Massoud Amanlou

Tehran University of Medical Sciences | TUMS · Department of Medicinal Chemistry

Integrins are crucial adhesion receptors involved in cell-matrix and cell-cell interactions. Integrin α11β1 has been linked to tumor progression, metastasis, angiogenesis, fibrotic diseases, and wound healing. The I domain of integrin α11 plays a vital role in ligand binding, integrin activation, and cell signaling. In this study, we focused on exp...

Poly(ADP‐ribose) polymerase‐10 (PARP10) is a critical enzyme involved in DNA damage repair. Its function in cellular repair mechanisms has been implicated in the development of chemoresistance and radioresistance in cancer cells. Consequently, PARP10 inhibition represents a promising, albeit challenging, and therapeutic target for various cancer ty...

glucosidase inhibition can be useful in the management of carbohydrate-related diseases, especially type 2 diabetes mellitus. Therefore, in this study, a new series of 6-chloro-2-methoxyacridine bearing different aryl triazole derivatives were designed, synthesized, and evaluated as potent α-glucosidase inhibitors. The most potent derivative in thi...

The purpose of this study was to prepare ibuprofen loaded solid lipid nanoparticles (IBU-SLNs) that is, effective in oral drug delivery. IBU-SLNs were synthesized by co-precipitation of rapid expansion of supercritical solution (CO-RESS). The produced SLNs consisted of stearic acid as lipid matrix. The unprocessed stearic acid, ibuprofen and IBU-SL...

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a persistent, progressive, and multifaceted disease characterized by elevated blood glucose levels. Type 2 diabetes mellitus is associated with a relative deficit in insulin mainly due to beta cell dysfunction and peripheral insulin resistance. Metformin has been widely prescribed as a primary treatment option to address t...

A novel series of 4-nitrophenylpiperazine derivatives (4a–m) was designed and synthesized as potential tyrosinase inhibitors. Comprehensive characterization using ¹H-NMR, ¹³C-NMR, CNH, and IR techniques was performed for all target compounds. Subsequently, the derivatives were evaluated for their inhibitory activity against tyrosinase. Among them,...

Ongoing mutations in the coronavirus family, especially beta-coronaviruses, raise new concerns about the possibility of new unexpected outbreaks. Therefore, it is crucial to explore new alternative treatments to reduce the impact of potential future strains until new vaccines can be developed. A promising approach to combat the virus is to target i...

α-Glucosidase as a carbohydrate-hydrolase enzyme is a crucial therapeutic target for type 2 diabetes. In this work, benzo[d]imidazole-amide containing 1,2,3-triazole-N-arylacetamide derivatives 8a–n were synthesized and evaluated for their inhibitory activity against α-glucosidase. In vitro α-glucosidase inhibition assay demonstrated that more than...

Inhibition of Helicobacter pylori urease is an effective method in the treatment of several gastrointestinal diseases in humans. This bacterium plays an important role in the pathogenesis of gastritis and peptic ulceration. Considering the presence of cysteine and N-arylacetamide derivatives in potent urease inhibitors, here, we designed hybrid der...

The polyphenolic component of citrus fruits, hesperetin (Hst), is a metabolite of hesperidin. In this study, we examined the effect of varying doses and exposure times of hesperetin on MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cancer cells, as well as MCF-10A normal cells. By using MTT assay, real-time PCR, western blot, and flow cytometry, we determined the effects of...

The successful colonization and survival of highly pathogenic bacteria are powerfully aided by an enzyme known as urease. As a result, it has been demonstrated that inhibiting urease enzymes is a promising method for preventing ureolytic bacterial infections. Consequently, the development and synthesis of safe and effective urease inhibitors has em...

New series of barbiturates linked to aryl hydrazone derivatives 4a-n were designed and synthesized. Briefly, aniline derivatives in the presence of HBF4 and NaNO2 convert to aryl diazonium tetrafluoroborate which is further attacked to barbituric acid derivatives in water. Finally, with tautomerization, the desired products were achieved. Next, com...

Objective(s): Infertility is a highly complex disorder of the genitalia with important medical and psychological issues. –Despite many efforts to treat infertility, pregnancy outcomes are meager (<12%). Defective sperm-Zona Pellucida (ZP) binding and penetration are the leading causes of zero fertilization rates. ERp57, a protein disulfide isomeras...

Inhibiting the interaction between the p53 tumor suppressor and its negative regulator murine double minute 2 (MDM2) is a promising therapeutic opportunity in cancer drug research. Herein, we describe the design, synthesis, and in vitro screening of phenyl chroman‐based derivatives 7 a–l as MDM2 inhibitors. Among target compounds, 7 e, 7 h, and 7 j...

Urease is an important target for the treatment of Helicobacter pylori infection. In this study, several pharmacophores for the inhibition of urease were considered and coupled to design new molecules capable of acting as potent urease inhibitors. Literature review reveals that barbituric‐hydrazine, phenoxy‐1,2,3‐triazole, and acetamide moieties ar...

To identify potent urease inhibitors, in the current study, a series of thioxothiazolidinyl-acetamides were designed and synthesized. The prepared compounds were characterized by spectroscopic techniques, including FTIR, 1HNMR, 13CNMR, and elemental analysis. In the enzymatic assessments, it was demonstrated that all derivatives had significant ure...

The SARS-CoV-2, the virus which is responsible for COVID-19 disease, employs its spike protein to recognize its receptor, angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), and subsequently enters the host cell. In this process, the receptor-binding domain (RBD) of the spike has an interface with the α1-helix of the peptidase domain (PD) of ACE2. This study f...

Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) have infected half of the world’s population and led to pathological conditions. The urease plays anessential role in H. pylori pathogenesis. In this regard, and based on the antimicrobial properties of different hydrazides, we synthesized a set of benzoyl hydrazinyl-N-alkyl-acetamide derivatives through a multi-comp...

In this review, the construction of polycyclic compounds by taking advantage of phthaldehydic acid as a starting material has been explained. The in-depth description about recent several reactions applied with phthaldehydic acid and their mechanism to synthesize these various heterocycles have been mentioned and compared thoroughly as well. The ma...

Background Colorectal cancer is one of the most common cancer and the third leading cause of death worldwide. Increased generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) is observed in many types of cancer cells. Several studies have reported that an increase in ROS production could affect the expression of proteins involved in ROS-scavenging, detoxifica...

Background and purpose: Ghrelin is known as a hunger hormone and plays a pivotal role in appetite, food intake, energy balance, glucose metabolism, and insulin secretion, making it a potential target for the treatment of obesity and type 2 diabetes. The essential maturation step of ghrelin to activate the GHS-R1a is the octanoylation of the Ser3, w...

Inhibition of Helicobacter pylori urease is an effective method in the treatment of a number of gastrointestinal diseases in humans. This bacterium plays an important role in the pathogenesis of gastritis and peptic ulceration. Considering the presence of cysteine and N -arylacetamide derivatives in potent urease inhibitors, here, we designed hybri...

In this study, 18 novel quinoline-based-benzo[d]imidazole derivatives were synthesized and screened for their α-glucosidase inhibitory potential. All compounds in the series except 9q showed a significant α-glucosidase inhibition with IC 50 values in the range of 3.2 ± 0.3–185.0 ± 0.3 µM, as compared to the standard drug acarbose (IC 50 = 750.0 ± 5...

A new series of N-thioacylated ciprofloxacin 3a–n were designed and synthesized based on Willgerodt–Kindler reaction. The results of in vitro urease inhibitory assay indicated that almost all the synthesized compounds 3a–n (IC50 = 2.05 ± 0.03–32.49 ± 0.32 μM) were more potent than standard inhibitors, hydroxyurea (IC50 = 100 ± 2.5 μM) and thiourea...

Background Highly pathogenic bacteria colonize and maintain themselves with the aid of an enzyme called urease. Consequently, inhibiting urease enzymes can be a promising method for preventing ureolytic bacterial infections. Objective Synthesis and bioactivity screening of a novel series of benzimidazole derivatives. Methods Nine novel benzimidaz...

Kojic acid is a natural tyrosinase inhibitor that has been clinically used to cure hyperpigmentation in humans. However, kojic acid as a hydrophilic small-molecule has deficient inhibitory activity and stability. In this current work, a new series of kojic acid derivatives, 4a-h bearing 2-amino-5-mercapto-1,3,4-thiadiazole, were synthesized using T...

In the development of novel anti-α-glucosidase agents, we synthesized novel thieno[2,3-b]quinoline-hydrazones 9a-n by facile and efficient conventional chemical reactions. These compounds were characterized by IR, ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR, and elemental analysis. Inhibitory activities of the title compounds were evaluated against yeast α-glucosidase. In par...

An enzyme called urease assists highly pathogenic bacteria in colonizing and maintaining themselves. Accordingly, inhibiting urease enzymes has been shown to be a promising strategy for preventing ureolytic bacterial infections. So, design and synthesis of potent and safe urease inhibitors converted to an interesting target for medicinal chemists....

Helicobacter pylori-induced ulcers and gastric cancer have been one of the main obstacles that the human community has ever struggled with, especially in recent decades. Several different attempts have been made to eradicate this group. One of the most widely used attempts is to inhibit the critical enzyme that facilitates its survival, the urease...

COVID-19 has recently grown to be pandemic all around the world. Therefore, efforts to find effective drugs for the treatment of COVID-19 are needed to improve humans' life quality and survival. Since the main protease (Mpro) of SARS-CoV-2 plays a crucial role in viral replication and transcription, the inhibition of this enzyme could be a promisin...

Hybrid imaging technology has the potential to provide reliable imaging and accurate detection of cancer cells by combining the advantages and overcoming the shortages of various clinical imaging tools. Nanomaterials with unique targeting properties and their small size have improved biomedical imaging. Indeed, their small size determines local con...

A series of benzimidazole derivatives 8a–h were synthesized in acceptable yield and characterized by spectroscopic methods such as ¹H-NMR, ¹³C-NMR, MS, and Elemental analysis. In the urease inhibitory assay, all 8a–h showed higher urease inhibition activity (IC50: 5.85–20.82 µM) in comparison to thiourea and hydroxyurea as standard (IC50: 22 and 10...

Background An enzyme called urease assists highly pathogenic bacteria in colonizing and maintaining themselves. Accordingly, inhibiting urease enzymes has been shown to be a promising strategy for preventing ureolytic bacterial infections. Objective Synthesis and bioactivity evaluation of a series of semicarbazone derivatives. Methods A series of...

Urease is known as a virulence factor of some pathogen in the living organism. In this study, a novel series of phenylurea conjugated to different alkyl pyridinium were designed, synthesized, and evaluated as urease inhibitors. The results of in vitro urease inhibition revealed that all derivatives were more potent than standard inhibitors, hydroxy...

Urease is a dinickel enzyme that is responsible for the hydrolysis of urea to ammonia and carbon dioxide. A series of bacteria like Helicobacter pylori produce urease in order to release ammonia via urea hydrolysis and survive in acidic environments. Urease inhibitors are often used as a part of the medical treatment of infections by ureolytic bact...

The present article describes the design, synthesis, in vitro urease inhibition, and in silico molecular docking studies of a novel series of nitrothiazolacetamide conjugated to different thioquinazolinones. Fourteen nitrothiazolacetamide bearing thioquinazolinones derivatives (8a-n) were synthesized through the reaction of isatoic anhydride with d...

Background Benzimidazole derivatives are widely used to design and synthesize novel bioactive compounds. There are several approved benzimidazole-based drugs on the market.Objectives In this study, we aimed to design and synthesize a series of novel benzimidazole derivatives 8a-n that are urease inhibitors.Methods All 8a-n were synthesized in a mul...

A series of 5-nitrofuran-2-yl-thiadiazole linked to different cyclohexyl-2-(phenylamino)acetamides were rationally designed and synthesized. All synthetic compounds were evaluated for their urease inhibitory activity and exhibited good inhibitory potential against urease with IC50 values in the range of 0.94 – 6.78 μM as compared to the standard th...

Thalidomide (α-N-phthalimido-glutarimide), the withdrawn sedative compound, has recently been reemerged as a potent agent against epilepsy. In this study, five l-amino acid derivatives of N-phthaloylglycine were synthesized and were tested on pentylenetetrazole (PTZ) induced seizure mice model. N-phthaloylglycine was prepared by reaction of phthali...

Stroke is the leading cause of disability and death worldwide. Inhibition of sulfonylurea 1 receptor (SUR1) using glibenclamide previously has been studied in CNS ischemic tissues and faster recovery from stroke injury in different animal models of stroke. Unfortunately, glibenclamide cannot enter the brain through an intact brain membrane (BBB) du...

Herein, we have synthesized a series of novel fifteen 2-aryl benzimidazole derivatives 8a–o and tested their bioactivity as potent urease inhibitors. The structures of the 8a–o were elucidated using spectroscopic technics (¹H-NMR, ¹³C-NMR, MS), elemental analysis, and melting point. The urease inhibition activity was evaluated using the urease enzy...

Herein, we synthesized a series of novel benzimidazole derivatives 5a–k and screened their bioactivity as potent urease inhibitors. The structure of the 5a–k was elucidated using spectroscopic technics (¹H-NMR, ¹³C-NMR, MS), elemental analysis, and melting point. The urease inhibition activity was evaluated using the urease enzyme inhibition kit. A...

The aim of this study was to use two probiotic strains, Lactobacillus rhamnosus and Lactobacillus casei, in order to produce a functional fermented camel milk drink with anti-Helicobacter pylori activity. During a 35-day storage period, chemical (pH and acidity contents), sensory characteristics, and Helicobacter pylori inhibitory activity of ferme...

The aim of this study was to use two probiotic strains, Lactobacillus rhamnosus and Lactobacillus casei, in order to produce a functional fermented camel milk drink with anti-Helicobacter pylori activity. During a 35-day storage period, chemical (pH and acidity contents), sensory characteristics, and Helicobacter pylori inhibitory activity of ferme...

Background and objective: Tubulin inhibitors have proved to be a promising treatment against cancer. Tubulin inhibitors target different areas in microtubule structure to exert their effects. The colchicine binding site (CBS) is one of them for which there is no FDA-approved drug yet. This makes CBS a desirable target for drug design. Materials a...

A simple synthesis of N 2-alkyl-N 3-[2-(1,3,4-oxadiazol-2-yl)aryl]benzofuran-2,3-diamines 5 via a one-pot four-component reaction is described (Scheme 1). A mixture of N-(isocyanoimino)triphenylphos-phorane (1), a 2-aminobenzoic acid 2, a 2-hydroxybenzaldehyde 3, and an isocyanide 4 in absolute EtOH at room temperature undergoes a smooth reaction t...

The formation of several polycyclic compounds via the intramolecular–Diels–Alder reaction is reviewed. Furthermore, a thorough explanation has been given about the intramolecular–Diels–Alder reaction mechanism and the recent reactions carried out in this realm with O-propargyl salicylaldehydes as the starting material. Additionally, the strategies...

Myocardial infarction causes heart tissue damages; therefore, using non-invasive methods to regenerate the heart tissue could be very helpful. Recent studies claimed that the inhibition of the Wnt signaling could promote cardiac remodeling and induce cardiac regeneration. Therefore, a tankyrase inhibitor to stabilize the AXIN and inhibit the Wnt/β-...

The signaling lymphocytic activation molecule F7 (CS-1) enables the selective killing of the myeloma cells with minimal side effects on the healthy tissue. In this study, we have modelled the 3D structure of CS-1 followed by performing molecular dynamic simulations. To develop a potential CS-1 modulator, a virtual screening of the ‘Bioactive Compou...

Background and purpose: Although pain is one of the most common symptoms of diseases, it is often mismanaged due to limited access to painkillers and ineffectiveness, unacceptable side effects, or the possibility of abuse. However, an alternative approach to existing analgesics is to indirectly increase endogenous pain relief pathways by neprilysin...

The objective of this study was to design new nitroimidazole-based derivatives as strong urease inhibitors for the treatment of H. pylori infections. New series of nitroimidazole derivatives, 4a–k, were synthesized by using TBTU as the catalyst and assayed as Jack bean urease inhibitors. The facile synthetic approach was employed for the preparatio...

A new series of arylmethylene hydrazine derivatives bearing 1,3-dimethylbarbituric moiety 7a–o were designed, synthesized, and evaluated for their in vitro urease inhibitory activity. All the title compounds displayed high anti-urease activity, with IC 50 values in the range of 0.61 ± 0.06–4.56 ± 0.18 µM as compared to the two standard inhibitors h...

Cancer pain management is mostly done by opioids; however, they have further pharmacological effects apart from analgesia including angiogenesis. In this study, peripherally acting ligands of µ opioid receptor (MOR) were synthesized and evaluated as a tool to investigate peripheral effects of opioids in controlling angiogenesis. For this purpose, t...

A new series of metronidazole-1,2,3-triazole derivatives 6a–o was synthesized and evaluated as Helicobacter pylori urease inhibitors. All the synthesized compounds were more potent than standard inhibitor thiourea against urease. Among the synthesized compounds, compound 6f (IC50 = 1.975 ± 0.25 µM) with inhibitory activity around 11-fols more than...

One of the most common side effects of radiotherapy in head and neck cancers is mucositis. Despite all the studies conducted on new therapies proposed for oral mucositis caused by radiation therapy, a single standard treatment strategy has not been developed yet. In the present study, for the first time, the effectiveness of the treatment with a co...

Superoxide dismutases (SODs) are regarded as important antioxidants for protecting cells against damage arising from oxidative stress. Much research is focused on finding new chemicals with an ability to boost human SOD activity. In the research described herein a structure-based approach was used to identify new human Cu-Zn superoxide dismutase (S...

This study aimed at examining atmospheric-pressure chemical ionization of barbituric acid through the corona discharge ion mobility spectrometry (CD-IMS) and the quantum chemical calculations. The results indicated two product ion peaks in the IMS spectrum of barbituric acid. The thermal decomposition of the barbituric acid sample was investigated...

A novel series of (thio)barbituric-phenoxy-N-phenylacetamide derivatives 7a-l was synthesized and evaluated against Helicobacter pylori urease. The latter assay revealed that all the synthesized compounds 7a-l (IC50 = 0.69 ± 0.33–2.47 ± 0.23 μM) were significantly more potent than two used standard inhibitors, thiourea (IC50 = 23 ± 0.73 μM) and hyd...

Background Heat shock protein90 (Hsp90) is overexpressed in tumor cells, thus the inhibition of the Hsp90 ATPase activity would be a meaningfully an effective strategy in cancer therapy. Objective The present work was aimed at four steps: designing new Hsp90 inhibitors as anti-cancer by a virtual screening study; synthesize designed compounds; bio...

MiR-155 plays main roles in several physiological and pathological mechanisms, such as Down syndrome (DS), immunity and inflammation and potential anti-AD therapeutic target. The miR-155 is one of the overexpressed miRNAs in DS patients that contribute directly and indirectly to the onset or progression of the DS. Since the miR-155 can simultaneous...