Plasmodium Falciparum 6-oxopurine Phosphoribosyltransferases Research Articles

Acyclic nucleoside phosphonates with unnatural nucleobases, favipiravir and allopurinol, designed as potential inhibitors of the human and Plasmodium falciparum 6-oxopurine phosphoribosyltransferases

Hypoxanthine-guanine-xanthine phosphoribosyltransferase (HGXPRT) is a key enzyme of the purine salvage pathway and its activity is crucial for the survival of certain parasites e.g. Plasmodium falciparum (Pf). Acyclic nucleoside phosphonates (ANPs) containing either guanine or hypoxanthine as the purine base are inhibitors of this enzyme. In this part of a SAR study, these two naturally-occurring nucleobases attached to an acyclic moiety were replaced by allopurinol or favipiravir. Both allopurinol and favipiravir ANPs were prepared via Mitsunobu reaction. The alkylation of favipiravir was optimized to yield both N- and O- regioisomers but the N-regioisomers were unstable under deprotection conditions. Thus, only the ANPs containing the O-isomer of favipiravir and those containing allopurinol were evaluated as potential inhibitors of human HGPRT and PfHGXPRT. Two ANPs with allopurinol as the base have Ki values of 10 μM and 30 μM for PfHGXPRT but do not inhibit human HGPRT activity at concentrations of 100–150 μM.

Antimalarial activity of prodrugs of N-branched acyclic nucleoside phosphonate inhibitors of 6-oxopurine phosphoribosyltransferases

Acyclic nucleoside phosphonates (ANPs) that contain a 6-oxopurine base are good inhibitors of the human and Plasmodium falciparum 6-oxopurine phosphoribosyltransferases (PRTs), key enzymes of the purine salvage pathway. Chemical modifications, based on the crystal structures of several inhibitors in complex with the human PRTase, led to the design of a new class of inhibitors—the aza-ANPs. Because of the negative charges of the phosphonic acid moiety, their ability to cross cell membranes is, however, limited. Thus, phosphoramidate prodrugs of the aza-ANPs were prepared to improve permeability. These prodrugs arrest parasitemia with IC50 values in the micromolar range against Plasmodium falciparum-infected erythrocyte cultures (both chloroquine-sensitive and chloroquine-resistant Pf strains). The prodrugs exhibit low cytotoxicity in several human cell lines. Thus, they fulfill two essential criteria to qualify them as promising antimalarial drug leads.