DNA alkylation and formation of DNA interstrand cross-links by potential antitumour 2,5-bis(1-aziridinyl)-1,4-benzoquinones

A series of 3,6-substituted 2,5-bis(1-aziridinyl)-1,4-benzoquinone derivatives was shown to alkylate calf thymus DNA and to form DNA interstrand cross-links. Alkylation and cross-link formation were enhanced after electrochemical reduction of the compounds and increased with lower pH in the pH range from 4.5 to 8.0. Reduction especially shifts the pH at which cross-linking and alkylation occurs to higher values, which are more physiologically relevant. This shift is probably caused by the increase in pK_a value of the aziridine ring after reduction of the quinone moiety. The inactivation of single-stranded bacteriophage M13mp19 DNA to form phages in an E. coli host, by the 3,6-unsubstituted parent compound 2,5-bis(1-aziridinyl)-1,4-benzoquinone (TW13) was dependent upon reduction and pH in a similar way as was alkylation. The compound in our series with the least bulky, 3,6-substitutents, TW13, caused a high amount of cross-link formation. Compounds with methyl-substituted aziridine rings showed low cross-linking ability. Our results support the concept that the protonated reduced compound is the reactive species that alkylates DNA, and that steric factors play an important role in the reactivity towards DNA. A correlation is observed between the ability to induce DNA interstrand cross-links and inactivation of M13mp19 bacteriophage DNA. Cross-link formation was also demonstrated in E. coli K12 cells, where the compounds are reduced endogenously by bacterial reductases.     

Alkylation of Free Sulfhydryls Fortifies Electroplax Subsynaptic Structures

The cysteine-rich 43,000-dalton peripheral membrane protein, nu 1, is localized at the cytoplasmic face of electroplax and muscle cholinergic synapses, where it is thought to play an important role in the endplate supramolecular structure. The peripheral membrane protein properties of nu 1 are inferred by its removal from nicotinic cholinergic membranes by the action of mild alkali or lithium diiodosalicylate. An interesting property of nu 1 is its high concentration of free sulfhydryl groups, whose exact role in synaptic structure is still largely unknown. Alkylation of free sulfhydryls with N-ethylmaleimide (3 mM) has a profound effect on the association of nu 1 with synaptic membranes, rendering nu 1 unextractable by pH 11 treatment or by lithium diiodosalicylate and, concomitantly, decreasing nu 1's electrophoretic mobility on sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gels. Iodoacetamide and iodoacetate have similar effects, but at concentrations 10- to 100-fold higher than required for N-ethylmaleimide. Furthermore, sulfhydryl modification also stabilizes the association of nicotinic receptor subunits with the detergent-insoluble cytoskeleton. N-Ethylmaleimide treatment increases the fraction of insoluble receptor molecules on extraction with Triton X-100, sodium cholate, or octylglucoside. These results suggest an important role of sulfhydryl groups in the structural stability of the postsynaptic cholinergic membrane.     

The repair of DNA damage: Recent developments and new insights

This brief review presents the salient features of new developments in the enzymatic repair of base damage to DNA. DNA glycosylases and apurinic/ apyrimidinic (AP) endonucleases are reviewed and evidence is presented that in at least two prokaryote systems incision of UV-irradiated DNA occurs by the sequential action of these two classes of enzymes. In contradistinction, the uvrA, uvrB, and uvrC gene products of E coli appear to function as a multiprotein complex that catalyzes hydrolysis of phosphodiester bonds in damaged DNA directly. The inducible rapid repair of O⁶- methylguanine in E coli is also reviewed.     

First Synthesis and Anti-HIV Evaluation of 4′-Methyl-Cyclopentanyl 9-Deazaadenosine

The first synthesis of a 4′-methylated carbocyclic C-nucleoside 16 was achieved via the mesylate intermediate 10, which was prepared using ring-closing metathesis and S_N2 alkylation from acetol 5. When antiviral evaluation of synthesized compound 16 was performed against various viruses such as HIV, HSV-1, HSV-2, and HCMV, it showed moderate anti-HIV activity in MT-4 cell line (EC₅₀ = 14.7 μmol).     

Catalytic asymmetric synthesis of indole derivatives as novel α-glucosidase inhibitors in vitro

Indole containing compounds have acquired conspicuous significance due to their wide spectrum of biological activities. Synthesis of a series of enantiomerically pure indole derivatives 3a-r via Friedel–Crafts alkylation of indole 1 with enones 2a-r were described here. The products were isolated in a moderate to excellent yields (upto 89%) with excellent enantioselectivities (upto 99.9% ee). These compounds 3a-r were evaluated for their in vitro α-glucosidase inhibitory activity and some of them were identified as potent inhibitors (IC₅₀ = 4.3 ± 0.13–43.9 ± 0.51 μM) with several fold higher activity than the clinically used α-glucosidase inhibitor, acarbose (IC₅₀ = 840 ± 1.73 μM). To the best of knowledge, this is the first report of the propanone substituted indole ring containing compounds by in vitro α-glucosidase enzyme inhibition.     

Mixed S/N and S/P/N ligands from carbohydrates: Synthesis and application in palladium-catalyzed allylic alkylation

A modular synthetic approach to bidentate and tridentate imino-thioglycoside ligands is reported. In only 5 steps from the known glucosamine derivative 1, a conveniently functionalized thioglycoside 5 is obtained, which after imination afforded the desired ligands in excellent yields. The tridentate phosphine imine thioglycoside ligand 10 was found to be a highly efficient catalyst precursor for palladium-(0)-catalysed asymmetric alkylation of 1,3-diphenylpropenylacetate (8) with dimethyl malonate. The study of a Pd(II) complex shows that there is an efficient stereochemical control of the sulfur configuration upon coordination to the palladium.     

Enantioselective addition of diethylzinc to aldehydes catalyzed by titanium(IV) complexes of N-sulfonylated beta-amino alcohols with four stereogenic centers

An N-sulfonylated beta-amino alcohol (R,S,S,R)-9 with four stereogenic centers is prepared. The titanium complex of 9 is an effective catalyst to induce excellent enantioselectivities for diethylzinc addition to aromatic aldehydes with ee values up to 99%. The feature of doubling the quantity of Ti(O-i-Pr)4 required relative to the catalytic system of the Ti complex of bidentate N-sulfonylated beta-amino alcohols suggests that the two N-sulfonylated beta-amino alcohol moieties in 9 behave as two independent bidentate ligands in the catalytic system. The results obtained using ligand 15 having one N-sulfonylated beta-amino alcohol blocked support the argument of two independent active bidentate moieties in 9.     

Synthesis and antitumor activity of new D-galactose-containing derivatives of doxorubicin

A general scheme of synthesis of antibiotic doxorubicin derivatives is based on the 13-dimethyl ketal of 14-bromodaunorubicin (4). The interaction of 4 with melibiose (5), lactose (6), 3-methoxy-4-O-(2,3,4,6-tetra-O-acetyl-beta-D-galactopyranosyl)-4-oxybenzaldehyde (12) or 4-O-(2,3,4,6-tetra-O-acetyl-beta-D-galactopyranosyl)-4-oxybenzaldehyde (13) by reductive alkylation followed by hydrolysis of the corresponding intermediate bromoketals produced 3'-N-[alpha-D-galactopyranosyl-(1-->6)-O-1-deoxy-D-glucit-1-yl]doxorubicin (7), 3'-N-[beta-D-galactopyranosyl-(1-->4)-O-1-deoxy-D-glucit-1-yl]doxorubicin (8), 3'-N-[3"-methoxy-4"-O-(beta-D-galactopyranosyl)-4"-oxybenzyl]doxorubicin (16), and 3'-N-[4"-O-(beta-D-galactopyranosyl)-4"-oxybenzyl]doxorubicin (17). Cytotoxic and antitumor activity of the synthesized drug candidates compared to the parent doxorubicin was studied using various experimental models, in particular, on mice bearing lymphocyte leukemia P-388 at single and multiple i.v. injection regimens.     

Allylation and propargylation of chiral cyanopropanoates: an efficient route to long chain alpha-substituted alpha-methyl alpha-amino acids

alpha-Methyllysine and 2-amino-2-methylundecanoic acid, two alpha,alpha-disubstituted unnatural glycines, were synthesized using highly diastereoselective allylation or propargylation of chiral (1S,2R,4R)-10-dicyclohexylsulfamoylisobornyl 2-cyanopropanoate as the key step to introduce the long side chain. Chirality 16:106-111, 2004.     

Preparation and characterisation of chitosans with oligosaccharide branches

The trimer 2-acetamido-2-deoxy-D-glucopyranosyl-beta-(1-->4)-2-acetamido-2-deoxy-D-glucopyranosyl-beta-(1-->4)-2,5-anhydro-D-mannofuranose (A-A-M) was reductively N-alkylated onto a fully de-N-acetylated chitosan (F(A)<0.001, DP(n)=25) to obtain branched chitosans with degree of substitution (DS) of 0.070, 0.23 and 0.40, as determined by 1H NMR spectroscopy. The apparent pK(a) values of the primary and secondary amines of the chitosans substituted with the trimer A-A-M were determined by monitoring the chemical shift of the H-2 of GlcN, and were determined as 6.5-6.9 for the primary (unsubstituted) amines and as 5.0-5.2 for the secondary (substituted) amines. The intrinsic pK(a) values (pK(int)) were found to be 7.3-7.4 for the substituted and 8.7 for the unsubstituted amines. The chitosan branched with A-A-M (DS 0.40) was found to be soluble in aqueous solution over the entire pH range. SEC-MALLS (size-exclusion chromatography with a multi-angle laser light scattering detector) further showed that addition of branches did not affect the molar hydrodynamic volume of the chitosan.