Lactam bridge stabilization of α-helical peptides: Ring size,orientation and positional effects

A series of 14 residue amphipathic α-helical peptides, in which the sidechains of glutamic acid and lysine have been covalently joined, was synthesized in order to determine the effect of spacing, position and orientation of these lactam bridges. It was found that although an (i, i+3) spacing would position the lactam bridge on the same face of the helix, these lactams with 18-member rings were actually helix-destabilizing regardless of position or location. On the other hand, (i, i+4) lactams with 21-member rings were helix-stabilizing but this was dependent on orientation. Glutamic acid-lysine lactams increased the helical content of the peptide when compared with their linear homologue in benign conditions (50 mM KH₂PO₄, 100 mM KCl, pH 7). Two Glu-Lys (i, i+4) lactams located at the N- and C-termini gave rise to a peptide with greater than 99% helical content in benign conditions. Peptides with Lys-Glu oriented lactams were random structures in benign conditions but in the presence of 50% TFE could be induced into a helical conformation. The stability of the single-stranded α-helices, as measured by thermal denaturations in 25% TFE indicated that Glu-Lys oriented lactam bridges stabilized the helical conformation relative to the linear unbridged peptide. One Glu-Lys lactam in the middle of the peptide was more effective at stabilizing helical structure than two Glu-Lys lactams positioned one at each end of the molecule. The lactams with the Lys-Glu orientation were destabilizing relative to the unbridged peptide. This study demonstrates that correct orientation and position of a lactam bridge is critical in order to design peptides with high helical content in aqueous media.     

Synthesis,biological evaluation and structure-activity relationships of 5-arylidene tetramic acids with antibacterial activity against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus

The steady rise of the antimicrobial resistance is a major global threat to human health that requires the urgent need for novel antibiotics. In this work we report the synthesis of a small library of 3-subsituted-5-arylidene tetramic acids in order to investigate the scope of our previously established methodology via an intermediate oxazolone and their antimicrobial activity. From this series of 14 tetramic acids, 11 derivatives are novel and one of them is a Schiff base, which was structurally characterized with single-crystal X-ray analysis and NMR spectroscopy. The compounds incorporating a lipophilic acyl group at carbon-3 of the ring showed moderate to high activity with minimum inhibitory activity of 4–32 μg/mL against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), accompanied by no human cell toxicity and hemolytic activity within the tested concentration range. The substituent at para position of the aryl ring seemed to have no or little effect on the antimicrobial activity of these compounds.     

Synthesis and biological evaluation of novel 3,4-diaryl lactam derivatives as triple reuptake inhibitors

A series of 3,4-diarylpyrrolidin-2-one was designed, prepared and evaluated as triple reuptake inhibitors for antidepressant. Most compounds exhibited comparable in vitro efficacy as norepinephrine and dopamine transporter reuptake inhibitors. Especially, 2i showed better potency than GBR-12909 (IC₅₀ = 14 nM) which was used as reference compound for dopamine transporter. In addition, 2a and 2b showed inhibition (5.17 μM–85.6 nM) for three transporters.     

Heterocyclic lactam derivatives containing piperonyl moiety as potential antifungal agents

To study the novel functionalized heterocyclic molecules with highly potential biological activity, two series of heterocyclic lactam derivatives containing the piperonyl moiety were designed and synthesized. The newly obtained compounds have been identified on the basis of analytical spectral data, including ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR, and ESI-MS. The target compounds were evaluated for their potential antifungal activities in vitro against twelve species of the plant pathogen fungi (Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, Rhizoctonia solani, Rap Sclerotinia stemrot, Fusarium graminearum, Phomopsis adianticola, Pestallozzia theae, Pestalotiopsis guepinii, Alternaria tenuis Nees, Monilinia fructicola, Colletotrichum gloeosporioides, Phytophthora capsici, Magnaporthe oryzae). Preliminary bioassays suggested that all prepared compounds I1–14 displayed broad-spectrum and moderate antifungal activities compared with the positive control hymexazol, especially for Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, Rap Sclerotinia stemrot, and Monilinia fructicola. In particular, the inhibition rate of compound I9 exhibited good inhibition activity reached 95.16% against Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, and compounds I5, I12 against Phytophthora capsici were 93.44%, 91.25%. Further studies revealed that compounds I5 (IC₅₀ = 19.13 µM) and I12 (IC₅₀ = 9.12 µM) exhibited obviously antifungal activities against Phytophthora capsici, which were better than that of commercial agricultural fungicide hymexazol (IC₅₀ = 325.45 µM). Therefore, these target compounds could be further studied and explored as a lead skeleton for discovery of novel antifungal agents.     

(2R,3S,4S)-2-(N,N-二乙氨基)甲酰氧基-3-苯基-4-苯甲酰基-N-甲基-γ-内酰胺的合成及工艺研究

目的：通过对黄皮酰胺全合成中间体（2R,3S,4S）-2-羟基-3-苯基-4-苯甲酰基-N-甲基-γ-内酰胺（化合物A）2位羟基的酯化,提高脂水分配系数（kP）,考察对谷丙转氨酶活性的影响。方法：以化合物A为原料,通过酰化反应合成（2R,3S,4S）-2-（N,N-二乙氨基）甲酰氧基-3-苯基-4-苯甲酰基-N-甲基-γ-内酰胺（化合物B）,重点考察了摩尔比、反应温度、反应时间等条件对反应的影响。化合物B结构已经元素分析、红外光谱、质谱及核磁共振氢谱确证。结果：化合物A和酰化剂以摩尔比2：3,在160℃下反应1h,目标化合物B。收率78．42％。结论：本合成路线及具体反应方法,具有试剂廉价易得、反应条件温和、后处理简便等优点,是一种较为实用的合成方法。     

Pentacycloundecane lactam vs lactone norstatine type protease HIV inhibitors: binding energy calculations and DFT study

Background

Novel pentacycloundecane (PCU)-lactone-CO-EAIS peptide inhibitors were designed, synthesized, and evaluated against wild-type C-South African (C-SA) HIV-1 protease. Three compounds are reported herein, two of which displayed IC₅₀ values of less than 1.00 μM. A comparative MM-PB(GB)SA binding free energy of solvation values of PCU-lactam and lactone models and their enantiomers as well as the PCU-lactam-NH-EAIS and lactone-CO-EAIS peptide inhibitors and their corresponding diastereomers complexed with South African HIV protease (C-SA) was performed. This will enable us to rationalize the considerable difference between inhibitory concentration (IC₅₀) of PCU-lactam-NH-EAIS and PCU-lactone-CO-EAIS peptides.

Results

The PCU-lactam model exhibited more negative calculated binding free energies of solvation than the PCU-lactone model. The same trend was observed for the PCU-peptide inhibitors, which correspond to the experimental activities for the PCU-lactam-NH-EAIS peptide (IC₅₀ = 0.076 μM) and the PCU-lactone-CO-EAIS peptide inhibitors (IC₅₀ = 0.850 μM). Furthermore, a density functional theory (DFT) study on the natural atomic charges of the nitrogen and oxygen atoms of the three PCU-lactam, PCU-lactim and PCU-lactone models were performed using natural bond orbital (NBO) analysis. Electrostatic potential maps were also used to visualize the electron density around electron-rich regions. The asymmetry parameter (η) and quadrupole coupling constant (χ) values of the nitrogen and oxygen nuclei of the model compounds were calculated at the same level of theory. Electronic molecular properties including polarizability and electric dipole moments were also calculated and compared. The Gibbs theoretical free solvation energies of solvation (∆G_solv) were also considered.

Conclusions

A general trend is observed that the lactam species appears to have a larger negative charge distribution around the heteroatoms, larger quadrupole constant, dipole moment and better solvation energy, in comparison to the PCU-lactone model. It can be argued that these characteristics will ensure better eletronic interaction between the lactam and the receptor, corresponding to the observed HIV protease activities in terms of experimental IC₅₀ data.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12929-015-0115-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Synthesis of a natural product-inspired eight-membered ring lactam library via ring-closing metathesis

We have prepared a novel speculative eight-membered lactam demonstration library based on the skeletal structure of the potent antitumor marine natural product octalactin A. The basic scaffold was readily constructed in a convergent fashion via ring-closing metathesis chemistry from the corresponding diene amides. A cursory examination of the biological properties of the library validates the relevance and significance of these structures.     

Synthesis and molecular structure of 14,15-pyrrolidino-and 14,16-ethano derivatives of estrone

Hydrolysis of 3-methoxy-16alpha-nitro-14,17-ethenoestra-1,3,5(10)-trien-17beta-yl acetate under weakly basic conditions leads to formation of 3-methoxy-2'-oxopyrrolidino-[4',5':14beta,15beta]-estra-1,3,5 (10)-trien-17-one, the structure of which has been confirmed by X-ray analysis and some chemical transformations. The reactivity of 3-methoxy-16alpha-nitro-14,17-ethanoestra-1,3,5(10)-trien-17beta-yl acetate under various conditions of basic hydrolysis has been investigated. The derived compounds have been identified by means of NMR spectroscopy and X-ray analysis.     

Design and synthesis of lactam–thiophene carboxylic acids as potent hepatitis C virus polymerase inhibitors

Herein we report the successful incorporation of a lactam as an amide replacement in the design of hepatitis C virus NS5B Site II thiophene carboxylic acid inhibitors. Optimizing potency in a replicon assay and minimizing potential risk for CYP3A4 induction led to the discovery of inhibitor 22a. This lead compound has a favorable pharmacokinetic profile in rats and dogs.     

Bioactive compounds from the insect Aspongopus chinensis

Recent studies focusing on unveiling the biological agents of Aspongopus chinensis have led to the identification of four new norepinephrine derivatives (1–4), three new sesquiterpenoids (5–7), and one new lactam (8). In addition, twenty-three known compounds have been identified, most of which were isolated from this insect for the first time. Selected members of insect-derived substances were evaluated for their biological activities against renal protection in high-glucose-induced mesangial cells and COX-2 inhibition.