Sulfonated non-saccharide molecules and human factor XIa: Enzyme inhibition and computational studies.

Human factor XIa (FXIa) is a serine protease in the intrinsic coagulation pathway. FXIa has been actively targeted to develop new anticoagulants that are associated with a reduced risk of bleeding. Thousands of FXIa inhibitors have been reported, yet none has reached the clinic thus far. We describe here a novel class of sulfonated molecules that allosterically inhibit FXIa with moderate potency. A library of 18 sulfonated molecules was evaluated for the inhibition of FXIa using a chromogenic substrate hydrolysis assay. Only six molecules inhibited FXIa with IC50 values of 4.6-29.5 μM. Michaelis-Menten kinetics indicated that sulfonated molecules are allosteric inhibitors of FXIa. Inhibition of FXIa by these molecules was reversed by protamine. The molecules also showed moderate anticoagulant effects in human plasma with preference to prolong activated partial thromboplastin time. Their binding to an allosteric site in the catalytic domain of FXIa was modeled to illustrate potential binding mode and potential important Arg/Lys residues. Particularly, inhibitor 16 (IC50  = 4.6 µM) demonstrated good selectivity over a panel of serine proteases including those in the coagulation process. Inhibitor 16 did not significantly compromise the viability of three cell lines. Overall, the reported sulfonated molecules serve as a new platform to design selective, potent, and allosteric inhibitors of FXIa for therapeutic applications.