Quantification of trace levels of β-cyclodextrin and substitution patterns in hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin using high-performance liquid chromatography with polarimetric detection

A high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method has been developed for separation and determination of components in hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin (HP-β-CD). The method involves separation on an amino-bonded HPLC column using water–acetonitrile as a mobile phase with a polarimetric HPLC detector for quantification. It provides good selectivity and sensitivity and can also be used to compare different sources of HP-β-CD and to measure batch to batch variation. The similarity of the values of molar optical rotation for β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) and HP-β-CD suggests that a polarimetric HPLC detector may be used with a straightforward area normalization method, to quantify the proportion of β-CD in any HP-β-CD sample. Trace amounts of β-CD in HP-β-CD have been measured to a precision of 0.01%. © 1993 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Chiral discrimination by NMR spectroscopy of ephedrine and N-methylephedrine induced by β-cyclodextrin,heptakis(2,3-di-O-acetyl)β-cyclodextrin,and heptakis (6-O-acetyl)β-cyclodextrin

NMR spectroxcopy has been used to compare the interaction of ephedrine and N-methylephedrine with β-cyclodextrin, heptakis(2,3-di-O-acetyl)β-cyclodextrin, heptakis(6-O-acetyl)β-cyclodextrin. The stoichiometry of the complexes formed between all three cyclodextrins and N-methylephedrine was found to be 1:1 by UV spectroscopy by means of the Job technique. NMR spectra of the single enantiomers of ephedrine and N-methylephedrine in the presence of all three cyclodextrins gave information about the parts of the ligands which interact differently with the host molecules and may be responsible for the chiral discrimination. To quantify the complex stabilities, binding constants were calculated from the changes in the chemical shifts of the ligand signals upon complexation. Analyses of the coupling constants of both species showed that no significant conformational change occurs upon complexation. ROESY spectra of these optical isomers with all three cyclodextrins provided detailed information about the geometry of the complexes. Different intermolecular cross-peaks between the individual isomers of ephedrine and N-Methylephedrine were found for native β-cyclodextrin and its 2,3-diacetylated derivative but not for 6-acetyl cyclodextrin. Analyses of the intramolecular cross-signals of the ligands confirmed that no significant conformational change occurs upon complexation. Chirality 9:211–219, 1997. © 1997 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Non-aqueous capillary electrophoresis chiral separations with sulfated β-cyclodextrin

This paper reports the application of an anionic cyclodextrin (CD), sulfated β-cyclodextrin with a degree of substitution of four (β-CD-(SO₄⁻)₄, in chiral separations of pharmaceutical enantiomers by non-aqueous capillary electrophoresis (NACE). Upon complexation with the anionic CD, electrophoretic mobilities of the basic enantiomers decreased, however, both separation selectivity and resolution were enhanced. The advantage of NACE chiral separations over the aqueous CE with the charged CD is that higher electric field strength and higher ionic strength could be applied due to the characteristics of the solvent formamide. The higher ionic strength leads to stacking of peaks and reduces the electrodispersion caused by the mobility mismatch between β-CD-(SO₄⁻)₄–analyte complexes and the co-ions in the running buffer. As a result, better peak shapes and higher separation efficiency were obtained. Comparing with NACE chiral separations with neutral CDs, lower concentration of β-CD-(SO₄⁻)₄ was needed due to the fact that the electrostatic attraction caused stronger binding between β-CD-(SO₄⁻)₄ and the enantiomers. The effects of the experimental parameters, such as concentration of the CD, apparent pH (pH*), degree of substitutions of the CDs, percentage of water in mixed solvent systems, and type of solvents were also studied.     

Determination of 2-hydroxypropyl-γ-cyclodextrin in plasma of cynomolgus monkeys after oral administration by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry

This report describes a specific and highly sensitive gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) assay for the analysis of industrially produced 2-hydroxypropyl-γ-cyclodextrin, a heterogeneous mixture of homologues and isomers, in plasma of cynomolgus monkeys. Instead of analyzing the polysaccharide mixture as a whole, in a first step the HP-γ-cyclodextrin mixture, together with the internal standard (2,6-di-O-methyl-β-cyclodextrin), was deuteromethylated, and in a second step hydrolyzed with hydrochloric acid to the respective monosaccharides. The resulting reaction mixture was trimethylsilylated to 1,4-bis(O-trimethylsilyl)-2,3-bis-O-deuteromethyl-6-O-2′-deuteromethoxypropylglucose (representative for HP-γ-CD) and 1,4-bis-(O-trimethylsilyl)-bis-2,6-O-methyl-3-O-deuteromethylglucose (representative for the internal standard), respectively, and analyzed by GC–MS. The limit of quantification of this assay was 20 nmol/l.     

Molecular modelling of the inclusion complexes between β-cyclodextrin and (R)/(S)-methylphenobarbitone and its application to HPLC

Molecular modelling of β-cyclodextrin and optimisation of its potential energy suggests that a favoured conformation is that distorted from a symmetrical torus. The inclusion of water molecules into the torus cavity simulates the increased stability in an aqueous solvent. Complexes of β-cyclodextrin with (R)- and (S)-enantiomers of methylphenobarbitone have been modelled and energetically optimised by the application of molecular mechanics. The simulations suggests that the guest molecules adopt an orientation in which the phenyl ring is projected into the torus cavity, with in each case the plane of the ring parallel to a longer axis of the distorted torus and slightly displaced from the axis through the torus cavity. It is suggested that the asymmetry in the macrocyclic ring contributes to chiral recognition as a result of additional discriminatory binding to the barbiturate ring residue of each enantiomer, which occupy different 3D geometries. The enantiomers form complexes of different minimum potential energies. The resulting difference in complex stability can be related to the behaviour of β-cyclodextrin, as a mobile phase additive in reverse-phase HPLC to effect chiral separation of rac-medthylphenobarbitone during chromatography. © 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

NMR investigation of the interaction of (+)- and (−)-flurbiprofen with β-cyclodextrin

The sodium salts of (+)-(S)- and (−)-(R)-2-(2-fluoro-4-biphenylyl)propionic acid (flurbiprofen, FBP) form 1:1 inclusion complexes with β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) having different association constants. Proton selective relaxation rate measurements revealed the existence of superior aggregated forms for both complexes (+)-FBP/β-CD and (−)-FBP/β-CD; information about their stereochemistry has been obtained by 2D ROESY analysis. © 1996 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Incorporation of the antibacterial agent, miconazole nitrate into a cellulosic fabric grafted with β-cyclodextrin

The aim of the study was to investigate the incorporation of the antibacterial agent, miconazole nitrate into cyclodextrin cavities covalently bonded onto cloth fibers. The cellulosic fabric was grafted with β-cyclodextrin molecules through reaction with monochlorotriaziny β-cyclodextrin (MCT-β-CD). The suitable bonded reaction conditions were found to be MCT-β-CD 60–100 g/L, catalyst Na₂CO₃ 50–60 g/L, the reaction temperature 150–160 °C and the reaction time 5–8 min.

The modified and unmodified fabrics were characterized by UV spectrophotometry. The level of miconazole nitrate entrapped in the fabrics were determined by HPLC and was founded to be much higher (0.458% w/w) for the textile functionalized with MCT-β-CD compared to the unmodified fabric (0.056% w/w). The antibacterial abilities measured by shaker flask method showed that the antibacterial property was markedly enhanced by impregnation with miconazole nitrate of the MCT-β-CD grafted textile. The finished fabric kept the antibacterial abilities more than 70% even after washing 10 times, while the antibacterial activity of the unmodified textile was almost lost.     

Folding type-specific secondary structure propensities of amino acids,derived from α-helical, β-sheet, α/β, and α+β proteins of known structures

Folding type-specific secondary structure propensities of 20 naturally occurring amino acids have been derived from α-helical, β-sheet, α/β, and α+β proteins of known structures. These data show that each residue type of amino acids has intrinsic propensities in different regions of secondary structures for different folding types of proteins. Each of the folding types shows markedly different rank ordering, indicating folding type-specific effects on the secondary structure propensities of amino acids. Rigorous statistical tests have been made to validate the folding type-specific effects. It should be noted that α and β proteins have relatively small α-helices and β-strands forming propensities respectively compared with those of α+β and α/β proteins. This may suggest that, with more complex architectures than α and β proteins, α+β and α/β proteins require larger propensities to distinguish from interacting α-helices and β-strands. Our finding of folding type-specific secondary structure propensities suggests that sequence space accessible to each folding type may have differing features. Differing sequence space features might be constrained by topological requirement for each of the folding types. Almost all strong β-sheet forming residues are hydrophobic in character regardless of folding types, thus suggesting the hydrophobicities of side chains as a key determinant of β-sheet structures. In contrast, conformational entropy of side chains is a major determinant of the helical propensities of amino acids, although other interactions such as hydrophobicities and charged interactions cannot be neglected. These results will be helpful to protein design, class-based secondary structure prediction, and protein folding. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Biopoly 45: 35–49, 1998     

Enantiomeric separation of tetrahydroisoquinoline alkaloids by high-performance liquid chromatography with β-cyclodextrin as chiral selector

Tetrahydroisoquinoline alkaloids, which are known to be present not only in plants but also in animals, including mammals, can be considered as condensation products of 2-phenylethylamines (e.g., catecholamines) with aldehydes (e.g., acetaldehyde) or 2-oxo acids (e.g., pyruvic acid). In this study the possibility of separating the optical isomers of several tetrahydroisoquinolines by high-performance liquid chromatography was investigated. For isosalsoline, tetrahydropapaveroline and laudanosoline a good enantiomeric separation could be achieved by applying β-cyclodextrin-bonded silica as stationary phase in connection with various mobile phases. With respect to laudanosoline, the addition of β-cyclodextrin as chiral selector to the mobile phase using a C₁₈ reversed-phase column as stationary phase revealed an even higher resolution when compared with the chiral columns. All tested tetrahydroisoquinolines which could be well separated into enantiomers bear a hydroxyl group at carbon atom 7 as a common structural feature. Those alkaloids substituted with a methoxy group on position 7 instead of a hydroxyl group (e.g., salsolidine) failed to be resolved into their optical isomers. Therefore, the presence of a hydroxyl group on C7 of the aromatic ring seems to be conducive to steric discrimination. However, the separation results for 1-carboxysalsolinol were unsatisfactory although this molecule possesses a 7-hydroxyl group. In this case the existence of a carboxyl group on C1 reduced the chiral recognition and thus the enantiomeric resolution. © 1995 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Fed-batch production of (S)-flurbiprofen in lipase-catalyzed dispersed aqueous phase reaction system induced by succinyl β-cyclodextrin and its extractive purification

Optically active (S)-flurbiprofen was produced fed-batch-wisely in a lipase-catalyzed dispersed aqueous phase reaction system induced by succinyl β-cyclodextrin (suβ-CD). A highly concentrated 480 mM (S)-flurbiprofen, corresponding to 117.0 g/l, with an enantiomeric excess of 0.98 and conversion yield of 0.48 was obtained. (S)-Flurbiprofen produced in an inclusion complex form with suβ-CD was extractively purified using three-step procedures: decomplexation of (S)-flurbiprofen and residual (R)-flurbiprofen ethyl ester ((R)-FEE) using the ethyl acetate, dissolution of (S)-flurbiprofen from (R)-FEE using a sodium bicarbonate solution, and selective precipitation of (S)-flurbiprofen using 2-propanol. Consequently, an extremely high concentration of 420 mM (S)-flurbiprofen with an optical purity higher than 98% was recovered after purification.     

17α-Ethyl-5β-estrane-3α,17β-diol, a biological marker for the abuse of norethandrolone and ethylestrenol in slaughter cattle

The metabolism of the illegal growth promoter ethylestrenol (EES) was evaluated in bovine liver cells and subcellular fractions of bovine liver preparations. Incubations with bovine microsomal preparations revealed that EES is extensively biotransformed into norethandrolone (NE), another illegal growth promoter. Furthermore, incubations of monolayer cultures of hepatocytes with NE indicated that NE itself is rapidly reduced to 17α-ethyl-5β-estrane-3α,17β-diol (EED). In vivo tests confirmed that, after administration of either EES or NE, EED is excreted as a major metabolite. Therefore, it was concluded that, both in urine and faeces samples, EED can be used as a biological marker for the illegal use of EES and/or NE. Moreover, by monitoring EED in urine or faeces samples, the detection period after NE administration is significantly prolonged. These findings were further confirmed by three cases of norethandrolone abuse in a routine screening program for forbidden growth promoters.     

15β-hydroxysteroids (Part IV). Steroids of the human perinatal period: The synthesis of 3α,15β,17α-trihydroxy-5α-pregnan-20-one and its A/B-ring configurational isomers

In recent years several 15β-hydroxysteroids have emerged pathognomonic of adrenal disorders in human neonates of which 3α,15β,17α-trihydroxy-5β-pregnan-20-one (2) was the first to be identified in the urine of newborn infants affected with congenital adrenal hyperplasia. In this investigation we report the synthesis of the three remaining 3ξ,5ξ-isomers, namely 3α,15β,17α-trihydroxy-5α-pregnan-20-one (3), 3β,15β,17α-trihydroxy-5α-pregnan-20-one (7) and 3β,15β,17α-trihydroxy-5β-pregnan-20-one (8) for their definitive identification in pathological conditions in human neonates. 3β,15β-Diacetoxy-17α-hydroxy-5-pregnen-20-one (11), a product of chemical synthesis was converted to the isomeric 3 and 7, while conversion of 15β,17α-dihydroxy-4-pregnen-3,20-dione (4), a product of microbiological transformation, resulted in the preparation of 8. In brief, selective acetate hydrolysis of 11 gave 15β-acetoxy-3β,17α-dihydroxy-5-pregnen-20-one (12) which on catalytic hydrogenation gave 15β-acetoxy-3β,17α-dihydroxy-5α-pregnan-20-one (13) a common intermediate for the synthesis of the 3β(and α),5α-isomers. Hydrolysis of the 15β-acetate gave 7, whereas oxidation with pyridinium chlorochromate gave 15β-acetoxy-17α-hydroxy-5α-pregnan-3,20-dione (14) which on reduction with -Selectride and hydrolysis of the 15β-acetate gave 3. Finally, hydrogenation of 4 gave 15β,17α-dihydroxy-5β-pregnan-3,20-dione (10) which on reduction with -Selectride gave 8.     

Enhancement of the isolation selectivity of isoflavonoid puerarin using oligo-β-cyclodextrin coupled polystyrene-based media

The isolation selectivity of the isoflavonoid puerarin, a well-known traditional Chinese medicine, was studied when native and oligo-β-cyclodextrin (CDP) coupled polystyrene-based macroporous resins were used as adsorbents by static tests. The research results indicated that the CDP coupled resin HPD-100-CDP offered the best adsorption and desorption capacity for puerarin than others and its equilibrium adsorption data at 25 °C fit best to the Freundlich isotherm. The performance of separation of puerarin on HPD-100-CDP column in one step was evaluated. Based on the above experimental data, a novel medium PS-CDP was synthesized and its chromatographic retention behaviors were also explored. ESI-MS/MS, ¹H NMR spectroscopy and UV absorption spectrum were used for the detection and characterization of puerarin in isolated fraction. Under the optimum mobile phase, methanol/acetic acid/water = 5.0/6.6/88.4 (v/v/v), the purity and recovery of puerarin were 95.3% and 86.7%, respectively, by HPLC analysis. In conclusion, the PS-CDP medium can enhance the isolated selectivity of puerarin and it can be applied in preparative scale operations.     

TGF-β: from latent to active

The transforming growth factor-betas (TGF-βs) are synthesized as precursor proteins that are modified intracellularly prior to secretion. One of the most relevant intracellular modifications is the cleavage of the C-terminal pro-region from the N-terminal portion of the protein. The C-terminal pro-region is referred to as the latency-associated peptide (LAP) while the N-terminal region is called the mature TGF-β or active TGF-β. However, with some exceptions the LAP noncovalently associates with the mature TGF-β prior to secretion. When the mature TGF-β is associated with the LAP it is called L-TGF-β and cannot interact with its receptor and has no biological effect. The TGF-βs and their receptors are very ubiquitously expressed, suggesting that the regulation of TGF-β activity is likely to be complex and multifactorial. However, one of the most important means of controlling the biological effects of TGF-β is the regulation of converting L-TGF-β to active TGF-β. The current literature supports two major mechanisms of activation of L-TGF-β and suggests that the mechanism of activation of L-TGF-β may be varied and context-dependent. For TGF-β to become biologically active the LAP has to be either released from its associations with L-TGF-β or undergo conformational change such that the LAP is not released from the L-TGF-β complex but exposes the TGF-β receptor binding site. Since TGF-β has been associated with the pathogenesis of numerous diseases, the various mechanisms of activation of L-TGF-β in context offer the possibility of controlling TGF-β activity localized to the organ of involvement and to a more specific disease process.     

Analysis of the α4β1 Integrin–Osteopontin Interaction

The integrin α4β1 is involved in mediating exfiltration of leukocytes from the vasculature. It interacts with a number of proteins up-regulated during the inflammatory response including VCAM-1 and the CS-1 alternatively spliced region of fibronectin. In addition it binds the multifunctional protein osteopontin (OPN), which can act as both a cytokine and an extracellular matrix molecule. Here we map the region of human OPN that supports cell adhesion via α4β1 using GST fusion proteins. We show that α4β1 expressed in J6 cells interacts with intact OPN when the integrin is in a high activation state, and by deletion mapping that the α4β1 binding region in OPN lies between amino acid residues 125 and 168 (aa125–168). This region contains the central RGD motif of OPN, which also interacts with integrins αvβ3, αvβ5, αvβ1, α8β1, and α5β1. Mutating the RGD motif to RAD had no effect on the interaction with α4β1. To define the binding site the region incorporating aa125–168 was divided into 5 overlapping peptides expressed as GST fusion proteins. Two peptides supported adhesion via α4β1, aa132–146, and aa153–168; of these only a synthetic peptide, SVVYGLR (aa162–168), derived from aa153–168 was able to inhibit α4β1 binding to CS-1. These data identify the motif SVVYGLR as a novel peptide inhibitor of α4β1, and the primary α4β1 binding site within OPN.     

Separation of R- and S-Thalidomide by Reversed-Phase HPLC with β-cyclodextrin in the mobile phase

R- and S-Thalidomide were resolved by reversed-phase HPLC on a C-18 column with β-cyclodextrin in the mobile phase. As the concentration of β-cyclodextrin was increased stepwise from 0 to 20 mM, enantiomeric resolution increased and retention times decreased significantly. The influence of different organic modifiers in the mobile phase were evaluated, and ethanol, among others, proved to be effective. Equilibrium constants for the formation of β-cyclodextrin inclusion complexes of R- and S-thalidomide in EtOH-buffer (5:95) were calculated to be 64 and 76 M⁻¹, respectively. © 1996 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

TGF-β: 20 years and counting

The history of transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β) as a bifunctional agent in the immune system is briefly described. The importance of cellular context in understanding the role of TGF-β in regulating immune response is emphasized.