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- Chen, Zhipeng, et al.
(författare)
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Design, Synthesis, and Structure-Activity Relationship of N-Aryl-N'-(thiophen-2-yl) thiourea Derivatives as Novel and Specific Human TLR1/2 Agonists for Potential Cancer Immunotherapy
- 2021
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Ingår i: Journal of Medicinal Chemistry. - Washington, DC : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 0022-2623 .- 1520-4804. ; 64:11, s. 7371-7389
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The previous virtual screening of ten million compounds yielded two novel nonlipopeptide-like chemotypes as TLR2 agonists. Herein, we present the chemical optimization of our initial hit, 1-phenyl-3-(thiophen-2-yl) urea, which resulted in the identification of SMU-C80 (EC50 = 31.02 ± 1.01 nM) as a TLR2-specific agonist with a 370-fold improvement in bioactivity. Mechanistic studies revealed that SMU-C80, through TLR1/2, recruits the adaptor protein MyD88 and triggers the NF-κB pathway to release cytokines such as TNF-α and IL-1β from human, but not murine, cells. To the best of our knowledge, it is the first species-specific TLR1/2 agonist reported until now. Moreover, SMU-C80 increased the percentage of T, B, and NK cells ex vivo and activated the immune cells, which suppressed cancer cell growth in vitro. In summary, we obtained a highly efficient and specific human TLR1/2 agonist that acts through the MyD88 and NF-κB pathway, facilitating cytokine release and the simultaneous activation of immune cells that in turn affects the apoptosis of cancer cells. © 2021 American Chemical Society
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| 2. |
- Zhang, Qiao, et al.
(författare)
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Emerging and state of the art hemagglutinin-targeted influenza virus inhibitors
- 2021
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Ingår i: Expert Opinion on Pharmacotherapy. - Abingdon : Taylor & Francis. - 1465-6566 .- 1744-7666. ; 22:6, s. 715-728
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Introduction: Seasonal influenza vaccination, together with FDA-approved neuraminidase (NA) and polymerase acidic (PA) inhibitors, is the most effective way for prophylaxis and treatment of influenza infections. However, the low efficacy of prevailing vaccines to newly emerging influenza strains and increasing resistance to available drugs drives intense research to explore more effective inhibitors. Hemagglutinin (HA), one of the major surface proteins of influenza strains, represents an attractive therapeutic target to develop such new inhibitors. Areas covered: This review summarizes the current progress of HA-based influenza virus inhibitors and their mechanisms of action, which may facilitate further research in developing novel antiviral inhibitors for controlling influenza infections. Expert opinion: HA-mediated entry of influenza virus is an essential step for successful infection of the host, which makes HA a promising target for the development of antiviral drugs. Recent progress in delineating the crystal structures of HA, especially HA-inhibitors complexes, has revealed a number of key residues and conserved binding pockets within HA. This has opened up important insights for developing HA-based antiviral inhibitors that have a high resistance barrier and broad-spectrum activities.
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