Browsing by Author "Kart, Didem"

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    Citation Count: 7
    Antifungal screening and in silico mechanistic studies of an in-house azole library
    (2019) Sarı, Suat; Kart, Didem; Sabuncuoğlu, Suna; Doğan, İnci Selin; Özdemir, Zeynep; Bozbey, İrem; Gencel, Melis; Eşsiz, Şebnem; Reynisson, Jóhannes; Karakurt, Arzu; Saraç, Selma; Dalkara, Sevim
    Systemic Candida infections pose a serious public health problem with high morbidity and mortality. C. albicans is the major pathogen identified in candidiasis; however, non-albicans Candida spp. with antifungal resistance are now more prevalent. Azoles are first-choice antifungal drugs for candidiasis; however, they are ineffective for certain infections caused by the resistant strains. Azoles block ergosterol synthesis by inhibiting fungal CYP51, which leads to disruption of fungal membrane permeability. In this study, we screened for antifungal activity of an in-house azole library of 65 compounds to identify hit matter followed by a molecular modeling study for their CYP51 inhibition mechanism. Antifungal susceptibility tests against standard Candida spp. including C. albicans revealed derivatives 12 and 13 as highly active. Furthermore, they showed potent antibiofilm activity as well as neglectable cytotoxicity in a mouse fibroblast assay. According to molecular docking studies, 12 and 13 have the necessary binding characteristics for effective inhibition of CYP51. Finally, molecular dynamics simulations of the C. albicans CYP51 (CACYP51) homology model's catalytic site complexed with 13 were stable demonstrating excellent binding.
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    Citation Count: 17
    Discovery of new azoles with potent activity against Candida spp. and Candida albicans biofilms through virtual screening
    (Elsevier France-Editions Scientifiques Medicales Elsevier, 2019) Sari, Suat; Kart, Didem; Ozturk, Naile; Kaynak, F. Betul; Gencel, Melis; Taskor, Gulce; Karakurt, Arzu
    Systemic candidiasis is a rampant bloodstream infection of Candida spp. and C. albicans is the major pathogen isolated from infected humans. Azoles, the most common class of antifungals which suffer from increasing resistance, and especially intrinsically resistant non-albicans Candida (NAC) species, act by inhibiting fungal lanosterol 14 alpha-demethylase (CYP51). In this study we identified a number of azole compounds in 1-(2,4-dichlorophenyl)-2-(1H-imidazol-1-yl)ethanol/ethanone oxime ester structure through virtual screening using consensus scoring approach, synthesized and tested them for their antifungal properties. We reached several hits with potent activity against azole-susceptible and azoleresistant Candida spp. as well as biofilms of C albicans. 5i's minimum inhibitor concentration (MIC) was 0.125 mu g/ml against C. albicans, 0.5 mu g/ml against C. krusei and 1 mu g/ml against azole-resistant C. tropicalis isolate. Considering the MIC values of fluconazole against these fungi (0.5, 32 and 512 mu g/ml, respectively), 5i emerged as a highly potent derivative. The minimum biofilm inhibitor concentration (MBIC) of 5c, 5j, and 5p were 0.5 mu g/ml (and 5i was 2 mu g/ml) against C. albicans biofilms, lower than that of amphotericin B (4 mu g/ml), a first-line antifungal with antibiofilm activity. In addition, the active compounds showed neglectable toxicity to human monocytic cell line. We further analyzed the docking poses of the active compounds in C. albicans CYP51 (CACYP51) homology model catalytic site and identified molecular interactions in agreement with those of known azoles with fungal CYP51s and mutagenesis studies of CACYP51. We observed the stability of CACYP51 in complex with 5i in molecular dynamics simulations. (C) 2019 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.
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    Discovery of new azoles with potent activity against Candida spp. and Candida albicans biofilms through virtual screening
    (Elsevier, 2020) Eşsiz, Şebnem; Kart, Didem; Öztürk, Naile; Kaynak, F. Betül; Gencel, Melis; Taşkor, Gülce; Karakurt, Arzu; Saraç, Selma; Eşsiz, Şebnem; Dalkara, Sevim
    Systemic candidiasis is a rampant bloodstream infection ofCandidaspp. andC. albicansis the majorpathogen isolated from infected humans. Azoles, the most common class of antifungals which sufferfrom increasing resistance, and especially intrinsically resistant non-albicans Candida(NAC) species, actby inhibiting fungal lanosterol 14a-demethylase (CYP51). In this study we identified a number of azolecompounds in 1-(2,4-dichlorophenyl)-2-(1H-imidazol-1-yl)ethanol/ethanone oxime ester structurethrough virtual screening using consensus scoring approach, synthesized and tested them for theirantifungal properties. We reached several hits with potent activity against azole-susceptible and azole-resistantCandidaspp. as well as biofilms ofC. albicans.5i's minimum inhibitor concentration (MIC) was0.125mg/ml againstC. albicans, 0.5mg/ml againstC. kruseiand 1mg/ml against azole-resistantC. tropicalisisolate. Considering the MIC values offluconazole against these fungi (0.5, 32 and 512mg/ml, respec-tively),5iemerged as a highly potent derivative. The minimum biofilm inhibitor concentration (MBIC) of5c,5j, and5pwere 0.5mg/ml (and5iwas 2mg/ml) againstC. albicansbiofilms, lower than that ofamphotericin B (4mg/ml), afirst-line antifungal with antibiofilm activity. In addition, the active com-pounds showed neglectable toxicity to human monocytic cell line. We further analyzed the dockingposes of the active compounds inC. albicansCYP51 (CACYP51) homology model catalytic site andidentified molecular interactions in agreement with those of known azoles with fungal CYP51s andmutagenesis studies of CACYP51. We observed the stability of CACYP51 in complex with5iin moleculardynamics simulations.©2019 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.1. IntroductionSystemic candidiasis is a major public health issue, especiallywith immune-suppressed cases reaching high mortality rates. Themembers of the genusCandidaare the most frequently recoveredfrom human fungal infection andCandida albicans, so far, is theleading pathogen identified in nosocomial candidiasis [1]. Inaddition to increasing drug-resistant strains ofC. albicans, emer-gence of non-albicans Candidaspp. (NAC) complicate the treatmentof mycoses [2].C. tropicalisis among the NACs that show reducedsusceptibility tofirst-line antifungals reportedly leading to break-through fungemia among high-risk patients [3,4]. Also,C. kruseiisknown to be intrinsically resistant to a number of azoles includingfluconazole [5]. One of the several mechanisms of therapy-resistance is formation of biofilms, which are complex microor-ganism colonies enclosed in an exopolysaccharide matrix on bioticand non-biotic surfaces. Persistent biofilms make fungi much lesssusceptible to antifungal drugs compared to their planktonic formsfor a number of reasons [6e8]. Therefore it is essential to design*Corresponding author. Hacettepe University Faculty of Pharmacy, Departmentof Pharmaceutical Chemistry, 06100, Sihhiye, Ankara, Turkey.E-mail addresses:suat.sari@hacettepe.edu.tr,suat1039@gmail.com(S. Sari).Contents lists available atScienceDirectEuropean Journal of Medicinal Chemistryjournal homepage:http://www.elsevier.com/locate/ejmechhttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejmech.2019.06.0830223-5234/©2019 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.European Journal of Medicinal Chemistry 179 (2019) 634e648
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    Article
    Citation Count: 43
    New azole derivatives showing antimicrobial effects and their mechanism of antifungal activity by molecular modeling studies
    (Elsevier France-Editions Scientifiques Medicales Elsevier, 2017) Eşsiz, Şebnem; Saraç, Selma; Sarı, Suat; Kart, Didem; Eşsiz, Şebnem; Vural, İmran; Dalkara, Sevim
    Azole antifungals are potent inhibitors of fungal lanosterol 14 alpha demethylase (CYP51) and have been used for eradication of systemic candidiasis clinically. Herein we report the design synthesis and biological evaluation of a series of 1-phenyl/1-(4-chlorophenyl)-2-(1H-imidazol-1-yl) ethanol esters. Many of these derivatives showed fungal growth inhibition at very low concentrations. Minimal inhibition concentration (MIC) value of 15 was 0.125 mu g/mL against Candida albicans. Additionally some of our compounds such as 19 (MIC: 0.25 mu g/mL) were potent against resistant C. glabrata a fungal strain less susceptible to some first-line antifungal drugs. We confirmed their antifungal efficacy by antibiofilm test and their safety against human monocytes by cytotoxicity assay. To rationalize their mechanism of action we performed computational analysis utilizing molecular docking and dynamics simulations on the C. albicans and C. glabrata CYP51 (CACYP51 and CGCYP51) homology models we built. Leu130 and T131 emerged as possible key residues for inhibition of CGCYP51 by 19. (C) 2017 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.