2,3-Dihydroquinazolin-4(1<i>H</i>)-one as a New Class of Anti-Leishmanial Agents: A Combined Experimental and Computational Study

oleh: Muhammad Sarfraz, Chenxi Wang, Nargis Sultana, Humna Ellahi, Muhammad Fayyaz ur Rehman, Muhammad Jameel, Shahzaib Akhter, Fariha Kanwal, Muhammad Ilyas Tariq, Song Xue

Format: Article
Diterbitkan: MDPI AG 2021-12-01

Deskripsi

Leishmaniasis is a neglected parasitic disease caused by various Leishmania species. The discovery of new protozoa drugs makes it easier to treat the disease; but, conventional clinical issues like drug resistance, cumulative toxicity, and target selectivity are also getting attention. So, there is always a need for new therapeutics to treat Leishmaniasis. Here, we have reported 2,3-dihydroquinazolin-4(1<i>H</i>)-one derivative as a new class of anti-leishmanial agents. Two derivatives, <b>3a</b> (6,8-dinitro-2,2-disubstituted-2,3-dihydroquinazolin-4(1<i>H</i>)-ones) and <b>3b</b> (2-(4-chloro-3-nitro-phenyl)-2-methyl-6,8-dinitro-2,3-dihydro-1<i>H</i>-quinazolin-4-one) were prepared that show promising in silico anti-leishmanial activities. Molecular docking was performed against the Leishmanial key proteins including Pyridoxal Kinase and Trypanothione Reductase. The stability of the ligand-protein complexes was further studied by 100 ns MD simulations and MM/PBSA calculations for both compounds. <b>3b</b> has been shown to be a better anti-leishmanial candidate. In vitro studies also agree with the in-silico results where IC<sub>50</sub> for <b>3a</b> and <b>3b</b> was 1.61 and 0.05 µg/mL, respectively.