Valosine containing protein (VCP), also known as p97, is a member of AAA ATPase family that is involved in several biological processes and plays a central role in the ubiquitin-mediated degradation of misfolded proteins. VCP is an ubiquitously expressed, highly abundant protein and has been found overexpressed in many tumor types, sometimes associated with poor prognosis. In this respect, VCP has recently received a great deal of attention as a potential new target for cancer therapy. In this paper, the discovery and structure-activity relationships of alkylsulfanyl-1,2,4-triazoles, a new class of potent, allosteric VCP inhibitors, are described. Medicinal chemistry manipulation of compound 1, identified via HTS, led to the discovery of potent and selective inhibitors with submicromolar activity in cells and clear mechanism of action at consistent doses. This represents a first step toward a new class of potential anticancer agents.

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We investigated the Strecker-type reaction of isatin derived chiral ketimines with TMSCN in the presence of a Lewis acid. The desired a-amino nitriles have been obtained in good yields with moderate diastereoselectivity. Further elaboration of the cyanide group allowed the preparation of a new oxindole-based peptidomimetic and a pharmaceutically relevant spirohydantoin.

Three natural products have been assembled to obtain a new antimalarial hit. (+)-Usnic acid was used as scaffold to design and synthesize new products, that were tested on asexual development for P. falciparum and P. berghei. Among them, the ester of (+)-usnic acid-4-aminobutyric acid 14 with dihydroartemisinin shows considerable in vivo antimalarial activity against P. berghei in mice, similar to the synthetic drug artesunate. Compound 14 behaves as a delivery system for dihydroartemisinin and combine the effects of the endoperoxide with the redox properties of the phenolic portions of (+)-usnic acid.