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A series of novel dibenzo[b,d]thiophene tethered imidazo[1,2-a]pyridine carboxamides 7a-s were designed and synthesized. The required building block, 2-dibenzo[b,d]thiophenyl imidazo[1,2-a]pyridine carboxylic acid (5) was synthesized from commercial dibenzo[b,d]thiophene in good yields following five-step reaction sequence. The desired carboxamides 7a-s was prepared through coupling of acid 5 with various benzyl amines. All the new analogues 7a-s was characterized by their NMR and mass spectral analysis. Among nineteen new compounds 7a-s screened for in vitro antimycobacterial activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv, three compounds 7k (MIC: 0.78μg/mL); 7e and 7n (MIC: 1.56μg/mL) were identified as potent analogues with low cytotoxicity. The results reported here will help global efforts for identification of potential lead antimycobacterial agents., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The benzo[d]thiazol-2-yl(piperazin-1-yl)methanones scaffold has been identified as new anti-mycobacterial chemotypes. Thirty-six structurally diverse benzo[d]thiazole-2-carboxamides have been prepared and subjected to assessment of their potential anti-tubercular activity through in vitro testing against Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv strain and evaluation of cytotoxicity against RAW 264.7 cell lines. Seventeen compounds showed anti-mycobacterial potential having MICs in the low (1-10) μM range. The 5-trifluoromethyl benzo[d]thiazol-2-yl(piperazin-1-yl)methanones emerged to be the most promising resulting in six positive hits (2.35-7.94 μM) and showed low-cytotoxicity (<50% inhibition at 50 μg/mL). The therapeutic index of these hits is 8-64. The quantitative structure activity relationship has been established adopting a statistically reliable CoMFA model showing high prediction (rpred(2)=0.718,rncv(2)=0.995)., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

2-Styrylquinazolones are reported as a novel class of potent anti-mycobacterial agents. Forty-six target compounds have been synthesized using one pot reaction involving isatoic anhydride, amine, and triethyl orthoacetate followed by aldehyde to construct the 2-styrylquinazolone scaffold. The anti-mycobacterial potency of the compounds was determined against H37Rv strain. Twenty-six compounds exhibited anti-Mtb activity in the range of 0.40-6.25μg/mL. Three compounds 8c, 8d and 8ab showed MIC of 0.78μg/mL and were found to be non-toxic (<50% inhibition at 50μg/mL) to HEK 293T cell lines with the therapeutic index >64. The most potent compound 8ar showed MIC of 0.40μg/mL with the therapeutic index >125. An early structure activity relationship for this class of compounds has been established. The computational studies indicate the possibility of these compounds binding to the penicillin binding proteins (PBPs)., (Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) has remarkable ability to persist in the human host and causes latent infection in one third of the world population. Currently available tuberculosis (TB) drugs while effective in killing actively growing MTB, is largely ineffective in killing persistent or latent MTB. Lysine-ɛ aminotransferase (LAT) enzyme is reported to be highly up-regulated (41.86 times) in in vitro models of TB designed to mimic the latent stage. Hence inhibition of this MTB LAT seems attractive for developing novel drugs against latent TB. In the present study, crystal structure of the MTB LAT bound to substrate was used as a framework for structure-based design utilizing database compounds to identify novel thiazole derivative as LAT inhibitors. Thirty six compounds were synthesized and evaluated in vitro for their ability to inhibit LAT, in vitro activity against latent MTB, in vivo activity using Mycobacterium marinum infected zebra fish and cytotoxicity as steps toward the derivation of structure-activity relationship (SAR) for lead optimization. Compound 4-methoxy-2-(pyridin-4-yl)thiazole-5-carboxylic acid (24) emerged as the most promising lead with an IC50 of 1.22 ± 0.85 μM against LAT and showed 2.8 log reduction against nutrient starved MTB, with little cytotoxicity at a higher concentration (>50 μM). It also exhibited 1.5 log reduction of M. marinum load in in vivo zebra fish model at 10 mg/kg., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Mycobacterial DNA gyrase B subunit has been identified to be one of the potentially underexploited drug targets in the field of antitubercular drug discovery. In the present study, we employed structural optimization of the reported GyrB inhibitor resulting in synthesis of a series of 46 novel quinoline derivatives. The compounds were evaluated for their in vitro Mycobacterium smegmatis GyrB inhibitory ability and Mycobacterium tuberculosis DNA supercoiling inhibitory activity. The antitubercular activity of these compounds was tested over Mtb H37Rv strain and their safety profile was checked against mouse macrophage RAW 264.7 cell line. Among all, three compounds (23, 28, and 53) emerged to be active displaying IC₅₀ values below 1 μM against Msm GyrB and were found to be non-cytotoxic at 50 μM concentration. Compound 53 was identified to be potent GyrB inhibitor with 0.86 ± 0.16 μM and an MIC (minimum inhibitory concentration) of 3.3 μM. The binding affinity of this compound towards GyrB protein was analysed by differential scanning fluorimetry which resulted in a positive shift of 3.3 °C in melting temperature (Tm) when compared to the native protein thereby reacertaining the stabilization effect of the compound over protein., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

Natural alkaloid, tryptanthrin (indolo[2,1-b]quinazoline-6,12-dione) and its analogues are found to exhibit potent anti-tubercular activity against MDR-TB. A novel class of indolo[2,1-b]quinazolinones have been synthesized to evaluate their anti-mycobacterial activity. Enoyl-acyl carrier protein reductase (InhA) of Mycobacterium tuberculosis is one of the key enzymes and has been validated as an effective anti-microbial target. In silico molecular docking study demonstrates that the synthesized compounds exhibit high affinity for the M. tuberculosis drug target InhA. Phaitanthrin is a natural product, which belongs to a family of tryptanthrin and exhibits structural similarity except at position 6. Phaitanthrin derivatives are prepared by modifying the keto functionality of tryptanthrin. These phaitanthrin congeners are found to display promising anti-tubercular activity., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background and Objectives: Bacterial DNA topoisomerases are unique in maintaining the DNA topology for cell viability. Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) DNA gyrase, a sole type II topoisomerase has a larger scope as a target for developing novel therapeutics. In this study, an effort was made towards the design and synthesis of benzothiazinone-piperazine hybrid analogues to obtain the possibility of it to lead development through the molecular hybridization technique., Methods: A five-step scheme was followed to obtain a series of 36 benzothiazinone-piperazine derivatives and to evaluate them for MTB DNA gyrase inhibition, antimycobacterial and cytotoxicity studies., Results: Compound N-(4-chlorophenyl)-4-(6-nitro-4-oxo-4H-benzo[e][1,3]thiazin-2-yl)piperazine-1-carbothioamide (18) showed greater inhibitory potential with an IC50 of 0.51 ± 0.16 μM in the DNA supercoiling assay of MTB with a moderate anti-tubercular activity of 4.41 μM. The compound even passed the safety profile of eukaryotic cell cytotoxicity with a 1.81% inhibition in the RAW 264.7 cell line at 100 μM concentration., Conclusions: This study describes the discovery of benzothiazinone as gyrase inhibitors with potent MTB MIC and inhibitory profiles of the gyrase enzyme with less cytotoxic effect. Furthermore, it is believed that this class of compounds has the potential to be further developed as an anti-TB drug candidate., (Copyright © 2015 Asian African Society for Mycobacteriology. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) topoisomerase I (Topo I), involved in the relaxation of negatively supercoiled DNA, plays an important role in the viability of pathogen Mtb. Being one of the most significant enzymes; it also takes part in crucial biological pathways such as transcription and replication of the pathogen. The present study aims at the development of Mtb Topo I 3D protein structure which in turn was employed for the virtual screening of compound libraries in a process of identification of a hit molecule. The identified hit, hydroxycamptothecin, was active at 6.25 μM which was further derivatized synthetically into fifteen novel analogues. Among these, four compounds (3b, 3g, 3h and 3l) emerged to be active displaying IC50 values ranging from 2.9 to 9.3 μM against Mtb Topo I and were non-cytotoxic at 25 μM. These four compounds also proved their efficacy when tested against active, dormant and resistant forms of Mtb. The most potent inhibitor 3b was screened for in vivo anti-mycobacterial activity using zebrafish model and was found to be more effective when compared to first line anti-tubercular drugs, isoniazid and rifampicin. The binding affinity of this compound towards Mtb Topo I was analyzed by differential scanning fluorimetry which resulted in a positive shift in melting temperature when compared to the native protein thereby proving its stabilization effect over protein., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Antibiotics with good therapeutic value and novel mechanism of action are becoming increasingly important in today's battle against bacterial resistance. One of the popular targets being DNA gyrase, is currently becoming well-established and clinically validated for the development of novel antibacterials. In the present work, a series of forty eight quinoline-aminopiperidine based urea and thiourea derivatives were synthesized as pharmacophoric hybrids and evaluated for their biological activity. Compound, 1-(4-chlorophenyl)-3-(1-(6-methoxy-2-methylquinolin-4-yl)piperidin-4-yl)thiourea (45) was found to exhibit promising in vitro Mycobacterium smegmatis GyrB IC₅₀ of 0.95 ± 0.12 μM and a well correlated Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) DNA gyrase supercoiling IC₅₀ of 0.62 ± 0.16 μM. Further, compound 45 also exhibited commendable MTB MIC, safe eukaryotic cytotoxic profile with no signs of cardiotoxicity in zebrafish ether-a-go-go-related gene (zERG)., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

DNA gyrase is the only type II topoisomerase in Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), unlike other bacteria and its absence in human being makes it a clinically validated target for developing anti-tubercular leads against Mtb. In the present study, our effort was to optimize and synthesize a series of compounds by a combination of molecular docking, and synthetic chemistry approach for better activity. A series of twenty eight substituted 2-amino-5-phenylthiophene-3-carboxamide derivatives were designed based on our earlier reported Mtb GyrB inhibitor lead. Hit expansion of the previously identified lead by chemical synthesis led to improved inhibitor with an IC50 value of 0.86±0.81μM against Mtb DNA gyrase supercoiling and Mycobacterium smegmatis GyrB IC50 of 1.35±0.58μM. Further a biophysical investigation using differential scanning fluorimetry experiments re-ascertained the affinity of these molecules towards the GyrB domain., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

In the present study, we used crystal structure of MTB L-AlaDH protein complex with N6-methyl adenosine for structure based virtual screening of in house database to identify new small molecule inhibitors for MTB-L-AlaDH. Two molecules identified as better leads and were modified synthetically to obtain thirty novel analogues belonging to 2-iminothiazolidine-4-ones and 4,5,6,7-tetrahydrothieno[2,3-c]pyridine-3-carboxamides. Among the screened compounds four (4n, 4o, 12 and 14) emerged as potent inhibitors displaying IC50 values ranging from 0.58 ± 0.02 to 1.74 ± 0.03 μM against MTB-L-AlaDH and were non-cytotoxic at 50 μM. Some of these synthesized compounds also exhibited good activity against nutrient starved dormant MTB cells. The most potent inhibitors were found to stabilize the protein which was confirmed biophysically through differential scanning fluorimetry., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

DNA gyrase, the sole type II topoisomerase present in Mycobacterium tuberculosis, is absent in humans and is a well validated target for anti-tubercular drug discovery. In this study, a moderately active inhibitor of Mycobacterium tuberculosis GyrB, the pharmaceutically unexploited domain of DNA gyrase, was reengineered using a combination of molecular docking and medicinal chemistry strategies to obtain a lead series displaying considerable in vitro enzyme efficacy and bacterial kill against the Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv strain. Biophysical investigations using differential scanning fluorimetry experiments re-ascertained the affinity of these molecules towards the GyrB domain. Furthermore, the molecules were completely devoid of hERG toxicity up to 30 μM, as evaluated in a zebra fish model with a good selectivity index, and from a pharmaceutical point of view, turned out as potential candidates against TB.

Gyrase ATPase domain, the pharmaceutical underexploited segment of DNA gyrase, the sole Type II topoisomerase present in Mycobacterium tuberculosis represents an attractive target for anti-tubercular drug discovery. Here we report, the development of a novel series of MTB DNA gyraseB inhibitor identified through a medium throughput screening (MTS) of BITS in-house chemical library (3000 compounds). The MTS hit was further remodeled by chemical synthesis to identify the most potent analogue 27 exhibiting an in vitro gyrB inhibitory IC50 of 0.15 μM. The series also demonstrated well correlating gyrase super coiling activity and in vitro anti-mycobacterial potency against MTB H37Rv strain. Furthermore the compounds displayed good safety profile in their subsequent cytotoxicity and hERG toxicity evaluations, to be worked out from a pharmaceutical point of view as potential anti-tubercular agents., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Pantothenate synthetase (PS) enzyme involved in the pantothenate biosynthetic pathway is essential for the virulence and persistent growth of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB). It is encoded by the panC gene, and has become an appropriate target for developing new therapeutics for tuberculosis. Here we report new inhibitors active against MTB PS developed using energy based pharmacophore modelling of the available proteininhibitor complex (3IVX) and virtual screening of a large commercial library. The e-pharmacophore model consisted of a ring aromatic (R), negative ionizable (N) and acceptor (A) sites. Compounds 5 and 10 emerged as promising hits with IC50 s 2.18 µM and 6.63 µM respectively. Further structural optimization was attempted to optimize lead 10 using medicinal chemistry approach and six compounds were found to exhibit better enzyme inhibition compared to parent compound lead 10 (<6 µM)., (© 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

New anti-tubercular agents, imidazo[1,2-a]pyridine-2-carboxamide derivatives (5a-q) have been designed and synthesized. The structural considerations of the designed molecules were further supported by the docking study with a long-chain enoyl-acyl carrier protein reductase (InhA). The chemical structures of the new compounds were characterized by IR, (1)H NMR, (13)C NMR, HRMS and elemental analysis. In addition, single crystal X-ray diffraction has also been recorded for compound 5f. Compounds were evaluated in vitro against Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv, and cytotoxicity against HEK-293T cell line. Amongst the tested compounds 5j, 5l and 5q were emerged as good anti-tubercular agents with low cytotoxicity. The structure-anti TB activity relationship of these derivatives was explained by molecular docking., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

A series of twenty eight molecules of ethyl 5-(piperazin-1-yl)benzofuran-2-carboxylate and 3-(piperazin-1-yl)benzo[d]isothiazole were designed by molecular hybridization of thiazole aminopiperidine core and carbamide side chain in eight steps and were screened for their in vitro Mycobacterium smegmatis (MS) GyrB ATPase assay, Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) DNA gyrase super coiling assay, antitubercular activity, cytotoxicity and protein-inhibitor interaction assay through differential scanning fluorimetry. Also the orientation and the ligand-protein interactions of the top hit molecules with MS DNA gyrase B subunit active site were investigated applying extra precision mode (XP) of Glide. Among the compounds studied, 4-(benzo[d]isothiazol-3-yl)-N-(4-chlorophenyl)piperazine-1-carboxamide (26) was found to be the most promising inhibitor with an MS GyrB IC50 of 1.77 ± 0.23 μM, 0.42 ± 0.23 against MTB DNA gyrase, MTB MIC of 3.64 μM, and was not cytotoxic in eukaryotic cells at 100 μM. Moreover the interaction of protein-ligand complex was stable and showed a positive shift of 3.5 °C in differential scanning fluorimetric evaluations

Introduction: Mycobacterium marinum has emerged as a suitable species for induction of tuberculosis-like disease in zebrafish, and various zebrafish models (larval and adult) for drug screening have been proposed in the literature. It is believed that an adult zebrafish model is more useful in drug screening because, apart from assessment of efficacy, one can obtain data on dosage, pharmacokinetics and overall health improvement. This study suggests a simple, cost-effective and resource-efficient protocol for screening of anti-tuberculosis drugs., Methods: The parameters used for assessment of infection as well as anti-bacterial response were: (a) bacterial count; and (b) body weight change. An optimization study was conducted to establish the concentration of bacteria required to produce a reproducible phenotype of tuberculosis (TB). A negative control (Amoxicillin) and anti-mycobacterial drugs (Isoniazid, Rifampicin, Moxifloxacin, Ethambutol and Isoniazid+Rifampicin) were used for validation of the protocol. All the drugs were administered orally., Results: An intra-peritoneal inoculation of 0.75million bacteria/fish was optimized for the model. All the anti-tuberculosis drugs showed efficacy in this model, whereas the negative control did not show any signs of reversing the parameters of M. marinum infection., Discussion: Adult zebrafish model of M. marinum-induced tuberculosis has not been fully exploited as a drug screening tool. In the present report, a protocol is suggested that is simple, reproducible and resource-efficient for screening of anti-tuberculosis agents. This protocol is an attempt to refine the published protocols and use this model as a surrogate model of human TB for the purpose of drug screening., (Copyright © 2014 Asian-African Society for Mycobacteriology. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The pantothenate biosynthetic pathway is essential for the persistent growth and virulence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) and one of the enzymes in the pathway, pantothenate synthetase (PS, EC: 6.3.2.1), encoded by the panC gene, has become an appropriate target for new therapeutics to treat tuberculosis. Herein, we report nanomolar thiazolidine inhibitors of Mtb PS developed by a rational inhibitor design approach. The thiazolidine compounds were discovered by using energy-based pharmacophore modelling and subsequent in vitro screening, which resulted in compounds with a half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) value of (1.12 ± 0.12) μM. These compounds were subsequently optimised by a combination of modelling and synthetic chemistry. Hit expansion of the lead by chemical synthesis led to an improved inhibitor with an IC50 value of 350 nM and an Mtb minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 1.55 μM. Some of these compounds also showed good activity against dormant Mtb cells., (© 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

A series of twenty seven substituted 2-(2-oxobenzo[d]oxazol-3(2H)-yl)acetamide derivatives were designed based on our earlier reported Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) enoyl-acyl carrier protein reductase (InhA) lead. Compounds were evaluated for MTB InhA inhibition study, in vitro activity against drug-sensitive and -resistant MTB strains, and cytotoxicity against RAW 264.7 cell line. Among the compounds tested, 2-(6-nitro-2-oxobenzo[d]oxazol-3(2H)-yl)-N-(5-nitrothiazol-2-yl)acetamide (30) was found to be the most promising compound with IC50 of 5.12 ± 0.44 μM against MTB InhA, inhibited drug sensitive MTB with MIC 17.11 μM and was non-cytotoxic at 100 μM. The interaction with protein and enhancement of protein stability in complex with compound 30 was further confirmed biophysically by differential scanning fluorimetry., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

InhA, the enoyl acyl carrier protein reductase of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) is an attractive target for developing novel anti-tubercular agents. Twenty eight 2-(4-oxoquinazolin-3(4H)-yl)acetamide derivatives were synthesized and evaluated for their in vitro MTB InhA inhibition. Compounds were further evaluated for their in vitro activity against drug sensitive and resistant MTB strains and cytotoxicity against RAW 264.7 cell line. Compounds were docked at the active site of InhA to understand their binding mode and differential scanning fluorimetry was performed to ascertain their protein interaction and stability., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

Bacterial DNA gyrase is a well-established and clinically validated target to develop novel antibacterial. Our effort was designated to search for synthetically better compounds with possibility of hit to lead development. With this as objective, a series of 1-(2-(4-aminopiperidin-1-yl)ethyl)-1,5-naphthyridin-2(1H)-one derivatives were designed by molecular hybridization strategy and synthesized following nine step reaction to yield activity in low nanomolar range and commendable antibacterial activities. Compound 1-(4-fluorophenyl)-3-(1-(2-(7-methoxy-2-oxo-1,5-naphthyridin-1(2H)-yl)ethyl)piperidin-4-yl)urea (35) emerged as the most promising inhibitor with an IC50 of 78 nM against Mycobacterium tuberculosis DNA gyrase enzyme, with MTB MIC of 0.62 μM, and not cytotoxic at 50 μM in eukaryotic cell line., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

DNA gyrase of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) is a type II topoisomerase and is a well-established and validated target for the development of novel therapeutics. By adapting the medium throughput screening approach, we present the discovery and optimization of ethyl 5-(piperazin-1-yl) benzofuran-2-carboxylate series of mycobacterial DNA gyraseB inhibitors, selected from Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS) database chemical library of about 3000 molecules. These compounds were tested for their biological activity; the compound 22 emerged as the most active potent lead with an IC50 of 3.2±0.15μM against Mycobacterium smegmatis DNA gyraseB enzyme and 0.81±0.24μM in MTB supercoiling activity. Subsequently, the binding of the most active compound to the DNA gyraseB enzyme and its thermal stability was further characterized using differential scanning fluorimetry method., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

In this study, we explored the pharmaceutically underexploited mycobacterial gyrase ATPase (GyrB) domain as a template for a structure-based virtual screening of our in-house (BITS Pilani) compound collection to discover new inhibitors targeting Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M.tb.) The hit identified was further customized by using a combination of molecular docking and medicinal chemistry strategies to obtain an optimized analogue displaying considerable in vitro enzyme efficacy and bactericidal properties against the M.tb. H37 Rv strain. The binding affinity of the ligand toward the GyrB domain was reascertained by differential scanning fluorimetry experiments. Further evaluation of the hERG toxicity (a major limitation among the previously reported N-linked aminopiperidine analogues) indicated these molecules to be completely devoid of cardiotoxicity, a significant achievement within this class., (© 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

In the present study, we identified carvacrol, a major phenolic component of oregano oil as a novel small molecule inhibitor of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) chorismate mutase (CM) enzyme with IC50 of 1.06 ± 0.4 µM. Virtual screening of the BITS-Pilani in-house database using the crystal structure of the MTB CM bound transition state intermediate (PDB: 2FP2) as framework identified carvacrol as a potential lead. Further various carvacrol derivatives were evaluated in vitro for their ability to inhibit MTB CM enzyme, whole cell MTB and cytotoxicity as steps toward the derivation of structure-activity relationships (SAR) and lead optimization.

In the present study, we used crystal structure of mycobacterial pantothenate synthetase (PS) bound with 2-(2-(benzofuran-2-ylsulfonylcarbamoyl)-5-methoxy-1H-indol-1-yl) acetic acid inhibitor for virtual screening of antitubercular compound database to identify new scaffolds. One of the identified lead was modified synthetically to obtain thirty novel analogues. These synthesized compounds were evaluated for Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) PS inhibition study, in vitro antimycobacterial activities and cytotoxicity against RAW 264.7 cell line. Among the compounds tested, N'-(1-naphthoyl)-2-methylimidazo[1,2-a]pyridine-3-carbohydrazide (5b) was found to be the most active compound with IC₅₀ of 1.90 ± 0.12 μM against MTB PS, MIC of 4.53 μM against MTB with no cytotoxicity at 50 μM. The binding affinity of the most potent inhibitor 5b was further confirmed biophysically through differential scanning fluorimetry., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background and Objectives: The objective of this study is to synthesize and evaluate 1-(4-chlorophenyl)-4-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxy-5-nitrobenzylidene) pyrazolidine-3,5-dione (CD59) analogues to establish structure-activity relationship and mechanism of action., Methods: Thirty analogues of reported antitubercular CD59 were prepared by two-step synthetic protocols and characterized. The compounds were evaluated for in vitro activities against Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB), cytotoxicity against RAW 264.7 cells. The molecules were also evaluated for three mycobacterial enzymes to study the mechanism of action., Results: Among the compounds, 4-(2-bromobenzylidene)-1-(4-chlorophenyl)pyrazolidine-3,5-dione (4k) was found to be the most active compound in vitro with MICs of 4.13μM against log-phase culture of MTB and also non-toxic up to 50μM., Conclusions: Amongst all, the compounds 4g, 3i and 3n were most active against the enzymes MTB Pantothenate synthetase, lysine amino transferase and Alanine dehydrogenase, respectively. Further screening of these molecules was required in the in vitro dormant MTB models., (Copyright © 2014 Asian-African Society for Mycobacteriology. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Twenty derivatives of 2,6-disubstituted 4,5,6,7-tetrahydrothieno[2,3-c]pyridine-3-carboxamide and ten of 2-substituted 4,5,6,7,8,9-hexahydrocycloocta[b]thiophene-3-carboxamide were synthesized by molecular modification of a known antimycobacterial molecule. Compounds were evaluated in vitro against Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB), and cytotoxicity against RAW 264.7 cell line. Among the compounds, 2-(4-phenoxybenzamido)-4,5,6,7,8,9-hexahydrocycloocta[b]thiophene-3-carboxamide (12f) was found to be the most active compound against MTB with MIC of 3.70 μM and was more potent than Ethambutol (MIC of 7.64 μM), Ciprofloxacin (MIC of 9.41 μM) and standard lead compound SID 92097880 (MIC of 9.15 μM). Compound 12f also showed MTB MIC of 1.23 μM in the presence of an efflux pump inhibitor verapamil, and showed no cytotoxicity at 50 μM., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

Twenty six 2,6-disubstituted 4,5,6,7-tetrahydrothieno[2,3-c]pyridine-3-carboxamide derivatives were designed by molecular hybridization approach using and synthesized from piperidin-4-one by five step synthesis. Compounds were evaluated for Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) pantothenate synthetase (PS) inhibition study, in vitro activities against MTB, cytotoxicity against RAW 264.7 cell line. Among the compounds, 6-(4-nitrophenylsulfonyl)-2-(5-nitrothiophene-2-carboxamido)-4,5,6,7-tetrahydrothieno[2,3-c]pyridine-3-carboxamide (11) was found to be the most active compound with IC50 of 5.87 ± 0.12 μM against MTB PS, inhibited MTB with MIC of 9.28 μM and it was non-cytotoxic at 50 μM. The binding affinity of the most potent inhibitor 11 was further confirmed biophysically through differential scanning fluorimetry., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

DNA gyrase of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) is a type II topoisomerase that ensures the regulation of DNA topology and has been genetically demonstrated to be a bactericidal drug target. We present the discovery and optimisation of a novel series of mycobacterial DNA gyrase inhibitors with a high degree of specificity towards the mycobacterial ATPase domain. Compound 5-fluoro-1-(2-(4-(4-(trifluoromethyl)benzylamino)piperidin-1-yl)ethyl)indoline-2,3-dione (17) emerged as the most potent lead, exhibiting inhibition of MTB DNA gyrase supercoiling assay with an IC50 (50% inhibitory concentration) of 3.6 ± 0.16 μM, a Mycobacterium smegmatis GyrB IC50 of 10.6 ± 0.6 μM, and MTB minimum inhibitory concentrations of 6.95 μM and 10 μM against drug-sensitive (MTB H37Rv) and extensively drug-resistant strains, respectively. Furthermore, the compounds did not show any signs of cardiotoxicity in zebrafish ether-à-go-go-related gene (zERG), and hence constitute a major breakthrough among the otherwise cardiotoxic N-linked aminopiperidine analogues., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. and the International Society of Chemotherapy. All rights reserved.)

A series of novel dibenzo[b,d]furan-1,2,3-triazole conjugates, rationally designed by reorientation of dibenzo[b,d]furan pharmacophore and alkyl/aryl groups appended on 1,2,3-triazole core, were synthesized using click chemistry. The required key intermediate, 2-ethynyl dibenzo[b,d]furan 3 was prepared from dibenzofuran-2-carboxaldehyde using Corey-Fuchs reaction. Further reaction of 3 with various alkyl/aryl azides in the presence of copper catalyst produced 1,2,3-triazole conjugates in excellent yields. Evaluation of all the new compounds for in vitro antimycobacterial activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv (ATCC27294), resulted 5a (MIC: 1.56 μg/mL), 5d (MIC: 0.78 μg/mL) and 5f (MIC: 0.78 μg/mL) as promising lead analogues. Among these three compounds, 1-(4-bromobenzyl)-4-(dibenzo[b,d]furan-2-yl)-1H-1,2,3-triazole (5f) emerged as the most promising antitubercular agent with lowest cytotoxicity (selectivity index: ≫25) against the HEK-293T cell line., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

Focus in this Letter is made to design and synthesize a series of nineteen new 6-(4-((substituted-1H-1,2,3-triazol-4-yl)methyl)piperazin-1-yl)phenanthridine analogues employing click chemistry and evaluated for their anti-tubercular activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv. Among the tested compounds, 7f and 7 j exhibited good activity (MIC = 3.125 μg/mL), while 8a displayed excellent activity (MIC = 1.56 μg/mL) against the growth of M. tuberculosis H37Rv. In addition, 7f, 7 j and 8a compounds were subjected to cytotoxic studies against mouse macrophage (RAW264.7) cell lines and the selectivity index values are >15 indicating suitability of compounds for further drug development., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

A series of novel natural product like 2-substiuted-3H-benzofurobenzofurans designed by molecular hybridization were synthesized in very good yields. The key reactions involved in the synthesis are iodination of 2-dibenzofuranol using iodine monochloride followed by palladium-copper catalyzed Sonagashira-coupling of 1-iododibenzofuran-2-ol with various alkyl and aryl acetylenes. Among the all 10 new compounds screened for in vitro anti-mycobacterial activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv, 2-(4-methoxy-2-methyl phenyl)-3H-benzofuro[3,2-e]benzofuran (7c) was found to be most active with MIC 3.12 μg/mL and has shown lower cytotoxicity with good therapeutic index., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

A series of ethyl-4-(4-((substituted benzyl)amino)piperidin-1-yl)-2-(phenyl/pyridyl)thiazole-5-carboxylates was designed by molecular hybridization and synthesized from aryl thioamides in five steps. The compounds were evaluated for their in vitro Mycobacterium smegmatis (MS) GyrB ATPase assay, Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) DNA gyrase super coiling assay, antituberculosis activity and cytotoxicity. Among the twenty four compounds studied, ethyl-4-(4-((4-fluorobenzyl)amino)piperidin-1-yl)-2-phenylthiazole-5-carboxylate (14) was found to be the promising compound which showed activity against all test with MS GyrB IC50 of 24.0 ± 2.1 μM, 79% inhibition of MTB DNA gyrase at 50 μM, MTB MIC of 28.44 μM, and not cytotoxic at 50 μM., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)