Exploration of the dihydropyrimidine scaffold for the development of new potential anti-inflammatory agents blocking prostaglandin E2 synthase-1 enzyme (mPGES-1)

• Dihydropyrimidine scaffold: new molecular platform for mPGES-1 inhibitors.
• Docking calculations on the mPGES-1 X-ray crystal structure were performed.
• Biological data disclosed two interesting molecules (34, 35).
• An accurate Structure–Activity Relationship (SAR) is presented.

Agents targeting microsomal prostaglandin E2 synthase-1 (mPGES-1) would inhibit only PGE2 production induced by inflammatory stimuli and thus could represent a valuable alternative to non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) as they should be free from the severe side effects of the classic anti-inflammatory drugs. Although several mPGES-1 inhibitors have been so far identified, none of them is currently in clinical trials, therefore the discovery of new molecular platforms, able to interfere with this interesting target, is urgently required. Here, we report the results of a focused collection of dyhidropyrimidin-2(1H)-one based molecules projected by Virtual Screening computational techniques. The key interactions with the receptor counterpart were introduced as a qualitative filter for the selection of the most promising compounds. The biological data obtained are consistent with the computer-aided suggestions and disclosed two interesting molecules showing in vitro mPGES-1 inhibitory activity in the low μM range.

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