Design, Synthesis, and Antimicrobial Evaluation of a New Series of N-Sulfonamide 2-Pyridones as Dual Inhibitors of DHPS and DHFR Enzymes

Sulfonamides and trimethoprim (TMP) drugs are normally used to inhibit the action of dihydropteroate synthase (DHPS) and dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) enzymes, respectively. In this work, a new series of N-sulfonamide 2-pyridone derivatives that combine the inhibitory activities of DHPS and DHFR into one molecule were synthesized and evaluated for its in vitro antimicrobial activity and the ability to inhibit the action of both enzymes simultaneously. The synthesis was carried out via the reaction of novel benzothiazol sulfonylhydrazide with ketene dithioacetal derivatives, and the structures of the resultant compounds were confirmed using spectral and elemental techniques. Among the synthesized compounds, five compounds 3b, 5a, 5b, 11a, and 11b were found to possess significant antimicrobial activities against tested bacterial and fungi strains. The compounds were also examined for their cytotoxicity on HFB4 human dermal fibroblast cell line using MTT assay. The in vitro enzyme assay study of these compounds against DHPS and DHFR enzymes showed that compound 11a was the most potent inhibitor against both enzymes with IC50 values of 2.76 and 0.20 μg/mL, respectively. Docking studies showed that this compound has occupied both the p-aminobenzoic acid and pterin binding pockets of DHPS as well as the pterin binding pocket of DHFR. The results of these investigations confirmed that compound 11a is the most potent dual DHPS/DHFR inhibitor.