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In our screening of marine Streptomycetes for bioactive principles, two novel antitumor antibiotics designated as chinikomycins A (2a) and B (2b) were isolated together with manumycin A (1), and their structures were elucidated by a detailed interpretation of their spectra. Chinikomycins A (2a) and B (2b) are chlorine-containing aromatized manumycin derivatives of the type 64-pABA-2 with an unusual para orientation of the side chains. They exhibited antitumor activity against different human cancer cell lines, but were inactive in antiviral, antimicrobial, and phytotoxicity tests.

Most non-thiol CAAX-peptidomimetic farnesyltransferase inhibitors bear nitrogen-containing heterocycles in place of the terminal cysteine which are supposed to coordinate the enzyme-bound zinc. However, it has been shown that those nitrogen-containing heterocycles can be replaced by carbocyclic aromatic moieties which are unable to coordinate the zinc ion, a conclusion that resulted in the postulation of one or two hitherto unknown aryl binding sites. No indication has been given about the spatial location of these novel binding sites. Employing flexible docking of several non-thiol farnesyltransferase inhibitors known from the literature and some model compounds based on our benzophenone scaffold as well as performing GRID searches, we have identified two regions in the farnesyltransferase's active site which we suggest being the postulated aryl binding sites. One aryl binding region is located in close proximity to the zinc ion and is defined by the aromatic side chains of Tyr 300β, Trp 303β, Tyr 361β, and Tyr 365β. The second aryl binding site is defined by the side chains of Tyr 300β, Leu 295β, Lys 294β, Lys 353β, and Lys 356β. This second aryl binding site has been used for the design of a non-thiol farnesyltransferase inhibitor (9c) with an IC50 of 35 nM.

Because of the involvement of farnesylated proteins in oncogenesis, inhibition of the protein-modifying enzyme farnesyltransferase is considered a major emerging strategy in cancer therapy. Here, we describe the structure−activity relationship of a novel class of CAAX-peptidomimetic farnesyltransferase inhibitors based on the benzophenone scaffold. 4‘-Methyl, 4‘-chloro, 4‘-bromo, and 4‘-nitrophenylacetic acid as substituents at the 2-amino group of the benzophenone core structure yield farnesyltransferase inhibitors active in the nanomolar range. Using diphenylacetic acid in this position further improves activity. SEAL superimposition of inhibitor 12a to the enzyme-bound conformation of a CAAX-peptide shows a markedly good resemblance of the molecular properties of the peptide. FlexX docking of 12a confirms the good fit of the molecule into the peptide binding site of farnesyltransferase. The novel benzophenone-based AAX-peptidomimetic substructure described here will be useful for the design of some novel types of farnesyltransferase inhibitors.

The influence of enhanced O2 concentration on growth and formation of secondary metabolites byStreptomyces griseoflavus (strain Tü 2880) was investigated in a stirred tank and in an air-lift fermentor. At a partial pressure of O2 po2 = 1880 mbar the growth was lowered by 50% compared to po2 = 210 mbar, whilst substrate consumption and O2 uptake rate increased markedly. Production of the colabomycin complex reached maximum values at po2 = 630 mbar. A similar increase of secondary metabolite formation was obtained when glycerol or acetate were fed at po2 = 220 mbar. The portion of the derivate colabomycin A in the product mixture rose from 43% at po2 = 210 mbar to 73% at po2 = 1260 mbar. Since dissolved O2 concentration has a significant influence on productivity and selectivity it may be used to regulate aerobic fermentation processes.

The influence of increased dissolved O2 concentrations (DOC) on cell growth and production of the secondary metabolite manumycin by a strain of Streptomyces parvulus (Tü 64) was investigated in a stirred tank fermentor. DOC is given as the O2 partial pressure (po2) in the gas phase in an equilibrium state with the liquid phase. Growth of S. parvulus was not influenced up to DOC equivalent to po2 = 1260 mbar. At po2 = 2205 mbar the maximum biomass concentration was lowered by 40%. Production of manumycin was markedly influenced by DOC and reached the maximal concentration at po2 = 315 mbar. At increased DOC three new metabolites were observed. Two of them, 64p-A and 64p-B, were identified as carboxamides, which represent the branched side chain of the manumycin molecule and a derivative with a shorter chain length. The third metabolite, 64p-C, was a manumycin derivative containing an aromatic ring system. Feeding of glycerol during the production phase increased the total yield and showed a similar effect of DOC. Since DOC has significant regulation effects on product formation and selectivity, it should be used as a major parameter in development strategies of aerobic microbial processes.

Protein farnesyltransferase (FTase), a heterodimer enzyme consisting of alpha and beta subunits, catalyzes the addition of farnesyl groups to the C termini of proteins such as Ras. In this paper, we report that the protein substrate specificity of yeast FTase can be switched to that of a closely related enzyme, geranylgeranyltransferase type I (GGTase I) by a single amino acid change at one of the three residues: Ser-159, Tyr-362, or Tyr-366 of its beta-subunit, Dpr1. All three Dpr1 mutants can function as either FTase or GGTase I beta subunit in vivo, although some differences in efficiency were observed. These results point to the importance of two distinct regions (one at 159 and the other at 362 and 366) of Dpr1 for the recognition of the protein substrate. Analysis of the protein, after site directed mutagenesis was used to change Ser-159 to all possible amino acids, showed that either asparagine or aspartic acid at this position allowed FTase beta to function as GGTase I beta. A similar site-directed mutagenesis study on Tyr-362 showed that leucine, methionine, or isoleucine at this position also resulted in the ability of mutant FTase beta to function as GGTase I beta. Interestingly, in both position 159 and 362 substitutions, amino acids that could change the protein substrate specificity had similar van der Waals volumes. Biochemical characterization of the S159N and Y362L mutant proteins showed that their kcat/Km values for GGTase I substrate are increased about 20-fold compared with that of the wild type protein. These results demonstrate that the conversion of the protein substrate specificity of FTase to that of GGTase I can be accomplished by introducing a distinct size amino acid at either of the two residues, 159 and 362.

From Penicillium janczewskii, obtained from a marine sample, two new diastereomeric quinolinones, 3S*,4R*-dihydroxy-4-(4‘-methoxyphenyl)-3,4-dihydro-2(1H)-quinolinone (1) and 3R*,4R*-dihydroxy-4-(4‘-methoxyphenyl)-3,4-dihydro-2(1H)-quinolinone (2), were identified, along with two known alkaloids, peniprequinolone (3) and 3-methoxy-4-hydroxy-4-(4‘-methoxyphenyl)-3,4-dihydro-2(1H)-quinolinone (4). Cytotoxicity testing on eight tumor cell lines revealed a moderate specificity of 2 on SKOV-3 cells.

Three new p-aminoacetophenonic acids, named 7-(4-aminophenyl)-2,4-dimethyl-7-oxo-hept-5-enoic acid (1), 9-(4-aminophenyl)-7-hydroxy-2,4,6-trimethyl-9-oxo-non-2-enoic acid (2), and 12-(4-aminophenyl)-10-hydroxy-6-(1-hydroxyethyl)-7,9-dimethyl-12-oxo-dodeca-2,4-dienoic acid (3), were isolated from an endophyte of the mangrove plant Kandelia candel. The structures of 1−3 were elucidated using spectroscopic analyses, primarily NMR and MS.

ChemInform is a weekly Abstracting Service, delivering concise information at a glance that was extracted from about 100 leading journals. To access a ChemInform Abstract of an article which was published elsewhere, please select a “Full Text” option. The original article is trackable via the “References” option.

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ChemInform is a weekly Abstracting Service, delivering concise information at a glance that was extracted from about 100 leading journals. To access a ChemInform Abstract of an article which was published elsewhere, please select a “Full Text” option. The original article is trackable via the “References” option.