Nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs) nowadays represent very potent and most promising anti-AIDS agents that specifically target the HIV-1 reverse transcriptase (RT). However, the effectiveness of NNRTI drugs can be hampered by rapid emergence of drug-resistant viruses and severe side effects upon long-term use. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop novel, highly potent NNRTIs with broad spectrum antiviral activity and improved pharmacokinetic properties, and more efficient strategies that facilitate and shorten the drug discovery process would be extremely beneficial. Fortunately, the structural diversity of NNRTIs provided a wide space for novel lead discovery, and the pharmacophore similarity of NNRTIs gave valuable hints for lead discovery and optimization. More importantly, with the continued efforts in the development of computational tools and increased crystallographic information on RT/NNRTI complexes, structure-based approaches using a combination of traditional medicinal chemistry, structural biology, and computational chemistry are being used increasingly in the design of NNRTIs. First, this review covers two decades of research and development for various NNRTI families based on their chemical scaffolds, and then describes the structural similarity of NNRTIs. We have attempted to assemble a comprehensive overview of the general approaches in NNRTI lead discovery and optimization reported in the literature during the last decade. The successful applications of medicinal chemistry strategies, crystallography, and computational tools for designing novel NNRTIs are highlighted. Future directions for research are also outlined.

HIV-1 non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs) nowadays represent most promising anti-AIDS drugs that specifically inhibit HIV-1 reverse transcriptase (RT). They have a unique antiviral potency, high specificity and low cytotoxicity. However, to a great extent, the efficacy of HIV-1 NNRTIs is compounded by rapid emergence of drug resistant virus strains, which calls for continuous efforts to develop novel HIV-1 NNRTIs. Diarylpyrimidine (DAPY) derivatives, one family of NNRTIs with superior activity profiles against wild-type HIV-1 and mutant strains, have attracted considerable attention over the past few years. Among the potent lead DAPY compounds, etravirine was approved by FDA in January 2008, and its analogue rilpivirine (TMC278) has advanced to phase III clinical trials. The successful development of DAPYs results from a multidisciplinary approach involving traditional medicinal chemistry, structural biology, crystallography and computational chemistry. Recently, a number of novel characteristics of DAPYs including conformational flexibility, positional adaptability, key hydrogen bonds and specifically targeting conserved residues of RT, have been identified, providing valuable avenues for further optimization and development of new DAPY analogues as promising anti-HIV drug candidates. In this review, we first present a brief historical account of the medicinal chemistry of the DAPY NNRTIs, then focus on the extensive structural modifications, SAR studies, and binding mode analysis based on crystallographic and molecular modeling. Other structural related NNRTI scaffolds will also be reviewed.

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A novel series of piperidine-linked amino-triazine derivatives were designed, synthesized and evaluated for in vitro anti-HIV activity as non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors on the basis of our previous work. Screening results indicated that most compounds showed excellent activity against wild-type HIV-1 with EC(50) values in low nanomolar concentration range (especially compound 6b3, EC(50) = 4.61 nM, SI = 5945) and high activity against K103N/Y181C resistant mutant strain of HIV-1 with EC(50) values in low micromolar concentration range. In addition, preliminary structure-activity relationship and molecular modeling of these new analogs were detailed in this manuscript.

Osteoarthritis (OA) is an age-related degenerative disease, which is characterized by chronic joint pain, inflammation and the damage of joint cartilage. At present, steroidal drugs and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS), selective cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) inhibitors, are the first-line drugs for the treatment of OA. However, these drugs could lead to some cardiovascular side effects. Therefore, it is urgent to develop novel agents for the treatment of OA. Matrix metalloproteinase-13 (MMP-13), an important member of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) family, plays a vital role by degrading type II collagen in articular cartilage and bone in OA. It is noted that MMP-13 is specially expressed in the OA patients, and not in normal adults. In addition, broadspectrum MMP inhibitors could result in some painful and joint-stiffening side effects, called musculoskeletal syndrome (MSS) in the clinical trials. Thus, developing selective MMP-13 inhibitors is a potential strategy for the therapy of OA. In this review, we summarize the recent progress of selective MMP-13 inhibitors including two subfamilies, namely zinc-binding and non-zinc-binding selective MMP-13 inhibitors.

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A novel series of triazine derivatives targeting the entrance channel of the HIV-1 non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor binding pocket (NNIBP) were designed and synthesized on the basis of our previous work. The results of a cell-based antiviral screening assay indicated that most compounds showed good-to-moderate activity against wild-type HIV-1 with EC50 values within the concentration range of 0.0078-0.16 μm (compound DCS-a4, EC50  = 7.8 nm). Some compounds displayed submicromolar activity against the K103N/Y181C resistant mutant strain (such as compound DCS-a4, EC50  = 0.65 μm). Molecular modeling studies confirmed that the new compounds could bind into the NNIBP similarly as the lead compound, and the newly introduced flexible heterocycles could occupy the entrance channel effectively. In addition, the preliminary structure-activity relationship and the RT inhibitory assay are presented in this study.