1. Academic Validation
  2. Discovery of seven-membered ring berberine analogues as highly potent and specific hCES2A inhibitors

Discovery of seven-membered ring berberine analogues as highly potent and specific hCES2A inhibitors

  • Chem Biol Interact. 2023 Apr 18;110501. doi: 10.1016/j.cbi.2023.110501.
Yun Yang 1 Yuan Xiong 2 Guanghao Zhu 2 Mengru Sun 2 Kun Zou 2 Yitian Zhao 2 Yong Zhang 3 Zhijian Xu 4 Yiming Li 2 Weiliang Zhu 4 Qi Jia 5 Bo Li 6 Guangbo Ge 7
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 School of Pharmacy, Shanghai Frontiers Science Center of TCM Chemical Biology, Institute of Interdisciplinary Integrative Medicine Research, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, 201203, China; State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Drug Discovery and Design Center, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 555 Zuchongzhi Road, Shanghai, 201203, China.
  • 2 School of Pharmacy, Shanghai Frontiers Science Center of TCM Chemical Biology, Institute of Interdisciplinary Integrative Medicine Research, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, 201203, China.
  • 3 State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Drug Discovery and Design Center, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 555 Zuchongzhi Road, Shanghai, 201203, China.
  • 4 State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Drug Discovery and Design Center, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 555 Zuchongzhi Road, Shanghai, 201203, China; School of Pharmacy, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China.
  • 5 School of Pharmacy, Shanghai Frontiers Science Center of TCM Chemical Biology, Institute of Interdisciplinary Integrative Medicine Research, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, 201203, China. Electronic address: q_jia@126.com.
  • 6 State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Drug Discovery and Design Center, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 555 Zuchongzhi Road, Shanghai, 201203, China; School of Pharmacy, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China. Electronic address: boli@simm.ac.cn.
  • 7 School of Pharmacy, Shanghai Frontiers Science Center of TCM Chemical Biology, Institute of Interdisciplinary Integrative Medicine Research, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, 201203, China. Electronic address: geguangbo@shutcm.edu.cn.
Abstract

Human carboxylesterase 2A (hCES2A) is a key serine hydrolase responsible for the metabolic clearance of large number of compounds bearing the ester- or amide-bond(s). Inhibition of hCES2A can relieve the chemotherapy-induced toxicity and alter the pharmacokinetic bahaviors of some orally administrate esters-containing agents. However, most of the hCES2A inhibitors show poor cell-membrane permeability and poor specificity. Herein, guided by the structure activity relationships (SAR) of fifteen natural Alkaloids against hCES2A, fifteen new seven-membered ring berberine analogues were designed and synthesized, and their anti-hCES2A activities were evaluated. Among all tested compounds, compound 28 showed potent anti-hCES2A effect (IC50 = 1.66 μM) and excellent selectivity over hCES1A (IC50 > 100 μM). The SAR analysis revealed that the seven-membered ring of these berberine analogues was a crucial moiety for hCES2A inhibition, while the secondary amine group of the ring-C is important for improving their specificity over other serine hydrolases. Inhibition kinetic analyses and molecular dynamic simulation demonstrated that 28 strongly inhibited hCES2A in a mixed-inhibition manner, with an estimated Ki value of 1.035 μM. Moreover, 28 could inhibit intracellular hCES2A in living HepG2 cells and exhibited suitable metabolic stability. Collectively, the SAR of seven-membered ring berberine analogues as hCES2A inhibitors were studied, while compound 28 acted as a promising candidate for developing highly selective hCES2A inhibitors.

Keywords

Berberine analogues; Human carboxylesterase 2 (hCES2A); Inhibition kinetics; Selectivity; Structure-activity relationships (SAR).

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