Zinc and copper are essential metal ions for numerous biological processes. Their levels are tightly maintained in all body organs. Impairment of the Zn2+ to Cu2+ ratio in serum was found to correlate with many disease states, including immunological and inflammatory disorders. Oxytocin (OT) is a neuropeptide, and its activity is modulated by zinc and copper ion binding. Harnessing the intrinsic properties of OT is one of the attractive ways to develop valuable metal ion sensors. Here, we report for the first time an OT-based metal ion sensor prepared by immobilizing the neuropeptide onto a glassy carbon electrode. The developed impedimetric biosensor was ultrasensitive to Zn2+ and Cu2+ ions at physiological pH and not to other biologically relevant ions. Interestingly, the electrochemical impedance signal of two hemicircle systems was recorded after the attachment of OT to the surface. These two semicircles suggest two capacitive regions that result from two different domains in the OT monolayer. Moreover, the change in the charge-transfer resistance of either Zn2+ or Cu2+ was not similar in response to binding. This suggests that the metal-dependent conformational changes of OT can be translated to distinct impedimetric data. Selective masking of Zn2+ and Cu2+ was used to allow for the simultaneous determination of zinc to copper ions ratio by the OT sensor. The OT sensor was able to distinguish between healthy control and multiple sclerosis patients diluted sera samples by determining the Zn/Cu ratio similar to the state-of-the-art techniques. The OT sensor presented herein is likely to have numerous applications in biomedical research and pave the way to other types of neuropeptide-derived sensors.

 

 

Automated glycan assembly (AGA) has advanced from a concept to a commercial technology that rapidly provides access to diverse oligosaccharide chains as long as 30-mers. To date, AGA was mainly employed to incorporate trans-glycosidic linkages, where C2 participating protecting groups ensure stereoselective couplings. Stereocontrol during the installation of cis-glycosidic linkages cannot rely on C2-participation and anomeric mixtures are typically formed. Here, we demonstrate that oligosaccharides containing multiple cis-glycosidic linkages can be prepared efficiently by AGA using monosaccharide building blocks equipped with remote participating protecting groups. The concept is illustrated by the automated syntheses of biologically relevant oligosaccharides bearing various cis-galactosidic and cis-glucosidic linkages. This work provides further proof that AGA facilitates the synthesis of complex oligosaccharides with multiple cis-linkages and other biologically important oligosaccharides.

 

Vaccines against S. pneumoniae, one of the most prevalent bacterial infections causing severe disease, rely on isolated capsular polysaccharide (CPS) that are conjugated to proteins. Such isolates contain a heterogeneous oligosaccharide mixture of different chain lengths and frame shifts. Access to defined synthetic S. pneumoniae CPS structures is desirable. Known syntheses of S. pneumoniae serotype 3 CPS rely on a time-consuming and low-yielding late-stage oxidation step, or use disaccharide building blocks which limits variability. Herein, we report the first iterative automated glycan assembly (AGA) of a conjugation-ready S. pneumoniae serotype 3 CPS trisaccharide. This oligosaccharide was assembled using a novel glucuronic acid building block to circumvent the need for a late-stage oxidation. The introduction of a washing step with the activator prior to each glycosylation cycle greatly increased the yields by neutralizing any residual base from deprotection steps in the synthetic cycle. This process improvement is applicable to AGA of many other oligosaccharides.

We present a new approach for the covalent inhibition of HIV-1 integrase (IN) by an LEDGF/p75-derived peptide modified with an N-terminal succinimide group. The covalent inhibition is mediated by direct binding of the succinimide to the amine group of a lysine residue in IN. The peptide serves as a specific recognition sequence for the target protein, while the succinimide serves as the binding moiety. The combination of a readily synthesizable peptide precursor with easy and efficient binding to the target protein makes this approach a promising new strategy for designing lead compounds.

 

Chirality is an important aspect in many pharmacological processes including drug transport and metabolism. The current investigation examined the stereospecific transport and entry inhibitory activity of four diastereomers derived from a small (macrocyclic) molecule that has two chiral centers. These molecules were designed to mimic the interaction between CD4 and gp120 site of HIV-1 and thereby to function as entry inhibitor(s). Intestinal permeability was assessed by ex-vivo model using excised rat intestine mounted in side-byside diffusion chambers. The entry inhibitory activity was monitored using indicator HeLa-CD4-LTR-beta-gal cells (MAGI assay). The (S/S) diastereomer, named CG-1, exhibited superiority in both unrelated tested biological processes: (I) high transport through the intestine and (II) entry inhibition activity (in the low mu M range). The permeability screening revealed a unique transporter-mediated absorption pathway of CG-1, suggesting a significant role of the molecule's conformation on the mechanism of intestinal absorption. Here we highlight that only the S, S enantiomer (CG-1) has both (I) promising anti HIV-1 entry inhibitory properties and (II) high transporter mediated intestinal permeability. Hence we suggest preference in pharmacological processes to the S, S conformation. This report augments the knowledge regarding stereoselectivity in receptor mediated and protein-protein interaction processes. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

 

G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) mediate a large number of biological pathways and are major therapeutic targets. One of the most exiting phenomena of GPCRs is their ability to interact with other GPCRs. GPCR-GPCR interactions, also known as GPCR oligomerization, may create various functional entities such as homo- and heterodimers and also form complex multimeric GPCR clusters. In many biological systems, GPCR-GPCR interactions are crucial for signal regulation. The interaction with other receptors results in allosteric modifications of GPCRs through conformational changes. Allosteric inhibition of GPCRs is considered an attractive strategy for drug development and does not involve targeting the orthosteric site. Understanding the nature of GPCR-GPCR interactions is mandatory for developing allosteric inhibitors. Studying GPCR-GPCR interactions is a challenging task and many methods have been developed to analyze these events. This review will highlight some of the methods developed to study GPCR-GPCR interactions and will describe pivotal studies that provided the basic understanding of the importance of GPCR oligomerization. We will also describe the significance of GPCR interaction networks for drug development. Recent studies will be reviewed to illustrate the use of state-of-the-art biophysical and spectroscopic methods for the discovery of GPCR oligomerization modulators.

 

Current strategies for the synthesis of glycopeptides require multiple manual synthetic steps. Here, we describe a synthesis concept that merges solid phase peptide and oligosaccharide syntheses and can be executed automatically using a single instrument.

Photo labile linkers are an attractive alternative for solid-phase synthesis because they can be cleaved using light. However, irradiation in a classical batch photoreactor results in incomplete cleavage of the photolabile linkers. It is demonstrated that a continuous flow photoreactor is superior to a batch photoreactor for the cleavage of a linker from polystyrene resin.

 

Automated solid phase synthesis enables rapid access to the linear and branched arabinofuranoside oligosaccharides. A simple purification step is sufficient to provide the conjugation ready oligosaccharides in good yield.

The transmembrane helical bundle of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) dimerize through helix-helix interactions in response to inflammatory stimulation. A strategy was developed to target the helical dimerization site of GPCRs by peptidomimetics with drug like properties. The concept was demonstrated by selecting a potent backbone cyclic helix mimetic from a library that derived from the dimerization region of chemokine (C-C motif) receptor 2 (CCR2) that is a key player in Multiple Sclerosis. We showed that CCR2 based backbone cyclic peptide having a stable helix structure inhibits specific CCR2-mediated chemotactic migration (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

 

Peptide cyclization is an important tool for overcoming the limitations of linear peptides as drugs. Backbone cyclization (BC) has advantages over side chain (SC) cyclization because it combines N-alkylation for extra peptide stability. However, the appropriate building blocks for BC are not yet commercially available. This problem can be overcome by preparing SC cyclic peptide analogs of the most active BC peptide using commercially available building blocks. We have recently developed BC peptides that inhibit the HIV-1 integrase enzyme (IN) activity and HIV-1 replication in infected cells. Here we used this system as a model for systematically comparing the BC and SC cyclization modes using biophysical, biochemical and structural methods. The most potent SC cyclic peptide was active almost as the BC peptide and inhibited IN activity in vitro and blocked IN activity in cells even after 6 days. We conclude that both cyclization types have their respective advantages: The BC peptide is more active and stable, probably due to the N-alkylation, while SC cyclic peptides are easier to synthesize. Due to the high costs and efforts involved in preparing BC peptides, SC may be a more approachable method in many cases. We suggest that both methods are interchangeable. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

 

Sialic acid-containing glycans play a major role in cell-surface interactions with external partners such as cells and viruses. Straightforward access to sialosides is required in order to study their biological functions on a molecular level. Here, automated oligosaccharide synthesis was used to facilitate the preparation of this class of biomolecules. Our strategy relies on novel sialyl alpha-(2 -> 3) and alpha-(2 -> 6) galactosyl imidates, which, used in combination with the automated platform, provided rapid access to a small library of conjugation-ready sialosides of biological relevance.

Elevated levels of activated protein kinase B (PKB/Akt) have been detected in many types of cancer. Substrate-based peptide inhibitors have the advantage of selectivity due to their extensive interactions with the kinase-specific substrate binding site but often lack necessary pharmacological properties. Chemical modifications of potent peptide inhibitors, such as cyclization, may overcome these drawbacks while maintaining potency. We present an extensive structure-activity relationship (SAR) study of a potent peptide-based PKB/Akt inhibitor. Two backbone cyclic (BC) peptide libraries with varying modes of cyclization, bridge chemistry, and ring size were synthesized and evaluated for in vitro PKB/Akt inhibition. Backbone-to-backbone urea BC peptides were more potent than N-terminus-to-backbone amide BC peptides. Several analogues were up to 10-fold more active than the parent linear peptide. Some activity trends could be rationalized using computational surface mapping of the PKB/Akt kinase catalytic domain. The novel molecules have enhanced pharmacological properties which make them promising lead candidates.

 

Restricting linear peptides to their bioactive conformation is an attractive way of improving their stability and activity. We used a cyclic peptide library with conformational diversity for selecting an active and stable peptide that mimics the structure and activity of the HIV-1 integrase (IN) binding loop from its cellular cofactor LEDGF/p75 (residues 361-370). All peptides in the library had the same primary sequence, and differed only in their conformation. Library screening revealed that the ring size and linker structure had a huge effect on the conformation, binding and activity of the peptides. One of the cyclic peptides, c(MZ 4-1), was a potent and stable inhibitor of IN activity in vitro and in cells even after 8 days. The NMR structure of c(MZ 4-1) showed that it obtains a bioactive conformation that is similar to the parent site in LEDGF/p75. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Cyclization of bioactive peptides, utilizing functional groups serving as natural pharmacophors, is often accompanied with loss of activity. The backbone cyclization approach was developed to overcome this limitation and enhance pharmacological properties. Backbone cyclic peptides are prepared by the incorporation of special building units, capable of forming amide, disulfide and coordinative bonds. Urea bridge is often used for the preparation of cyclic peptides by connecting two amine functionalized side chains. Here we present urea backbone cyclization as an additional method for the preparation of backbone cyclic peptide libraries. A straightforward method for the synthesis of crystalline Fmoc-N-alpha [omega-amino(Alloc)-alkyl] glycine building units is presented. A set of urea backbone cyclic Glycogen Synthase Kinase 3 analogs was prepared and assessed for protein kinase B inhibition as anticancer leads. Copyright (C) 2010 European Peptide Society and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Rational conversion of noncontinuous active regions of proteins into a small orally bioavailable molecule is crucial for the discovery of new drugs based on inhibition of protein-protein interactions. We developed a method that utilizes backbone cyclization as an intermediate step for conversion of the CD4 noncontinuous active region into small macrocyclic molecules. We demonstrate that this method is feasible by preparing small inhibitor for human immunodeficiency virus infection. The lead compound, CG-1, proved orally available in the rat model. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Hydrazine derivatives are of considerable scientific and industrial value. Substituted hydrazines are precursors for many compounds of great interest and importance, among them aza-peptides. (Aza-peptides are peptide analogues in which one or more of the of alpha-carbons, bearing the side chain residues, has been replaced by a nitrogen atom.) Aza-amino acid residues conserve the pharmacophores necessary for biological activity while inducing conformational changes and increased resistance to proteolytic degradation. These properties make aza-peptides attractive tools for structure-activity relationship studies and drug design. We describe the synthesis of N'-substituted 2-(3,5-dimethoxyphenyl)propan-2-yloxycarbonyl (Ddz) protected hydrazines. A general approach for solid phase synthesis of aza-peptides has been developed based oil the in-situ activation of the N-Ddz,N'-substituted hydrazines with phosgene, followed by introduction to the N-terminus of a resin-bound peptide. The Ddz-aza-amino building units include aliphatic, aromatic and functionalized side chains, protected for synthesis by the Fmoc strategy. Solid phase aza-peptide synthesis is demonstrated including selective mild deprotection of Ddz with Mg(ClO4)(2) and coupling of the next amino acid with triphosgene. Ddz deprotection is orthogonal with the Fmoc and Boc protecting groups, making the solid phase Ddz-aza-peptide synthesis compatible with both the Fmoc and the Boc strategies. The Ddz-protected hydrazines have wide applications in the synthesis of substituted hydrazines and in the synthesis of aza containing peptidomimetics. (c) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Cyclic ureas have interesting pharmacological properties that have led to their use as analogs of bioactive compounds. Several synthetic routes for urea formation by cyclization of diamines are known, based on the nucleophilic reaction of the amines with phosgene or phosgene derivatives. We have developed a procedure for a triphosgene mediated, on-resin urea cyclization. Four novel urea macrocyclic molecules were synthesized in order to demonstrate the feasibility of this method.