6
MALI et AL.
|
synthesized compounds exhibited interesting activity with
MIC ranging from 2.34 to 150 μg/ml against Mtb H37Rv,
as seen in Tables 1 and 2. INH was used as a standard drug.
The results of in vitro antimycobacterial evaluation revealed
that substitution at the para position with electron withdraw-
ing group such as fluoro was deleterious for the activity (5b,
3
.4
In Silico ADME prediction
|
Fatty acids being lipophilic imparted distinct lipophilicity to
the designed molecules and hence imparted distinct MIC’s.
QikProp analysis data reveal that three compounds follow the
Lipinski rule of five, and others have varying Log P values
which range from 3.987 to 7.686 (Table S1), as increase in
the lipophilicity could ease the entrance of these molecules
through the lipid‐enriched bacterial membrane (Biava et al.,
2008; Navarrete‐Vázquez et al., 2007).
6
b). Introduction of the weaker electron‐releasing group such
as methyl at the para position of phenyl ring (5f) displayed
a decrease in the potency as compared to the unsubstituted
phenyl ring in dodecanamide series (5a). Similarly, in tet-
radecanamide series, methyl substituted ring (6f) was least
active as compared to its unsubstituted counterparts (6a). The
presence of bulkier groups at para position resulted in com-
pounds with reduced antitubercular activity in both the series
4
CONCLUSION
|
(5k, 6k) may be due to high steric hindrance. Halogen sub-
In summary, a new series of N‐(5‐aryl‐1, 3, 4‐thiadia-
zole‐2‐yl) alkanamides were designed successfully through
molecular hybridization approach based on the inherent an-
titubercular activity of abundant fatty acids. The synthesized
derivatives exhibited good to moderate in vitro inhibitory
activity against Mtb H37Rv strain (ATCC 25177). These
fatty acid‐thiadiazole derivatives were synthesized from
readily accessible reactants and reagents by simple and ef-
ficient synthetic protocols. Out of 22 fatty acid‐thiadiazole
derivatives, compounds 5a, 5d, and 5h showed in vitro in-
hibitory activity with MIC 4.69 μg/ml and 5j with 4‐pyridi-
nyl moiety displayed maximum Mtb inhibitory activity with
MIC 2.34 µg/ml. The structure–activity relationship revealed
that electron withdrawing group such as nitro on phenyl ring
(mono‐ and disubstitution) enhanced the inhibitory activity
of the compounds as compared to electron donating groups.
Lauric acid derivatives showed higher activity as compared
to myristic acid derivatives. SAR revealed that the increase
in log P did not improve the inhibitory activity toward my-
cobacteria. Additionally, docking and MM‐GBSA studies on
the enzyme InhA were carried out with the most active mole-
cules to examine the putative interactions responsible for bi-
ological activity. Docking studies revealed that compounds
5a and 5j bind to the enzyme InhA. However, the biological
target for compounds 5d and 5h needs to be defined. Further
studies are underway to improve antitubercular potency and
to elucidate the precise mechanism of action.
stitution at ortho position was unfavorable in both dodecana-
mide and tetradecanamide series (5i, 6i). In general, halogen
substitution was detrimental for the activity. Substitution at
meta position with nitro was favorable for activity (5c, 6c).
Disubstitution at 3, 5 positions with electron withdrawing
group such as nitro showed an improved biological profile as
compared to monosubstituted nitro at 3‐position indicating
that the presence of both nitro groups in dodecanamide series
is requisite for the high efficacies (5d, 6d). Disubstitution at
3
, 4 positions with one electron withdrawing and one elec-
tron donating have shown equal potency in dodecanamide
(
5g) and tetradecanamide (6g) series and showed better
activity as compared to electron donating groups. (5e, 6e)
Disubstitution was favorable over monosubstitution. Styryl
group in case of dodecanamide (5h) series exhibited good
antitubercular activity as compared to tetradecanamide series
(
6h). Replacement of phenyl ring with heteroaryl ring such
as 4‐pyridinyl resulted in compounds with the highest anti-
mycobacterial activity in dodecanamide series (5j, 6j). The
above finding revealed that the potency decreased with the
increase in the carbon chain. Overall, dodecanamide series
displayed greater antitubercular potency as compared to tet-
radecanamide series.
3
.3
Molecular docking studies
|
The mycobacterial cell wall biosynthetic pathway (FAS II) is
distinct from mammalian (FAS‐I) multienzyme complex. So in-
hibition of InhA enzyme, involved in mycobacterium cell wall
biosynthesis, is an attractive target. As per previous reports on
the antitubercular activity of some alkanamide and thiadiazole
derivatives (Martínez‐Hoyos et al., 2016; Saha, Alam, & Akhter,
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Authors would like to thank UGC (University Grant
Commissions), New Delhi, India, for providing a Basic
Science Research (BSR) fellowship. Authors also thank
Infexn Laboratories Pvt. Ltd, Thane, for providing antituber-
cular activity.
2015; Shirude et al., 2013; Šink et al., 2015), molecular dock-
ing was carried out on the basis of the similarity of the struc-
tures with the bound ligand in the target. All the molecules were
docked into the active site of the crystal structure of enoyl‐ACP
reductase (5JFO) target enzymes to determine the possible mode
of action and binding orientations, as seen in Figures S1 and S2.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
The authors declare no conflict of interest.