This paper focuses on the application of microreaction technology in the life science industry. Certain features of microreaction technology, for example, mixing, heat transfer, and residence time distribution, are discussed. Important advantages such as high operational safety and the possibility to transfer the experimental results directly from laboratory to the production of pilot-plant scales are mentioned. Potential application fields in the drug discovery and development processes, from research to production, by including chemical synthesis of different targets in the case of the quinoline acid derivative (ciprofloxacin) and the Paal-Knorr pyrrole synthesis are presented.

The family of nitric oxide synthases (NOS) catalyzes the conversion of l-arginine to l-citrulline and nitric oxide (NO), an important cellular messenger molecule which has been implicated in the pathophysiology of septic shock and inflammatory and neurodegenerative disease states. NOS can be maximally activated by the ubiquitous cofactor, (6R)-5,6,7,8-tetrahydrobiopterin (H4Bip), and antagonists of H4Bip may be of therapeutic importance to inhibit pathologically high NO formation. The 4-amino substituted analogue of H4Bip was reported to be a potent NOS inhibitor. Therefore, we developed a series of novel 4-amino pteridine derivatives, anti-pterins, to pharmacologically target the neuronal isoform of nitric oxide synthase (NOS-I). To functionally characterize the pterin/anti-pterin interaction and establish a structure−activity relationship (SAR), we systematically altered the substituents in the 2-, 4-, 5-, 6-, and 7-position of the pteridine nucleus. Varying the substitution pattern in the 2-, 5-, and 7-position resulted in no significant inhibitory effect on enzyme activity. In contrast, bulky substituents in the 6-position, such as phenyl, markedly increased the inhibitory potency of the reduced 4-amino-5,6,7,8-tetrahydropteridines, possibly as a consequence of hydrophobic interactions within NOS-I. However, this was not the case for the aromatic 4-amino pteridines. Interestingly, chemical modification of the 4-amino substituent by dialkyl/diaralkylation together with 6-arylation of the aromatic 2,4-diamino pteridine resulted in potent and efficacious inhibitors of NOS-I, suggesting possible hydrophilic and hydrophobic interactions within NOS-I. This SAR agrees with (a) the recently published crystal structure of the oxygenase domain of the inducible NOS isoform (NOS-II) and (b) the comparative molecular field analysis of selected NOS-I inhibitors, which resulted in a 3D-QSAR model of the pterin binding site interactions. Further optimization should be possible when the full length structure of NOS-I becomes available.

Pathological nitric oxide (NO) generation in sepsis, inflammation, and stroke may be therapeutically controlled by inhibiting NO synthases (NOS). Here we targeted the (6R)-5,6,7,8-tetrahydro-L-biopterin (H 4 Bip)-binding site of NOS, which, upon cofactor binding, maximally increases enzyme activity and NO production from substrate L-arginine. The first generation of H 4 Bip-based NOS inhibitors employed a 4-amino pharmacophore of H 4 Bip analogous to antifolates such as methotrexate. We developed a novel series of 4-oxo-pteridine derivatives that were screened for inhibition against neuronal NOS (NOS-I) and a structure-activity relationship was determined. To understand the structural basis for pterin antagonism, selected derivatives were docked into the NOS pterin binding cavity. Using a reduced 4-oxo-pteridine scaffold, derivatives with certain modifications such as electron-rich aromatic phenyl or benzoyl groups at the 5-and 6-positions, were discovered to markedly inhibit NOS-I, possibly due to hydrophobic and electrostatic interactions with Phe 462 and Ser 104 , respectively, within the pterin binding pocket. One of the most effective 4-oxo compounds and, for comparisons an active 4-amino derivative, were then co-crystallized with the endothelial NOS (NOS-III) oxygenase domain and this structure solved to confirm the hypothetical binding modes. Collectively, these findings suggest (i) that, unlike the antifolate principle, the 4-amino substituent is not essential for developing pterinbased NOS inhibitors and (ii), provide a steric and electrostatic basis for their rational design.

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