Akash K. Jain

Discovery of LFF571: An Investigational Agent for Clostridium difficile Infection

Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) is a Gram positive, anaerobic bacterium that infects the lumen of the large intestine and produces toxins. This results in a range of syndromes from mild diarrhea to severe toxic megacolon and death. Alarmingly, the prevalence and severity of C. difficile infection are increasing; thus, associated morbidity and mortality rates are rising. 4-Aminothiazolyl analogues of the antibiotic natural product GE2270 A (1) were designed, synthesized, and optimized for the treatment of C. difficile infection. The medicinal chemistry effort focused on enhancing aqueous solubility relative to that of the natural product and previous development candidates (2, 3) and improving antibacterial activity. Structure-activity relationships, cocrystallographic interactions, pharmacokinetics, and efficacy in animal models of infection were characterized. These studies identified a series of dicarboxylic acid derivatives, which enhanced solubility/efficacy profile by several orders of magnitude compared to previously studied compounds and led to the selection of LFF571 (4) as an investigational new drug for treating C. difficile infection.

Dimeric 1,3-Phenylene-bis(piperazinyl benzimidazole)s: Synthesis and Structure-Activity Investigations on their Binding with Human Telomeric G-Quadruplex DNA and Telomerase Inhibition Properties

Ligand-induced stabilization of G-quadruplex structures formed by the human telomeric DNA is an active area of research. The compounds which stabilize the G-quadruplexes often lead to telomerase inhibition. Herein we present the results of interaction of new monomeric and dimeric ligands having 1,3-phenylene-bis(piperazinyl benzimidazole) unit with G-quadruplex DNA (G4DNA) formed by human telomeric repeat d[(G(3)T(2)A)(3)G(3)]. These ligands efficiently stabilize the preformed G4DNA in the presence of 100 mM monovalent alkali metal ions. Also, the G4DNA formed in the presence of low concentrations of ligands in 100 mM K(+) adopts a highly stable parallel-stranded conformation. The G-quadruplexes formed in the presence of the dimeric compound are more stable than that induced by the corresponding monomeric counterpart. The dimeric ligands having oligo-oxyethylene spacers provide much higher stability to the preformed G4DNA and also exert significantly higher telomerase inhibition activity. Computational aspects have also been discussed.

Interaction of G-Quadruplexes with Nonintercalating Duplex-DNA Minor Groove Binding Ligands

The enzyme telomerase synthesizes the G-rich DNA strands of the telomere and its activity is often associated with cancer. The telomerase may be therefore responsible for the ability of a cancer cell to escape apoptosis. The G-rich DNA sequences often adopt tetra-stranded structure, known as the G-quadruplex DNA (G4-DNA). The stabilization of the telomeric DNA into the G4-DNA structures by small molecules has been the focus of many researchers for the design and development of new anticancer agents. The compounds which stabilize the G-quadruplex in the telomere inhibit the telomerase activity. Besides telomeres, the G4-DNA forming sequences are present in the genomic regions of biological significance including the transcriptional regulatory and promoter regions of several oncogenes. Inducing a G-quadruplex structure within the G-rich promoter sequences is a potential way of achieving selective gene regulation. Several G-quadruplex stabilizing ligands are known. Minor groove binding ligands (MGBLs) interact with the double-helical DNA through the minor grooves sequence-specifically and interfere with several DNA associated processes. These MGBLs when suitably modified switch their preference sometimes from the duplex DNA to G4-DNA and stabilize the G4-DNA as well. Herein, we focus on the recent advances in understanding the G-quadruplex structures, particularly made by the human telomeric ends, and review the results of various investigations of the interaction of designed organic ligands with the G-quadruplex DNA while highlighting the importance of MGBL-G-quadruplex interactions.

Symmetrical bisbenzimidazoles with benzenediyl spacer: the role of the shape of the ligand on the stabilization and structural alterations in telomeric G-quadruplex DNA and telomerase inhibition

The extremities of chromosomes end in a G-rich single-stranded overhang that has been implicated in the onset of the replicate senescence. The repeated sequence forming a G-overhang is able to adopt a four-stranded DNA structure called G-quadruplex, which is a poor substrate for the enzyme telomerase. Small molecule based ligands that selectively stabilize the telomeric G-quadruplex DNA, induce telomere shortening eventually leading to cell death. Herein, we have investigated the G-quadruplex DNA interaction with two isomeric bisbenzimidazole-based compounds that differ in terms of shape (V-shaped angular vs linear). While the linear isomer induced some stabilization of the intramolecular G-quadruplex structure generated in the presence of Na(+), the other, having V-shaped central planar core, caused a dramatic structural alteration of the latter, above a threshold concentration. This transition was evident from the pronounced changes observed in the circular dichroism spectra and from the gel mobility shift assay involving the G-quadruplex DNA. Notably, this angular isomer could also induce the G-quadruplex formation in the absence of any added cation. The ligand-quadruplex complexes were investigated by computational molecular modeling, providing further information on structure-activity relationships. Finally, TRAP (telomerase repeat amplification protocol) experiments demonstrated that the angular isomer is selective toward the inhibition of telomerase activity.

Synthesis and Evaluation of a Novel Class of G-Quadruplex-Stabilizing Small Molecules Based on the 1,3-Phenylene-Bis(piperazinyl benzimidazole) System

Achieving stabilization of telomeric DNA in G-quadruplex conformation by various organic compounds has been an important goal for the medicinal chemists seeking to develop new anticancer agents. Several compounds are known to stabilize G-quadruplexes. However, relatively few are known to induce their formation and/or alter the topology of the preformed quadruplex DNA. Herein, four compounds having the 1,3-phenylene-bis(piperazinyl benzimidazole) unit as a basic skeleton have been synthesized, and their interactions with the 24-mer telomeric DNA sequences from Tetrahymena thermophilia d(T(2)G(4))(4) have been investigated using high-resolution techniques such as circular dichroism (CD) spectropolarimetry, CD melting, emission spectroscopy, and polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The data obtained, in the presence of one of three ions (Li(+), Na(+), or K(+)), indicate that all the new compounds have a high affinity for G-quadruplex DNA, and the strength of the binding with G-quadruplex depends on (i) phenyl ring substitution, (ii) the piperazinyl side chain, and (iii) the type of monovalent cation present in the buffer. Results further suggest that these compounds are able to abet the conversion of the intramolecular quadruplex into parallel stranded intermolecular G-quadruplex DNA. Notably, these compounds are also capable of inducing and stabilizing the parallel stranded quadruplex from randomly structured DNA in the absence of any stabilizing cation. The kinetics of the structural changes induced by these compounds could be followed by recording the changes in the CD signal as a function of time. The implications of the findings mentioned above are discussed in this paper.

Groove binding ligands for the interaction with parallel-stranded ps-duplex DNA and triplex DNA.

DNA adopts different conformations not only based on novel base pairs, but also with different chain polarities. Besides several duplex structures (A, B, Z, parallel stranded (ps)-DNA, etc.), DNA also forms higher-order structures like triplex, tetraplex, and i-motif. Each of these structures has its own biological significance. The ps-duplexes have been found to be resistant to certain nucleases and endonucleases. Molecules that promote triple-helix formation have significant potential. These investigations have many therapeutic advantages which may be useful in the regulation of the expression of genes responsible for certain diseases by locking either their transcription (antigene) or translation (antisense). Each DNA minor groove binding ligand (MGBL) interacts with DNA through helical minor groove recognition in a sequence-specific manner, and this interferes with several DNA-associated processes. Incidentally, these ligands interact with some non-B-DNA and with higher-order DNA structures including ps-DNA and triplexes. While the design and recognition of minor grooves of duplex DNA by specific MGBLs have been a topic of many reports, limited information is available on the binding behavior of MGBLs with nonduplex DNA. In this review, we summarize various attempts of the interaction of MGBLs with ps-DNA and DNA triplexes.

Antibacterial Optimization of 4-Aminothiazolyl Analogues of the Natural Product GE2270 A: Identification of the Cycloalkylcarboxylic Acids

4-Aminothiazolyl analogues of the antibiotic natural product GE2270 A (1) were designed, synthesized, and optimized for their activity against Gram positive bacterial infections. Optimization efforts focused on improving the physicochemical properties (e.g., aqueous solubility and chemical stability) of the 4-aminothiazolyl natural product template while improving the in vitro and in vivo antibacterial activity. Structure-activity relationships were defined, and the solubility and efficacy profiles were improved over those of previous analogues and 1. These studies identified novel, potent, soluble, and efficacious elongation factor-Tu inhibitors, which bear cycloalkylcarboxylic acid side chains, and culminated in the selection of development candidates amide 48 and urethane 58.

Binding of Gemini Bisbenzimidazole Drugs with Human Telomeric G-Quadruplex Dimers: Effect of the Spacer in the Design of Potent Telomerase Inhibitors

The study of anticancer agents that act via stabilization of telomeric G-quadruplex DNA (G4DNA) is important because such agents often inhibit telomerase activity. Several types of G4DNA binding ligands are known. In these studies, the target structures often involve a single G4 DNA unit formed by short DNA telomeric sequences. However, the 3′-terminal single-stranded human telomeric DNA can form higher-order structures by clustering consecutive quadruplex units (dimers or n-mers). Herein, we present new synthetic gemini (twin) bisbenzimidazole ligands, in which the oligo-oxyethylene spacers join the two bisbenzimidazole units for the recognition of both monomeric and dimeric G4DNA, derived from d(T2AG3)4 and d(T2AG3)8 human telomeric DNA, respectively. The spacer between the two bisbenzimidazoles in the geminis plays a critical role in the G4DNA stability. We report here (i) synthesis of new effective gemini anticancer agents that are selectively more toxic towards the cancer cells than the corresponding normal cells; (ii) formation and characterization of G4DNA dimers in solution as well as computational construction of the dimeric G4DNA structures. The gemini ligands direct the folding of the single-stranded DNA into an unusually stable parallel-stranded G4DNA when it was formed in presence of the ligands in KCl solution and the gemini ligands show spacer length dependent potent telomerase inhibition properties.

Evaluation of electronic effect of phenyl ring substituents on the DNA minor groove binding properties of novel bis and terbenzimidazoles: synthesis and spectroscopic studies of ligand-DNA interaction.

Several minor groove binding agents (MGBD) were synthesized to study their binding behaviors and sequence specificity with DNA. In order to further understand the binding interactions of the MGBD to DNA, we have synthesized some novel benzimidazoles, which have electron donating (OCH(3), OCH(2)CH(3), OH, O(CH(2))(3)NH(2)) and electron withdrawing cyano groups on the phenyl ring. The interaction of these new benzimidazoles along with parent compounds Hoechst 33342 have been studied with CT DNA, two A-T rich [d(GA(5)T(5)C) and d(CGCA(3)T(3)G)] and one G-C rich [d(GCATGGCCATGC)] oligonucleotide sequences using electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS), absorption, fluorescence, and circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy. Bisubstituted analogs, which have electron-donating groups, were found to form more stable ligand-DNA complex than Hoechst 33342, while the benzimidazole with electron withdrawing cyano group resulted comparatively in less stable ligand DNA complex. The ESI-MS also gave reliable information about the A-T sequence selectivity as we did not observe any signal with G-C sequence in mass with parent as well as novel ligands. Similar studies with ESI-MS suggest that Hoechst 33342, ETBBZ, and MMBBZ form complexes of 2:1 stoichiometry with d(GA(5)T(5)C) duplex while rest of the ligands form complexes of 1:1 stoichiometry with d(GA(5)T(5)C). Thus, this present study provides the rationalization for the difference in binding behaviors of minor groove binding benzimidazole analogs having different substitution on the phenyl ring.

Antibacterial and Solubility Optimization of Thiomuracin A

Synthetic studies of the antimicrobial secondary metabolite thiomuracin A (1) provided access to analogues in the Northern region (C2-C10). Selective hydrolysis of the C10 amide of lead compound 2 and subsequent derivatization led to novel carbon- and nitrogen-linked analogues (e.g., 3) which improved antibacterial potency across a panel of Gram-positive organisms. In addition, congeners with improved physicochemical properties were identified which proved efficacious in murine sepsis and hamster C. difficile models of disease. Optimal efficacy in the hamster model of C. difficile was achieved with compounds that possessed both potent antibacterial activity and high aqueous solubility.