A quantitative structure–activity relationship study on some series of anthranilic acid-based matrix metalloproteinase inhibitors Original Research Article

A quantitative structure–activity relationship (QSAR) study has been made on four different series of anthranilic acid-based matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) inhibitors, in which two substituted aryl rings, one bearing the hydroxamic acid moiety that binds with the zinc atom of MMPs, are joined through a bridge group of sulfonamide. The QSAR results indicate that the sulfonamide group plays a very important role in the inhibition activity of the inhibitors and that the effectiveness of this sulfonamide group can be increased by the presence at the aryl rings or at the sulfonamide nitrogen itself of nitrogen-containing or some such substituents that can increase the electronic character of the sulfonamide group. The hydrophobic character of the molecules is not found to be of any advantage; rather in most of the cases it is shown to have detrimental effect, suggesting that MMPs provide little opportunity to the inhibitors to have a any hydrophobic interactions with them. On the other hand, polarizability of the molecules has been found to be conducive to activity in some cases. Thus the inhibition mechanism seems to predominantly involve the electronic interactions between the inhibitors and the enzymes.