Organic & Biomolecular Chemistry Blog

T. cruzi, the causative agent of Chagas disease, relies on its enzyme trans-sialidase for part of its infectivity. Robert Field et al., from several collaborating institutions worldwide, have studied this enzyme, highlighting the wide range of structures and functionalities that it can accommodate. This study has demonstrated important features for potential inhibitor design (a therapeutic target for Chagas’ disease) and also opens up possibilities for using the versatility of this enzyme more generally as a catalyst for α-(2→3)-sialylglycoconjugate synthesis.

This HOT article is now free to access until 22nd February.

Probing the acceptor substrate binding site of Trypanosoma cruzi trans-sialidase with systematically modified substrates and glycoside libraries
Jennifer A. Harrison, K. P. Ravindranathan Kartha, Eric J. L. Fournier, Todd L. Lowary, Carles Malet, Ulf J. Nilsson, Ole Hindsgaul, Sergio Schenkman, James H. Naismith and Robert A. Field
Org. Biomol. Chem., 2011, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C0OB00826E, Paper

PBDs (pyrrolo[2,1-c][1,4]benzodiazepines) and their interaction with DNA is an area of active research.

PBDs belong to a family of biologically active an DNA-interactive antibiotics having unique mechanism of action compared with other DNA-binding agents. Up until now, there have been several reports in literature suggesting that PBD-DNA adduct formation might be reversible; however, no evidence of this reversibility had been reported.

For the first time, in this paper, David Thurston and colleagues at the School of Pharmacy at University of London, investigate the adduct formation of PBDs with DNA and its reversibility using HPLC/MS methodology and polarised light spectroscopy.

Read about some of their findings in this OBC HOT paper which is free to access until the 22nd February.

Observation of the reversibility of a covalent pyrrolobenzodiazepine (PBD) DNA adduct by HPLC/MS and CD spectroscopy
Khondaker M. Rahman, Colin H. James and David E. Thurston
Org. Biomol. Chem., 2011, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C0OB00762E, Paper

Leishmania is a terrible disease transmitted by the bite of a sandfly.  Tackling it has been given priority by the WHO, especially as co-infection with HIV has been identified.  Many current treatments are costly, have serious side effects and more worryingly drug resistance has been reported even in the most recent drugs.  Therefore identifying new therapeutic targets to combat this disease is imperative.

Patrick Steel and a team from Durham University have targeted the membrane bound enzyme inositol phosphorylceramide synthase (IPCS)  – which is essential for the survival of Leishmania species.  They synthesised a series of ceramide analogues, changing the sphingosine tail, N-acyl unit and the degree of hydroxylation to explore the enzyme active site.  The analogues were assayed against Leishmania major IPCS to determine the degree of inhibition and a mechanism of action was subsequently proposed.

Read about their findings here – the article is free to access for 4 weeks:

Exploring Leishmania major Inositol Phosphorylceramide Synthase (LmjIPCS): Insights into the ceramide binding domain
John G. Mina, Jackie A. Mosely, Hayder Z. Ali, Paul W. Denny and Patrick G. Steel
Org. Biomol. Chem., 2011, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C0OB00871K

When a referee calls a paper outstanding you know you are onto a good thing!
Pirali et al. from Università degli Studi del Piemonte Orientale “A. Avogadro” have documented a straightforward synthesis of dialkyl 2-acyl-5-aminofuran-3,4-dicarboxylates, displaying four points of diversity and an unprecedented substitution pattern. The products are easily isolated and the functional groups are ripe for further derivatisation, making this a reaction which is both mechanistically interesting and also has practical value for synthetic and medicinal chemists.

Both reviewers thought this HOT article would be of wide interest in the organic community and it is now free to access until 18th February.

Read it today in OBC.

A novel α-isocyanoacetamide-based three-component reaction for the synthesis of dialkyl 2-acyl-5-aminofuran-3,4-dicarboxylates
Riccardo Mossetti, Diego Caprioglio, Giampiero Colombano, Gian Cesare Tron and Tracey Pirali
Org. Biomol. Chem., 2011, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C0OB00979B

Ribavirin is a nucleoside drug used to treat RNA viral infections such as Hepaptitis C, which interferes with RNA metabolism required for viral replication. But its efficiency is relatively low, so in a HOT article just published, Yang He and colleagues at Sichuan University report the synthesis of two new nucleosides and their improved anti-viral activity.

He’s nucelosides contain structural features of two naturally occurring components of RNA (guanine and cytosine). This unique feature allows it to interfere with the RNA virus via hydrogen bond pairing with either guanine or cytosine, as well as allowing it to be recognised by viral enzymes more efficiently than ribavirin.   

 If you want to find out more about these interesting bio-active nucleosides download the article now! It’s free to access until the 18th February.

Synthesis of Janus type nucleoside analogues and their preliminary bioactivity 
Hao-Zhe Yang, Mei-Ying Pan, Da-Wei Jiang and Yang He
Org. Biomol. Chem., 2011, DOI: 10.1039/C0OB00495B

This latest contribution to the debate over the origin of catalysis in the chorismate mutase enzyme may bring an end to the controversy surrounding the nature of its transition state.

Adrian Mulholland and collaborators at the University of Bristol have used quantum and molecular mechanics to model the rearrangement of chorismate to prephenate in Bacillus subtilis chorismate mutase and aqueous solution. The chorismate mutase enzyme is a favourite model for theories of biological catalysis, but there is still disagreement on exactly how it occurs.

The team found that a slightly different reaction path was followed in each environment and that there were differences in the transition state structures between water and the enzyme.  A significantly more stable transition state was formed in the enzyme. These results are in opposition to previously published work which suggested that catalysis in the enzyme does not involve  transition state stabilisation at all, but rather is due to the formation of a reactive conformation of the substrate.

The referees were impressed with the careful and thorough nature of this study – read the full article online here, it’s free until the end of February.

Analysis of chorismate mutase catalysis by QM/MM modelling of enzyme-catalysed and uncatalysed reactions
Frederik Claeyssens, Kara E. Ranaghan, Narin Lawan, Stephen J. Macrae, Frederick R. Manby, Jeremy N. Harvey and Adrian J. Mulholland
Org. Biomol. Chem., 2011, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C0OB00691B