Nitroxoline is a known antibacterial drug for which secondary indications were discovered. Namely, nitroxoline can inhibit cathepsin B and MetAP2 in the low micromolar and nanomolar range, respectively. Overexpression and aberrant activity of these two enzymes has been implicated in many processes which are related to pathological conditions.
Four partly saturated and nitrated nitroxoline derivatives were synthesized, characterized and evaluated biochemically. The starting compound for the synthesis was 8-hydroxyquinoline which was first partially reduced, resulting in ring saturation. The nitro group was then introduced at various positions on the partly saturated quinoline ring. To achieve substitution at the meta position several synthetic steps were performed. First, the acetylation to protect the amino and hydroxyl group was performed, then the hydroxyl group was selectively deprotected. Finally, the regioselective nitration was performed, followed by the removal of the protection of amino group.
We assayed the compounds for antibacterial activity and on both enzymes, i.e cathepsin B and MetAP2. We compared the results for all newly prepared compounds with the values known for nitroxoline. Compounds 6 and 9 showed the best inhibition of the endopeptidase activity of cathepsin B, which was not better than determined for nitroxoline. However, both 6 and 9 did inhibit the exopeptidase activity of cathepsin B better than nitroxoline. Compound 8 was proved as the most promising MetAP2 inhibitor, albeit it was less effective than nitroxoline. Also, the antibacterial activity is by far the best for nitroxoline in comparison with the synthesized compounds.
Most probably, the underlying cause of worse inhibition is the structural change introduced by partial saturation. These compounds loose their ability to chelate bivalent cations between the quinoline nitrogen and the hydroxyl group. Nevertheless, the results are encouraging, because the prepared compounds retain inhibitory properties in the micromolar range, which renders these derivatives as good starting point for further medical chemistry optimization.
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