Crescent-shaped meta-substituted benzene derivatives as a new class of non-nucleoside ribonuclease A inhibitors

Ribonuclease A is used as a model enzyme system for the design of RNase inhibitors. Previous studies have established that the geometric nature of the active site cleft is an important feature for the accommodation of crescent-shaped compounds in the active site of RNase A. In the current research, benzene-based triazolylated semicircular hybrid molecules carrying different polar functionalities were synthesized and screened for their RNase A inhibitory potency. An additional carboxylic acid group at the C1-position of the 1,3,5-trisubstituted benzene ring enhanced the inhibitory properties significantly. Furthermore, the studies revealed that the reduced arm lengths of 3,5-substituents result in a better geometric complementarity that makes the molecules fit favorably in the semicircular cavity of the active site as visualized by docking studies. In a series of ten such new compounds, the 3,5-bis[4-(sulfomethyl)-1H-1,2,3-triazol-1-yl]benzoic acid exhibited, the highest inhibition efficiency with a K_i value of 12 ± 0.9 µM. This study identifies a new class of non-nucleoside inhibitors which are competitive inhibitors of the ribonucleolytic activity of RNase A.