Synthesis and cholera toxin binding properties of a lactose-2-aminothiazoline conjugate

Reactions of secondary propargylamines with heteroallenes for the synthesis of diverse heterocycles

This focused review aims to summarize recent developments in the processes involving additions of secondary propargylamines to various heteroallenes and subsequent transition metal-catalyzed or electrophile-mediated cyclizations.

Carbohydrate inhibitors of cholera toxin

Cholera is a diarrheal disease caused by a protein toxin released by Vibrio cholera in the host's intestine. The toxin enters intestinal epithelial cells after binding to specific carbohydrates on the cell surface. Over recent years, considerable effort has been invested in developing inhibitors of toxin adhesion that mimic the carbohydrate ligand, with particular emphasis on exploiting the multivalency of the toxin to enhance activity. In this review we introduce the structural features of the toxin that have guided the design of diverse inhibitors and summarise recent developments in the field.

Synthesis and Reactivity of Propargylamines in Organic Chemistry

Propargylamines are a versatile class of compounds which find broad application in many fields of chemistry. This review aims to describe the different strategies developed so far for the synthesis of propargylamines and their derivatives as well as to highlight their reactivity and use as building blocks in the synthesis of chemically relevant organic compounds. In the first part of the review, the different synthetic approaches to synthesize propargylamines, such as A³ couplings and C-H functionalization of alkynes, have been described and organized on the basis of the catalysts employed in the syntheses. Both racemic and enantioselective approaches have been reported. In the second part, an overview of the transformations of propargylamines into heterocyclic compounds such as pyrroles, pyridines, thiazoles, and oxazoles, as well as other relevant organic derivatives, is presented.

Inhibitory potential of chemical substitutions at bioinspired sites of β-D-galactopyranose on neoglycoprotein/cell surface binding of two classes of medically relevant lectins

Galactose is the key contact site for plant AB-toxins and the human adhesion/growth-regulatory galectins. Natural anomeric extensions and 3'-substitutions enhance its reactivity, thus prompting us to test the potential of respective chemical substitutions of galactose in the quest to develop potent inhibitors. Biochemical screening of a respective glycoside library with 60 substances in a solid-phase assay was followed by examining the compounds' activity to protect cells from lectin binding. By testing 32 anomeric extensions, 18 compounds with additional 3'-substitution, three lactosides and two Lewis-type trisaccharides rather mild effects compared to the common haptenic inhibitor lactose were detected in both assays. When using trivalent glycoclusters marked enhancements with 6- to 8-fold increases were revealed for the toxin and three of four tested galectins. Since the most potent compound and also 3'-substituted thiogalactosides reduced cell growth of a human tumor line at millimolar concentrations, biocompatible substitutions and scaffolds will be required for further developments. The synthesis of suitable glycoclusters, presenting headgroups which exploit differences in ligand selection in interlectin comparison to reduce cross-reactivity, and the documented strategic combination of initial biochemical screening with cell assays are considered instrumental to advance inhibitor design.

Design and creativity in synthesis of multivalent neoglycoconjugates

From the authors' opinion, this chapter constitutes a modest extension of the seminal and inspiring contribution of Stowell and Lee on neoglycoconjugates published in this series [C. P. Stowell and Y. C. Lee, Adv. Carbohydr. Chem. Biochem., 37 (1980) 225-281]. The outstanding progresses achieved since then in the field of the "glycoside cluster effect" has witnessed considerable creativity in the design and synthetic strategies toward a vast array of novel carbohydrate structures and reflects the dynamic activity in the field even since the recent chapter by the Nicotra group in this series [F. Nicotra, L. Cipolla, F. Peri, B. La Ferla, and C. Radaelli, Adv. Carbohydr. Chem. Biochem., 61 (2007) 353-398]. Beyond the more classical neoglycoproteins and glycopolymers (not covered in this work) a wide range of unprecedented and often artistically beautiful multivalent and monodisperse nanostructures, termed glycodendrimers for the first time in 1993, has been created. This chapter briefly surveys the concept of multivalency involved in carbohydrate-protein interactions. The topic is also discussed in regard to recent steps undertaken in glycobiology toward identification of lead candidates using microarrays and modern analytical tools. A systematic description of glycocluster and glycodendrimer synthesis follows, starting from the simplest architectures and ending in the most complex ones. Presentation of multivalent glycostructures of intermediate size and comprising, calix[n]arene, porphyrin, cyclodextrin, peptide, and carbohydrate scaffolds, has also been intercalated to better appreciate the growing synthetic complexity involved. A subsection describing novel all-carbon-based glycoconjugates such as fullerenes and carbon nanotubes is inserted, followed by a promising strategy involving dendrons self-assembling around metal chelates. The chapter then ends with those glycodendrimers that have been prepared using commercially available dendrimers possessing varied functionalities, or systematically synthesized using either divergent or convergent strategies.

Effects of Saccharide Spacing and Chain Extension on Toxin Inhibition by Glycopolypeptides of Well-Defined Architecture

Many recognition events important in biology are mediated via multivalent interactions between relevant oligosaccharides and multiple saccharide receptors present on lectins, viruses, toxins, and cell surfaces. Because of the important role played by protein-carbohydrate interactions in these pathogenic recognition events and in other human diseases, considerable effort has been devoted toward the development of multivalent polymeric ligands for carbohydrate-binding proteins. In this work, we report the synthesis of new polypeptide-based glycopolymers produced via a combination of protein engineering and chemical methods. These methodologies permit control over the number and the spacing of saccharides on the scaffold, as well as the conformation of the polymer backbone, and allow a more purposeful design of polymers for manipulation of multivalent binding events. Two families of galactose-bearing glycopolypeptides with random coil conformations, [(AG)(3)PEG](y) (y = 10 and 16) and {[(AG)(2)PSG](2)[(AG)(2)PEG][(AG)(2)PSG](2)}(y) (y = 6), have been synthesized. The carboxylic acid functionality of the glutamic acid residues allowed subsequent modification with amino-saccharides to yield the desired glycopolypeptides; selective placement of the glutamic acid group permitted investigation of the effects of multivalency and saccharide spacing on toxin inhibition. In addition, a family of galactose-functionalized PGA-based glycopolymers of varying molecular weights was also synthesized to compare the effects of backbone flexibility and hydrodynamic volume, relative to the recombinant glycopolypeptides, on toxin inhibition. Glycopolypeptides were characterized via (1)H NMR, MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry, SDS-PAGE analysis, and spectrophotometric assays. They were tested as inhibitors of the binding of the cholera toxin B subunit via direct enzyme-linked assays. The data from these experiments confirm the relevance of appropriate saccharide spacing on controlling the binding event and also indicate the influence of chain extension in improving inhibition.

Synthesis of Alkyne-Bridged Cyclic Tripeptides toward Constrained Mimics of Vancomycin

The synthesis of a range of highly constrained cyclic tripeptides has been performed using either an intramolecular Sonogashira coupling or a macrolactamization as the final ring-closing reaction. Our approach gives access to rigidified 15-membered peptidic macrocycles based on the central ring system of vancomycin. Tripeptides 3a-c and dipeptide 11 were cyclized via an intramolecular Sonogashira reaction, and the cyclic peptides 4a-c and 15a were obtained in 6-23% yield. In contrast, macrolactamization of 12 and 17 resulted in the desired peptidic macrocycles 15b and 18 with 54-61% yield. Modeling studies hint at a distorted triple bond, which explains the low yield of the Sonogashira-based cyclization. Moreover, modeling data also showed that this class of peptidic macrocycles formed a cavity-like structure in which guest molecules may bind.

Inhibition ofStreptococcussuisAdhesion by Dendritic Galabiose Compounds at Low Nanomolar Concentration

A series of mono-, di-, and tetravalent galabiose (Galalpha1-4Gal) compounds were synthesized in good yields by coupling of a general carboxylic acid-bearing sugar building block to dendritic scaffolds based on the 3,5-di-(2-aminoethoxy)benzoic acid branching unit. Furthermore, a poly(amidoamine)- (PAMAM-) based dendritic galabioside was synthesized containing eight galabiose units. All galabiosides were tested in a hemagglutination assay and a surface plasmon resonance (SPR) competition assay in order to establish their potency in the binding to the bacterial Gram-positive pathogen Streptococcus suis. A monovalent galabioside containing a short spacer was used as a reference compound in all the assays. Variations in the scaffold as well as in the spacer arms were introduced to determine their influence on the inhibition. The best inhibitor of hemagglutination was an octavalent galabioside with a minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 0.3 nM, to the best of our knowledge the first example of inhibition of bacterial binding by a soluble carbohydrate at a subnanomolar concentration.