Diversity-oriented chemical modification of heparin: Identification of charge-reduced N-acyl heparin derivatives having increased selectivity for heparin-binding proteins

Chemical Modification of Glycosaminoglycan Polysaccharides

The linear anionic class of polysaccharides, glycosaminoglycans (GAGs), are critical throughout the animal kingdom for developmental processes and the maintenance of healthy tissues. They are also of interest as a means of influencing biochemical processes. One member of the GAG family, heparin, is exploited globally as a major anticoagulant pharmaceutical and there is a growing interest in the potential of other GAGs for diverse applications ranging from skin care to the treatment of neurodegenerative conditions, and from the treatment and prevention of microbial infection to biotechnology. To realize the potential of GAGs, however, it is necessary to develop effective tools that are able to exploit the chemical manipulations to which GAGs are susceptible. Here, the current knowledge concerning the chemical modification of GAGs, one of the principal approaches for the study of the structure-function relationships in these molecules, is reviewed. Some additional methods that were applied successfully to the analysis and/or processing of other carbohydrates, but which could be suitable in GAG chemistry, are also discussed.

Non-Anticoagulant Heparins as Heparanase Inhibitors

The chapter will review early and more recent seminal contributions to the discovery and characterization of heparanase and non-anticoagulant heparins inhibiting its peculiar enzymatic activity. Indeed, heparanase displays a unique versatility in degrading heparan sulfate chains of several proteoglycans expressed in all mammalian cells. This endo-β-D-glucuronidase is overexpressed in cancer, inflammation, diabetes, atherosclerosis, nephropathies and other pathologies. Starting from known low- or non-anticoagulant heparins, the search for heparanase inhibitors evolved focusing on structure-activity relationship studies and taking advantage of new chemical-physical analytical methods which have allowed characterization and sequencing of polysaccharide chains. New methods to screen heparanase inhibitors and to evaluate their mechanism of action and in vivo activity in experimental models prompted their development. New non-anticoagulant heparin derivatives endowed with anti-heparanase activity are reported. Some leads are under clinical evaluation in the oncology field (e.g., acute myeloid leukemia, multiple myeloma, pancreatic carcinoma) and in other pathological conditions (e.g., sickle cell disease, malaria, labor arrest).

2-Benzylpiperazine: A new scaffold for potent human carbonic anhydrase inhibitors. Synthesis, enzyme inhibition, enantioselectivity, computational and crystallographic studies and in vivo activity for a new class of intraocular pressure lowering agents

Two series of 2-benzylpiperazines have been prepared and tested for the inhibition of physiologically relevant isoforms of human carbonic anhydrases (hCA, EC 4.2.1.1). The new compounds carry on one nitrogen atom of the piperazine ring a sulfamoylbenzamide group as zinc-binding moiety, and different alkyl/acyl/sulfonyl groups on the other nitrogen. Regio- and stero-isomers are described. The majority of these compounds showed Ki values in the low-medium nanomolar range against hCA I, II and IV, but not IX. In many instances interaction with the enzyme was enantioselective. The binding mode has been studied by means of X-ray crystallography and molecular modelling. Two compounds, evaluated in rabbit models of glaucoma, were able to significantly reduce intraocular pressure, making them interesting candidates for further studies.

N-Arylacyl O-sulfonated aminoglycosides as novel inhibitors of human neutrophil elastase, cathepsin G and proteinase 3

The balance between neutrophil serine proteases (NSPs) and protease inhibitors (PIs) in the lung is a critical determinant for a number of chronic inflammatory lung diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, cystic fibrosis and acute lung injury. During activation at inflammatory sites, excessive release of NSPs such as human neutrophil elastase (HNE), proteinase 3 (Pr3) and cathepsin G (CatG), leads to destruction of the lung matrix and continued propagation of acute inflammation. Under normal conditions, PIs counteract these effects by inactivating NSPs; however, in chronic inflammatory lung diseases, there are insufficient amounts of PIs to mitigate damage. Therapeutic strategies are needed to modulate excessive NSP activity for the clinical management of chronic inflammatory lung diseases. In the study reported here, a panel of N-arylacyl O-sulfonated aminoglycosides was screened to identify inhibitors of the NSPs. Dose-dependent inhibitors for each individual serine protease were identified. Select compounds were found to inhibit multiple NSPs, including one lead structure that is shown to inhibit all three NSPs. Two lead compounds identified during the screen for each individual NSP were further characterized as partial mixed inhibitors of CatG. Concentration-dependent inhibition of protease-mediated detachment of lung epithelial cells is demonstrated.

Synthesis and characterization of bioreducible heparin-polyethyleneimine nanogels: application as imaging-guided photosensitizer delivery vehicle in photodynamic therapy

HPC nanogels possess bright blue fluorescence which eliminates the use of additional probing agents in image-guided drug delivery. The results showed that disulfide crosslinked HPC nanogels are promising vehicles for stimulated photosensitizer delivery in advanced PDT.

Selective inhibition of bacterial and human topoisomerases by N-arylacyl O-sulfonated aminoglycoside derivatives

Numerous therapeutic applications have been proposed for molecules that bind heparin-binding proteins. Development of such compounds has primarily focused on optimizing the degree and orientation of anionic groups on a scaffold, but utility of these polyanions has been diminished by their typically large size and non-specific interactions with many proteins. In this study N-arylacyl O-sulfonated aminoglycosides were synthesized and evaluated for their ability to selectively inhibit structurally similar bacterial and human topoisomerases. It is demonstrated that the structure of the aminoglycoside and of the N-arylacyl moiety imparts selective inhibition of different topoisomerases and alters mechanism. The results here outline a strategy that will be applicable to identifying small, structurally defined oligosaccharides that bind heparin-binding proteins with a high degree of selectivity.

Heparin-polynitroxides: synthesis and preliminary evaluation as cardiovascular EPR/MR imaging probes and extracellular space-targeted antioxidants

We report here the synthesis of heparin-polynitroxide derivatives (HPNs) in which nitroxide moieties are linked either to uronic acid or glycosamine residues of the heparin macromolecule. HPNs have low anticoagulant activity, possess superoxide scavenging properties, bind to the vascular endothelium/extra-cellular matrix and can be detected by EPR and MRI techniques. As the vascular wall-targeted redox-active paramagnetic compounds, HPNs may have both diagnostic (molecular MRI) and therapeutic (ecSOD mimics) applications.

Synthesis, separation, and characterization of amphiphilic sulfated oligosaccharides enabled by reversed-phase ion pairing LC and LC-MS methods

Synthesis of amphiphilic oligosaccharides is problematic because traditional methods for separating and purifying oligosaccharides, including sulfated oligosaccharides, are generally not applicable to working with amphiphilic sugars. We report here RPIP-LC and LC-MS methods that enable the synthesis, separation, and characterization of amphiphilic N-arylacyl O-sulfonated aminoglycosides, which are being pursued as small-molecule glycosaminoglycan mimics. The methods described in this work for separating and characterizing these amphiphilic saccharides are further applied to a number of uses: monitoring the progression of sulfonation reactions with analytical RP-HPLC, characterizing sulfate content for individual molecules with ESI-MS, determining the degree of sulfation for products having mixed degrees of sulfation with HPLC and LC-MS, and purifying products with benchtop C18 column chromatography. We believe that the methods described here will be broadly applicable to enabling the synthesis, separation, and characterization of amphiphilic, sulfated, and phosphorylated oligosaccharides and other types of molecules substituted to varying degrees with both anionic and hydrophobic groups.

Rapid chemical ligation of oligonucleotides by the Diels-Alder reaction

Extremely fast and efficient Diels-Alder chemical ligation of furan and maleimide oligonucleotides has been carried out in aqueous buffer. It was possible to ligate three oligonucleotides simultaneously in a controlled manner with the aid of a complementary splint. The templated reactions proceeded within 1 min at room temperature whereas non-templated reactions were slow and incomplete. Rapid and clean methods of DNA ligation such as the one demonstrated here have potential uses in biology and nanotechnology.

Heparin: an intervenor in cell communication

It was nearly 100 years since heparin was discovered, but the role of this widely used anticoagulant is still remarkably thought provoking now. During pathological processes such as atherosclerosis, inflammation, cancer and infection, phenomena of cell adhesion are ubiquitous and complicated. Heparin exerts anti-adhesion activity appearing as a common mechanism of its potential polypharmacology in those diseases. Furthermore, heparin can bind a variety of signalling molecules such as growth factors, cell surface proteins of pathogens and most notably, cell adhesion molecules. These signalling molecules are involved in cell communication, acting as ligands, receptors and second messengers. Considering that heparan sulphate glycosaminoglycan is increasingly recognized as a key mediator in many cellular processes, the structural similarity with heparan sulphate suggests that heparin is a multifunctional intervenor in cell communication.

The anti-inflammatory effects of heparin and related compounds

Heparin is a glycosaminoglycan well known for its anticoagulant properties. In addition, heparin possesses anti-inflammatory effects. Although the mechanisms responsible for the anticoagulant effects of heparin are well understood, those underlying its anti-inflammatory effects are not. This review presents some of the evidence from clinical and animal studies supporting an anti-inflammatory role for heparin and heparin-related derivatives. Potential mechanisms by which heparin can exert its anti-inflammatory effects are discussed. The clinical use of heparin as an anti-inflammatory agent has been held back by the fear of bleeding. Development of nonanticoagulant heparins or heparin derivatives should mitigate this concern.

Variability in the carbazole assay for N-desulfonated/N-acylated heparin derivatives

The carbazole assay is commonly employed to quantify heparin and other uronic acid-containing polysaccharides. Heparin-derived standard curves are often employed to quantify solutions of various natural and unnatural heparin structures that have different levels of sulfate substitution, different levels of N-sulfo and N-acetyl groups, and other structural changes as a consequence of reducing molecular weight. Recent studies in our laboratory have focused on chemically modified heparin derivatives comprised of structurally diverse N-acyl moieties substituted into heparin in place of N-sulfo groups. We report here that although differing degrees of 2-N-sulfo-, 2-N-acetyl- or 2-amino-d-glucosamine residues within heparin do not affect signal intensity in the carbazole assay, replacing N-sulfo groups in heparin with structurally diverse N-acyl moieties affords products that display significant variation in the assay. The structure of different N-acyl groups, and to a lesser extent the degree of N-acylation by individual N-acyl groups, is shown to variably alter signal intensity in the carbazole assay even though content and structure of uronic acid residues is unaltered.

Conformational Behavior of Basic Monomeric Building Units of Glycosaminoglycans: Isolated Systems and Solvent Effect

Our work reports in detail the results of systematic large-scale theoretical investigations of the glycosaminoglycan building units 1-OMe DeltaIdoA-2SNa2 (1; 2H1 and 1H2 forms), 1-OMe GlcN-S6SNa2 (2), 1,4-DiOMe GlcNa (3), 1,4-DiOMe GlcN-S3S6SNa3 (4), 1,4-DiOMe IdoA-2SNa2 (5; 4C1, 1C4, and 2So conformations), and 1,4-DiOMe GlcN-S6SNa2 (6) at the BP86/TZ2P level of the density functional theory. The optimized geometries indicate that the most stable structure of these monomeric units in the neutral state is stabilized via "multifurcated" sodium bonds. The equilibrium structure of the biologically active anionic forms of the glycosaminoglycans studied changed considerably in a water solution. The computed interaction energies, DeltaE, of sodium coordinated systems 1-6 are negative and span a rather broad energy interval (from -130 to -590 kcal mol-1). Computations that include the effect of solvation indicated that in water the relative stability of Na+...ligand ionic bonds is considerably diminished. The computed interaction energy in water is small (from -20 to -53 kcal mol-1) and negative, that is, stabilizing.

Different protein-binding selectivities for N-acyl heparin derivatives having N-phenylacetyl and heterocycle analogs of N-phenylacetyl substituted in place of N-sulfo groups

Replacing N-sulfo groups in heparin with N-arylacyl moieties has been shown to afford charge-reduced heparin derivatives that maintain affinity for select heparin-binding proteins. In this study 50% and 100% N-desulfonated heparins were selectively N-acylated with phenylacetic acid and four phenylacetic acid analogs where the phenyl ring was replaced by a heterocycle. Protein-binding studies reveal that structural differences in the ring systems of the N-acyl groups appended to heparin afford significant affects on affinity and selectivity for different heparin-binding proteins.

Semi-synthetic heparin derivatives: chemical modifications of heparin beyond chain length, sulfate substitution pattern and N-sulfo/N-acetyl groups

The glycosaminoglycan heparin is a polyanionic polysaccharide most recognized for its anticoagulant activity. Heparin binds to cationic regions in hundreds of prokaryotic and eukaryotic proteins, termed heparin-binding proteins. The endogenous ligand for many of these heparin-binding proteins is a structurally similar glycosaminoglycan, heparan sulfate (HS). Chemical and biosynthetic modifications of heparin and HS have been employed to discern specific sequences and charge-substitution patterns required for these polysaccharides to bind specific proteins, with the goal of understanding structural requirements for protein binding well enough to elucidate the function of the saccharide-protein interactions and/or to develop new or improved heparin-based pharmaceuticals. The most common modifications to heparin structure have been alteration of sulfate substitution patterns, carboxyl reduction, replacement N-sulfo groups with N-acetyl groups, and chain fragmentation. However, an accumulation of reports over the past 50 years describe semi-synthetic heparin derivatives obtained by incorporating aliphatic, aryl, and heteroaryl moieties into the heparin structure. A primary goal in many of these reports has been to identify heparin-derived structures as new or improved heparin-based therapeutics. Presented here is a perspective on the introduction of non-anionic structural motifs into heparin structure, with a focus on such modifications as a strategy to generate novel reduced-charge heparin-based bind-and-block antagonists of HS-protein interactions. The chemical methods employed to synthesize such derivatives, as well as other unique heparin conjugates, are reviewed.