Currently available drugs for the prevention and treatment of seasonal influenza virus infections are the M2 ion channel blockers (amantadine and rimantadine) and the neuraminidase (NA) inhibitors (oseltamivir and zanamivir) (9). The clinical usefulness of amantadine and rimantadine is limited due to the increasing incidence of adamantane-resistant viruses in the population (3, 11). Moreover, the M2 ion channel blockers inhibit only influenza A virus replication and are associated with neurological side effects. NA inhibitors are favored clinically, since they are effective against all NA subtypes, are well tolerated, and have a higher barrier for resistance (27). However, drug-resistant isolates have been detected in A/H3N2-and A/H5N1-infected patients receiving oseltamivir treatment (10, 16). Even more reason for concern is the recent and worldwide isolation of oseltamivir-resistant A/H1N1 mutants, even among untreated patients (17, 46). Oseltamivir and, to a lesser extent, zanamivir have been stockpiled as part of pandemic preparedness plans and form the cornerstone of the response to the recent outbreak of the swine flu A/H1N1 virus (39, 40). However, it is unclear whether these antivirals will be sufficient to deal with larger influenza epidemics, so there is an urgent need to develop antivirals that act on a novel influenza virus target.An attractive antiviral strategy is to block influenza virus entry into the host cell, a process in which the viral hemagglutinin (HA) plays a key role (42). HA is a trimeric envelope glycoprotein that contains two disulfide-linked polypeptide chains, HA1 and HA2. After attachment of the receptor binding domain in the HA1 subunit to sialic acid-containing cell surface glycans, the virion is internalized by endocytosis. The acidic pH of the endosome leads to an extensive and irreversible conformational change of the HA protein, resulting in exposure of the fusion peptide, which inserts into the endosomal target membrane of the host cell (18). After fusion of the viral and endosomal membranes, the viral ribonucleoproteins are released into the cytosol and transported into the nucleus, where replication occurs (6). Crystallographic studies have provided detailed insight into the processes of HA refolding and extrusion of the fusion peptide (4). The latter is a sequence of hydrophobic amino acids located at the N terminus of the HA2 subunit, which is, in the prefusogenic conformation, sequestered in a pocket of ionizable residues at the monomer interface of the HA trimer (48). In order to exploit the HA protein as an antiviral target, several small-molecule inhibitors that block the acid-induced conformational change of HA have been identified (2,19,21,30,49). For many of these, development has been hindered by their subtype-dependent activities. On the other hand, these diverse fusion inhibitors represent excellent tools to identify the HA amino acid residues involved in the fusion process and/or delineate the structural differences among HA subtypes (36). We report here the i...

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We report on synthesis and the structure-activity relationship of carboxamide-derived inhibitors of the influenza virus fusion function of the viral hemagglutinin. The newly synthesized carboxamides have a backbone structure similar to reported fusion inhibitors, consisting of an aromatic ring system linked to a non-aromatic cyclic system via an amide bridge. Condensation of 2-hydroxybenzohydrazide, 5-chloro-2-hydroxybenzohydrazide or 3-hydroxynaphthalene-2-carbohydrazide, appropriate carbonyl compounds and sulfanyl acids yielded corresponding N-(3-oxo-1-thia-4-azaspiro[4.5]decan-4-yl)carboxamides, using a one-pot three-component cyclocondensation method. The compounds were characterized by IR, 1 H-NMR, 13 C-NMR and elemental analysis. All compounds were evaluated for antiviral activity against influenza A (H1N1, H3N2) and influenza B viruses in MDCK cell cultures. The contributions of different substituents on the antiinfluenza effect were discussed.

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Inhibition of the β-carbonic anhydrase (CA, EC 4.2.1.1) from pathogenic Candida glabrata (CgNce103) by 1 H -indole-2,3-dione 3-[ N -(4-sulfamoylphenyl)thiosemicarbazones] 4a–m was investigated. All the compounds were found to be potent inhibitors of CgNce103, with inhibition constants in the range of 6.4-63.9 nM. The 5,7-dichloro substituted derivative 4l showed the most effective inhibition (K I of 6.4 nM) as well as the highest selectivity for inhibiting CgNce103 over the cytosolic human (h) isoforms hCA I and II. A possible binding interaction of compound 4l within the active site of CgNce103 has been proposed based on docking studies.

Hemagglutinin is the surface protein of the influenza virus that mediates both binding and penetration of the virus into host cells. We here report on the synthesis and structure-activity relationship of some novel N-(1-thia-4-azaspiro[4.5]decan-4-yl)carboxamide compounds carrying the 5-chloro-2-methoxybenzamide structure, designed as influenza virus fusion inhibitors. The carboxamides (1a-h, 2a-h) have a similar backbone structure as the fusion inhibitors that we reported on previously.Compounds 2b and 2d displayed inhibitory activity against influenza A/H3N2 virus replication (average antiviral EC 50 : 2.

3) and evaluated for antifungal activity against Microsporum gypseum NCPF 580, M. canis, Trichophyton tonsurans NCPF 245, T. rubrum, Candida albicans ATCC 10231, and C. parapsilosis ATCC 22019 using amphotericin B as the standard. The chemical structures of the compounds were confirmed by elemental analysis, IR, 1 H NMR, 13 C NMR, HMBC ( 13 C, 1 H), and mass spectra. Most of the tested compounds showed moderate antifungal activity. Hydrazinecarbothioamide derivatives 4h and 4f exhibited the highest activity against M. canis (MIC: 2 µ g mL −1 and 4 µ g mL −1 , respectively).