Antischistosomal properties of sclareol and its heck-coupled derivatives: Design, synthesis, biological evaluation, and untargeted metabolomics

Crusco, Alessandra, Whiteland, Helen, Baptista, Rafael, Forde-Thomas, Josephine E., Beckmann, Manfred, Mur, Luis A. J., Nash, Robert J., Westwell, Andrew D. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5166-9236 and Hoffmann, Karl F. 2019. Antischistosomal properties of sclareol and its heck-coupled derivatives: Design, synthesis, biological evaluation, and untargeted metabolomics. ACS Infectious Diseases 5 (7) , pp. 1188-1199. 10.1021/acsinfecdis.9b00034

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Abstract

Sclareol, a plant-derived diterpenoid widely used as a fragrance and flavoring substance, is well-known for its promising antimicrobial and anticancer properties. However, its activity on helminth parasites has not been previously reported. Here, we show that sclareol is active against larval (IC50 ≈ 13 μM), juvenile (IC50 = 5.0 μM), and adult (IC50 = 19.3 μM) stages of Schistosoma mansoni, a parasitic trematode responsible for the neglected tropical disease schistosomiasis. Microwave-assisted synthesis of Heck-coupled derivatives improved activity, with the substituents choice guided by the Matsy decision tree. The most active derivative 12 showed improved potency and selectivity on larval (IC50 ≈ 2.2 μM, selectivity index (SI) ≈ 22 in comparison to HepG2 cells), juvenile (IC50 = 1.7 μM, SI = 28.8), and adult schistosomes (IC50 = 9.4 μM, SI = 5.2). Scanning electron microscopy studies revealed that compound 12 induced blebbing of the adult worm surface at sublethal concentration (12.5 μM); moreover, the compound inhibited egg production at the lowest concentration tested (3.13 μM). The observed phenotype and data obtained by untargeted metabolomics suggested that compound 12 affects membrane lipid homeostasis by interfering with arachidonic acid metabolism. The same methodology applied to praziquantel (PZQ)-treated worms revealed sugar metabolism alterations that could be ascribed to the previously reported action of PZQ on serotonin signaling and/or effects on glycolysis. Importantly, our data suggest that compound 12 and PZQ exert different antischistosomal activities. More studies will be necessary to confirm the generated hypothesis and to progress the development of more potent antischistosomal sclareol derivatives.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Pharmacy
Additional Information:	Note This paper was published on the Web on May 28, 2019, with the bottom part of Figure 2 missing. Figure 2 was replaced, and corrected version was reposted on May 31, 2019. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) licence
Publisher:	American Chemical Society
ISSN:	2373-8227
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	30 May 2019
Date of Acceptance:	13 May 2019
Last Modified:	05 May 2023 00:43
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/123020

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