D.-Y. Zhao et al. / Bioorg. Med. Chem. Lett. xxx (2016) xxx–xxx
3
12a and 12b are 4.5 and 1.8-fold more active than kojic acid
against monophenolase activity of tyrosinase. Compound 12c
was found to have a lower inhibitory activity than kojic acid. Both
copper-binding affinity and lipophilicity are important factors
affecting the anti-tyrosinase activity. The copper-binding affinities
of the hydroxypyridinone derivative prepared in the present study
are anticipated to be similar due to the same chelating moieties
and similar electronic effect of substituted group at position-6 in
pyridine ring. For compound 12, the inhibitory effect decreased
with the decrease of hydrophobicity (ClogP for 12a, 12b and 12c
are calculated to be 0.12, À0.04 and À0.57),31 which is in good
agreement with previously published results.4,14 However, for
compound 6, the inhibitory effects do not follow the order of
hydrophobicity probably due to their high hydrophobicity (ClogP:
6a 2.86; 6b 4.17; 6c 4.14; 6d 3.64; 6e 4.32). With such a high
lipophilicity, these compounds are anticipated to readily enter
the hydrophobic pocket of tyrosinase. In such cases, it is reasonably
reckoned that the inhibitory activity mainly depends on the com-
plimentary fit between the compound and active site of enzyme,
which is affected by the substituting group and position on the
pyridinone ring. In our previous study, it was found that hydrox-
ypyridinone derivatives with a substitute at position-2 in pyridine
ring had hardly anti-tyrosinase activity, although they have supe-
rior copper-binding affinity and higher lipophilicity than kojic acid.
Inhibitory effect of 6e and 12a on diphenolase activity of mush-
increase of inhibitory effect. Under the same conditions, the inhibi-
tory effect of compound 6e was better than that of compound 12a.
In the cases of both 6e and 12a, the increasing rate of o-quinone
formation became slower with increasing reaction time, indicating
that the inhibitory effect decreased. In addition, the reaction pro-
cess catalyzed by the diphenolase activity of tyrosinase had no
lag time.
As indicated in Figure 3, the relative activity of enzyme
decreased with increasing concentration of inhibitor, indicating
that the activity of enzyme was inhibited in a dose dependent
manner. The IC50 values of compounds 6e and 12a were calculated
to be 8.97 and 26.20 lM, respectively. Thus, 6e is more effective
than 12a in the inhibition on diphenolase activity of tyrosinase.
The inhibitory mechanism of 6e and 12a on mushroom tyrosi-
nase was investigated using -DOPA as a substrate. For both com-
L
pounds, investigation on the relationship between enzyme
activity and its concentration in the presence of compounds 6e
and 12a indicated that the plots of the remaining enzyme activity
versus the concentration of enzyme at different inhibitor concen-
trations gave a family of straight lines, which all passed through
the origin (Fig. 4). This result is similar to that reported by Chen
et al.32 Increase of inhibitor concentration resulted in descent of
the slope of the line, indicating that the presence of inhibitor
resulted in the inhibition of enzyme activity.33 Thus, the inhibition
of both compounds 6e and 12a on diphenolase activity of
tyrosinase is reversible.
room tyrosinase was investigated using
L
-Dopa as a substrate. The
kinetic courses of the oxidation of -Dopa by mushroom tyrosinase
L
The kinetic data of the inhibition of -DOPA oxidation by 6e and
L
in the presence of different concentrations of compound 6e or 12a
were investigated. As shown in Figure 2, the formation of o-qui-
none increased with time. The absorbance values reduced with
increasing concentration of compounds 6e and 12a, indicating an
12a were expressed in Lineweaver–Burk double-reciprocal plots
(Fig. 5A–I, B–I).33 The plots of 1/v versus 1/[S] gave a group of
straight lines with different slopes that intercept in the second
quadrant, indicating that both compounds 6e and 12a can bind
not only with free enzyme but also with the enzyme–substrate
complex, namely, both 6e and 12a were competitive–uncompeti-
tive mixed type inhibitors. The equilibrium constant of inhibitor
for binding with free enzyme (KI) was obtained from a plot of slope
(Km/Vm) versus the concentration of the inhibitor (Fig. 5A-II and B-
II), and with enzyme–substrate complex (KIS) was obtained from a
plot of the vertical intercept (1/Vm) versus the concentration of the
inhibitor (Fig. 5A-III and B-III). The KI and KIS values of 6e were
0.16
1
6e
0.14
A
0.12
0.10
2
0.08
determined to be 17.17
tor constants (KI and KIS) of 12a were determined as 34.41
79.02 M, respectively. In both cases, the KIS value is larger than
lM and 22.09
lM, respectively. The inhibi-
3
lM and
0.06
l
4
0.04
the KI value, indicating that the affinity of the inhibitors for free
enzyme is greater than that for the enzyme–substrate complex.
In order to further investigate the inhibitory mechanism of
hydroxypyridinone derivatives, copper reduction capacity34 and
copper chelating ability35 of compound 6e were determined. The
capacity of the reducing cupric ion to cuprous ion by 6e at different
concentrations is shown in Figure 6A. The increases in absorbance
5
6
0.02
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
Time (sec)
0.16
0.14
0.12
0.10
0.08
0.06
0.04
0.02
1
12a
B
2
100
6e
12a
3
4
5
6
80
60
40
20
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
Time (sec)
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
[I] (μM)
Figure 2. Inhibition kinetics on diphenolase activity of tyrosinase. (A) 6e; (B) 12a.
The concentrations of inhibitors (6e and 12a) for curves 1–6 were 0.00, 4.17, 8.33,
16.67, 25.00 and 33.33
lM, respectively.
Figure 3. Inhibitory effect of 6e and 12a on the diphenolase activity of tyrosinase.