Benzimidazole-based derivatives as privileged scaffold developed for the treatment of the RSV infection: a computational study exploring the potency and cytotoxicity profiles

• Published in: Journal of enzyme inhibition and medicinal chemistry Vol. 32; no. 1; pp. 375 - 402
• Main Authors: Cichero, Elena, Tonelli, Michele, Novelli, Federica, Tasso, Bruno, Delogu, Ilenia, Loddo, Roberta, Bruno, Olga, Fossa, Paola
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Taylor & Francis 2017; Taylor & Francis Ltd; Taylor & Francis Group
• Subjects: 3D-QSAR; Animals; Antiviral Agents - chemical synthesis; Antiviral Agents - chemistry; Antiviral Agents - pharmacology; Benzimidazoles; Benzimidazoles - chemical synthesis; Benzimidazoles - chemistry; Benzimidazoles - pharmacology; Cell Line; Cercopithecus aethiops; CoMFA; Computer applications; CoMSIA; Cytotoxicity; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Humans; Infants; Mathematical models; Microbial Sensitivity Tests; Models, Molecular; Molecular Structure; Monoclonal antibodies; Original; Quantitative Structure-Activity Relationship; Respiratory syncytial virus; Respiratory Syncytial Viruses - drug effects; Respirovirus Infections - drug therapy; Ribavirin; Statistical analysis; Structure-activity relationships; Vero Cells; 3D-QSAR; Benzimidazoles; respiratory syncytial virus; CoMFA; CoMSIA
• ISSN: 1475-6366; 1475-6374
• DOI: 10.1080/14756366.2016.1256881

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) has been identified as a main cause of hospitalisation in infants and children. To date, the current therapeutic arsenal is limited to ribavirin and palivizumab with variable efficacy. In this work, starting from a number of in-house series of previously described anti-RSV agents based on the benzimidazole scaffold, with the aim at gaining a better understanding of the related chemical features involved in potency and safety profiles, we applied a computational study including two focussed comparative molecular fields analysis (CoMFA) and comparative molecular similarity indices analysis (CoMSIA). The results allowed us to derive useful suggestions for the design of derivatives and also to set up statistical models predicting the potency and selectivity index (SI = CC
50
/EC
50
) of any new analogue prior to synthesis. Accordingly, here, we discuss preliminary results obtained through the applied exhaustive QSAR analyses, leading to design and synthesise more effective anti-RSV agents.