Natural products provide inspiration and have proven
to be the
most valuable source for drug discovery. Herein, we report a scaffold
hybrid strategy of Tanshinone I for the discovery of NLRP3 inflammasome
inhibitors. 36 compounds were designed and synthesized, and the cheminformatic
analyses showed that these compounds occupy a unique chemical space.
The biological evaluation identified compounds 5j, 12a, and 12d as NLRP3 inflammasome inhibitors
with significant potency, selectivity, and drug-likeness. Mechanistic
studies revealed that these Tanshinone I derivatives could inhibit
the degradation of the protein NLRP3 and block the oligomerization
of NLRP3-induced apoptosis-associated speck-like proteins, thus inhibiting
NLRP3 inflammasome activation. In addition, the water solubility,
in vitro metabolic stability, and oral bioavailability of these compounds
were also greatly improved compared to Tanshinone I. Therefore, this
protocol provides a new structural evolution of Tanshinone I and a
new class of potent NLRP3 inflammasome inhibitors.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.