Synthesis and Biological Evaluation of Phosphoester and Phosphorothioate Prodrugs of STING Agonist 3',3'-c-Di(2'F,2'dAMP).

Cyclic dinucleotides (CDNs) are second messengers that bind to the stimulator of interferon genes (STING) and trigger the expression of type I interferons and proinflammatory cytokines. Here we evaluate the activity of 3',3'-c-di(2'F,2'dAMP) and its phosphorothioate analogues against five STING allelic forms in reporter-cell-based assays and rationalize our findings with X-ray crystallography and quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics calculations. We show that the presence of fluorine in the 2' position of 3',3'-c-di(2'F,2'dAMP) improves its activity not only against the wild type (WT) but also against REF and Q STING.

Xanthine-based acyclic nucleoside phosphonates with potent antiviral activity against varicella-zoster virus and human cytomegalovirus.

While noncanonic xanthine nucleotides XMP/dXMP play an important role in balancing and maintaining intracellular purine nucleotide pool as well as in potential mutagenesis, surprisingly, acyclic nucleoside phosphonates bearing a xanthine nucleobase have not been studied so far for their antiviral properties. Herein, we report the synthesis of a series of xanthine-based acyclic nucleoside phosphonates and evaluation of their activity against a wide range of DNA and RNA viruses. Two acyclic nucleoside phosphonates within the series, namely 9-[2-(phosphonomethoxy)ethyl]xanthine (PMEX) and 9-[3-hydroxy-2-(phosphonomethoxy)propyl]xanthine (HPMPX), were shown to possess activity against several human herpesviruses.

Acyclic Nucleoside Phosphonates Containing 9-Deazahypoxanthine and a Five-Membered Heterocycle as Selective Inhibitors of Plasmodial 6-Oxopurine Phosphoribosyltransferases.

Acyclic nucleoside phosphonates (ANPs) are an important class of therapeutic drugs that act as antiviral agents by inhibiting viral DNA polymerases and reverse transcriptases. ANPs containing a 6-oxopurine unit instead of a 6-aminopurine or pyrimidine base are inhibitors of the purine salvage enzyme, hypoxanthine-guanine-[xanthine] phosphoribosyltransferase (HG[X]PRT). Such compounds, and their prodrugs, are able to arrest the growth of Plasmodium falciparum (Pf) in cell culture.

Synthesis and biological properties of prodrugs of (S)-3-(adenin-9-yl)-2-(phosphonomethoxy)propanoic acid.

The lack of antiviral activity of recently described (S)-3-(adenin-9-yl)-2-(phosphonomethoxy)propanoic acid, or (S)-CPMEA in brief, has been speculated to possibly be due to the increased hydrophilicity of the molecule and, thus, by its limited cellular permeability. Efficient syntheses of novel lipophilic prodrugs of (S)-CPMEA masking either the carboxylic group or preferably both the phosphonate and carboxylic moieties, have been developed in order to increase bioavailability of the parent compound. Two prodrugs of (S)-CPMEA, namely phosphonate bis-amidate 15 and phenyloxy amidate 16, exhibited pan-genotypic anti-HCV activity at submicromolar concentrations.

Estimation of apparent binding constant of complexes of selected acyclic nucleoside phosphonates with β-cyclodextrin by affinity capillary electrophoresis.

Affinity capillary electrophoresis (ACE) has been applied to estimation of apparent binding constant of complexes of (R,S)-enantiomers of selected acyclic nucleoside phosphonates (ANPs) with chiral selector β-cyclodextrin (βCD) in aqueous alkaline medium. The noncovalent interactions of five pairs of (R,S)-enantiomers of ANPs-based antiviral drugs and their derivatives with βCD were investigated in the background electrolyte (BGE) composed of 35 or 50 mM sodium tetraborate, pH 10.0, and containing variable concentration (0-25 mM) of βCD.

Enantiopurity analysis of new types of acyclic nucleoside phosphonates by capillary electrophoresis with cyclodextrins as chiral selectors.

CE methods have been developed for the chiral analysis of new types of six acyclic nucleoside phosphonates, nucleotide analogs bearing [(3-hydroxypropan-2-yl)-1H-1,2,3-triazol-4-yl]phosphonic acid, 2-[(diisopropoxyphosphonyl)methoxy]propanoic acid, or 2-(phosphonomethoxy)propanoic acid moieties attached to adenine, guanine, 2,6-diaminopurine, uracil, and 5-bromouracil nucleobases, using neutral and cationic cyclodextrins as chiral selectors. With the exception of the 5-bromouracil-derived acyclic nucleoside phosphonate with a 2-(phosphonomethoxy)propanoic acid side chain, the R and S enantiomers of the other five acyclic nucleoside phosphonates were successfully separated with sufficient resolutions, 1.51-2.

A novel type of acyclic nucleoside phosphonates derived from 2-(phosphonomethoxy)propanoic acid.

A convenient and efficient synthesis of a novel class of acyclic nucleoside phosphonates derived from 2-(phosphonomethoxy)propanoic acid has been developed. The key step of the synthesis is the optimized oxidation of the 3-hydroxy-2-(phosphonomethoxy)propyl (HPMP) analogues to the corresponding 2'-carboxy-PME (CPME) derivatives using the TEMPO/NaClO/NaClO oxidizing system. Although ()-3-(adenin-9-yl)-2-(phosphonomethoxy)propanoic acid (()-CPMEA) has been designed as a compound with potential anti-HIV activity, none of the newly prepared CPME analogues exhibited any antiviral activity.

An enzymatic glycosylation of nucleoside analogues using β-galactosidase from Escherichia coli.

A new enzymatic method for the synthesis of β-galactosides of nucleosides and acyclic nucleoside analogues has been developed, using β-galactosidase from Escherichia coli as a catalyst and lactose as a sugar donor. The method is very rapid, feasible and last but not least inexpensive. Its applicability has been proven for a broad variety of possible substrates with respect to its scaling up for preparative use.