Scientific Publications

Novel indolizine derivatives with unprecedented inhibitory activity on human farnesyltransferase.

The rational structural modification of new substituted indolizin-3-yl(phenyl)methanones 1a-i, 2a-i and 3a-i has greatly improved human farnesyltransferase inhibition. The para-bromophenyl analog 2f bearing an ester unit on the indolizine ring demonstrates the highest inhibition potential, with IC50 value of 1.3±0.2 μM. The amidic series 1a-i proves to be the most …

Relationships between Th1 or Th2 iNKT cell activity and structures of CD1d-antigen complexes: meta-analysis of CD1d-glycolipids dynamics simulations.

A number of potentially bioactive molecules can be found in nature. In particular, marine organisms are a valuable source of bioactive compounds. The activity of an α-galactosylceramide was first discovered in 1993 via screening of a Japanese marine sponge (Agelas mauritanius). Very rapidly, a synthetic glycololipid analogue of this natural …

Peptide chemistry applied to a new family of phenothiazine-containing inhibitors of human farnesyltransferase.

Novel phenothiazine derivatives bearing an amino acid residue were synthesized via peptide chemistry, and evaluated for their inhibitory potential on human farnesyltransferase. The phenothiazine unit proved to be an important bulky unit in the structure of the synthesized inhibitors. Propargyl ester 20 bearing a tyrosine residue exhibited the best biological …

Switching invariant natural killer T (iNKT) cell response from anticancerous to anti-inflammatory effect: molecular bases.

Since the discovery in 1995 of α-galactosylceramide 1 (α-GalCer), also known as KRN7000,1 hundreds of compounds have been synthesized in order to activate invariant natural killer T (iNKT) cells. Such keen interest for this lymphocyte cell type is due to its ability to produce different cytokines that bias the immune …

Synthesis and biological evaluation of a new series of N-ylides as protein farnesyltransferase inhibitors.

A new family of 30 benzoylated N-ylides 4 and 5 was synthesized and evaluated for the inhibitory activity on human protein farnesyltransferase. Most of these novel compounds possessed in vitro inhibition potencies in the micromolar range. The nature of the substituents on the pyridine and phenyl units proved to be …

3-Carboxamido-5-aryl-isoxazoles as new CB2 agonists for the treatment of colitis.

Recent investigations showed that anandamide, the main endogenous ligand of CB1 and CB2 cannabinoid receptors, possesses analgesic, antidepressant and anti-inflammatory effects. In the perspective to treat inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), our approach was to develop new selective CB2 receptor agonists without psychotropic side effects associated to CB1 receptors. In this …

Minireview: Toward the establishment of a link between melatonin and glucose homeostasis: association of melatonin MT2 receptor variants with type 2 diabetes.

The existence of interindividual variations in G protein-coupled receptor sequences has been recognized early on. Recent advances in large-scale exon sequencing techniques are expected to dramatically increase the number of variants identified in G protein-coupled receptors, giving rise to new challenges regarding their functional characterization. The current minireview will illustrate …

Synthesis and biological evaluation of fluoro analogues of antimitotic phenstatin.

With the aim of investigating the influence of fluorine, in particular on the A-ring, a new series of fluoro analogues (7a-l) of phenstatin (3) was synthesized and tested for interactions with tubulin polymerization and evaluated for cytotoxicity on an NCI-60 human cancer cell lines panel. We have shown that the …

Virtual screening of CB(2) receptor agonists from bayesian network and high-throughput docking: structural insights into agonist-modulated GPCR features.

The relevance of CB(2)-mediated therapeutics is well established in the treatment of pain, neurodegenerative and gastrointestinal tract disorders. Recent works such as the crystallization of class-A G-protein-coupled receptors in a range of active states and the identification of specific anchoring sites for CB(2) agonists challenged us to design a reliable …

Synthesis and anticancer activity of analogues of phenstatin, with a phenothiazine A-ring, as a new class of microtubule-targeting agents.

A new family of microtubule-targeting agents with a phenothiazine A-ring was synthesized and evaluated for anti-proliferative activity and interaction with tubulin. These new derivatives showed significant activities against cellular proliferation and tubulin polymerization, rather similar to those of phenstatin. Phenothiazine derivative 21 proved to be the most potent compound synthesized …

Synthesis, antiproliferative activity and tubulin targeting effect of acridinone and dioxophenothiazine derivatives.

The synthesis of new acridinone and dioxophenothiazine derivatives along with their tubulin polymerization inhibitory and antiproliferative activities is reported. The analysis of correlation for cytotoxic and antitubulin potential of tested compounds showed that 4-methoxyphenylethyl derivatives 18a and 19a were highly cytotoxic but were regarded to have no significant antitubulin activity. …

Synthesis and biological evaluation of a new series of phenothiazine-containing protein farnesyltransferase inhibitors.

Two new families of human farnesyltransferase inhibitors 13a-m and 14a-d, based on a phenothiazine scaffold, were synthesized. Compounds 14a and 14b were the most promising inhibitors of human farnesyltransferase with IC(50) values of 0.7 and 0.6 μM, respectively.

Effect of oxime ether incorporation in acyl indole derivatives on PPAR subtype selectivity.

Compounds that simultaneously activate peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) subtypes α and γ have the potential to effectively treat dyslipidemia and type 2 diabetes (T2D) in a single pharmaceutically active molecule. The frequently observed side effects of selective PPARγ agonists, such as edema and weight gain, were expected to be overcome …

Synthesis and biological evaluation of new phenothiazine derivatives bearing a pyrazole unit as protein farnesyltransferase inhibitors.

A new family of protein farnesyltransferase inhibitors, based on a phenothiazine scaffold, was designed and synthesized. The biological evaluation of these products showed that compounds 28 and 30 were the most active, with protein farnesyltransferase inhibition potencies in the low micromolar range. Compounds were also evaluated for their antiproliferative activity …

Antioxidant activity of new benzo[de]quinolines and lactams: 2D-quantitative structure-activity relationships.

In order to predict the antioxidant activity of 7 polycyclic lactams, a two dimensional quantitative-structure activity relationships (2D-QSAR) study based on a 5-descriptor model was performed. The synthetic compounds built from a condensed lactam scaffold were screened for their abilities to inhibit the autoxidation of pyrogallol, a superoxide anion radical-dependent …

Mixed metallic Ba(Co,Fe)X(0.2)O(3-δ) (X = F, Cl) hexagonal perovskites: drastic effect of Fe-incorporation on structural and electronic features.

Starting from the parent 10H-Ba(5)Co(5)X(1-x)O(13-δ) (trimeric strings of face-sharing CoO(6) octahedra with terminal CoO(4) tetrahedra, stacking sequence (chhch')(2)) and 6H-Ba(6)Co(6)X(1-x)O(16-δ) (similar with tetrameric strings, stacking sequence chhhch') hexagonal perovskites forms (X = F, Cl; c, h = [BaO(3)] layers ; h' = [BaOX(1-y)] layers), we show here that the Fe …

New farnesyltransferase inhibitors in the phenothiazine series.

The biological screening of the chemical library of our Organic Chemistry Department, carried out on an automated fluorescence-based FTase assay, allowed us to discover that a phenothiazine derivative (1d) was an inhibitor of farnesyltransferase. Three new series of human farnesyltransferase inhibitors, based on a phenothiazine scaffold, were synthesized with protein …

Targeting peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs): development of modulators.

Synthesis and structure-activity relationships of (aryloxy)quinazoline ureas as novel, potent, and selective vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-2 inhibitors.

In our continuing search for medicinal agents to treat proliferative diseases, quinazoline derivatives were synthesized and evaluated pharmacologically as epithelial growth factor receptor and vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 (VEGFR-2) tyrosine kinase inhibitors. A quantitative structure-activity relationship analysis was conducted to rationalize the structure-activity relationship and to predict how …

Genetic polymorphism of CYP4A11 and CYP4A22 genes and in silico insights from comparative 3D modelling in a French population.

The CYP4A subfamily is known to ω-hydroxylate the endogenous arachidonic acid into 20-hydroxyeicosatetranoic acid, which has renovascular and tubular functions. The aim of this work was to report a comprehensive investigation of the CYP4A11 and CYP4A22 genetic polymorphisms in a French population. Using PCR-SSCP and sequencing strategies, a total of …