Biomedical Research and Innovation Platform (BRIP), South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC), Cape Town 7505, South Africa.
Discipline of Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Health Sciences, Westville Campus, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 4001, South Africa.
Int J Mol Sci. 2023 Sep 13;24(18):14021. doi: 10.3390/ijms241814021.
The escalating prevalence of drug-resistant strains of has posed a significant challenge to global efforts in combating tuberculosis. To address this issue, innovative therapeutic strategies are required that target essential biochemical pathways while minimizing the potential for resistance development. The concept of dual targeting has gained prominence in drug discovery against resistance bacteria. Dual targeting recognizes the complexity of cellular processes and disrupts more than one vital pathway, simultaneously. By inhibiting more than one essential process required for bacterial growth and survival, the chances of developing resistance are substantially reduced. A previously reported study investigated the dual-targeting potential of a series of novel compounds against the folate pathway in . Expanding on this study, we investigated the predictive pharmacokinetic profiling and the structural mechanism of inhibition of UCP1172, UCP1175, and UCP1063 on key enzymes, dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) and 5-amino-6-ribitylamino-2,4(1,3)-pyrimidinedione 5'-phosphate reductase (RV2671), involved in the folate pathway. Our findings indicate that the compounds demonstrate lipophilic physiochemical properties that promote gastrointestinal absorption, and may also inhibit the drug-metabolizing enzyme, cytochrome P450 3A4, thus enhancing their biological half-life. Furthermore, key catalytic residues (Serine, Threonine, and Aspartate), conserved in both enzymes, were found to participate in vital molecular interactions with UCP1172, which demonstrated the most favorable free binding energies to both DHFR and RV2671 (-41.63 kcal/mol, -48.04 kcal/mol, respectively). The presence of characteristic loop shifts, which are similar in both enzymes, also indicates a common inhibitory mechanism by UCP1172. This elucidation advances the understanding of UCP1172's dual inhibition mechanism against
耐药菌株的不断增多对全球结核病防治工作构成了重大挑战。为了解决这一问题,需要采用创新性的治疗策略,靶向关键的生化途径,同时最大限度地减少耐药性产生的可能性。在耐药菌的药物发现中,双重靶向策略已经引起了广泛关注。双重靶向认识到细胞过程的复杂性,并同时破坏不止一个重要途径。通过抑制细菌生长和存活所需的多个关键过程,大大降低了产生耐药性的可能性。之前有一项研究调查了一系列新型化合物对叶酸途径的双重靶向潜力。在此基础上,我们研究了 UCP1172、UCP1175 和 UCP1063 对关键酶二氢叶酸还原酶 (DHFR) 和 5-氨基-6-核糖基氨基-2,4(1,3)-嘧啶二酮 5'-磷酸还原酶 (RV2671) 的预测药代动力学特征和结构抑制机制,这些酶都参与了叶酸途径。我们的研究结果表明,这些化合物具有促进胃肠道吸收的亲脂理化特性,并且可能还会抑制药物代谢酶细胞色素 P450 3A4,从而延长其生物半衰期。此外,在两种酶中都保守的关键催化残基(丝氨酸、苏氨酸和天冬氨酸)被发现与 UCP1172 发生重要的分子相互作用,表明 UCP1172 与 DHFR 和 RV2671 的结合自由能都最大(分别为-41.63 kcal/mol 和-48.04 kcal/mol)。在两种酶中都存在特征环位移,这表明 UCP1172 具有共同的抑制机制。这一发现加深了对 UCP1172 对
的双重抑制机制的理解。