Structures of two N-methylated tricyclic quinolones with antimalarial activity

The crystal structures of two N-methylated tricyclic quinolones were determined. 3-amino-6-methoxy-9-methyl-(1H)pyrazolo[3,4-b]-4-quinolone hydrate, C₁₂H₁₂N₄O₂ · H₂O (1) crystallizes in P-1 with a=11.5078(18) ?, b=13.0614(19) ?, c=9.0860(15) ?, α=106.229(4)°, β=108.378(3)°, γ=71.118(3)° and Z=4, while 2,4-diamino-10-methyl-9-methoxypyrimido[4,5-b]-5-quinolone, C₁₃H₁₃N₅O₂ (2) crystallizes in P2₁/n with a=10.6643(17) ?, b=10.1114(17) ?, c=11.3185(18) ?, β=99.351(4)° and Z=4. Both molecules are essentially planar, including the exocyclic groups. 1 and 2 have moderate antimalarial activity which seems to be related to the formation of intramolecular N – H · · · O=C hydrogen bonds; 1 does not form these bonds and has approximately twice the activity of 2. In both crystal structures there are extensive networks of N–H · · · O and N–H · · · N hydrogen bonds, and in 1 the water molecules of solvation form N–H · · · Ow, Ow–H · · · O=C and Ow–H · · · Ow bonds.     

Utilization of Nucleotide Probes in PCR‐ELISA Procedure for the Quantitative Determination of Plasmodium Falciparum DNA in Malaria

Abstract

The research work reported herein is the development of a simple and specific quantitative procedure for the determination of P. falciparum DNA in malaria that involves the direct detection of the highly 42‐kDa conserved C‐terminal regiopn of P. falciparum merozoite surface protein gene (MSP1 ₄₂ gene). This procedure entails the amplification of the MSP1 ₄₂ gene by using the PCR technique in the presence of digoxigenin‐11‐dUTP and the synthesis of the specific biotin label nucleotide probes directed to the MSP1 ₄₂ gene. These specific probes are then used in the Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) for the quantitative determination of the MSP1 ₄₂ gene which leads to the quantitative determination of P. falciparum DNA in malaria for quantitative diagnostic purpose. The P. falciparum malaria diagnostic results obtained from a small number of 18 whole blood samples show that the present quantitative PCR‐ELISA procedure allows the quantitative determination of P. falciparum DNA in malaria with a sensitivity and specificity over to those of the current standard microscopic examination. This quantitative PCR‐ELISA procedure is not only important for quantitative P. falciparum malaria diagnosis but also useful for monitoring the efficacy of any existing anti‐malarial drug as well as for testing the efficacy of any malaria vaccine.     

Development of Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy Based Malaria Aptasensor Using HRP‐II as Target Biomarker

Current demand for a stable, low cost and sensitive malaria sensor has prompted to explore novel recognition systems that can substitute widely used protein based labile biorecognition elements to be used in point of care diagnostic devices. Here, we report a novel ssDNA aptamer of 90 mer sequence developed by SELEX process against HRP‐II, a specific biomarker for Plasmodium falciparum strains. High stability of the secondary structure of the isolated aptamer was discerned from its free energy of folding of −20.40 kcal mole⁻¹. The binding constant (K_d) of the aptamer with HRP‐II analysed by isothermal titration calorimetry was ∼1.32 μM. Circular dichroism studies indicated B form of the aptamer DNA. The aptamer was chemically immobilized on a gold electrode surface through a self‐assembled monolayer of dithio‐bis(succinimidyl) propionate to produce the aptasensor. The step wise modification of the layers over the gold electrode during fabrication of the aptasensor was confirmed by cyclic voltammetry. The aptasensor was then challenged with different concentration of HRP‐II and analysed the interaction signals through electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The impedance signal behaved reciprocally with the increasing concentrations of the target in the sample from which a dynamic range of 1 pM–500 pM (R²=0.99) and LOD of ∼3.15 pM were discerned. The applicability of the developed aptasensor to detect HRP‐II in mimicked real sample was also validated.     

Antimicrobial compounds from root,stem bark and seeds of Melia volkensii

Three compounds, toosendanin (1), kulactone (2) and scopoletin (3), were isolated from either the root bark and/or the stem bark of Melia volkensii. Their structures were determined on the basis of spectroscopic data generated and by comparison with data from the literature. 1 and 2, isolated for the first time from M. volkensii, exhibited significant (p < 0.05) activity against Escherichia coli with minimum inhibitory concentration of 12.5 μg/mL, close to that of neomycin (6.25 μg/mL). The compounds also exhibited high activity against Aspergillus niger (MIC 6.25 μg/mL compared to 2.5 μg/mL for clotrimazole). Dichloromethane and methanol seed, hexane stem bark and methanol root bark extracts exhibited activities towards Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Aspergillus niger and Plasmodium falciparum, respectively. Antimicrobial activity of the plant towards A. niger, P. falciparum and S. aureus is reported for the first time in the current work.     

Nopol-Based Quinoline Derivatives as Antiplasmodial Agents

Malaria remains a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. While clinical antimalarials are efficacious when administered according to local guidelines, resistance to every class of antimalarials is a persistent problem. There is a constant need for new antimalarial therapeutics that complement parasite control strategies to combat malaria, especially in the tropics. In this work, nopol-based quinoline derivatives were investigated for their inhibitory activity against Plasmodium falciparum, one of the parasites that cause malaria. The nopyl-quinolin-8-yl amides (2–4) were moderately active against the asexual blood stage of chloroquine-sensitive strain Pf3D7 but inactive against chloroquine-resistant strains PfK1 and PfNF54. The nopyl-quinolin-4-yl amides and nopyl-quinolin-4-yl-acetates analogs were generally less active on all three strains. Interesting, the presence of a chloro substituent at C7 of the quinoline ring of amide 8 resulted in sub-micromolar EC₅₀ in the PfK1 strain. However, 8 was more than two orders of magnitude less active against Pf3D7 and PfNF54. Overall, the nopyl-quinolin-8-yl amides appear to share similar antimalarial profile (asexual blood-stage) with previously reported 8-aminoquinolines like primaquine. Future work will focus on investigating the moderately active and selective nopyl-quinolin-8-yl amides on the gametocyte or liver stages of Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax.     

Catalytic Properties of Caseinolytic Protease Subunit of Plasmodium knowlesi and Its Inhibition by a Member of δ-Lactone,Hyptolide

The caseinolytic protease (Clp) system plays an essential role in the protein homeostasis of the malaria parasite, particularly at the stage of apicoplast development. The inhibition of this protein is known to have a lethal effect on the parasite and is therefore considered an interesting avenue for antimalaria drugs discovery. The catalytic activity of the Clp system is modulated by its proteolytic subunit (ClpP), which belongs to the serine protease family member and is therefore extensively studied for further inhibitors development. Among many inhibitors, the group of β-lactone is known to be a specific inhibitor for ClpP. Nevertheless, other groups of lactones have never been studied. This study aims to characterize the catalytic properties of ClpP of Plasmodium knowlesi (Pk-ClpP) and the inhibition properties of a δ-lactone hyptolide against this protein. Accordingly, a codon-optimized synthetic gene encoding Pk-ClpP was expressed in Escherichia coli BL21(DE3) and purified under a single step of Ni²⁺-affinity chromatography, yielding a 2.20 mg from 1 L culture. Meanwhile, size-exclusion chromatography indicated that Pk-ClpP migrated primarily as homoheptameric with a size of 205 kDa. The specific activity of pure Pk-ClpP was 0.73 U µg⁻¹, with a catalytic efficiency k_cat/K_M of 0.05 µM⁻¹ s⁻¹, with optimum temperature and pH of 50 °C and 7.0–7.5, respectively. Interestingly, hyptolide, a member of δ-lactone, was shown to inhibit Pk-ClpP with an IC₅₀ value of 17.36 ± 1.44 nM. Structural homology modelling, secondary structure prediction, and far-UV CD spectra revealed that helical structures dominate this protein. In addition, the structural homology modeling showed that this protein forms a barrel-shaped homoheptamer. Docking simulation revealed that the inhibition was found to be a competitive inhibition in which hyptolide was able to dock into the catalytic site and block the substrate. The competitiveness of hyptolide is due to the higher binding affinity of this molecule than the substrate.     

Fluorescent Nitrogen-Doped Carbon Dots for Label Live Elder Blood-Stage Plasmodium falciparum through New Permeability Pathways

To verify the size and emergence time of new permeability pathways (NPPs) in malaria parasites, the permeability of the Plasmodium falciparum-infected erythrocytes was tested with different particle sizes of nanomaterials by flow cytometry assay. The results confirmed the permeability of the host cell membrane increases with parasite maturation for the stage-development evolution of NPPs, and especially found that a particle size of about 50 nm had higher efficiency. As a kind of the novel nanomaterials, nitrogen-doped carbon dots (NCDs) showed no toxicity, specificity binding ability to the malaria parasites, and could label live elder blood-stage P. falciparum through NPPs, indicating the potential application in cell imaging. NPPs and some nanomaterials such as NCDs deserve more attention and exploration for the elimination and prevention of malaria.     

Synthesis of New Cyclomarin Derivatives and Their Biological Evaluation towards Mycobacterium Tuberculosis and Plasmodium Falciparum

Cyclomarins are highly potent antimycobacterial and antiplasmodial cyclopeptides isolated from a marine bacterium (Streptomyces sp.). Previous studies have identified the target proteins and elucidated a novel mode of action, however there are currently only a few studies examining the structure–activity relationship (SAR) for both pathogens. Herein, we report the synthesis and biological evaluation of 17 novel desoxycyclomarin-inspired analogues. Optimization via side chain modifications of the non-canonical amino acids led to potent lead structures for each pathogen.     

Development of a functional assay to detect inhibitors of Plasmodium falciparum glutathione reductase utilizing liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry

Plasmodium falciparum (Pf) like most other organisms, has a sophisticated antioxidant system, part of which includes glutathione reductase (GR). GR works by recycling toxic glutathione disulfide to glutathione, thereby reducing reactive oxygen species and making a form of glutathione (GSH) the parasite can use. Inhibition of this enzyme in Pf impedes parasite growth. In addition, it has been confirmed that PfGR is not identical to human GR. Thus, PfGR is an excellent target for antimalarial drug development. A functional assay utilizing liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry was developed to specifically identify and evaluate inhibitors of PfGR. Using recombinant PfGR enzyme and 1,4‐naphthoquinone (1) as a reference compound and 4‐nitrobenzothiadiazole (2) and methylene blue (3) as additional compounds, we quantified the concentration of GSH produced compared with a control to determine the inhibitory effect of these compounds. Our results coincide with that presented in literature: compounds 1–3 inhibit PfGR with IC₅₀ values of 2.71, 8.38, and 19.23 µm , respectively. Good precision for this assay was exhibited by low values of intraday and interday coefficient of variation (3.1 and 2.4%, respectively). Thus, this assay can be used to screen for other potential inhibitors of PfGR quickly and accurately. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

New thiazolidine‐2,4‐dione derivatives combined with organometallic ferrocene: Synthesis,structure and antiparasitic activity

Favourable physicochemical properties of an organometallic ferrocene and antiplasmodial potency of compounds containing the thiazolidine‐2,4‐dione framework (TZD‐4) prompted us to explore compounds containing both the thiazolidine‐2,4‐dione core and the ferrocenyl unit with the primary aim of identifying compounds with promising antiprotozoal activities. Thus, a new series of rationally designed ferrocene‐based thiazolidine‐2,4‐dione derivatives, containing a selection of secondary cyclic amines, was synthesised and fully characterised using standard spectroscopic techniques. The resulting compounds were screened for their antiplasmodial and antitrypanosomal activities against both the chloroquine‐resistant (Dd2) strain of Plasmodium falciparum and the Nagana Trypanosoma brucei brucei 427. The general trend that emerged indicated that the target compounds were more selective towards T. b. brucei compared to the P. falciparum parasite. Moreover, the analogues bearing methylpiperazine ( 8a ) and piperidine ( 8b ) rings were more active against T. b. brucei compared to hit compound TZD‐4. Except compound 8b , which appeared promising, none of the synthesised compounds showed better activity than TZD‐4 against the P. falciparum parasite. All the synthesised compounds were non‐toxic and often showed >90% viability of the HeLa cell line screened.