Modulating the Efficacy of Carbonic Anhydrase Inhibitors through Fluorine Substitution

Emanuela Berrino (1) , Bastien Michelet (2) , Agnès Martin-Mingot (2) , Fabrizio Carta (1) , Claudiu T Supuran (1) , Sébastien Thibaudeau (2)

1 UniFI - Università degli Studi di Firenze = University of Florence = Université de Florence
2 IC2MP [Poitiers] - Institut de chimie des milieux et matériaux de Poitiers [UMR 7285]

The insertion of fluorine atoms and/or fluoroalkyl groups can lead to many beneficial effects in biologically active molecules, such as enhanced metabolic stability, bioavailability, lipophilicity, and membrane permeability, as well as a strengthening of protein–ligand binding interactions. However, this “magic effect” of fluorine atom(s) insertion can often be meaningless. Taking advantage of the wide range of data coming from the quest for carbonic anhydrase (CA) fluorinated inhibitors, this Minireview attempts to give “general guidelines” on how to wisely insert fluorine atom(s) within an inhibitor moiety to precisely enhance or disrupt ligand–protein interactions, depending on the target location of the fluorine substitution in the ligand. Multiple approaches such as ITC, kinetic and inhibition studies, X-ray crystallography, and NMR spectroscopy are useful in dissecting single binding contributions to the overall observed effect. The exploitation of innovative directions made in the field of protein and ligand-based fluorine NMR screening is also discussed to avoid misconduct and finely tune the exploitation of selective fluorine atom insertion in the future

Mots clés: carbonic anhydrases; fluorine; inhibitors; ligandprotein interactions; lipophilicity

Domaines: Chimie thérapeutique

Emanuela Berrino, Bastien Michelet, Agnès Martin-Mingot, Fabrizio Carta, Claudiu T Supuran, et al.. Modulating the Efficacy of Carbonic Anhydrase Inhibitors through Fluorine Substitution. Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 2021, 60 (43), pp.23068-23082. ⟨10.1002/anie.202103211⟩. ⟨hal-03358401⟩