cholecystokinin (CCK2) receptor. The N-allyl-3-propyl-benzodiazepine 6d displayed an affinity towards the CCK2 (CCK-B) receptor of 170 nM in a radiolabelled receptor-binding assay. The anxiolytic activity of this allyl-3-propyl-1,4-benzodiazepine 6d was subsequently determined in in-vivo psychotropic assays. This novel ligand had ED50 values of 4.7 and 5.2 mg kg(-1) in the black and white box test and the x-maze, respectively, and no significant sedation/muscle relaxation was observed.     

Antidepressant/anxiolytic and anti-nociceptive effects of novel 2-substituted 1,4-benzodiazepine-2-ones

Oxazepam (4a) has been used as overall starting material in the synthesis of novel 2-substituted 1,4-benzodiazepines.By reacting Oxazepam 4a with commercially available hydrazines, hydrazides, semicarbazide, aminoguanidine and N,N-dimethylamino aniline in ethanol under acetic conditions, a series of diazenyl-1,4-benzodiazepines 5aa5i and 2-amino-1,4-benzodiazepine 5k were obtained in good yields.These novel compounds served as new chemical entities (NCE) for testing in mice. The diazo-benzodiazepine 5d has shown a promising antidepressant effect in initial experiments in vivo at a dose of 5 mg/kg. The highly coloured 2-aminobenzodiazepine derivative 5k showed over a dose range from 5a50 mg/kg an analgesic effect in mice.     

Pharmacophore modeling and 3D-QSAR studies of leucettines as potent Dyrk2 inhibitors

Dyrk family enzymes are essential components of important signaling casades in the pathophysiology of cancer and Alzheimer’s disease. Especially, Dyrk2 biological expression levels regulate key signaling processes in these diseases. In the present work, a pharmacophore-based 3D-QSAR model was generated for a series of leucettine analogs possessing Dyrk2 inhibitory activity. Developed pharmacophore model contains four hydrogen bond acceptors (A) and one hydrophobic aromatic ring (R). These are crucial molecular fingerprints which predict binding efficacy of high affinity and low affinity ligands to the Dyrk2 enzyme. These pharmacophoric features point toward key structural requirements of leucettines for potent Dyrk2 inhibition. Furthermore, a biological correlation between pharmacophore hypothesis-based 3D-QSAR variables and functional fingerprints of leucettines responsible for the receptor binding was observed. Alignment of the developed model with Dyrk2 crystal structure indicated importance of A3 and A4 H-bond accetor sites, which are involved in the important interactions with Leu231A and Lys178A residues of the active site. Excellent statistical results of QSAR model such as good correlation coefficient (r ² > 0.95), higher F value (F > 106), and excellent predictive power (Q ² > 0.7) with low standard deviation (SD < 0.2) strongly suggest that the developed model is good for the future prediction of Dyrk2 inhibitory activity of new leucettine analogs.     

Pharmacophore based 3D-QSAR study of VEGFR-2 inhibitors

The growth and metastasis of solid tumors are dependent on angiogenesis. The vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is of particular interest since it is essential for angiogenesis. The development of novel inhibitors of VEGF receptor type 2 (VEGFR-2) is important. Quantitative structure–activity relationship (QSAR) studies were performed to understand the structural factors affecting inhibitory potency of 4-aryl-5-cyano-2-aminopyrimidines. Pharmacophore models indicate that the importance of steric and hydrogen bond acceptor groups. The best-fitted pharmacophore-based alignment was used for comparative molecular field analysis (CoMFA) and comparative molecular similarity indices analysis (CoMSIA). Both CoMFA (q ² = 0.62, r ² = 0.87, and r ² _predictive = 0.7) and CoMSIA (q ² = 0.54, r ² = 0.86, and r ² _predictive = 0.61) gave reasonable results. Factors such as steric bulkiness, electrostatic effect, and hydrogen bond acceptor were found to be important for the inhibitory activity. It is suggested that negatively charged, bulky H-bond accepting groups around the piperazine nitrogen would enhance inhibition against VEGFR-2.     

Stereoselective binding of 3-acetoxy-, and 3-hydroxy-1,4-benzodiazepine-2-ones to human serum albumin. Selective allosteric interaction with warfarin enantiomers

Stereoselective binding of oxazepam, lorazepam, temazepam and methyl lorazepam as well as of their acetates to human serum albumin was investigated by different techniques. The 2'-chlorine and the N(1)-methyl substitution exert opposite effects on the antipodes. Enantiomers of oxazepam acetate (OAc) and lorazepam acetate (LAc) displace diazepam. Allosteric interactions with warfarin were manifested by either mutually increased or decreased binding depending on the structure of benzodiazepine and on the configuration of both benzodiazepine and warfarin. The most remarkable effect could be observed in the simultaneous binding of (S)-lorazepam acetate and (S)-warfarin.     

Docking and 3D-QSAR investigations of pyrrolidine derivatives as potent neuraminidase inhibitors

Docking studies of pyrrolidine derivatives indicated that Trp178, Arg371, and Tyr406 were the key residues in the active pocket of influenza neuraminidase (NA). Hydrogen bond and electrostatic factors mainly influenced interactions between pyrrolidine derivatives and NA. Moreover, there was a significant correlation between binding affinity (total scores) and the experimental pIC(50) . Meanwhile, 3D-QSAR models of 87 pyrrolidine derivatives were developed to understand chemical-biological interactions governing their activities toward NA. Furthermore, R(2) , Q(2) , , and of the models were from 0.731 to 0.830, from 0.560 to 0.611, from 0.762 to 0.875, and from 0.649 to 0.856, respectively. QSAR modeling results elucidated that hydrogen bonds and electrostatic factors highly contributed to inhibitory activity, which was unanimous in the docking results.     

Novel 2-alkylamino-1,4-benzoxazine derivatives as potent neuroprotective agents: structure-activity relationship studies

2-Alkylamino-substituted-1,4-benzoxazine derivatives, a new class of potential neuroprotective agents, were synthesized and examined for their intrinsic cytotoxicity and their capacity to inhibit oxidative stress-mediated neuronal degeneration in vitro. Through structure-activity relationship studies, the 3,3-diphenyl-substituted-1,4-benzoxazine derivative 3l was identified as the optimal candidate, owing to its potent neuroprotective activity, without the manifestation of intrinsic cytotoxicity. Accordingly, 3l proved to be effective in an animal model of excitotoxic lesions in newborn mice.     

3D-QSAR study of pyrrolidine derivatives as matrix metalloproteinase-2 inhibitors

In order to develop potent inhibitors of matrix metalloproteinase-2(MMP-2) as anticancer agents, a three-dimensional quantitative structure–activity relationship (3D-QSAR) model was established by using comparative molecular field analysis (CoMFA) and comparative molecular similarity indices analysis (CoMSIA) methods. This study correlates the MMP-2 inhibitory activities of 67 pyrrolidine derivatives to steric, electrostatic, hydrophobic, and hydrogen-bond donor and acceptor fields. After using two different molecular alignments, both CoMFA and CoMSIA models resulted in good statistical predictions, a case in point being their high q ² values of between 0.757 and 0.843. The CoMFA and CoMSIA models established herein will be helpful in understanding the structure–activity relationship of pyrrolidine derivatives as well as in the design of novel derivatives with enhanced MMP-2 inhibitory activity.     

Pharmacophore modeling and 3D-QSAR studies of galloyl benzamides as potent P-gp inhibitors

P-gp transporter regulates key ADME of drugs in MDR condition. In the present work, a pharmacophore-based 3D-QSAR model was generated for a series of galloyl benzamides analogs possessing P-gp inhibitory activity. Developed pharmacophore model contains two hydrogen-bond acceptors (A), one hydrophobic (H), one hydrogen-bond donor (D) and two aromatic rings (R). These are crucial molecular fingerprints which predict binding efficacy of high-affinity and low-affinity ligands to the P-gp efflux pump. These pharmacophoric features point toward key structural requirements of galloyl benzamides for potent P-gp inhibition. Furthermore, a biological correlation 3D-QSAR variants and functional fingerprints of P-gp responsible for the receptor binding were observed. Alignment of the developed model with P-gp crystal structure indicated importance of A2 and A4 H-bond acceptor sites, which are involved in the important interactions with Glu530 and His690 residues of the active site. Excellent statistical results of QSAR model such as good correlation coefficient (r ² > 0.95), higher F value (F > 205) and excellent predictive power (Q ² > 0.6) with low standard deviation (SD < 0.2) strongly suggest that the developed model is good for the future prediction of P-gp inhibitory activity of new galloyl benzamide analogs.     

QSAR modeling of synthesized 3-(1,3-benzothiazol-2-yl) 2-phenyl quinazolin-4(3H)-ones as potent antibacterial agents

Present communication elicits the designing and synthesis of 3-(1,3-benzothiazol-2-yl) 2-phenyl quinazolin-4(3H)-ones as potential antibacterial agents. A number of substituted 2-amino benzothiazoles, 2-amino-5-[(E)-phenyl diazenyl] benzoic acid, and 2-phenyl-4H benzo[d] [1,3] oxazin-4-one were synthesized as the precursor substrates. The compounds were synthesized in excellent yields and the structures were corroborated on the basis of IR, ¹H NMR, Mass, and elemental analysis data. These compounds were screened in vitro for their antibacterial activity against a representative panel of Gram positive and Gram negative bacteria and models were generated through quantitative structure–activity relationship (QSAR).The activity contributions due to structural and substituent effects were determined using sequential regression procedure. The antimicrobial assay data show that the synthesized compounds are found to manifest profound antimicrobial activity.     

噻唑类衍生物二氢乳清酸脱氢酶抑制剂的三维定量构效关系研究

目的 应用三维定量构效关系（3D-QSAR）研究噻唑类衍生物结构的二氢乳清酸脱氢酶抑制活性,为该类药物的设计和筛选提供可靠的理论依据。方法 针对38个以噻唑为基本骨架的二氢乳清酸脱氢酶抑制剂,分别应用分子力场分析（CoMFA）和比较分子相似性指数分析（CoMSIA）2种经典的方法进行了三维定量构效关系（3D-QSAR）研究,建立相关模型,验证模型的预测能力,三维等势图分析噻唑类衍生物结构与活性的关系。结果 CoMFA模型的交叉验证系数q²为0.796,相关系数r²为0.978;CoMSIA模型的q²以及r²分别为0.721和0.976;2种模型对化合物的活性预测与实际值接近;三维等势图可以全面直观的分析化合物结构对其活性的影响。结论 该3D-QSAR模型三维等势图揭示了结构特征与抑制活性的关系,模型具有较好的预测能力和较强的稳定性,为进一步开发研究打下了较好的基础。     

5-Acyl-3-substituted-benzofuran-2(3H)-ones as potential antiinflammatory agents

A series of 5-acyl-3-substituted-benzofuran-2(3H)-ones and their respective ring-opened o-hydroxy acids were synthesized. The antiinflammatory activity was evaluated in terms of their ability to improve adjuvant induced arthritis in rats. Their effect on the production of both cyclooxygenase (CO) and lipoxygenase (LO) metabolites of arachidonic acid in guinea pig peritoneal polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMNs) was also examined. No correlation between the antiinflammatory activity and increasing stability of the lactones could be found. The degree of activity in general shown by the benzofuranones was similar to that of their corresponding o-hydroxy acids. This, coupled with the evidence from studies on opening of the lactone ring, suggests an in vivo transformation of the former into the latter. Benzofuranones displayed a dual inhibition of CO and LO products, while a moderate reduction in CO metabolites was shown by their acids.     

6-Benzoxazinylpyridazin-3-ones: potent, long-acting positive inotrope and peripheral vasodilator agents

A series of 6-benzoxazinylpyridazin-3-ones was prepared and evaluated for inhibition of cardiac phosphodiesterase (PDE) fraction III in vitro and for positive inotropic activity in vivo. 6-[3,4-Dihydro-3-oxo-1,4(2H)-benzoxazin-7-yl]-2,3,4,5-tetrahydro-5 - methylpyridazin-3-one (bemoradan) was found to be an extremely potent and selective inhibitor of canine PDE fraction III and a long-acting, potent, orally active inotropic vasodilator agent in various canine models. Additional benzoxazin-6-yl and -8-yl compounds were also prepared. Altering the pyridazinone substitution from the 6-position to the 7-position produced a 14-fold increase in the iv cardiotonic potency (ED50) from 77 to 5.4 micrograms/kg while substitution at the 8-position reduced potency. Methyl substitution at various sites in the molecule was also examined. Positive inotropic activity was maintained for between 8 and 24 h after a single oral dose (100 micrograms/kg) of bemoradan in dogs, thus making it one of the most potent and long-acting orally effective inotropes yet described. Bemoradan is currently under development as a cardiotonic agent for use in the management of congestive heart failure.