Design, Synthesis, and Biological Evaluation of Novel Thioureidobenzamide (TBA) Derivatives as HBV Capsid Assembly Modulators
Mei Wang, Jian Zhang, Yutong Dou, Minghui Liang, Yong Xie, Xue Peng, Linyue Liu, Chuanju Li, Yuanze Wang, Feiyan Tao, Xiaohui Zhang, Huili Hu, Kairui Feng, Lei Zhang, Zhuanchang Wu, Yunfu Chen, Peng Zhan, Haiyong Jia
Abstract
Hepatitis B virus (HBV) capsid assembly modulators (CAMs) represent a promising therapeutic approach for the treatment of HBV infection. In this study, we designed and synthesized five series of benzamide derivatives based on a multisite-binding strategy at the tolerant region and diversity modification in the solvent-exposed region. Among them, thioureidobenzamide compound 17i exhibited significantly increased anti-HBV activity in HepAD38 (EC 50 = 0.012 μM) and HBV-infected HLCZ01 cells (EC 50 = 0.033 μM). Moreover, 17i displayed a better inhibitory effect on the assembly of HBV capsid protein compared with NVR 3–778 and a inhibitory effect similar to the clinical drug GLS4. In addition, 17i showed moderate metabolic stability in human microsomes, had excellent oral bioavailability in Sprague–Dawley (SD) rats, and inhibited HBV replication in the HBV carrier mice model, which could be considered as a promising candidate drug for further development.