An oral non-covalent non-peptidic inhibitor of SARS-CoV-2 Mpro ameliorates viral replication and pathogenesis in vivo.

Safe, effective, and low-cost oral antiviral therapies are needed to treat those at high risk for developing severe COVID-19. To that end, we performed a high-throughput screen to identify non-peptidic, non-covalent inhibitors of the SARS-CoV-2 main protease (Mpro), an essential enzyme in viral replication. NZ-804 was developed from a screening hit through iterative rounds of structure-guided medicinal chemistry.

Theranostics: aptamer-assisted carbon nanotubes as MRI contrast and photothermal agent for breast cancer therapy.

Breast cancer is one of the leading causes of death among women globally, making its diagnosis and treatment challenging. The use of nanotechnology for cancer diagnosis and treatment is an emerging area of research. To address this issue, multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) were ligand exchanged with butyric acid (BA) to gain hydrophilic character.

A Path of Novelty from Nanoparticles to Nanobots: Theragnostic Approach for Targeting Cancer Therapy.

Pharmaceutical development of cancer therapeutics is a dynamic area of research. Even after decades of intensive work, cancer continues to be a dreadful disease with an ever-increasing global incidence. The progress of nanotechnology in cancer research has overcome inherent limitations in conventional cancer chemotherapy and fulfilled the need for target-specific drug carriers.

Nanomedicine at the Pulmonary Frontier: Immune-Centric Approaches for Respiratory Disease Treatment.

Respiratory diseases (RD) are a group of common ailments with a rapidly increasing global prevalence, posing a significant threat to humanity, especially the elderly population, and imposing a substantial burden on society and the economy. RD represents an unmet medical need that requires the development of viable pharmacotherapies. While various promising strategies have been devised to advance potential treatments for RD, their implementation has been hindered by difficulties in drug delivery, particularly in critically ill patients.

Neurological manifestations of SARS-CoV-2: complexity, mechanism and associated disorders.

Background: Coronaviruses such as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (SARS), Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) are associated with critical illnesses, including severe respiratory disorders. SARS-CoV-2 is the causative agent of the deadly COVID-19 illness, which has spread globally as a pandemic. SARS-CoV-2 may enter the human body through olfactory lobes and interact with the angiotensin-converting enzyme2 (ACE2) receptor, further facilitating cell binding and entry into the cells.

Advanced Overview of Biomarkers and Techniques for Early Diagnosis of Alzheimer's Disease.

The development of early non-invasive diagnosis methods and identification of novel biomarkers are necessary for managing Alzheimer's disease (AD) and facilitating effective prognosis and treatment. AD has multi-factorial nature and involves complex molecular mechanism, which causes neuronal degeneration. The primary challenges in early AD detection include patient heterogeneity and lack of precise diagnosis at the preclinical stage.

Role of Tau in Various Tauopathies, Treatment Approaches, and Emerging Role of Nanotechnology in Neurodegenerative Disorders.

A few protein kinases and phosphatases regulate tau protein phosphorylation and an imbalance in their enzyme activity results in tau hyper-phosphorylation. Aberrant tau phosphorylation causes tau to dissociate from the microtubules and clump together in the cytosol to form neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs), which lead to the progression of neurodegenerative disorders including Alzheimer's disease (AD) and other tauopathies. Hence, targeting hyperphosphorylated tau protein is a restorative approach for treating neurodegenerative tauopathies.

In pursuit of next-generation therapeutics: Antimicrobial peptides against superbugs, their sources, mechanism of action, nanotechnology-based delivery, and clinical applications.

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) attracted attention as potential source of novel antimicrobials. Multi-drug resistant (MDR) infections have emerged as a global threat to public health in recent years. Furthermore, due to rapid emergence of new diseases, there is pressing need for development of efficient antimicrobials.

Blood-brain barrier: emerging trends on transport models and new-age strategies for therapeutics intervention against neurological disorders.

The integrity of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) is essential for normal central nervous system (CNS) functioning. Considering the significance of BBB in maintaining homeostasis and the neural environment, we aim to provide an overview of significant aspects of BBB. Worldwide, the treatment of neurological diseases caused by BBB disruption has been a major challenge.

Electrochemical Synthesis of Carbodiimides via Metal/Oxidant-Free Oxidative Cross-Coupling of Amines and Isocyanides.

This work discloses an electrochemical oxidative cross-coupling of amines with aryl and aliphatic isocyanides. In an undivided cell, the reaction proceeds without involving any transition-metal catalyst, oxidant, or toxic reagents providing carbodiimides in good yields, thereby circumventing stoichiometric chemical oxidants, with H as the only byproduct. Moreover, carbodiimides were in situ converted into unsymmetrical ureas in moderate to good yields using an electricity ON-OFF strategy.

Catalyst- and Solvent-Free Coupling of 2-Methyl Quinazolinones and Isatins: An Environmentally Benign Access of Diastereoselective Schizocommunin Analogues.

An environmentally benign highly atom-economic protocol for the construction of the C-C bond has been developed under catalyst- and solvent-free conditions. This protocol involves the efficient coupling of 2-methyl quinazolinones with isatin for the highly diastereoselective access of schizocommunin derivatives in excellent yields (up to 97%). Furthermore, the preliminary cytotoxicity screening of selected schizocommunin analogues displayed promising anticancer activity against human cancer cell lines, and the cytotoxic potential of active compound was also validated by in silico molecular docking simulation studies.

Phenanthridine-Fused Tetracyclic Ring System: Metal-Free Diastereoselective Modular Construction of Highly Constrained Polyheterocycles via Post-Ugi Tandem Modifications.

A metal-free diastereo-/regioselective modular synthetic approach for the synthesis of highly constrained tetrahydroquinoline-fused tetracyclic heterocycles from easily available substrates has been developed. This two-step strategy utilizes an Ugi four-component reaction, followed by the intramolecular spirocarbocyclization and iodination reactions in a single operation. The transformation is mild and operationally simple, which provides architecturally complex polycyclic heterocycles with high diastereoselectivity.

Organocatalytic Modified Guareschi-Thorpe Type Regioselective Synthesis: A Unified Direct Access to 5,6,7,8-Tetrahydroquinolines and Other Alicyclic[ b]-Fused Pyridines.

An unprecedented organocatalytic, regioselective, modified Guareschi-Thorpe type protocol toward the modular synthesis of 5,6,7,8-tetrahydroquinolines 22a-g and other alicyclic[ b]-fused pyridines 23-28 via the identification of Chitosan as a heterogeneous catalyst is reported. This novel strategy is operationally simple and showed a wide range of functional group tolerance and substrate compatibility. The proposed mechanistic pathway involves an imine-enamine cascade approach for the synthesis of structurally diverse alicyclic[ b]-fused pyridine heterocycles.

Discovery of Aporphine Analogues as Potential Antiplatelet and Antioxidant Agents: Design, Synthesis, Structure-Activity Relationships, Biological Evaluations, and in silico Molecular Docking Studies.

To explore the potential of aporphine alkaloids, a novel series of functionalized aporphine analogues with alkoxy (OCH , OC H , OC H ) functional groups at C1/C2 of ring A and an acyl (COCH and COPh) or phenylsulfonyl (SO Ph and SO C H -3-CH ) functionality at the N6 position of ring B of the aporphine scaffold were synthesized and evaluated for their arachidonic acid (AA)-induced antiplatelet aggregation inhibitory activity and 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free-radical-scavenging antioxidant activity, with acetylsalicylic acid and ascorbic acid as standard references, respectively. The preliminary structure-activity relationship related to AA-induced platelet aggregation inhibitory activity results showed that the aporphine analogues 1-[1,2,9,10-tetramethoxy-6a,7-dihydro-4H-dibenzo[de,g]quinolin-6(5H)-yl]ethanone and 1-[2-(benzyloxy)-1,9,10-trimethoxy-6a,7-dihydro-4H-dibenzo[de,g]quinolin-6(5H)-yl]ethanone to be the best compounds of the series. Moreover, the DPPH free-radical-scavenging antioxidant activity results demonstrated that the aporphine analogues 1,2,9,10-tetramethoxy-6-(methylsulfonyl)-5,6,6a,7-tetrahydro-4H-dibenzo[de,g]quinoline, 2-ethoxy-1,9,10-trimethoxy-6-(methylsulfonyl)-5,6,6a,7-tetrahydro-4H-dibenzo[de,g]quinoline, 1-ethoxy-2,9,10-trimethoxy-6-(methylsulfonyl)-5,6,6a,7-tetrahydro-4H-dibenzo[de,g]quinoline, 2,9,10-trimethoxy-6-(methylsulfonyl)-1-propoxy-5,6,6a,7-tetrahydro-4H-dibenzo[de,g]quinoline, and 1-(benzyloxy)-2,9,10-trimethoxy-6-(methylsulfonyl)-5,6,6a,7-tetrahydro-4H-dibenzo[de,g]quinoline were the best compounds of the series.

An efficient synthesis and biological evaluation of novel analogues of natural product Cephalandole A: A new class of antimicrobial and antiplatelet agents.

Cephalandole A 2, a small indole alkaloid isolated from the Taiwanese orchid Cephalanceropsis gracilis (Orchidaceae), exhibits anticancer activity. Surprisingly, this natural product has not been evaluated for any other biological activity so far. To discover other novel potential of Cephalandole A 2, an efficient and economic synthetic protocol for novel Cephalandole A analogues 21a-o has been developed, in only 3 steps from using indole, and applied for their biological activity.

Discovery of C-3 Tethered 2-oxo-benzo[1,4]oxazines as Potent Antioxidants: Bio-Inspired Based Design, Synthesis, Biological Evaluation, Cytotoxic, and Molecular Docking Studies.

The discovery of C-3 tethered 2-oxo-benzo[1,4]oxazines as potent antioxidants is disclosed. All the analogs have been synthesized via "on water" ultrasound-assisted irradiation conditions in excellent yields (upto 98%). All the compounds have been evaluated for their antioxidant activities using DPPH free radical scavenging assay as well as FRAP assay.

Non-peptide-based new class of platelet aggregation inhibitors: Design, synthesis, bioevaluation, SAR, and in silico studies.

A series of 2-oxo-2-phenylethylidene linked 2-oxo-benzo[1,4]oxazine analogues 17a-x and 18a-o, incorporated with a variety of electron-withdrawing as well as electron-donating groups at ring A and ring C, were synthesized under greener conditions in excellent yields (up to 98%). These analogues 17a-x and 18a-o were evaluated for their arachidonic acid (AA)-induced platelet aggregation inhibitory activities in comparison with the standard reference aspirin (IC  = 21.34 ± 1.

Microwave-assisted One-pot Efficient Synthesis of Functionalized 2-Oxo-2-phenylethylidenes-linked 2-Oxobenzo[1,4]oxazines and 2-Oxoquino[1,4]oxalines: Synthetic Applications, Antioxidant Activity, SAR and Cytotoxic Studies.

A microwave-assisted, environmentally benign green protocol for the synthesis of functionalized (Z)-3-(2-oxo-2-phenylethylidene)-3, 4-dihydro-2H-benzo[b][1,4]oxazin-2-ones (11a-n) in excellent yields (upto 97%) and (Z)-3-(2-oxo-2-phenylethylidene)-3,4-dihydroquinoxalin-2(1H)-ones (14a-h) (upto 96% yield) are reported. The practical applicability of developed methodology were also confirmed by the gram scale synthesis of 11a, 14c and 14e; synthesis of anticancer alkaloid Cephalandole A 16 (89% yield). All the synthesized compounds 11a-n, 14a-h and 16 were assessed for their in vitro antioxidant activities in DPPH radical scavenging and FRAP assay.

Efficacious cellular codelivery of doxorubicin and EGFP siRNA mediated by the composition of PLGA and PEI protected gold nanoparticles.

This study reports the simultaneous delivery of EGFP siRNA and the chemotherapeutic drug, doxorubicin by means of the composition that results from the electrostatic interaction between positively charged siRNA-complexes of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) capped with PEI, 25kDa (P25-AuNPs) and negatively charged carboxymethyl cellulose formulated PLGA nanoparticles loaded with doxorubicin. The nanoparticles and their facile interaction were studied by means of dynamic light scattering (DLS), zeta potential, transmission electron microscopic (TEM) measurements. The flow cytometric and confocal microscopic analysis evidenced the simultaneous internalization of both labelled siRNA and doxorubin into around 55% of the HeLa cancer cell population.

Synthesis, antimicrobial activity, structure-activity relationship and cytotoxic studies of a new series of functionalized (Z)-3-(2-oxo-2-substituted ethylidene)-3,4-dihydro-2H-benzo[b][1,4]oxazin-2-ones.

A new series of functionalized (Z)-3-(2-oxo-2-substituted ethylidene)-3,4-dihydro-2H-benzo[b][1,4]oxazin-2-ones 23-26, incorporating pharmaceutically privileged substructures such as cyclopropyl, naphthyl, biphenyl and cyclohexylphenyl were synthesized in excellent yields. All the synthesized compounds were screened for their in vitro antibacterial activity against gram-(+)ve and gram-(-)ve bacterial species i.e.

Stable Tricyclic Antitubercular Ozonides Derived from Artemisinin.

New, highly stable tricyclic antitubercular ozonides 9 and 10 derived from artemisinin are reported in 39 and 9% yields, respectively. The ozonide groups of 9 and 10 were found to be stable under strong basic and acidic conditions. The absolute configuration of ozonides 9 was confirmed by X-ray crystallography.

An organocatalytic highly efficient approach to the direct synthesis of substituted carbazoles in water.

A simple, mild, green, catalytic and general procedure for the direct synthesis of highly functionalized 1-methoxycarbonyl-2-aryl/alkyl-3-nitro-9H-carbazoles has been achieved in water medium via a one-pot domino Michael-Henry/aromatization reaction of methyl 2-(3-formyl-1H-indol-2-yl)acetates with aryl/alky-substituted β-nitroolefins under air using DABCO (30 mol%) as an organocatalyst. In addition, the bench scale synthesis can be performed without using toxic organic solvents and a biologically important new fused carbazole has been prepared.

L-proline catalyzed stereoselective synthesis of (E)-methyl-α-indol-2-yl-β-aryl/alkyl acrylates: easy access to substituted carbazoles, γ-carbolines and prenostodione.

A simple, mild and robust method for the stereoselective synthesis of (E)-methyl α-(3-formyl-1H-indol-2-yl)-β-aryl/alkyl-substituted acrylates via a condensation reaction of methyl 2-(3-formyl-1H-indol-2-yl)acetate with several alkyl or aryl aldehydes using L-proline (25 mol%) as a catalyst is presented for the first time. In addition, completely metal free based high yielding methods for the syntheses of highly substituted biologically important carbazoles, γ-carbolines and the marine alkaloid prenostodione have been developed through our methodology.