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The Trp-His-Gly-Arg derived macrocycle 4 of moroidin 1 containing the unusual tryptophan C-2 histidine N-1 link has been synthesised in protected form. The key steps are displacement of a 2-chloroindole with a histidine derived nucleophile, a Horner–Wadsworth–Emmons reaction followed by asymmetric hydrogenation to establish the tryptophan side chain, and incorporation of the Gly-Arg dipeptide by peptide coupling. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The conversion of vinyl-substituted 6- and 7-membered cyclic carbonates into 8- and 9-membered medium-ring lactones has been achieved in good yield using dimethyltitanocene in toluene at reflux. The reaction proceeds by initial formation of a ketene acetal which undergoes subsequent in situ Claisen rearrangement to provide the corresponding lactones. The preparation of the cyclic carbonates is carried out under basic conditions and hence this methodology complements our existing selenium-based methodology for the synthesis of medium-ring lactones. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In the search for new therapeutics for the treatment of human African trypanosomiasis, many potential drug targets in Trypanosoma brucei have been validated by genetic means, but very few have been chemically validated. Trypanothione synthetase (TryS; EC 6.3.1.9; spermidine/glutathionylspermidine:glutathi.. one ligase (ADP-forming)) is one such target. To identify novel inhibitors of T. brucei TryS, we developed an in vitro enzyme assay, which was amenable to high throughput screening. The subsequent screen of a diverse compound library resulted in the identification of three novel series of TryS inhibitors. Further chemical exploration resulted in leads with nanomolar potency, which displayed mixed, uncompetitive, and allosteric-type inhibition with respect to spermidine, ATP, and glutathione, respectively. Representatives of all three series inhibited growth of bloodstream T. brucci in vitro. Exposure to one of our lead com- pounds (DDD86243; 2 x EC50 for 72 h) decreased intracellular trypanothione levels to <10% of wild type. In addition, there was a corresponding 5-fold increase in the precursor metabolite, glutathione, providing strong evidence that DDD86243 was acting on target to inhibit TryS. This was confirmed with wild-type, TryS single knock-out, and TryS-overexpressing cell lines show- ing expected changes in potency to DDD86243. Taken together, these data provide initial chemical validation of TryS as a drug target in T. brucei. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]