2. Academic Validation
  3. Targeting fungal virulence factor by small molecules: Structure-based discovery of novel secreted aspartic protease 2 (SAP2) inhibitors

Targeting fungal virulence factor by small molecules: Structure-based discovery of novel secreted aspartic protease 2 (SAP2) inhibitors

  • Eur J Med Chem. 2020 Sep 1;201:112515. doi: 10.1016/j.ejmech.2020.112515.
Chenglan Li 1,  Yang Liu 2,  Shanchao Wu 3,  Guiyan Han 3,  Jie Tu 3,  Guoqiang Dong 4,  Na Liu 5,  Chunquan Sheng 6
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 School of Pharmacy, Ningxia Medical University, 1160 Shengli Street, Yinchuan, 750004, China; Department of Medicinal Chemistry, School of Pharmacy, Second Military Medical University, 325 Guohe Road, Shanghai, 200433, China.
  • 2 Department of Pharmacy, No. 971 Hospital of PLA, Qingdao, 266071, China.
  • 3 Department of Medicinal Chemistry, School of Pharmacy, Second Military Medical University, 325 Guohe Road, Shanghai, 200433, China.
  • 4 Department of Medicinal Chemistry, School of Pharmacy, Second Military Medical University, 325 Guohe Road, Shanghai, 200433, China. Electronic address: dgq-81@163.com.
  • 5 Department of Medicinal Chemistry, School of Pharmacy, Second Military Medical University, 325 Guohe Road, Shanghai, 200433, China. Electronic address: liuna66@aliyun.com.
  • 6 School of Pharmacy, Ningxia Medical University, 1160 Shengli Street, Yinchuan, 750004, China; Department of Medicinal Chemistry, School of Pharmacy, Second Military Medical University, 325 Guohe Road, Shanghai, 200433, China. Electronic address: shengcq@smmu.edu.cn.
PMID: 32623209 DOI: 10.1016/j.ejmech.2020.112515
Abstract

Secreted aspartic Protease 2 (SAP2), a kind of virulence factor, is an emerging new Antifungal target. Using docking-based virtual screening and structure-based inhibitor design, a series of novel SAP2 inhibitors were successfully identified. Among them, indolone derivative 24a showed potent SAP2 inhibitory activity (IC50 = 0.92 μM). It blocked fungi biofilm and hypha formation by down-regulating the expression of genes SAP2, ECE1, ALS3 and EFG1. As a virulence factor inhibitor, compound 24a was inactive in vitro and showed potent in vivo efficacy in a murine model of invasive candidiasis. It represents a promising lead compound for the discovery of novel Antifungal agents.

Keywords

Antifungal; Secreted aspartic protease 2; Virulence factor.

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