Search

The correlation of mycobactericidal property of macrophages with its potential to deliver bacteria to hydrolytic lysosomes, augmented with ubiquitin-derived peptides (Ub2), activates the process of autophagy. This leads to the formation of phagolysosomes supported by factor involving increased cationic charges which regulate the acidic pH causing elimination of Mycobacterium. To better understand this interaction of cationic-rich ubiquitin-derived peptides with mycobacteria and to identify putative mycobacterial intrinsic resistance mechanisms for phagolysosome formation, we have synthesized a new series of Ub2 peptides, wherein the Gly residues are replaced with azaGly with the aim to improve metabolic stability. In addition to that a new methodology is reported for the synthesis of heteroaryl tethered peptides using azaGly as a linker. We have demonstrated that positive puncta (directly proportional to the acidification of lysosome) in cytosol was significantly increased after 6 hours on the treatment of macrophage with Ub2 peptide derivatives (1, 6, 10, and 11) causing the higher intensity of lysosome observed through LysoTracker Red Dye. The circular dichroism spectral studies are carried out in water and water:TFE mixture and demonstrated that the Ub2 peptides have helix-forming tendency in the presence of TFE. The recognizable intracellular killing of Mycobacterium tuberculosis by Ub2 peptides provides a new approach for host-directed therapy.

We report the synthesis and biological and physiochemical properties of a series of azaGly-appended peptidomimetics. We have developed a simple and facile synthesis for azapeptides on solid support without any side reaction. The azaGly is inserted by in situ reaction of disuccinimidyl carbonate with free amine followed by treatment of hydrazine hydrate at room temperature. The new series of peptidomimetics was prepared by azaGly scanning of heptapeptide Arg-Pro-Arg-Nle-Tyr-Dap-Nle (Akt-01), a GSK-3β-derived Akt inhibitor. The azaGly-appended peptides showed significant improvement in biological activity and serum stability, with retention of conformation as evidenced by NMR and CD studies. The results clearly demonstrate that azaGly-appended peptides are new peptidomimetics. Their synthesis makes this approach highly useful for the development of novel peptidomimetics of therapeutic potential.

A simple and stereoselective synthesis of 3-methylthalidomide, a configurationally stable thalidomide analog, is presented. Herein we describe the synthesis of (R)-3-methylthalidomide starting from (S)-alanine by piperidin-2-one ring assembly approach in high yield and enantiomeric purity without using a chiral auxiliary or reagent. Starting from (R)-alanine, the corresponding (S)-3-methylthalidomide can be prepared using the same methodology. Chirality 27:619–624, 2015. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

A versatile diastereoselective Friedel-Crafts alkylation reaction of heteroaryl systems with a cyclic enecarbamate for the preparation of 5-heteroaryl-substituted proline analogues in good yields has been developed. These heterocyclic tethered cyclic amino acid building blocks constitute important structural motifs in many biologically active molecules. The impact of the substitution on proline cis/trans isomerization was explored by carrying out solution conformational studies by NMR on 5-furanyl-substituted proline-containing peptides. Conformational analysis revealed that the peptide bond is constrained in an exclusively trans conformation.

It is widely appreciated that the vascular endothelium is capable of modulating vascular smooth muscle tone suiting it well for its role as an important regulator of a number of diverse biological processes. Endothelial dysfunction is an early manifestation of atherothrombosis and a consequence of the established disease. Although several arginine derivatives alkylated at one of the guanidino nitrogen were found to inhibit vasorelaxation induced by acetylcholine, activity of the corresponding arginine esters is not reported. The present work was therefore designed to synthesize and evaluate series of novel arginine derivatives to obtain further insight into structure-activity relationship in this series of compounds. Present study involves assessment of activity of these novel compounds on the vascular tone of rat thoracic aorta in comparison with l-arginine analog, that is, l-nitro-arginine methyl ester (l-NAME). Results from the present study showed that full reversal of phenylephrine-mediated contraction was achieved by cumulative applications of acetylcholine (3nm-300μm), which were abolished when the aortic rings were pretreated with l-NAME (300μm). Results from the present study demonstrated that these novel arginine derivatives cause significant yet reversible reduction in acetylcholine-mediated relaxation, similar to that of L-NAME.

A new base labile and orthogonally compatible linker for use in solid-phase peptide synthesis is described.

Reduction of pentachlorophenyl esters of Boc protected amino acids and peptides to the corresponding alcohols is described.

Unlike the related fenofibrate molecule [Henry, Zhang, GaoBruckner (2003). Acta Cryst. E59, o699-o700], fenofibric acid {systematic name: 2-[4-(4-chlorobenzoyl)phenoxy]-2-methylpropanoic acid}, C17H15ClO4, contains a carboxylic acid moiety instead of an ester moiety. This polar moiety plays an important role in the formation of a rare acid-to-ketone hydrogen-bond-type packing interaction. The lack of an isopropyl group in fenofibric acid aligns the carboxyl group on the same side as the ketone carbonyl group; this conformation may play an important role in discrimination between the acid and the fenofibrate molecule in molecular recognition.