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Full-Text Articles in Medicinal-Pharmaceutical Chemistry

Novel Inhibitors To Mmpl3 Transporter Of Mycobacterium Tuberculosis By Structure-Based High-Throughput Virtual Screening And Molecular Dynamics Simulations, Hetanshi Choksi, Justin Carbone, Nicholas J. Paradis, Lucas Bennett, Candice Bui-Linh, Chun Wu Mar 2024

Novel Inhibitors To Mmpl3 Transporter Of Mycobacterium Tuberculosis By Structure-Based High-Throughput Virtual Screening And Molecular Dynamics Simulations, Hetanshi Choksi, Justin Carbone, Nicholas J. Paradis, Lucas Bennett, Candice Bui-Linh, Chun Wu

Faculty Scholarship for the College of Science & Mathematics

Tuberculosis (TB)-causing bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) utilizes mycolic acids for building the mycobacterial cell wall, which is critical in providing defense against external factors and resisting antibiotic action. MmpL3 is a secondary resistance nodulation division transporter that facilitates the coupled transport of mycolic acid precursor into the periplasm using the proton motive force, thus making it an attractive drug target for TB infection. In 2019, X-ray crystal structures of MmpL3 from M. smegmatis were solved with a promising inhibitor SQ109, which showed promise against drug-resistant TB in Phase II clinical trials. Still, there is a pressing need to discover more …


Development Of High Throughput Assays For Identification And Evaluation Of Small Molecule Inhibitors Of Microrna-31 Expression, Jackline A. Onyango May 2021

Development Of High Throughput Assays For Identification And Evaluation Of Small Molecule Inhibitors Of Microrna-31 Expression, Jackline A. Onyango

Masters Theses

Dysregulated expression of miRNAs has been linked to numerous cancers. On the other hand, miRNAs are potential drug targets due to the ability of their precursor molecules to fold into ligand binding structures. Small-molecule modulators of miRNAs offers opportunity for the development of new therapeutic agents and tools to further probe the mechanisms of miRNA functions. To facilitate the identification of miRNA modulators, the appropriate screening systems are needed, which would be adaptable for high-throughput applications, and allow for quantitative measurements. In this text, we present a molecular beacon-based assay to identify molecules that inhibit miRNA-31 processing by Dicer and …


Biochemical Characterization Of Small Molecule Inhibitor Binding On A Ras Related Gtpase And Its Effector Interactions, Djamali Muhoza May 2021

Biochemical Characterization Of Small Molecule Inhibitor Binding On A Ras Related Gtpase And Its Effector Interactions, Djamali Muhoza

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Ras superfamily of GTPases has 167 proteins that are involved in various cellular processes such as proliferation, transformation, migration, and inhibition of cell death. Mutations, abnormal expression, and function of these proteins are observed in many diseases, including several forms of cancer. Even though these GTPases were among the first discovered oncogenes, no successful Ras drug candidate has successfully passed clinical trials. Drugs targeting these proteins have failed mainly because of the complexity of their regulation, their high affinity to GTP, and their structure’s dynamic nature. Recently, novel promising targeting approaches have renewed interest in the Ras drug discovery …


Synthesis Of Dual Small Molecule Hybrids To Probe The Synergy Between Dna Repair Enzymes And Ido1, Nathaniel George Jan 2021

Synthesis Of Dual Small Molecule Hybrids To Probe The Synergy Between Dna Repair Enzymes And Ido1, Nathaniel George

Theses and Dissertations--Chemistry

Indoleamine 2 3-dioxygenase (IDO) has recently been highlighted as a promising target for small molecule based immunotherapy. IDO is often coopted by various cancer cells to promote an immune-suppressive environment around tumors. DNA damage repair (DDR) enzymes have recently been targeted for inhibition to promote genetic instability and bolster immune recognition. DDR enzymes such as PARP and POLγ are common inhibition targets due to their direct effects on cellular function. In the process of designing conjugate inhibitors of IDO and DDR enzymes, novel synthetic methodology was developed for the mild deprotection of N-Tert-butyloxycarbonyl (N-BOC) group from various amines. Conjugate …


Bisthioether Stapled Peptides Targeting Polycomb Repressive Complex 2 Gene Repression, Gan Zhang Feb 2019

Bisthioether Stapled Peptides Targeting Polycomb Repressive Complex 2 Gene Repression, Gan Zhang

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Interactions between proteins play a key role in nearly all cellular process, and therefore, disruption of such interactions may lead to many different types of cellular dysfunctions. Hence, pathologic protein-protein interactions (PPIs) constitute highly attractive drug targets and hold great potential for developing novel therapeutic agents for the treatment of incurable human diseases. Unfortunately, the identification of PPI inhibitors is an extremely challenging task, since traditionally used small molecule ligands are mostly unable to cover and anchor on the extensive flat surfaces that define those binary protein complexes. In contrast, large biomolecules such as proteins or peptides are ideal fits …


Iterative Non-Proteinogenic Residue Incorporation Yields Α/Β-Peptides With A Helix-Loop-Helix Tertiary Structure And High Affinity For Vegf, James W. Checco, Samuel H. Gellman Feb 2017

Iterative Non-Proteinogenic Residue Incorporation Yields Α/Β-Peptides With A Helix-Loop-Helix Tertiary Structure And High Affinity For Vegf, James W. Checco, Samuel H. Gellman

Chemistry Department: Faculty Publications

Inhibition of specific protein-protein interactions is attractive for a range of therapeutic applications, but the large and irregularly shaped contact surfaces involved in many such interactions make it challenging to design synthetic antagonists. Here, we describe the development of backbone-modified peptides containing both α- and β-amino acid residues (“α/β-peptides”) that target the receptor-binding surface of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). Our approach is based on the Z-domain, which adopts a three-helix bundle tertiary structure. We show how a two-helix “mini-Z-domain” can be modified to contain β and other non-proteinogenic residues while retaining the target-binding epitope using iterative non-natural residue incorporation. …


A Rational Design Of A Selective Inhibitor For Kv1.1 Channels Prevalent In Demyelinated Nerves That Improves Their Impaired Axonal Conduction, Ahmed Al-Sabi, Declan Daly, Patrick Hoefer, Gemma K. Kinsella, Charles Metais, Mark Pickering, Caroline Herron, Seshu Kumar Kaza, Kieran Nolan, J. Oliver Dolly Jan 2017

A Rational Design Of A Selective Inhibitor For Kv1.1 Channels Prevalent In Demyelinated Nerves That Improves Their Impaired Axonal Conduction, Ahmed Al-Sabi, Declan Daly, Patrick Hoefer, Gemma K. Kinsella, Charles Metais, Mark Pickering, Caroline Herron, Seshu Kumar Kaza, Kieran Nolan, J. Oliver Dolly

Articles

K+ channels containing Kv1.1 α subunits, which become prevalent at internodes in demyelinated axons, may underlie their dysfunctional conduction akin to muscle weakness in multiple sclerosis. Small inhibitors were sought with selectivity for the culpable hyper-polarizing K+ currents. Modeling of interactions with the extracellular pore in a Kv1.1-deduced structure identified diaryldi(2-pyrrolyl)methane as a suitable scaffold with optimized alkyl ammonium side chains. The resultant synthesized candidate [2,2′-((5,5′(di-p-topyldiaryldi(2-pyrrolyl)methane)bis(2,2′carbonyl)bis(azanediyl)) diethaneamine·2HCl] (8) selectively blocked Kv1.1 channels (IC50 ≈ 15 μM) recombinantly expressed in mammalian cells, induced a positive shift in the voltage dependency of K+ current activation, and slowed its kinetics. It …