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ObjectiveThe low investment in research, diagnosis and treatment are factors that contribute to the continuity of Chagas’ disease as a neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). In this context, the repositioning of drugs represents a useful strategy, in the search for new chemotherapeutic approaches for NTDs. HIV aspartic peptidase inhibitors (HIV IPs) are good candidates for drug repurposing. Here, we modeled the three dimensional structure of an aspartyl peptidase of Trypanosoma cruzi, the causative agent of Chagas’ disease, aligned it to the HIV aspartyl peptidase and performed docking binding assays with the HIV PIs.ResultsThe 3D structure confirmed the presence of acid aspartic residues, which are critical to enzyme activity. The docking experiment revealed that HIV IPs bind to the active site of the enzyme, being ritonavir and lopinavir the ones with greater affinity. Benznidazole presented the worst binding affinity, this drug is currently used in Chagas’ disease treatment and was included as negative control. These results together with previous data on the trypanocidal effect of the HIV PIs support the hypothesis that a T. cruzi aspartyl peptidase can be the intracellular target of these inhibitors. However, the direct demonstration of the inhibition of T. cruzi aspartyl peptidase activity by HIV PIs is still a goal to be persuaded.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s13104-018-3927-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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Background Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide. Among its subtypes, non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the most common. Recently, the mitochondrial isoform of the enzyme phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (HsPEPCK-M) was identified as responsible for the metabolic adaptation in the NSCLC allowing tumor growth even under conditions of glucose deficiency. This adaptation is possible due to the role of HsPEPCK-M in gluconeogenesis, converting the oxaloacetate to phosphoenolpyruvate in the presence of GTP, which plays an important role in the energetic support of these tumors. In this context, it was shown that the inhibition or knockdown of this enzyme was able to induce apoptosis in NSCLC under low glucose conditions. Purpose In this study, novel putative inhibitors were proposed for the human PEPCK-M (HsPEPCK-M) based on a computer-aided approach. Methods Comparative modeling was used to generate 3D models for HsPEPCK-M. Subsequently, the set of natural compounds of the ZINC database was screened against HsPEPCK-M models using structure-based pharmacophore modeling and molecular docking approaches. The selected compounds were evaluated according to its chemical diversity and clustered based on chemical similarity. Results The pharmacophore hypotheses, generated based on known PEPCK inhibitors, were able to select 7,124 candidate compounds. These compounds were submitted to molecular docking studies using three conformations of HsPEPCK-M generated by comparative modeling. The aim was to select compounds with high predicted binding affinity for at least one of the conformations of HsPEPCK-M. After molecular docking, 612 molecules were selected as potential inhibitors of HsPEPCK-M. These compounds were clustered according to their structural similarity. Chemical profiling and binding mode analyses of these compounds allowed the proposal of four promising compounds: ZINC01656421, ZINC895296, ZINC00895535 and ZINC02571340. Conclusion These compounds may be considered as potential candidates for HsPEPCK-M inhibitors and may also be used as lead compounds for the development of novel HsPEPCK-M inhibitors.