Inhibition of the metalloprotease ECE-1 may be beneficial for the treatment of coronary heart disease, cancer, renal failure, and urological disorders. A novel class of indole-based ECE inhibitors was identified by high throughput screening. Optimization of the original screening lead structure 6 led to highly potent inhibitors such as 11, which bears a bisaryl amide moiety linked to the indole C2 position through an amide group. Docking of 11 into a model structure of ECE revealed a unique binding mode in which the Zn center of the enzyme is not directly addressed by the inhibitor, but key interactions are suggested for the central amide group. Testing of the lead compound 6 in hypertensive Dahl S rats resulted in a decrease in blood pressure after an initial period in which the blood pressure remained unchanged, most probably the result of ET-1 already present. Indole derivative 6 also displays a cardio-protective effect in a mouse model of acute myocardial infarction after oral administration. The more potent chloropyridine derivative 9 antagonizes big-ET-1-induced increase in blood pressure in rats at intravenous administration of 3 mg kg(-1). All ECE inhibitors of the indole class showed high selectivity for ECE over related metalloproteases such as NEP and ACE. Therefore, these compounds might have further potential as drugs for the treatment of coronary heart diseases.

A novel class of indole-based endothelin-converting enzyme (ECE) inhibitors was identified by high throughput screening. We report systematic optimization of this compound class by means of classical and solid-phase chemistry. Optimized compounds with a bisarylamide side chain at the 2-position of the indole skeleton exhibit low-nanomolar activity on ECE.

Phenylalanyl (Phe)-tRNA synthetase (Phe-RS) is an essential enzyme which catalyzes the transfer of phenylalanine to the Phe-specific transfer RNA (tRNA(Phe)), a key step in protein biosynthesis. Phenyl-thiazolylurea-sulfonamides were identified as a novel class of potent inhibitors of bacterial Phe-RS by high-throughput screening and chemical variation of the screening hit. The compounds inhibit Phe-RS of Escherichia coli, Haemophilus influenzae, Streptococcus pneumoniae, and Staphylococcus aureus, with 50% inhibitory concentrations in the nanomolar range. Enzyme kinetic measurements demonstrated that the compounds bind competitively with respect to the natural substrate Phe. All derivatives are highly selective for the bacterial Phe-RS versus the corresponding mammalian cytoplasmic and human mitochondrial enzymes. Phenyl-thiazolylurea-sulfonamides displayed good in vitro activity against Staphylococcus, Streptococcus, Haemophilus, and Moraxella strains, reaching MICs below 1 micro g/ml. The antibacterial activity was partly antagonized by increasing concentrations of Phe in the culture broth in accordance with the competitive binding mode. Further evidence that inhibition of tRNA(Phe) charging is the antibacterial principle of this compound class was obtained by proteome analysis of Bacillus subtilis. Here, the phenyl-thiazolylurea-sulfonamides induced a protein pattern indicative of the stringent response. In addition, an E. coli strain carrying a relA mutation and defective in stringent response was more susceptible than its isogenic relA(+) parent strain. In vivo efficacy was investigated in a murine S. aureus sepsis model and a S. pneumoniae sepsis model in rats. Treatment with the phenyl-thiazolylurea-sulfonamides reduced the bacterial titer in various organs by up to 3 log units, supporting the potential value of Phe-RS as a target in antibacterial therapy.

Inhibition of the metalloprotease ECE-1 may be beneficial for the treatment of coronary heart disease, cancer, renal failure, and urological disorders. A novel class of indole-based ECE inhibitors was identified by high throughput screening. Optimization of the original screening lead structure 6 led to highly potent inhibitors such as 11, which bears a bisaryl amide moiety linked to the indole C2 position through an amide group. Docking of 11 into a model structure of ECE revealed a unique binding mode in which the Zn center of the enzyme is not directly addressed by the inhibitor, but key interactions are suggested for the central amide group. Testing of the lead compound 6 in hypertensive Dahl S rats resulted in a decrease in blood pressure after an initial period in which the blood pressure remained unchanged, most probably the result of ET-1 already present. Indole derivative 6 also displays a cardio-protective effect in a mouse model of acute myocardial infarction after oral administration. The more potent chloropyridine derivative 9 antagonizes big-ET-1-induced increase in blood pressure in rats at intravenous administration of 3 mg kg(-1). All ECE inhibitors of the indole class showed high selectivity for ECE over related metalloproteases such as NEP and ACE. Therefore, these compounds might have further potential as drugs for the treatment of coronary heart diseases.

A novel class of indole-based endothelin-converting enzyme (ECE) inhibitors was identified by high throughput screening. We report systematic optimization of this compound class by means of classical and solid-phase chemistry. Optimized compounds with a bisarylamide side chain at the 2-position of the indole skeleton exhibit low-nanomolar activity on ECE.