Current Computer - Aided Drug Design - Volume 19, Issue 2, 2023

Introduction: Cucurbitacins are one of the most important components of Ecballium elaterium. Among the cucurbitacins, Cucurbitacin E was the first to be isolated. This study focused on screening the anticancer and insecticidal potential of Cucurbitacin E by the in-vitro, invivo, and in-silico methods. Methods: In the study, toxicity analysis of Cucurbitacin E was determined on HeLa, Caco 2 cancer cell lines and D. melanogaster. While the expression levels of the BAD, BCL-2, AKT-1 and H-purine genes of cancer cell lines were determined, the CG15530, BUFFY, AKT-1 and Purine genes of D. melanogaster were determined by RT-PCR. Besides, molecular docking and dynamic properties of Cucurbitacin E with human and insectoid enzymes were presented in silico. Results: The IC50 value of Cucurbitacin E in the HeLa ovarian and Caco 2 colon cancer cell lines was determined to be 42 ug/ml and 85 ug/ml, respectively. The LC50 and LC99 doses for fruit flies were determined to be 47,693 μg/ml and 133,251 μg/ml, respectively. Gene expression analysis revealed that Cucurbitacin E showed the greatest effect on Purine and AKT-1 genes in D. melanogaster. We analyzed all genes by Western blot but did not detect significant changes in genes other than H-purine. In silico studies revealed that the Purine protein of D. melanogaster had the highest bonding energy with Cucurbitacin E as a ligand. Similarly, Cucurbitacin E showed great affinity towards H-purine (-10.2 kcal/mol). Molecular dynamics simulation studies were also performed to determine the stability of the dynamic process. Conclusion: As a result of our in vivo, in vitro and bioinformatic analyzes, it has been seen that Cucurbitacin E is effective against the cancer types and model insects studied.

Objective: Parkinson’s disease (PD) and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) are the most common forms of neurodegenerative disorders. The aim of the current work is to study the potential of some new indanone derivatives for the treatment of these neurological disorders. Methods: A new series of 4-(2-oxo-2-aminoethoxy)-2-benzylidene substituted indanone derivatives have been synthesized and studied for anti-Parkinsonian and anti-Alzheimer’s effects. Substitution of different aminoalkyl functionalities at the para position of 2-benzylidene moiety of indanone ring resulted in the formation of potent anti-parkinsonian and anti-Alzheimer’s agents (5-10). The neuroprotective effects of newly synthesized compounds were evaluated using perphenazine (PPZ)-induced catatonia in rats and LPS-induced cognitive deficits in mice models. Further, in silico molecular modelling studies of the new indanone derivatives were performed by docking against the 3D structures of various neuroinflammatory mediators, such as interleukin-1β (IL-1β), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and monoamine oxidase-B (MAO-B), to gain the mechanistic insights of their anti-Alzheimer’s and antiparkinsonian effects. Results: The newly synthesized indanone analogues 5-10 were found effective against PPZinduced motor dysfunction and LPS-induced memory impairment in animal models. Among all the synthesized analogues, morpholine-substituted indanone 9 displayed maximum anti-parkinsonian activity, even better than the standard drug L-DOPA, while pyrrolidine and piperidine substituted analogues 5 and 6 were found to be the most potent anti-Alzheimer’s agents. Conclusion: The new 2-arylidene-1-indanone analogues show good potential as promising leads for designing compounds against Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases.

Background: Hydrazone and its azomethine (-NHN=CH-) derivatives are widely reported for their immense pharmacological potential. They have also been reported to possess potent anti-tuberculosis, anti-malarial, anti-inflammatory, and anti-oxidant activities. Considering their pharmacological significance, we herein synthesized a set of 10 hydrazones (1S-10S) using green, biodegradable chitosan and HCl as catalyst. Methods: All synthesized compounds were characterized using modern spectroscopic techniques, including Nuclear magnetic resonance, 1H-/13C-NMR; Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR); Ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy; Mass spectrometry (m/z), etc. Synthesized compounds were in silico screened using molecular docking, dynamics, pharmacokinetics, theoretical properties, and common pharmacophore analysis. Moreover, we also subjected all compounds to DPPH radical scavenging assay, protein denaturation assay, Trypan Blue assay for cell viability assessments, β-hematin assay for hemozoin inhibition analysis and standard antimicrobial analysis. Results: Our results suggested that the synthesized compound 2S had high potency against studied microbial strains (minimum MIC = 3.12 μg/mL). Our antioxidant analysis for 1S-10S revealed that our compounds had radical scavenging effects ranging from 25.1-80.3 %. Compounds 2S exhibited % cell viability of 68.92% (at 100 μg concentration of sample), while the same compound retained anti-inflammatory % inhibition at 62.16 %. Compound 2S was obtained as the best docked molecule, with a docking score of -5.32 Kcal/mol with target pdb id: 1d7u protein. Molecular dynamics simulation and normal mode analysis for 100 ns for 1d7u:2S retained good stability. Finally, in silico pharmacokinetics, theoretical properties and pharmacophoric features were assessed. Conclusion: In summary, synthesized hydrazone exhibited a good biological profile according to in silico and in vitro studies. However, further in vivo studies are required that may shed more insights on its potencies.

Aim: This study aims to synthesize antimicrobial agents and their molecular docking, and DFT studies of benzothiazole-imidazolone scaffolds. Background: Benzothiazole and imidazolone analogues are of interest due to their potential activity against microbial infections. In search of suitable antimicrobial compounds, we report here the synthesis, characterization, and biological activities of benzothiazole and imidazolone analogues (4a-l). Objective: The benzothiazole clubbed imidazolone motifs were synthesized, characterized, and screened for their antimicrobial activity. Molecular docking was carried out for the development of antimicrobial agents based on the results of biological activity obtained. Methods: We have synthesized a new series of benzothiazole-clubbed imidazolone hybrids by using multi-step reactions in the search for antimicrobial agents (4a-l). The structures were determined by ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR, IR, and mass spectroscopy techniques. Moreover, synthesized compounds were evaluated for their antimicrobial activity by using a Serial Broth Dilution method. In addition, molecular electrostatic potential, geometric optimization, and molecular reactivity analyses (HOMO-LUMO) of 4c, which is one of the compounds with the highest antibacterial activity, were performed. Results: The in vitro antimicrobial activity was evaluated against pathogenic strains. Among them, compounds 4c showed the most potent biological activity against Gram-negative bacteria, E. coli with MIC values of 50 μg/mL, and compound 4c active against A. clavatus with MIC values of 100 μg/mL. Active compound 4c HUMO-LUMO energies, molecular electrostatic potential analysis, and geometric optimization parameters were calculated with a 6-31G ** base set using DFT/B3LYP theory, and the results were displayed. Molecular docking studies were performed on E. coli DNA Gyrase B to understand the binding interaction of compound 4c, and it was observed that compound 4c interacted with Arg76 amino acid of the active site through hydrophobic interaction. Conclusion: Benzothiazole-clubbed imidazolone hybrids (4a-l) indicated promising antimicrobial activity. Among them, compounds 4b (MIC=50 μg/mL C. albicans), 4c (MIC=50 μg/mL, E. coli), 4e (MIC= 100 μg/mL, A. niger), and 4g (MIC= 50 μg/mL, S. pyogenes) with electronwithdrawing bromo, chloro, and fluoro group at the para position of the phenyl ring on benzothiazole-imidazolone hybrids indicated remarkable potency compared to the standard drug. The geometric optimization, molecular reactivity, and MESP analyses of 4c were calculated with the B3LYP/6-31G ** base set and ΔE = ELUMO-EHOMO, which was found to be -0.12096 eV. In addition, the binding affinity scores correlated well with the in vitro antimicrobial activity (4c), while their binding modes proposed the involvement of steric, electrostatic, and hydrogen- bonding interactions with the active site.

Aims: Detecting and classifying a brain tumor amid a sole image can be problematic for doctors, although improvements can be made with medical image fusions. Background: A brain tumor develops in the tissues surrounding the brain or the skull and has a major impact on human life. Primary tumors begin within the brain, whereas secondary tumors, identified as brain metastasis tumors, are generated outside the brain. Objective: This paper proposes hybrid fusion techniques to fuse multi-modal images. The evaluations are based on performance metrics, and the results are compared with conventional ones. Methods: In this paper, pre-processing is done considering enhancement methods like Binarization, Contrast Stretching, Median Filter, & Contrast Limited Adaptive Histogram Equalization (CLAHE). Authors have proposed three techniques, PCA-DWT, DCT-PCA, and Discrete ComponentWaveletCosine Transform (DCWCT), which were used to fuse CT-MR images of brain tumors. Results: The different features were evaluated from the fused images, which were classified using various machine learning approaches. Maximum accuracy of 97.9% and 93.5% is obtained using DCWCT for Support Vector Machine (SVM) and k Nearest Neighbor (kNN), respectively, considering the combination of both feature's shape & Grey Level Difference Statistics. The model is validated using another online dataset. Conclusion: It has been observed that the classification accuracy for detecting cerebrovascular disease is better after employing the proposed image fusion technique.

Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common liver malignancy where tumorigenesis and metastasis are believed to be tied to the hallmarks of hypoxia and tumor microenvironment (TME). Methods: In this study, to investigate the relationships among hypoxia, TME, and HCC prognosis, we collected two independent datasets from a public database (TCGA-LIHC for identification, GSE14520 for validation) and identified the hypoxia-related differentially expressed genes (DEGs) from the TCGA data, and the univariable Cox regression and lasso regression analyses were performed to construct the prognosis model. An HCC prognosis model with 4 hypoxiarelated DEGs ("NDRG1", "ENO1", "SERPINE1", "ANXA2") was constructed, and high- and low-risk groups of HCC were established by the median of the model risk score. Results: The survival analysis revealed significant differences between the two groups in both datasets, with the results of the AUC of the ROC curve of 1, 3, and 5 years in two datasets indicating the robustness of the prognosis model. Meanwhile, for the TCGA-LIHC data, the immune characteristics between the two groups revealed that the low-risk group presented higher levels of activated NK cells, monocytes, and M2 macrophages, and 7 immune checkpoint genes were found upregulated in the high-risk group. Additionally, the two groups have no difference in molecular characteristics (tumor mutational burden, TMB). The proportion of recurrence was higher in the high-risk group, and the correlation between the recurrence month and risk score was negative, indicating high-risk correlates with a short recurrence month. Conclusion: In summary, this study shows the association among hypoxic signals, TME, and HCC prognosis and may help reveal potential regulatory mechanisms between hypoxia, tumorigenesis, and metastasis in HCC. The hypoxia-related model demonstrated the potential to be a predictor and drug target of prognosis.