The design, synthesis, and evaluation of novel conformationally rigid analogues of sialyl Lewis(x)

Mirror-image carbohydrates: synthesis of the unnatural enantiomer of a blood group trisaccharide

Methyl D-glucoside and d-glucose pentaacetate are transformed, respectively, into methyl alpha-O-glucuronide 3 and hydroxymethyl beta-C-glucuronide 9, which undergo decarboxylative elimination efficiently to produce 4-deoxypentenoside 4 and L-glucal 10. These unsaturated pyranosides provide an expeditious entry into mirror-image oligosaccharides, as demonstrated in the synthesis of the unnatural enantiomer of the H-type II blood group determinant trisaccharide (D-Fuc-(alpha1-->2)-L-Gal-(beta1-->4)-L-GlcNAc-beta-OMe). This work illustrates that D-glucose, a common starting material in the synthesis of naturally occurring carbohydrates, can also be used to prepare their mirror-image analogues.

Development of carbohydrate-based scaffolds for restricted presentation of recognition groups. Extension to divalent ligands and implications for the structure of dimerized receptors

The solution structure of glycosyl amides has been studied by using NMR. A strong preference is displayed by tertiary aromatic glycosyl amides for E-anti structures in contrast with secondary aromatic glycosyl amides where Z-anti structures predominate. The structural diversity displayed by these classes of molecules would seem to be important as the directional properties of the aromatic ring, or groups attached to the aromatic ring, would be determined by choosing to have either a secondary or tertiary amide at the anomeric center and could be considered when designing bioactive molecules with carbohydrate scaffolds. The structural analysis was also carried out for related divalent secondary and tertiary glycosyl amides and these compounds display preferences similar to that of the monovalent compounds. The constrained divalent compounds have potential for promoting formation of clusters that will have restricted structure and thus have potential for novel studies of mechanisms of action of multivalent ligands. Possible applications of such compounds would be as scaffolds for the design and synthesis of ligands that will facilitate protein-protein or other receptor-receptor interactions. The affinity of restricted divalent (or higher order) ligands, designed to bind to proteins that recognize carbohydrates which would facilitate clustering and concomitantly promote protein-protein interactions, may be significantly higher than monovalent counterparts or multivalent ligands without these properties. This may be useful as a new approach in the development of therapeutics based on carbohydrates.

Design and synthesis of sialyl Lewis(x) mimics as E- and P-selectin inhibitors

The selectins are a family of cell-adhesion proteins that mediate the rolling of leukocytes on activated endothelial cells through the recognition of the carbohydrate epitope sialyl Lewis(x) (sLe(x)). Control of the leukocyte-endothelial cell adhesion process may prove useful in cases where excess recruitment of leukocytes can contribute to acute diseases such as stroke and reperfusion injury and chronic diseases such as psoriasis and rheumatoid arthritis. The development of molecules that block the interactions between sLe(x) and the selectins has become an active area of research. In this review, we will highlight the various approaches taken toward the development of sLe(x) mimetics as antagonists of E- and P-selectin, including the use of structural information about the selectins and their interactions with sLe(x) that have been revealed through the use of NMR, protein crystallography and molecular modeling.

Synthesis and biological evaluation of a new sialyl Lewis X mimetic derived from lactose

A sialyl Lewis X (sLe(x)) mimetic compound, 2-(trimethylsilyl)ethyl 3-O-carboxymethyl-beta-D-galactopyranosyl-(1-->4)-[alpha-L-fucosyl-(1-->6)]-beta-D-glucopyranoside (2a), has been synthesized in 14 steps from D-lactose. This synthesis features the use of the activated glycosylating donor, lactosyl iodide, in a Koenigs-Knorr sequence, the regioselective derivatization at the C-3 position of the galactose moiety, and the stereoselective construction of a fucose-alpha(1-->6)-lactose linkage. The mimetic was tested for its ability to inhibit human polymorphonuclear leukocyte (hPMNL) adhesion to immobilized recombinant human E-selectin under shear stress conditions.

Application of Ugi reactions in synthesis of divalent neoglycoconjugates: evidence that the sugars are presented in restricted conformation

[reaction: see text]. The Ugi reaction has been used to prepare divalent galactose derivatives. NMR analysis shows that a divalent neoglycoconjugate, where the glycopeptides are bridged by a terephthaloyl group, is an 83:17 mixture of two conformers; the amide groups of the major isomer have E-anti conformations. The spatial relationship and the relative orientation of the sugars are restricted, which may have consequences for the recognition of this and related structures in biological systems.

Design and synthesis of sialyl Lewis x mimics as E-selectin inhibitors

The design and synthesis of novel beta-C-mannosides that inhibit the binding of sialyl Lewis x to E-selectin are described. Compounds that contained a phenyl substituent at the C-6 position were found to have increased potency.