Structure-guided design of novel Trypanosoma brucei Methionyl-tRNA synthetase inhibitors.
Huang, W., Zhang, Z., Barros-Alvarez, X., Koh, C.Y., Ranade, R.M., Gillespie, J.R., Creason, S.A., Shibata, S., Verlinde, C.L., Hol, W.G., Buckner, F.S., Fan, E.(2016) Eur J Med Chem 124: 1081-1092
- PubMed: 27788467 
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejmech.2016.10.024
- Primary Citation of Related Structures:  
5J58, 5J59, 5J5A - PubMed Abstract: 
A screening hit 1 against Trypanosoma brucei methionyl-tRNA synthetase was optimized using a structure-guided approach. The optimization led to the identification of two novel series of potent inhibitors, the cyclic linker and linear linker series. Compounds of both series were potent in a T. brucei growth inhibition assay while showing low toxicity to mammalian cells. The best compound of each series, 16 and 31, exhibited EC 50 s of 39 and 22 nM, respectively. Compounds 16 and 31 also exhibited promising PK properties after oral dosing in mice. Moreover, compound 31 had moderately good brain permeability, with a brain/plasma ratio of 0.27 at 60 min after IP injection. This study provides new lead compounds for arriving at new treatments of human African trypanosomiasis (HAT).
Organizational Affiliation: 
Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, United States.