Novel
N1-substituted thymine derivatives related to 1-[(
Z)-4-(triphenylmethoxy)-2-butenyl]thymine have beensynthesized and evaluated against thymidine kinase-2 (TK-2) and related nucleoside kinases [i.e.,
Drosophilamelanogaster deoxynucleoside kinase (
Dm-dNK) and herpes simplex virus type 1 thymidine kinase (HSV-1TK)]. The thymine base has been tethered to a distal triphenylmethoxy moiety through a polymethylenechain (
n = 3-8) or through a (2-ethoxy)ethyl spacer. Moreover, substitutions at position 4 of one of thephenyl rings of the triphenylmethoxy moiety have been performed. Compounds with a hexamethylene spacer(
18,
26b,
31) displayed the highest inhibitory values against TK-2 (IC
50 = 0.3-0.5
M). Compound
26bcompetitively inhibited TK-2 with respect to thymidine and uncompetitively with respect to ATP. A rationalefor the biological data was provided by docking some representative inhibitors into a homology-based modelof human TK-2. Moreover, two of the most potent TK-2 inhibitors (
18 and
26b) that also inhibit HSV-1TK were able to reverse the cytostatic activity of 1-(
-
D-arabinofuranosyl)thymine (Ara-T) and ganciclovirin HSV-1 TK-expressing OST-TK
-/HSV-1 TK
+ cell cultures.