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Rational design of potent, small, synthetic allosteric inhibitors of thrombin.

ABSTRACT: Thrombin is a key enzyme targeted by the majority of current anticoagulants that are direct inhibitors. Allosteric inhibition of thrombin may offer a major advantage of finely tuned regulation. We present here sulfated benzofurans as the first examples of potent, small allosteric inhibitors of thrombin. A sulfated benzofuran library of 15 sulfated monomers and 13 sulfated dimers with different charged, polar, and hydrophobic substituents was studied in this work. Synthesis of the sulfated benzofurans was achieved through a multiple step, highly branched strategy, which culminated with microwave-assisted chemical sulfation. Of the 28 potential inhibitors, 11 exhibited reasonable inhibition of human ?-thrombin at pH 7.4. Structure-activity relationship analysis indicated that sulfation at the 5-position of the benzofuran scaffold was essential for targeting thrombin. A tert-butyl 5-sulfated benzofuran derivative was found to be the most potent thrombin inhibitor with an IC(50) of 7.3 ?M under physiologically relevant conditions. Michaelis-Menten studies showed an allosteric inhibition phenomenon. Plasma clotting assays indicate that the sulfated benzofurans prolong both the activated partial thromboplastin time and prothrombin time. Overall, this work puts forward sulfated benzofurans as the first small, synthetic molecules as powerful lead compounds for the design of a new class of allosteric inhibitors of thrombin.

SUBMITTER: Sidhu PS

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3150610 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Rational design of potent, small, synthetic allosteric inhibitors of thrombin.

Sidhu Preetpal Singh PS Liang Aiye A Mehta Akul Y AY Abdel Aziz May H MH Zhou Qibing Q Desai Umesh R UR

Journal of medicinal chemistry 20110718 15

Thrombin is a key enzyme targeted by the majority of current anticoagulants that are direct inhibitors. Allosteric inhibition of thrombin may offer a major advantage of finely tuned regulation. We present here sulfated benzofurans as the first examples of potent, small allosteric inhibitors of thrombin. A sulfated benzofuran library of 15 sulfated monomers and 13 sulfated dimers with different charged, polar, and hydrophobic substituents was studied in this work. Synthesis of the sulfated benzof ...[more]

PMID: 21714536

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Project description:BACKGROUND: The development of new anticoagulants is an important goal for the improvement of thromboses treatments. OBJECTIVES: The design, synthesis and experimental testing of new safe and effective small molecule direct thrombin inhibitors for intravenous administration. METHODS: Computer-aided molecular design of new thrombin inhibitors was performed using our original docking program SOL, which is based on the genetic algorithm of global energy minimization in the framework of a Merck Molecular Force Field. This program takes into account the effects of solvent. The designed molecules with the best scoring functions (calculated binding energies) were synthesized and their thrombin inhibitory activity evaluated experimentally in vitro using a chromogenic substrate in a buffer system and using a thrombin generation test in isolated plasma and in vivo using the newly developed model of hemodilution-induced hypercoagulation in rats. The acute toxicities of the most promising new thrombin inhibitors were evaluated in mice, and their stabilities in aqueous solutions were measured. RESULTS: New compounds that are both effective direct thrombin inhibitors (the best K(I) was <1 nM) and strong anticoagulants in plasma (an IC(50) in the thrombin generation assay of approximately 100 nM) were discovered. These compounds contain one of the following new residues as the basic fragment: isothiuronium, 4-aminopyridinium, or 2-aminothiazolinium. LD(50) values for the best new inhibitors ranged from 166.7 to >1111.1 mg/kg. A plasma-substituting solution supplemented with one of the new inhibitors prevented hypercoagulation in the rat model of hemodilution-induced hypercoagulation. Activities of the best new inhibitors in physiological saline (1 µM solutions) were stable after sterilization by autoclaving, and the inhibitors remained stable at long-term storage over more than 1.5 years at room temperature and at 4°C. CONCLUSIONS: The high efficacy, stability and low acute toxicity reveal that the inhibitors that were developed may be promising for potential medical applications.

Project description:The tremendous social and economic impact of thrombotic disorders, together with the considerable risks associated to the currently available therapies, prompt for the development of more efficient and safer anticoagulants. Novel peptide-based thrombin inhibitors were identified using in silico structure-based design and further validated in vitro. The best candidate compounds contained both L- and D-amino acids, with the general sequence D-Phe(P3)-Pro(P2)-D-Arg(P1)-P1'-CONH₂. The P1' position was scanned with L- and D-isomers of natural or unnatural amino acids, covering the major chemical classes. The most potent non-covalent and proteolysis-resistant inhibitors contain small hydrophobic or polar amino acids (Gly, Ala, Ser, Cys, Thr) at the P1' position. The lead tetrapeptide, D-Phe-Pro-D-Arg-D-Thr-CONH₂, competitively inhibits α-thrombin's cleavage of the S2238 chromogenic substrate with a K(i) of 0.92 µM. In order to understand the molecular details of their inhibitory action, the three-dimensional structure of three peptides (with P1' L-isoleucine (fPrI), L-cysteine (fPrC) or D-threonine (fPrt)) in complex with human α-thrombin were determined by X-ray crystallography. All the inhibitors bind in a substrate-like orientation to the active site of the enzyme. The contacts established between the D-Arg residue in position P1 and thrombin are similar to those observed for the L-isomer in other substrates and inhibitors. However, fPrC and fPrt disrupt the active site His57-Ser195 hydrogen bond, while the combination of a P1 D-Arg and a bulkier P1' residue in fPrI induce an unfavorable geometry for the nucleophilic attack of the scissile bond by the catalytic serine. The experimental models explain the observed relative potency of the inhibitors, as well as their stability to proteolysis. Moreover, the newly identified direct thrombin inhibitors provide a novel pharmacophore platform for developing antithrombotic agents by exploring the conformational constrains imposed by the D-stereochemistry of the residues at positions P1 and P1'.

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Rational design of potent, small, synthetic allosteric inhibitors of thrombin.

Publications

Rational design of potent, small, synthetic allosteric inhibitors of thrombin.

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