Inhibitor Report for: Metolcarb

In biological systems, bivalent ligands often possess increased functional affinity for their receptors compared with monovalent ligands. On the basis of the structure of acetylcholinesterase (AChE), a series of novel carbamate heterodimetic derivatives were designed and synthesized with the aim of increasing the potency toward AChE inhibition. The AChE inhibitory ability of all the novel compounds was tested using AChE obtained from the brain of the housefly. The bioassay results showed that compounds 6j, 6k, 6m, 6n, 6p, and 6q had increased inhibitory activities in comparison with parent phenyl N-methylcarbamate (MH) at the concentration of 100 mg/L. Among them, the most potent AChE inhibitor of these compounds was 6q (IC(50) = 12 muM), which showed 62-fold greater AChE inhibitory activity than that of MH and 12-fold greater activity than metolcarb (MT), which suggested that the 3-nitrophenoxy moiety of compound 6q was able to interact with the aromatic amino acid residues lining the gorge and the phenyl N-methylcarbamate moiety was able to interact with the catalytic sites of AChE, simultaneously. The insecticidal activities of compounds 6j, 6k, 6m, 6n, 6p, and 6q were further evaluated. Consistent with the result in vitro bioassay, those compounds demonstrated better activities against Lipaphis erysimi than parent compound MH at the concentration of 300 mg/L, and compound 6q showed the best insecticidal activity, causing 98% mortality after 24 h of treatment.

This work describes the design, synthesis, AChE inhibitory activity, and structure-activity relationship of compounds related to a recently discovered series of AChE inhibitors: phthalimide alkyloxyphenyl N-methylcarbamates. The influence of structural variations on inhibitory potency was carefully investigated by modifying different alkyloxy chain lengths and positions between phthalimide and phenyl N-methylcarbamate. The biological properties of the series were investigated in some detail by considering their activity on isolated enzymes. All of the newly synthesized derivatives, when tested on isolated AChE from the brain of the housefly (Musca domestica), were more active than phenyl N-methylcarbamate. In particular, compound I1 displayed the best AChE inhibition (352-fold higher than phenyl N-methylcarbamate, and 29-fold higher than metolcarb), which suggested that the phthalimide group of I1 bound strongly to the residues lining the gorge, and phenyl N-methylcarbamate bound at the catalytic sites.

Heredity of modified acetylcholinesterase (AChE) of the green rice leafhopper (Nephotettix cincticeps Uhler) was assessed by crossing experiments between different strains and by analyzing AChE activity of individual insect heads to both metolcarb and N-propyl metolcarb. The green rice leafhopper which shows resistance to metolcarb was found to possess different AChE isozymes, which show negatively correlated cross-resistance to N-propyl metolcarb. However, each insect possessed only one type of AChE isozyme. By crossing experiments between different strains of the green rice leafhopper, at least seven different AChE phenotypes were observed. The method for analyzing AChE of individual insect was found to be a useful tool for the genetic analysis of organophosphorus and carbamate insecticide resistance of the green rice leafhopper.