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International audience; As three‐dimensional folding is prerequisite to biopolymer activity, complex functions may also be achieved through foldamer science. Because of the diversity of sizes, shapes and folding available with synthetic monomers, foldamer frameworks enable a numerous opportunities for designing new generations of catalysts. We herein demonstrate that heterocyclic γ‐peptide scaffolds represent a versatile platform for enamine catalysis. One central feature was to determine how the catalytic activity and the transfer of chiral information might be under the control of the conformational behaviours of the oligomer.

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are amphipathic molecules displaying broad-spectrum bactericidal activity, providing opportunities to develop a new generation of antibiotics. However, their use is limited either by poor metabolic stability or by high hemolytic activity. We herein addressed the potential of thiazole-based γ-peptide oligomers named ATCs as tunable scaffolds to design polycationic AMP mimetics. Knowing the side chain distribution along the backbone, we rationally designed facially amphiphilic sequences with bactericidal effect in the micromolar range. Since no hemolytic activity was detected up to 100 μM, this class of compounds has shown the potential for therapeutic development.

Type 2 diabetes (T2D) and Alzheimer's disease (AD) belong to the 10 deadliest diseases and are sorely lacking in effective treatments. Both pathologies are part of the degenerative disorders named amyloidoses, which involve the misfolding and the aggregation of amyloid peptides, hIAPP for T2D and Aβ1-42 for AD. While hIAPP and Aβ1-42 inhibitors have been essentially designed to target β-sheet-rich structures composing the toxic amyloid oligomers and fibrils of these peptides, the strategy aiming at trapping the non-toxic monomers in their helical native conformation has been rarely explored. We report herein the first example of helical foldamers as dual inhibitors of hIAPP and Aβ1-42 aggregation and able to preserve the monomeric species of both amyloid peptides. A foldamer composed of 4-amino(methyl)-1,3-thiazole-5-carboxylic acid (ATC) units, adopting a 9-helix structure reminiscent of 310 helix, was remarkable as demonstrated by biophysical assays combining thioflavin-T fluorescence, transmission electronic microscopy, capillary electrophoresis and mass spectrometry.

Sugars play key roles in many molecular and cellular communication processes involving a family of proteins named lectins. The low affinity associated with sugar recognition is generally counterbalanced by the multivalent nature of the interaction. While many polyglycosylated architectures have been described, only a few studies focused on the impact of topology variations of the multivalent structures on the interaction with lectin proteins. One major interest of our group concerns the design of new highly predictable and stable molecular pseudo-peptide architectures for therapeutic applications. In such a context, we described a class of constrained heterocyclic γ-amino acids built around a thiazole ring, named ATCs. ATC oligomers are helical molecules resulting from the formation of a highly stable C9 hydrogen-bonding pattern. Following our program, we herein address the potential of ATC oligomers as tunable scaffolds for the development of original multivalent glycoclusters.

We recently described a pyrido-imidazodiazepinone derivative which could be a promising hit compound for the development of new drugs acting against melanoma cells. In this study, a series of 28 novel pyrido-imidazodiazepinones were synthesized and screened for their in vitro cytotoxic activities against the melanoma MDA-MB-435 cell line. Among the derivatives, seven of them showed 50% growth inhibitory activity at 1 μM concentration, and high selectivity against the melanoma cell line MDA-MB-435.

International audience; The 300 kDa cation-independent M6P receptor (CI-MPR) mediates ligand internalization and trafficking to the endolysosomal compartments. Because of its endocytotic nature, it has been recognized as a promising class of receptors for target component delivery. Its cellular uptake involves the simultaneous binding of two protein units resulting in the formation of receptor dimers. While many multivalent glycoconjugates have been reported to date, little is known about the topological requests to induce an effective recruitment of CI-MPRs. We herein describe the synthesis and cell uptake ability of a set of highly organized glycoclusters bearing one to three saccharide units. The spatial arrangement of carbohydrate ligands is ensured by a heterocyclic γ-peptide central core.

Enzymes are predominantly proteins able to effectively and selectively catalyze highly complex biochemical reactions in mild reaction conditions. Nevertheless, they are limited to the arsenal of reactions that have emerged during natural evolution in compliance with their intrinsic nature, three-dimensional structures and dynamics. They optimally work in physiological conditions for a limited range of reactions, and thus exhibit a low tolerance for solvent and temperature conditions. The de novo design of synthetic highly stable enzymes able to catalyze a broad range of chemical reactions in variable conditions is a great challenge, which requires the development of programmable and finely tunable artificial tools. Interestingly, over the last two decades, chemists developed protein secondary structure mimics to achieve some desirable features of proteins, which are able to interfere with the biological processes. Such non-natural oligomers, so called foldamers, can adopt highly stable and predictable architectures and have extensively demonstrated their attractiveness for widespread applications in fields from biomedical to material science. Foldamer science was more recently considered to provide original solutions to the de novo design of artificial enzymes. This review covers recent developments related to peptidomimetic foldamers with catalytic properties and the principles that have guided their design.

International audience; According to their restricted conformational freedom, heterocyclic -amino acids are usually considered to be related to Z-vinylogous -amino acids. In this context, oligomers alternating -amino acids and thiazole-based -amino acids (ATCs) were expected to fold into a canonical 12-helical shape as described for /-hybrid peptides composed of cis-/-unsaturated -amino acids. However, through a combination of X-ray crystallography, NMR spectroscopy, FTIR experiments, and DFT calculations, it was determined that the folding behavior of ATC-containing hybrid peptides is much more complex. The homochiral /(S)-ATC sequences were unable to adopt a stable conformation, whereas the heterochiral /(R)-ATC peptides displayed novel ribbon structures stabilized by unusual C-9/12-bifurcated hydrogen bonds. These ribbon structures could be considered as a succession of pre-organized / dipeptides and may provide the basis for designing original -helix mimics.

9-Helix: 4-Amino(methyl)-1,3-thiazole-5-carboxylic acids (ATCs) were synthesized as new γ-amino acid building blocks. The structures of various ATC oligomers were analyzed in solution by CD and NMR spectroscopy and in the solid state by X-ray crystallography. The ATC sequences adopted a well-defined 9-helix structure in the solid state and in aprotic and protic organic solvents as well as in aqueous solution.

Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy has been established as a potent method for the determination of foldamer structures in solution. However, the NMR techniques could be limited by averaging, so additional experimental techniques are often needed to fully endorse the folding properties of a sequence. We have recently demonstrated that oligo-γ-peptides composed of 4-amino(methyl)-1,3-thiazole-5-carboxylic acids (ATCs) adopt an original helical fold stabilized by hydrogen bonds forming C9 pseudocycles. The main objective of the present work is to reinvestigate the folding of ATC oligomer 1 in order to identify reliable FT-IR and NMR structural markers that are of value for tracking the degree of organization of ATC-based peptides.

A series of 20 optically pure 3,4-dihydro-5H-pyrido[1',2':1,2]imidazo[4,5-d][1,3]diazepin-5-ones which form a new family of azaheterocycle-fused [1,3]diazepines were synthesized in four steps with 17-66% overall yields. The key step consists of a selective C-acylation reaction of easily accessible 2-aminoimidazo[1,2-a]pyridine at C-3.

International audience; A straightforward and traceless solid-phase methodology was developed for the synthesis of isocoumarins. This two-step process involves a Sonogashira cross-coupling reaction between polymer-bound 2-bromobenzoates and terminal alkynes, followed by an electrophile-induced halocyclization of the resulting 2-(alk-1-ynyl)benzoates through activation of the triple bond with the subsequent release of the 3-substituted 4-haloisocoumarins. This polymer-bound parallel synthetic approach allowed us to achieve large diversity in good to excellent yields and purities.

International audience; Mass spectrometry, and especially electrospray ionization, is now an efficient tool to study noncovalent interactions between proteins and inhibitors. It is used here to study the interaction of some weak inhibitors with the NCoA-1/STAT6 protein with KD values in the M range. High signal intensities corresponding to some nonspecific electrostatic interactions between NCoA-1 and the oppositely charged inhibitors were observed by nanoelectrospray mass spectrometry, due to the use of high ligand concentrations. Diverse strategies have already been developed to deal with nonspecific interactions, such as controlled dissociation in the gas phase, mathematical modeling, or the use of a reference protein to monitor the appearance of nonspecific complexes. We demonstrate here that this last methodology, validated only in the case of neutral sugar-protein interactions, i.e., where dipole- dipole interactions are crucial, is not relevant in the case of strong electrostatic interactions. Thus, we developed a novel strategy based on half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) measurements in a competitive assay with readout by nanoelectrospray mass spectrometry. IC50 values determined by MS were finally converted into dissociation constants that showed very good agreement with values determined in the liquid phase using a fluorescence polarization assay.

A matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOFMS) method for quantification of D-glucosamine-6P (GlcN-6P) that allows the kinetic study of glucosamine-6P synthase (Glms) is presented. The present report describes the optimization of the different steps of a new enzymatic assay for Glms based on in situ N-acetylation of GlcN-6P and MALDI-TOFMS analysis using N-(13C2)acetylglucosamine-6P as internal standard. Since no isotopically substituted GlcN-6P was available, the N-(13C2)acetyl derivative, easily obtained from (13C4)-acetic anhydride, was used as internal standard. Validation of the assay was achieved by measuring the fructose-6P Michaelis constant, in full agreement with reported values, and by studying the inhibition properties of arabinose-5P oxime.

International audience; The growing field of applications of O-alkyl hydroxylamines in medicinal chemistry and chemical biology has motivated the search for a parallel synthesis. A solid-phase approach based on the alkylation by alcohols of a new supported N-hydroxyphthalimide reagent using a Mitsunobu reaction followed by methylaminolysis has been optimized. This study points out the importance of the linker and a specific base effect for the Mitsunobu reaction. A large variety of alcohols can be used to give with moderate to high yields diverse O-alkyl hydroxylamines in high purity.

This paper describes the ability of a new class of heterocyclic γ-amino acids named ATCs (4-amino(methyl)-1,3-thiazole-5-carboxylic acids) to induce turns when included in a tetrapeptide template. Both hybrid Ac-Val-(R or S)-ATC-Ile-Ala-NH2 sequences were synthesized and their conformations were studied by circular dichroism, NMR spectroscopy, MD simulations, and DFT calculations. It was demonstrated that the ATCs induced highly stable C9 pseudocycles in both compounds promoting a twist turn and a reverse turn conformation depending on their absolute configurations. As a proof of concept, a bioactive analogue of gramicidin S was successfully designed using an ATC building block as a turn inducer. The NMR solution structure of the analogue adopted an antiparallel β-pleated sheet conformation similar to that of the natural compound. The hybrid α,γ-cyclopeptide exhibited significant reduced haemotoxicity compared to gramicidin S, while maintaining strong antibacterial activity.

International audience; A tandem aza-FriedeleCrafts reaction/Hantzsch cyclization is described to access various polysubstituted 2-amino-1,3-thiazoles from electron-rich (hetero)-aromatic rings, aldehydes, thiourea and a-chloroketones.

International audience; The parallel synthesis of O-aryloxyamines remains an unfulfilled need in the field of medicinal chemistry and fragment-based approaches. To fill this gap a solution-phase two-step process based on (1) a copper-catalyzed cross-coupling of aryl boronic acids with a fluorous tagged N-hydroxyphthalimide, and (2) a supported aminolysis was designed and optimized using Taguchi's method. A library of O-aryloxyamines was synthesized in high yields with high purity and diversity.

International audience; Many protein-protein interactions involved in cell signalling, cell adhesion and regulation of transcription are mediated by short a-helical recognition motifs with the sequence Leu-Xaa-Xaa-Leu- Leu (LXXLL, where Xaa is any amino acid). Originally observed in cofactors that interact with hormone-activated nuclear receptors, LXXLL motifs are now known to occur in many transcription factors, including the STAT family, which transmit signals from activated cytokine receptors at the cell surface to target genes in the nucleus. STAT 6 becomes activated in response to IL-4 and IL-13, which regulate immune and anti-inflammatory responses. Structural studies have revealed how an LXXLL motif located in 2.5 turns of an a-helical peptide derived from STAT 6 provide contacts through the leucine side chains to the coactivator of transcription, NCoA-1. However, since many protein-protein interactions are mediated by LXXLL motifs, it is important to understand how specificity is achieved in this and other signalling pathways. Here, we show that energetically important contacts between STAT 6 and NCoA-1 are made in residues that flank the LXXLL motif, including the underlined residues in the sequence LLPPTEACHTUNGTRENUNGQDLTKLL. We also demonstrate how the affinity for NCoA-1 peptides derived from this region of STAT 6 can be significantly improved by optimising knobs-into-holes contacts on the surface of the protein. The results provide important new insights the origins of binding specificity, and might be of practical value in the design of novel small-molecule inhibitors of this important protein-protein interaction.