Multidrug resistance caused by ATP binding cassette transporter P-glycoprotein (P-gp) through extrusion of anticancer drugs from the cells is a major cause of failure in cancer chemotherapy. Previously, selenazole-containing cyclic peptides were reported as P-gp inhibitors and were also used for co-crystallization with mouse P-gp, which has 87 % homology to human P-gp. It has been reported that human P-gp can simultaneously accommodate two to three moderately sized molecules at the drug binding pocket. Our in silico analysis, based on the homology model of human P-gp, spurred our efforts to investigate the optimal size of (S)-valine-derived thiazole units that can be accommodated at the drug binding pocket. Towards this goal, we synthesized varying lengths of linear and cyclic derivatives of (S)-valine-derived thiazole units to investigate the optimal size, lipophilicity, and structural form (linear or cyclic) of valine-derived thiazole peptides that can be accommodated in the P-gp binding pocket and affects its activity, previously an unexplored concept. Among these oligomers, lipophilic linear (13) and cyclic trimer (17) derivatives of QZ59S-SSS were found to be the most and equally potent inhibitors of human P-gp (IC₅₀=1.5 μM). As the cyclic trimer and linear trimer compounds are equipotent, future studies should focus on noncyclic counterparts of cyclic peptides maintaining linear trimer length. A binding model of the linear trimer 13 within the drug binding site on the homology model of human P-gp represents an opportunity for future optimization, specifically replacing valine and thiazole groups in the noncyclic form.

A group of novel N-1-substituted indazole-3-carboxamide derivatives were synthesized and evaluated as inhibitors of poly(ADP-ribose)polymerase-1 (PARP-1). A structure-based design strategy was applied to a weakly active unsubstituted 1H-indazole-3-carboxamide 2, by introducing a three carbon linker between 1H-indazole-3-carboxamide and different heterocycles, and led to compounds 4 [1-(3-(piperidine-1-yl)propyl)-1H-indazole-3-carboxamide, IC₅₀ = 36 μm] and 5 [1-(3-(2,3-dioxoindolin-1-yl)propyl)-1H-indazole-3-carboxamide, IC₅₀ = 6.8 μm]. Compound 5 was evaluated in rats for its protective action against diabetes induced by a treatment with streptozotocin, a known diabetogenic agent. In addition to preserving the ability of the pancreas to secrete insulin, compound 5 was also able to attenuate the ensuing hyperglycemic response to a significant extent.

GPR40, a G-protein-coupled receptor has been well established to play a crucial role in regulating blood glucose levels. Hence, GPR40 is a potential target for future antidiabetic agents. The present 3D QSAR study is aimed at delineating structural parameters governing GPR40 agonistic activity. To meet this objective, a comparative molecular similarity indices analysis for 63 different GPR40 agonists was performed using two methods; a ligand-based 3D QSAR model employing the atom fit alignment method and a receptor-based 3D QSAR model that was derived from the predicted binding conformations obtained by docking all the GPR40 agonists at the active site of GPR40. The results of these studies showed the ligand-based model to be superior ( value of 0.610) to the receptor-based model ( value of 0.519) in terms of statistical data. The predictive ability of these models was evaluated using a test set of 15 compounds not included in the preliminary training set of 48 compounds. The predictive r² values for the ligand- and the receptor-based models were found to be 0.863 and 0.599, respectively. Further, interpretation of the comparative molecular similarity indices analysis contour maps with reference to the active site of GPR40 provided an insight into GPR40-agonist interactions.