Pharmacophore modeling and molecular docking studies of acridines as potential DPP-IV inhibitors

Inhibition of dipeptidyl peptidase-IV (DPP-IV) prevents the inactivation of gastric inhibitory polypeptide (GIP) and glucagon-like peptide–1 (GLP-1). This increases circulating levels of active GLP-1 and GIP and stimulates insulin secretion, which results in lowering of glucose levels and improvement of the glycemic control in patients with type 2 diabetes. In this study, pharmacophore modeling and docking experiments were carried out and a series of eight novel 2-ethoxy-6,9-disubstituted acridines (13, 15, and 17a–17f) have been designed and synthesized. Then, these compounds were evaluated for their ability to inhibit DPP-IV. Most of the synthesized compounds were proven to have anti-DPP-IV activity where compound 17b displayed the best activity of 43.8% inhibition at 30 μmol/L concentration. Results of this work might be helpful for further optimization to develop more potent DPP-IV inhibitors.