Investigation on N-Aryl-2-(4-sulfamoylphenyl)hydrazine-1-carbothioamide as Human Carbonic Anhydrases Inhibitors
Abstract
1. Introduction
2. Results and Discussion
2.1. Synthesis
2.2. Carbonic Anhydrase Inhibition
- (i)
- The slow cytosolic isoform hCA I was effectively inhibited by all newly developed sulfonamides 3a–3l with inhibition constants (Ki) ranging from 7.7 nM to 0.7 µM, spanning low nanomolar to very low micromolar levels. A 91-fold variation across the series indicates that the inhibitory potency of this class of compounds is greatly influenced by the nature and position of substituents on the phenyl ring periphery of substrates. Overall, the relative inhibitory activity of the tested compounds followed the order: meta-substituted ≥ para-substituted > ortho-substituted derivatives. Regarding the nature of the substituents, a comparison of differently functionalized para-substituted derivatives revealed that compounds bearing a 4-nitro group (a hydroneutral moiety capable of forming hydrogen bonds) exhibited superior inhibitory potency compared to those with 4-alkyl substituents, which in turn outperformed the 4-halo-substituted analogs.
- (ii)
- The physiologically relevant and ubiquitous cytosolic isoform hCA II was strongly inhibited by all investigated compounds of type 3 with Ki ranging from 4.3 to 78.8 nM compared to the standard AAZ with Ki value of 12.1 nM. Notably, two-thirds of these compounds exhibited superior inhibitory activity compared to the reference drug. Compound 3i showed the best inhibition against hCA II with a Ki of 4.3 nM, which was almost 3-fold higher than that of AAZ. The SAR showed that ortho-substituted derivatives displayed weakest inhibitory capability against this isoform, similar to the trend observed for hCA I.
- (iii)
- The tumor-associated transmembrane isoform hCA IX was inhibited strongly to moderately by all synthesized compounds 3a–3l, with Ki values ranging from 23.9 to 251.0 nM, compared to standard AAZ (25.7 nM). The results showed that the nature of the substituents had a greater impact on the inhibitory activity against this isoform than their position on the aromatic ring. The five most potent compounds were 3e, 3h, 3i, 3k and 3l with very low nanomolar Ki values 27.5, 31.2, 23.9, 68.7 and 32.1 nM, respectively. Interestingly, in these five molecules, R was a halide group (Cl or Br).
- (iv)
- The other tumor-associated transmembrane isoform hCA XII was also effectively inhibited by all of the tested sulfonamides 3 with Ki values only differing by 4-fold and ranging between 5.5 and 23.1 nM. Here, no significant differences in inhibitory potency were observed among the molecules with different substituents. Compound 3f displayed the best inhibition against this isoform, equal to that of AAZ, but significantly more selective over the other tumor-associated isoform hCA IX (hCA IX/XIII = 22) compared to AAZ (hCA IX/XIII = 4.5).
2.3. In Silico Studies
2.4. Cytotoxicity Studies
3. Materials and Methods
3.1. Materials and Methods
3.2. CA Inhibitory Assay
3.3. In Silico Studies
3.4. Cell Culture and MTT Cell Viability Assay
4. Conclusions
Supplementary Materials
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Conflicts of Interest
References
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Compound | R | Ki (nM) [a] | Selectivity Index [b] | |||
| hCA I | hCA II | hCA IX | hCA XII | hCA XII/hCAIX | ||
| 3a | H | 533.9 | 56.6 | 133.3 | 6.8 | 19.6 |
| 3b | 4-Me | 95.6 | 6.1 | 251.0 | 19.7 | 12.7 |
| 3c | 4-iPr | 74.5 | 6.6 | 198.3 | 9.0 | 22.0 |
| 3d | 4-Br | 187.7 | 7.6 | 81.9 | 6.6 | 12.4 |
| 3e | 4-Cl | 92.9 | 7.7 | 27.5 | 23.1 | 1.2 |
| 3f | 4-NO2 | 27.6 | 7.1 | 122.0 | 5.5 | 22.2 |
| 3g | 3-Me | 77.7 | 66.5 | 73.2 | 9.3 | 7.9 |
| 3h | 3-Br | 176.6 | 4.8 | 31.2 | 17.6 | 1.8 |
| 3i | 3-Cl | 7.7 | 4.3 | 23.9 | 7.9 | 3.0 |
| 3j | 3-CN | 87.6 | 5.7 | 122.5 | 7.2 | 17.0 |
| 3k | 2-Br | 354.9 | 43.7 | 68.7 | 6.3 | 10.9 |
| 3l | 2,4-(Cl)2 | 699.4 | 78.8 | 32.1 | 9.5 | 3.4 |
| AAZ | - | 250.0 | 12.1 | 25.7 | 5.7 | 4.5 |
![]() | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Compound | R | Ki (nM) [a] | Selectivity Index [b] | |||
| hCA I | hCA II | hCA IX | hCA XII | hCA XII/hCA IX | ||
| 5a | H | 749.9 | 92.8 | 255.0 | 8.2 | 31.1 |
| 5b | 4-Me | 86.3 | 9.1 | 278.8 | 6.6 | 42.2 |
| AAZ | - | 250.0 | 12.1 | 25.7 | 5.7 | 4.5 |
| Compound | Cell Line | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MDA-MB-231 | MDA-MB-435 | PANC-1 | U-118 | A2780 | A549 | |
| 3a | 50.8 ± 1.5 | 80.1 ± 7.0 | 87.1 ± 3.3 | 85.3 ± 6.0 | 53.9 ± 4.6 | 81.0 ± 7.0 |
| 3l | 31.4 ± 3.0 | 89.6 ± 11.4 | 83.0 ± 11.2 | 47.2 ± 3.1 | 41.1 ± 7.5 | 38.4 ± 2.3 |
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Abdoli, M.; Angeli, A.; Bonardi, A.; Gratteri, P.; Jackevica, L.; Sizovs, A.; Supuran, C.T.; Žalubovskis, R. Investigation on N-Aryl-2-(4-sulfamoylphenyl)hydrazine-1-carbothioamide as Human Carbonic Anhydrases Inhibitors. Pharmaceuticals 2026, 19, 151. https://doi.org/10.3390/ph19010151
Abdoli M, Angeli A, Bonardi A, Gratteri P, Jackevica L, Sizovs A, Supuran CT, Žalubovskis R. Investigation on N-Aryl-2-(4-sulfamoylphenyl)hydrazine-1-carbothioamide as Human Carbonic Anhydrases Inhibitors. Pharmaceuticals. 2026; 19(1):151. https://doi.org/10.3390/ph19010151
Chicago/Turabian StyleAbdoli, Morteza, Andrea Angeli, Alessandro Bonardi, Paola Gratteri, Ludmila Jackevica, Antons Sizovs, Claudiu T. Supuran, and Raivis Žalubovskis. 2026. "Investigation on N-Aryl-2-(4-sulfamoylphenyl)hydrazine-1-carbothioamide as Human Carbonic Anhydrases Inhibitors" Pharmaceuticals 19, no. 1: 151. https://doi.org/10.3390/ph19010151
APA StyleAbdoli, M., Angeli, A., Bonardi, A., Gratteri, P., Jackevica, L., Sizovs, A., Supuran, C. T., & Žalubovskis, R. (2026). Investigation on N-Aryl-2-(4-sulfamoylphenyl)hydrazine-1-carbothioamide as Human Carbonic Anhydrases Inhibitors. Pharmaceuticals, 19(1), 151. https://doi.org/10.3390/ph19010151



