Novel thienopyrimidine inhibitors of Leishmania N-myristoyltransferase with on-target activity in intracellular amastigotes

Abstract

The leishmaniases, caused by Leishmania species of protozoan parasites, are neglected tropical diseases with 12-15 million cases worldwide. Current therapeutic approaches are limited by toxicity, resistance and cost. N-Myristoyltransferase (NMT), an enzyme ubiquitous and essential in all eukaryotes, has been validated via genetic and pharmacological methods as a promising antileishmanial target. Here we describe a comprehensive structure activity relationship study of a thienopyrimidine series previously identified in a high throughput screen against Leishmania NMT, across 68 compounds in enzyme- and cell-based assay formats. Using a chemical tagging target engagement biomarker assay we identify the first inhibitor in this series with on-target NMT activity in leishmania parasites. Furthermore, crystal structure analyses of 12 derivatives in complex with Leishmania major NMT revealed key factors important for future structure-guided optimization delivering IMP-105 (43), a compound with modest activity against L. donovani intracellular amastigotes and excellent selectivity (>660-fold) for Leishmania NMT over human NMTs.