A validated enantiospecific method for determination and purity assay of clopridogrel

A new and accurate HPLC method using β‐cyclodextrin chemically bonded to spherical silica particles as chiral stationary phase (CSP) was developed and validated for determination of S‐clopidogrel and its impurities R‐enantiomer and S‐acid as a hydrolytic product. The effects of acetonitrile and methanol content in the mobile phase and temperature on the resolution and retention of enantiomers were investigated. A satisfactory resolution of S‐clopidogrel active form and its impurities was achieved on ChiraDex® column (5 μm, 4 × 250 mm) at a flow rate of 1.0 ml/min and 17°C using acetonitrile, methanol and 0.01 M potassium dihydrogen phosphate solution (15:5:80 v/v/v) as mobile phase. The detection wavelength was set at 220 nm. The method was validated in terms of accuracy, precision, linearity, and robustness. The limit of detection for R‐enantiomer and S‐acid were 0.75 and 0.09 μg/ml, respectively, injection volume being 20 μl. Finally, the molecular modeling of the inclusion complexes between the analytes and β‐cyclodextrin was performed to investigate the mechanism of the enantiorecognition and to study the quantitative structure–retention relationships. Chirality, 2009. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Defective cholesterol trafficking in Niemann-Pick C-deficient cells

Pathways of intracellular cholesterol trafficking are poorly understood at the molecular level. Mutations in Niemann-Pick C (NPC) proteins, NPC1 and NPC2, however, have led to insights into the mechanism by which endocytosed cholesterol is exported from late endosomes/lysosomes (LE/L). Mutations in NPC1, a multi-spanning membrane protein of LE/L, or mutations in NPC2, a soluble luminal protein of LE/L, cause the neurodegenerative disorder NPC disease. This review focuses on data supporting a model in which movement of cholesterol out of LE/L is mediated by the sequential action of the two NPC proteins. We also discuss potential therapies for NPC disease, including evidence that treatment of NPC-deficient mice with the cholesterol-binding compound, cyclodextrin, markedly attenuates neurodegeneration, and increases life-span, of NPC1-deficient mice.     

Overexpression of cyclodextrin glycosyltransferase gene from Brevibacillus brevis in Escherichia coli by control of temperature and mannitol concentration

Expression of Brevibacillus brevis CD162 cyclodextrin glycosyltransferase (CGTase) gene using pET22b(+) vector in Escherichia coli BL21(DE3) resulted in the formation of inactive inclusion bodies under the usual induction conditions. However, by lowering the induction temperature to 30°C and/or adding 0.5 M mannitol as an osmolyte, the formation of insoluble aggregates was prevented and about a 34-fold increase (8.51 U ml^–1) in biologically active soluble form was achieved after 6 h induction. The active CGTase enzyme was estimated to comprise as much as 24% of the total soluble proteins. In addition, other polyols such as glycerol, erythritol, xylitol, sorbitol, and arabitol showed similar effects with mannitol on the production of active CGTase enzyme.     

Transglutaminase-catalyzed synthesis of trypsin-cyclodextrin conjugates: kinetics and stability properties

Bovine pancreatic trypsin was modified by the mono-6-amino-6-deoxy derivatives of alpha-, beta-, and gamma-cyclodextrin through a transglutaminase-catalyzed reaction. The trypsin-cyclodextrin conjugates, containing about 3 mol of oligosaccharide per mole of protein, were tested for their catalytic and stability properties. The specific esterolytic activity and the kinetics constants of trypsin were significantly improved following the transglutaminase-induced structural modifications. Trypsin-cyclodextrin conjugates were also found markedly (sixfold) more resistant to autolytic degradation at alkaline pH, and their thermal stability profile was improved by about 16 degrees C. Moreover, they were particularly resistant to heat inactivation when treated at different temperatures ranging from 45 degrees C to 70 degrees C for different periods of time.     

Effects of beta-cyclodextrin-dextran polymer on stability properties of trypsin

Dextran modified with the mono-6-pentylene-diamino-6-deoxy-beta-cyclodextrin derivative was evaluated as a thermoprotectant additive for trypsin. The optimum temperature for trypsin activity was increased by 7 degrees C in the presence of this polymer. The enzyme thermostability was increased from 48.5 to 64 degrees C over 10 min of incubation, and the activation free energy of thermoinactivation at 50 degrees C was increased by 4.1 kJ/mol in the presence of the additive. Trypsin was 6-fold more resistant to autolytic inactivation at alkaline pH in the presence of the polymer.     

High-throughput screening for gene libraries expressing carbohydrate hydrolase activity

A simple and fast method is described allowing screening of large number of Escherichia coli clones (4000 per day) for the presence of functional or improved carbohydrate hydrolase enzymes. The procedure is relatively cheap and has the advantage that carbohydrate degrading activity can be directly measured using liquid cultures grown in microtiter plates without the need of separation or purification steps.     

Chiral separation of 2,3-allenoic acid by capillary zone electrophoresis using cyclodextrin derivatives

In this paper, five of six samples of 2,3-allenoic acid enantiomers were separated by capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) using hydroxypropyl-beta-cyclodextrin (HP-beta-CD) and hydroxypropyl-gamma-cyclodextrin (HP-gamma-CD) as chiral selectors. Using HP-beta-CD for chiral separation, three of the six enantiomers were separated. Five experimental conditions including HP-beta-CD concentration, pH, buffer concentration, temperature, and running voltage were investigated for their influence on separation and migration using enantiomers of 2-methyl-4-phenyl-2,3-butadienoic acid (A) and 2-(n-propyl)-4-phenyl-2,3-butadienoic acid (B) as samples. Good separation results were observed when [HP-beta-CD] = 3-12 mmol/L and pH = 7-9 for samples A and B. The temperature range of 15-25 degrees C can be selected for convenience. According to the chiral separation results, HP-beta-CD and HP-gamma-CD should be valuable selectors to separate 2,3-allenoic acids and HP-gamma-CD was suggested to separate the 2,3-allenoic acid samples with a group at 4-position bulkier than phenyl.     

Synthesis of 6I-amino-6I-deoxy-2I-VII,3I-VII-tetradeca-O-methyl-cyclomaltoheptaose

The preparation of 6(I)-amino-6(I)-deoxy-2(I-VII),3(I-VII)-tetradeca-O-methyl-cyclomaltoheptaose is reported. Two different routes (A and B), both starting from beta-cyclodextrin (betaCD), have been examined. Route A involved: (i) synthesis of heptakis(6-O-tert-butyldimethylsilyl)-betaCD from betaCD; (ii) permethylation of the secondary hydroxyl groups with methyl iodide and sodium hydride; (iii) desilylation of the primary hydroxyls with ammonium fluoride; (iv) monotosylation at O-6 position of per-(2,3-O-methyl)-betaCD; (5) nucleophilic replacement of the tosyl group with azide anion; (v) reduction of the azido group by catalytic transfer hydrogenation using hydrazine hydrate in the presence of Pd/C in methanol/water. Route B started from the known 6(I)-monoazido-6(I)-monodeoxy-beta-CD (two steps from beta-CD) and entailed: (i) protection of the remaining primary hydroxyls using tert-butyldimethylsilylchloride (TBDMSCl); (ii) exhaustive methylation of the secondary hydroxyls with methyl iodide and sodium hydride; (iii) removal of the TBDMS protecting groups with ammonium fluoride; (iv) reduction of the azido group as above. Route A was found to be less convenient than Route B due to the inherent difficulty of controlling the monotosylation of per-(2,3-O-methyl)-betaCD.     

Melittin as model system for probing interactions between proteins and cyclodextrins

Cylcodextrin sugars are cyclic sugars that have a hydrophilic exterior and a hydrophobic center. This enables cyclodextrins to solubilize hydrophobic molecules in aqueous media. Cyclodextrins may inhibit aggregation by intercalating surface aromatic residues and competing with interprotein aromatic clusters (pi-pi interactions). In order to investigate this concept, the interaction of hydroxypropyl-beta-cyclodextrin (HPBCD) with melittin is studied with steady-state and time-resolved fluorescence, fluorescence polarization, circular dichroism, and IR spectroscopy. HPBCD inhibits the aggregation of melittin. This inhibition and the spectroscopic results are consistent with the lone aromatic tryptophan of the peptide being intercalated within HPBCD.     

New chiral selectors: design and synthesis of 6-TBDMS-2,3-methyl beta-cyclodextrin 2-2' thioureido dimer and 6-TBDMS-2,3-methyl (or 2-methyl-3-acetyl) beta-cyclodextrin bearing an (R) Mosher acid moiety

Cyclodextrin (CD) derivatives are important selectors for analytical chiral recognition. Their enantioselectivities and chemical properties depend on ring size and on nature, number and location of substituents. This paper describes the synthesis of 6-O-TBDMS-2,3-O-methyl beta-cyclodextrins bearing in position 2 either a single (R)-Mosher acid moiety or a second CD unit, in view of their possible application as chiral selectors. Most synthetic steps were successfully carried out under high-intensity ultrasound using a new sonochemical reactor developed in the authors' laboratory. 6-O-TBDMS-2-O-methyl-3-[(S)-2-methylbutyl]-beta-CD was also synthesized and tested with gas chromatography; the enantiorecognition power of the other CD derivatives is also being tested. A computational study of model structures to design these CD derivatives.