Design, synthesis and biological evaluation of novel quinolinone derivatives as DprE1 inhibitors against Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

Tuberculosis remains a global health crisis, exacerbated by the emergence of drug-resistant strains and limitations of current therapies. Aiming to the essential enzyme DprE1 in Mycobacterium tuberculosis, we designed and synthesized 34 novel quinolinone derivatives as non-covalent inhibitors. Among them, compound 27 demonstrated remarkable activity against Mtb H37Ra, with an MIC value of 0.2 ng/mL, and displayed low cytotoxicity against A549 cells. Further resistance profiling and molecular docking studies confirmed DprE1 as the primary target of the compounds, with the Y314H mutation being responsible for the development of resistance. These findings highlighted compound 27 as a suitable lead for developing novel and effective DprE1 inhibitors.