Reaction of magnesium dibromide etherate with 2,3-anhydroaldopyranosides

The reaction of some 2,3-anhydroaldo-hexo- and -pento-pyranoside derivatives with MgBr₂-etherate was found to afford bromodeoxy products in high yield. In the absence of any free hydroxyl group in the molecule, rigid bicyclic, and flexible monocyclic, 2,3-anhydro-α-d-aldopyranoside derivatives, mainly yielded 3-bromo-3-deoxy products through an unusual, diequatorial opening of the oxirane ring. In contrast, similar 2,3-anhydro derivatives having a free hydroxyl group in the molecule underwent the usual, diaxial opening of the oxirane ring, affording the 2-bromo-2-deoxy product. However, methyl 2,3-anhydro-4-O-methyl-β-d-ribopyranoside, despite the absence of a free hydroxyl group, underwent trans-diaxial opening of the oxirane ring.     

Biogenetic-type total synthesis of (±)-farnesiferol A and (±)-farnesiferol C

Biogenetic-type cyclization of trans,trans-umbelliprenin oxide 4 generates the natural occurring farnesiferol C (dl) (3), in addition to various other unnatural transformation products. Similar cyclization of the cis,trans counterpart (34) of 4 affords inter alia farnesiferol A (dl) (1). Bioorganic and physical organic aspects of these changes are discussed.     

Synthesis,photophysical properties and photocytotoxicity of mono-, di-, tri- and tetra-glucosylated fluorophenylporphyrins

In order to explore the effect of substitution patterns on the photocytotoxicity of glycoconjugated porphyrins, we synthesized and characterized a ‘complete set’ of tetrakis(perfluorophenyl)porphyrins having β-d-glucopyranosylthio groups on the phenyl ring. Among five possible derivatives, trans-substituted S-glucosylated porphyrin trans-2_OH exerted outstanding photocytotoxicity (EC₅₀ value was <5 nM) in HeLa cells. The excellent photocytotoxicity of trans-2_OH was found to be attributable to several factors, namely high optical transition probability in aqueous media, efficient type I photoreactions and enhanced cellular uptake.     

The actinidols: nor-isoprenoid compounds in grapes,wines and spirits

The isomeric actinidols, 2,2,6-trimethyl-8-(1-hydroxy)ethyl-7-oxabicyclo[4.3.0]nona-4,9-dienes, have been identified in steam distillates of juices from Vitis vinifera grape vars. Muscat of Alexandria, Chardonnay and Doradillo. The two major isomers of this compound, which were also commonly observed in wines and brandies, were tentatively identified as having a trans-stereochemistry about the dihydrofuran ring in the molecule.     

Structural studies of intermediates along the cyclization pathway of Aplysia ADP-ribosyl cyclase

Cyclic ADP-ribose (cADPR) is a calcium messenger that can mobilize intracellular Ca²⁺ stores and activate Ca²⁺ influx to regulate a wide range of physiological processes. Aplysia cyclase is the first member of the ADP-ribosyl cyclases identified to catalyze the cyclization of NAD⁺ into cADPR. The catalysis involves a two-step reaction, the elimination of the nicotinamide ring and the cyclization of the intermediate resulting in the covalent attachment of the purine ring to the terminal ribose. Aplysia cyclase exhibits a high degree of leniency towards the purine base of its substrate, and the cyclization reaction takes place at either the N1- or the N7-position of the purine ring. To decipher the mechanism of cyclization in Aplysia cyclase, we used a crystallization setup with multiple Aplysia cyclase molecules present in the asymmetric unit. With the use of natural substrates and analogs, not only were we able to capture multiple snapshots during enzyme catalysis resulting in either N1 or N7 linkage of the purine ring to the terminal ribose, we were also able to observe, for the first time, the cyclized products of both N1 and N7 cyclization bound in the active site of Aplysia cyclase.     

Abietadiene synthase from grand fir (Abies grandis): characterization and mechanism of action of the "pseudomature" recombinant enzyme

The oleoresin secreted by grand fir (Abies grandis) is composed of resin acids derived largely from the abietane family of diterpene olefins as precursors which undergo subsequent oxidation of the C18-methyl group to a carboxyl function, for example, in the conversion of abieta-7,13-diene to abietic acid. A cDNA encoding abietadiene synthase has been isolated from grand fir and the heterologously expressed bifunctional enzyme shown to catalyze both the protonation-initiated cyclization of geranylgeranyl diphosphate to the intermediate (+)-copalyl diphosphate and the ionization-dependent cyclization of (+)-copalyl diphosphate, via a pimarenyl intermediate, to the olefin end products. Abietadiene synthase is translated as a preprotein bearing an N-terminal plastidial targeting sequence, and this form of the recombinant protein expressed in Escherichia coli proved to be unsuitable for detailed structure-function studies. Since the transit peptide-mature protein cleavage site could not be determined directly, a truncation series was constructed to delete the targeting sequence and prepare a "pseudomature" form of the enzyme that resembled the native abietadiene synthase in kinetic properties. Both the native synthase and the pseudomature synthase having 84 residues deleted from the preprotein converted geranylgeranyl diphosphate and the intermediate (+)-copalyl diphosphate to a nearly equal mixture of abietadiene, levopimaradiene, and neoabietadiene, as well as to three minor products, indicating that this single enzyme accounts for production of all of the resin acid precursors of grand fir. Kinetic evaluation of abietadiene synthase with geranylgeranyl diphosphate and (+)-copalyl diphosphate provided evidence for two functionally distinct active sites, the first for the cyclization of geranylgeranyl diphosphate to (+)-copalyl diphosphate and the second for the cyclization of (+)-copalyl diphosphate to diterpene end products, and demonstrated that the rate-limiting step of the coupled reaction sequence resides in the second cyclization process. The structural implications of these findings are discussed in the context of primary sequence elements considered to be responsible for binding the substrate and intermediate and for initiating the respective cyclization steps.     

Alkali-catalyzed ring closure of pyruvoylglycine

The product of the treatment of pyruvoylglycine by alkali at 25 ° has been isolated in crystalline form. The compound may exist either as the monohydrate or in the anhydrous form.The empirical composition of the anhydrous product is identical with that of pyruvoylglycine, it possesses a pK′ of 3.8 and forms a monosodium salt. On destructive distillation with lime, products giving characteristic pyrrole reactions are formed. The absorption spectra in the ultraviolet and in the infrared resemble those of pyrrolidone carboxylic acid, and on hydrolysis in 5 N HCl close to 1 mole of dl-alanine is formed. (Pyruvoylglycine under the same conditions yields 1 mole of glycine.)On the basis of these and previous findings, it is concluded that the treatment of pyruvoylglycine by alkali under mild conditions leads to an irreversible ring closure and the formation of the isomeric γ-hydroxypyrrolidone carboxylic acid. This ring closure, leading to the establishment of two centers of asymmetry, would explain in part the origin of the racemic alanine formed on treatment with boiling 5 N HCl.     

JJK694, a Synthesized Obovatol Derivative,Inhibits Platelet Activation by Suppressing Cyclooxygenase and Lipoxygenase Activities

Three triterpenes having the 6/6/5-fused tri- and 6/6/6/5-fused tetracyclic skeletons were isolated from an incubation mixture of the mutated F601A enzyme, these products being in accordance with a Markovnikov closure. Successful trapping of the tricyclic cationic intermediate by using the squalene analog having a highly nucleophilic hydroxyl group leads us to propose that the ring expansion process of the 5-membered C-ring is involved in the squalene cyclization cascade.     

New cyclization mechanism for squalene: a ring-expansion step for the five-membered C-ring intermediate in hopene biosynthesis

Three triterpenes having the 6/6/5-fused tri- and 6/6/6/5-fused tetracyclic skeletons were isolated from an incubation mixture of the mutated F601A enzyme, these products being in accordance with a Markovnikov closure. Successful trapping of the tricyclic cationic intermediate by using the squalene analog having a highly nucleophilic hydroxyl group leads us to propose that the ring expansion process of the 5-membered C-ring is involved in the squalene cyclization cascade.     

Interaction between RNA molecules of a two-component trans analog of antigenomic HDV ribozyme

A study was made of the association of the RNA components forming a B:LS two-component rans analog of the antigenomic HDV ribozyme. The B:LS ribozyme differed from known trans ribozymes in the sizes and nucleotide sequences of its components (33 and 34 nt, respectively), the topology of its functional parts, and the lack of a very short cleavage product. Compared to the cis ribozyme, B:LS showed similar dependences on the reaction conditions (Mg²⁺ concentration, pH, temperature) and a similar biphasic kinetic curve of self-cleavage. The kinetic model of B:LS self-cleavage (available at www.cardio.ru/labgen/RZ_e.html) describes a possible cause of the biphasic kinetic curve as a change in the rate-limiting step of consecutive conformational transitions accompanying self-cleavage. Another possible cause is an interaction between the molecules involved in cleavage, i.e., multimerization of whole ribozyme molecules with their components or the reaction products. B:LS provides a convenient model for studying such interactions, since the mode of component binding allows generation of 1B:2LS and 2B:1LS complexes as well as complexes with the cleavage products. Nondenaturing PAGE was used to study the factors affecting association and dissociation of the ribozyme components. The possibility of interactions between the RNA components of the cis and trans ribozymes was demonstrated experimentally. It was shown that the ribozyme is capable of multimerization when LS is in excess over B and that the cleavage products are not significantly involved in this process. The results suggest intermolecular interactions for the cleavage of the natural cis ribozyme.     

Cloning and Characterization of Oxidosqualene Cyclases from Kalanchoe daigremontiana: ENZYMES CATALYZING UP TO 10 REARRANGEMENT STEPS YIELDING FRIEDELIN AND OTHER TRITERPENOIDS*

The first committed step in triterpenoid biosynthesis is the cyclization of oxidosqualene to polycyclic alcohols or ketones C₃₀H₅₀O. It is catalyzed by single oxidosqualene cyclase (OSC) enzymes that can carry out varying numbers of carbocation rearrangements and, thus, generate triterpenoids with diverse carbon skeletons. OSCs from diverse plant species have been cloned and characterized, the large majority of them catalyzing relatively few rearrangement steps. It was recently predicted that special OSCs must exist that can form friedelin, the pentacyclic triterpenoid whose formation involves the maximum possible number of rearrangement steps. The goal of the present study, therefore, was to clone a friedelin synthase from Kalanchoe daigremontiana, a plant species known to accumulate this triterpenoid in its leaf surface waxes. Five OSC cDNAs were isolated, encoding proteins with 761–779 amino acids and sharing between 57.4 and 94.3% nucleotide sequence identity. Heterologous expression in yeast and GC-MS analyses showed that one of the OSCs generated the steroid cycloartenol together with minor side products, whereas the other four enzymes produced mixtures of pentacyclic triterpenoids dominated by lupeol (93%), taraxerol (60%), glutinol (66%), and friedelin (71%), respectively. The cycloartenol synthase was found expressed in all leaf tissues, whereas the lupeol, taraxerol, glutinol, and friedelin synthases were expressed only in the epidermis layers lining the upper and lower surfaces of the leaf blade. It is concluded that the function of these enzymes is to form respective triterpenoid aglycones destined to coat the leaf exterior, probably as defense compounds against pathogens or herbivores.     

Nucleotide sequence of the Rhodobacter capsulatus hemH gene

The last step in heme synthesis is the insertion of iron into the ring of protoporphyrin IX. The enzyme which catalyzes this reaction, ferrochelatase (FC), is encoded by the hemH gene. A clone containing this gene from Rhodobacter capsulatus, a purple non-sulfur photosynthetic bacterium, has been sequenced. A single open reading frame was found which could encode a protein of 351 amino acids. This putative protein is very similar to other FC and contains the FC signature sequence     

Chemistry of costunolide and biological activity of the derived lactones

Costunolide and its derived C-16 germacranolides on oxidation with selenium dioxide-t-butyl hydroperoxide afforded two melampolides, an aldehydolactone and the corresponding hydroxylactone, in each case. Structures were assigned to these melampolides on the basis of spectral data and chemical correlation. The aldehydolactones were significantly more active root promotors than their parent lactones. Costunolide and related germacranolides underwent cyclization on treatment with iodine and pyridinium chlorochromate to afford interesting products. (?)-β-Frullanolide has been synthesized and shown to be biologically more active when compared with its parent trans-lactone.     

New conformationally constrained Xxx-Pro bicyclic mimetics

Summary Conformationally constrained peptidomimetics of the Lys-Pro sequence have been obtained using a new polycyclic structure. Bicyclic compounds containing a dioxopiperazine-thiazolidine fused ring have been synthesised starting from N-lysyl-4-ethoxycarbonylthiazolidine-2-carboxylic acid. The carboxyl group in either position 2 or 4 of the thiazolidine ring was reacted with the N-terminal amino group, giving different regioisomers. NMR and computer modelling were used to study the configuration of isomers and the lysine side-chain orientation with respect to the pseudoproline ring.     

Chalcone oxides—potent selective inhibitors of cytosolic epoxide hydrolase

The systematic screening of over 150 compounds for inhibitory activity on mammalian cytosolic epoxide hydrolase led to identification of chalcone oxide (trans-1-benzoyl-2-phenyloxirane) as an optimal inhibitory structure. Important structural features for inhibition include two hydrophobic moieties preferably orientating in a trans manner from an electrophilic center such as an activated olefin or epoxide, with the epoxide giving maximal activity. Synthesis of chalcone oxide derivatives bearing a single p-substituent on either phenyl ring has led to very potent inhibitors of the enzyme, the best being 4-phenylchalcone oxide (50% inhibition at 6.4 × 10^?8m). Multiple factorial analysis on the inhibition data for the two series of chalcone oxides prepared (phenyl or benzoyl substituted) revealed both the essentialness of hydrophobic interactions and the apparent nonequivalence of the two hydrophobic sites involved in the inhibitory process. Steric factors were considerably less crucial while electronic effects were unimportant in the compounds examined. The chalcone oxides were either inactive or only weak inhibitors of the other major epoxide-metabolizing enzymes in mouse liver, cytosolic glutathione S-transferase, and microsomal epoxide hydrolase. The nature of the inhibition of cytosolic epoxide hydrolase by chalcone oxides was further investigated through steady-state kinetic analysis and the use of amino acid modifiers. Chalcone oxides give a slowly reversible mixed-noncompetitive inhibition. They may interact covalently with a cysteine residue possibly essential to the catalytic action of cytosolic epoxide hydrolase, and may indeed be alternative substrates with very low turnover. The cytosolic and microsomal epoxide hydrolases can be clearly distinguished by these inhibitors, further indicating different catalytic mechanisms.     

Degradation of Phenanthrene and Anthracene by Cell Suspensions of Mycobacterium sp. Strain PYR-1

Cultures of Mycobacterium sp. strain PYR-1 were dosed with anthracene or phenanthrene and after 14 days of incubation had degraded 92 and 90% of the added anthracene and phenanthrene, respectively. The metabolites were extracted and identified by UV-visible light absorption, high-pressure liquid chromatography retention times, mass spectrometry, ¹H and ¹³C nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometry, and comparison to authentic compounds and literature data. Neutral-pH ethyl acetate extracts from anthracene-incubated cells showed four metabolites, identified as cis-1,2-dihydroxy-1,2-dihydroanthracene, 6,7-benzocoumarin, 1-methoxy-2-hydroxyanthracene, and 9,10-anthraquinone. A novel anthracene ring fission product was isolated from acidified culture media and was identified as 3-(2-carboxyvinyl)naphthalene-2-carboxylic acid. 6,7-Benzocoumarin was also found in that extract. When Mycobacterium sp. strain PYR-1 was grown in the presence of phenanthrene, three neutral metabolites were identified as cis- and trans-9,10-dihydroxy-9,10-dihydrophenanthrene and cis-3,4-dihydroxy-3,4-dihydrophenanthrene. Phenanthrene ring fission products, isolated from acid extracts, were identified as 2,2′-diphenic acid, 1-hydroxynaphthoic acid, and phthalic acid. The data point to the existence, next to already known routes for both gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria, of alternative pathways that might be due to the presence of different dioxygenases or to a relaxed specificity of the same dioxygenase for initial attack on polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.     

Oxidative breakdown and conversion of urocanic acid isomers by hydroxyl radical generating systems

cis-Urocanic acid (cis-UCA), formed from trans-urocanic acid (trans-UCA) by photoisomerization, has been shown to mimic suppressive effects of UV on the immune system. It is our hypothesis that UCA oxidation products in the skin play a role in the process of immunosuppression. Recently, both UCA isomers were found to be good hydroxyl radical scavengers and in this context we investigated the formation of products resulting from the interaction of hydroxyl radicals with UCA. Hydroxyl radicals were generated by (1) UV/H₂O₂ (photooxidation), (2) ferrous ions/H₂O₂ (Fenton oxidation) and (3) cupric ions/ascorbic acid. Oxidation products were identified by spectrometric methods and assessed by reversed-phase HPLC analysis. The photooxidation of UCA was induced by UV-B and UV-C, but not by UV-A radiation. Photooxidation and Fenton oxidation of trans-UCA, as well as of cis-UCA yielded comparable chromatographic patterns of UCA oxidation products. Several of the formed products were identified. The formation of three identified imidazoles was shown in UV-B exposed corneal layer samples, derived from human skin.