| 1. |
- Graffner Nordberg, Malin
(författare)
-
Approaches to soft drug analogues of dihydrofolate reductase inhibitors : Design and synthesis
- 2001
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The main objective of the research described in this thesis has been the design and synthesis of inhibitors of the enzyme dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) intended for local administration and devoid of systemic side-effects. The blocking of the enzymatic activity of DHFR is a key element in the treatment of many diseases, including cancer, bacterial and protozoal infections, and also opportunistic infections associated with AIDS (Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia, PCP). Recent research indicates that the enzyme also is involved in various autoimmune diseases, e.g., rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel diseases and psoriasis. Many useful antifolates have been developed to date although problems remain with toxicity and selectivity, e.g., the well-established, classical antifolate methotrexate exerts a high activity but also high toxicity. The new antifolates described herein were designed to retain the pharmacophore of methotrexate, but encompassing an ester group, so that they also would serve as substrates for the endogenous hydrolytic enzymes, e.g., esterases. Such antifolates would optimally comprise good examples of soft drugs because they in a controlled fashion would be rapidly and predictably metabolized to non-toxic metabolites after having exerted their biological effect at the site of administration.A preliminary screening of a large series of simpler aromatic esters as model compounds in a biological assay consisting of esterases from different sources was performed. The structural features of the least reactive ester were substituted for the methyleneamino bridge in methotrexate to produce analogues that were chemically stable but potential substrates for DHFR as well as for the esterases.The new inhibitor showed desirable activity towards rat liver DHFR, being only eight times less potent then methotrexate. Furthermore, the derived metabolites were found to be poor substrates for the same enzyme. The new compound showed good activity in a mice colitis model in vivo, but a pharmacokinetic study revealed that the half-life of the new compound was similar to methotrexate. A series of compounds characterized by a high lipophilicity and thus expected to provide better esterase substrates were designed and synthesized. One of these analogues in which three methoxy groups were substituted for the glutamic residue of methotrexate exhibited favorable pharmacokinetics. This compound is structurally similar to another potent DHFR inhibitor, trimetrexate, used in the therapy of PCP (vide supra). The new inhibitor that undergoes a fast metabolism in vivo is suitable as a model to further investigate the soft drug concept.
|
|
| 2. |
- Graffner-Nordberg, Malin, et al.
(författare)
-
Computational predictions of binding affinities to dihydrofolate reductase: synthesis and biological evaluation of methotrexate analogues
- 2000
-
Ingår i: Journal of Medicinal Chemistry. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 1520-4804 .- 0022-2623. ; 43:21, s. 3852-3861
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The relative binding affinities to human dihydrofolate reductase of four new potential antifolates, containing ester linkages between the two aromatic systems, were estimated by free energy perturbation simulations. The ester analogue, predicted to exhibit the highest binding affinity to human dihydrofolate reductase, and a reference ester (more structurally related to methotrexate) were synthesized. As deduced from the measured IC(50) values, the calculated ranking of the ligands was correct although a greater difference in affinity was indicated by the experimental measurements. Among the new antifolates the most potent inhibitor exhibited a similar pharmacokinetic profile to methotrexate but lacked activity in a complex antiarthritic model in rat in vivo.
|
|
| 3. |
- Graffner-Nordberg, Malin, et al.
(författare)
-
Design and synthesis of dihydrofolate reductase inhibitors encompassing a bridging ester group. Evaluation in a mouse colitis model
- 2003
-
Ingår i: Journal of Medicinal Chemistry. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 0022-2623 .- 1520-4804. ; 46:16, s. 3455-3462
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Crohn's disease is a chronic inflammatory bowel disease characterized by inflammation of both the small and large intestines. Methotrexate (MTX), a classical dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) inhibitor, has been used as a therapeutic agent in the treatment of patients with Crohn's disease in recent years. We sought to develop antifolates similar in structure to MTX that would be effective in reducing inflammation in a mouse disease model of colitis. Four classical DHFR inhibitors encompassing ester bridges in the central parts of the molecules were synthesized. These antifolates were efficient inhibitors of the DHFR enzyme derived from rat. They were also tested in vitro for their ability to inhibit induced proliferation of lymphocytes from mouse spleen. Inhibition of cell proliferation was achieved only in the micromolar range, whereas MTX was effective at low nanomolar concentrations. One of the DHFR inhibitors (1), with an IC50 value for rlDHFR approximately 8 times higher than that of methotrexate, was selected for in vivo experiments in an experimental colitis model in mice. This compound demonstrated a clear antiinflammatory effect after topical administration, comparable to the effect achieved with the glucocorticoid budesonide. Three parameters were evaluated in this model: myeloperoxidase activity, colon weight, and inflammation scoring. A favorable in vivo effect of compound 1 (15 mg/(kg(.)day)) was observed in all three inflammatory parameters. However, the results cannot be explained fully by DHFR inhibition or by inhibition of lymphocyte cell proliferation, suggesting that other yet unidentified mechanisms enable reduction of inflammation in the colitis model. The mechanism of action of methotrexate analogues encompassing a bridging ester group is not well understood in vivo but seems to lend itself well to further development of similar compounds.
|
|
| 4. |
- Graffner-Nordberg, Malin, et al.
(författare)
-
Design, synthesis, and computational affinity prediction of ester soft drugs as inhibitors of dihydrofolate reductase from Pneumocystis carinii
- 2004
-
Ingår i: European Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences. - : Elsevier BV. - 0928-0987 .- 1879-0720. ; 22:1, s. 43-54
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A series of dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) inhibitors, where the methylenamino-bridge of non-classical inhibitors was replaced with an ester function, have been prepared as potential soft drugs intended for inhalation against Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP). Several of the new ester-based inhibitors that should serve as good substrates for the ubiquitous esterases and possibly constitute safer alternatives to metabolically stable DHFR inhibitors administered orally, were found to be potent inhibitors of P. carinii DHFR (pcDHFR). Although the objectives of the present program is to achieve a favorable toxicity profile by applying the soft drug concept, a high preference for inhibition of the fungal DHFR versus the mammalian DHFR is still desirable to suppress host toxicity at the site of administration. Compounds with a slight preference for the fungal enzyme were identified. The selection of the target compounds for synthesis was partly guided by an automated docking and scoring procedure as well as molecular dynamics simulations. The modest selectivity of the synthesized inhibitors was reasonably well predicted, although a correct ranking of the relative affinities was not successful in all cases.
|
|
| 5. |
- Graffner-Nordberg, Malin, et al.
(författare)
-
Design, Synthesis, Computational Prediction and Biological Evaluation of Ester Soft Drugs as Inhibitors of Dihydrofolate Reductase from Pneumocystis Carinii
- 2001
-
Ingår i: Journal of Medicinal Chemistry. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 0022-2623 .- 1520-4804. ; 44:15, s. 2391-2402
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A series of lipophilic soft drugs structurally related to the nonclassical dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) inhibitors trimetrexate and piritrexim have been designed, synthesized, and evaluated in DHFR assays, with special emphasis on the inhibition of P. carinii DHFR. The best inhibitors, encompassing an ester bond in the bridge connecting the two aromatic systems, were approximately 10 times less potent than trimetrexate and piritrexim. The metabolites were designed to be poor inhibitors. Furthermore, molecular dynamics simulations of three ligands in complex with DHFR from Pneumocystis carinii and from the human enzyme were conducted in order to better understand the factors determining the selectivity. A correct ranking of the relative inhibition of DHFR was achieved utilizing the linear interaction energy method. The soft drugs are intended for local administration. One representative ester was selected for a pharmacokinetic study in rats where it was found to undergo fast metabolic degradation to the predicted inactive metabolites.
|
|
| 6. |
- Graffner-Nordberg, Malin, et al.
(författare)
-
Synthesis and enzymatic hydrolysis of esters, constituting simple models of soft drugs
- 1998
-
Ingår i: Chemical and pharmaceutical bulletin. - : Pharmaceutical Society of Japan. - 0009-2363 .- 1347-5223. ; 46, s. 591-
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- One way to minimise systemic side effects of drugs is to design molecules, soft drugs, in such a way that they are metabolically inactivated rapidly after having acted on their pharmacological target. Hydrolases (esterases, peptidases, lipases, glycosidases, etc.) are enzymes well suited to use for drug inactivation since they are ubiquitously distributed. Insertion of ester bonds susceptible to enzymatic cleavage may represent one approach to make the action of a drug more restricted to the site of application.The present study describes the chemical synthesis of fourteen model compounds comprising a bicyclic aromatic unit connected by an ester-containing bridge to another aromatic ring. Initial attempts to define a) the tissue selectivity of the hydrolytic metabolism and b) the molecular structural factors affecting the rate of enzymatic ester cleavage are presented.The data show that human and rat liver fractions were more active than human duodenal mucosa and human blood leukocytes at a hydrolysing the compounds. The rank order of the compounds was, however, very similar in the different biological systems. Commercially available pig liver carboxyl esterase and cholesterol esterase both reasonably well predict the rank order in the tissue fractions.
|
|
| 7. |
|
|
