Radamycin, a novel thiopeptide produced by streptomyces sp. RSP9. II. Physico-chemical properties and structure determination

Naturally Occurring Oxazole Structural Units as Ligands of Vanadium Catalysts for Ethylene-Norbornene (Co)polymerization

1,3-Oxazole and 4,5-dihydro-1,3-oxazole are common structural motifs in naturally occurring peptides. A series of vanadium complexes were synthesized using VCl3(THF)3 and methyl substituted (4,5-dihydro-1,3-oxazol-2-yl)-1,3-oxazoles as ligands and analyzed using NMR and MS methods. The complexes were found to be active catalysts both in ethylene polymerization and ethylene-norbornene copolymerization. The position of methyl substituent in the ligand has considerable impact on the performance of (co)polymerization reaction, as well as on the microstructure, and thus physical properties of the obtained copolymers.

Thiazole-amino acids: influence of thiazole ring on conformational properties of amino acid residues

Post-translational modified thiazole-amino acid (Xaa-Tzl) residues have been found in macrocyclic peptides (e.g., thiopeptides and cyanobactins), which mostly inhibit protein synthesis in Gram + bacteria. Conformational study of the series of model compounds containing this structural motif with alanine, dehydroalanine, dehydrobutyrine and dehydrophenylalanine were performed using DFT method in various environments. The solid-state crystal structure conformations of thiazole-amino acid residues retrieved from the Cambridge Structural Database were also analysed. The studied structural units tend to adopt the unique semi-extended β2 conformation; which is stabilised mainly by N-H⋯NTzl hydrogen bond, and for dehydroamino acids also by π-electron conjugation. The conformational preferences of amino acids with a thiazole ring were compared with oxazole analogues and the role of the sulfur atom in stabilising the conformations of studied peptides was discussed.

Litoralimycins A and B, New Cytotoxic Thiopeptides from Streptomonospora sp. M2

Streptomonospora sp. M2 has been isolated from a soil sample collected at the Wadden Sea beach in our ongoing program aimed at the isolation of rare Actinobacteria, ultimately targeting the discovery of new antibiotics. Because crude extracts derived from cultures of this strain showed inhibitory activity against the indicator organism Bacillus subtilis, it was selected for further analysis. HPLC–MS analysis of its culture broth revealed the presence of lipophilic metabolites. The two major metabolites of those were isolated by preparative reversed-phase HPLC and preparative TLC. Their planar structures were elucidated using high-resolution electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (HRESIMS), 1D and 2D NMR data as new thiopeptide antibiotics and named litoralimycin A (1) and B (2). Although rotating frame nuclear Overhauser effect spectroscopy (ROESY) data established a Z configuration of the Δ^21,26 double bond, the stereochemistry of C-5 and C-15 were assigned as S by Marfey’s method after ozonolysis. The biological activity spectrum of 1 and 2 is highly uncommon for thiopeptide antibiotics, since they showed only insignificant antibacterial activity, but 1 showed strong cytotoxic effects.

YcaO-Dependent Posttranslational Amide Activation: Biosynthesis, Structure, and Function

With advances in sequencing technology, uncharacterized proteins and domains of unknown function (DUFs) are rapidly accumulating in sequence databases and offer an opportunity to discover new protein chemistry and reaction mechanisms. The focus of this review, the formerly enigmatic YcaO superfamily (DUF181), has been found to catalyze a unique phosphorylation of a ribosomal peptide backbone amide upon attack by different nucleophiles. Established nucleophiles are the side chains of Cys, Ser, and Thr which gives rise to azoline/azole biosynthesis in ribosomally synthesized and posttranslationally modified peptide (RiPP) natural products. However, much remains unknown about the potential for YcaO proteins to collaborate with other nucleophiles. Recent work suggests potential in forming thioamides, macroamidines, and possibly additional post-translational modifications. This review covers all knowledge through mid-2016 regarding the biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs), natural products, functions, mechanisms, and applications of YcaO proteins and outlines likely future research directions for this protein superfamily.

α,β-Dehydroamino acids in naturally occurring peptides

α,β-Dehydroamino acids are naturally occurring non-coded amino acids, found primarily in peptides. The review focuses on the type of α,β-dehydroamino acids, the structure of dehydropeptides, the source of their origin and bioactivity. Dehydropeptides are isolated primarily from bacteria and less often from fungi, marine invertebrates or even higher plants. They reveal mainly antibiotic, antifungal, antitumour, and phytotoxic activity. More than 60 different structures were classified, which often cover broad families of peptides. 37 different structural units containing the α,β-dehydroamino acid residues were shown including various side chains, Z and E isomers, and main modifications: methylation of peptide bond as well as the introduction of ester group and heterocycle ring. The collected data show the relation between the structure and bioactivity. This allows the activity of compounds, which were not studied in this field, but which belong to a larger peptide family to be predicted. A few examples show that the type of the geometrical isomer of the α,β-dehydroamino acid residue can be important or even crucial for biological activity.

Conformational properties of oxazole-amino acids: effect of the intramolecular N-H···N hydrogen bond

Oxazole ring occurs in numerous natural peptides, but conformational properties of the amino acid residue containing the oxazole ring in place of the C-terminal amide bond are poorly recognized. A series of model compounds constituted by the oxazole-amino acids occurring in nature, that is, oxazole-alanine (L-Ala-Ozl), oxazole-dehydroalanine (ΔAla-Ozl), and oxazole-dehydrobutyrine ((Z)-ΔAbu-Ozl), was investigated using theoretical calculations supported by FTIR and NMR spectra and single-crystal X-ray diffraction. It was found that the main feature of the studied oxazole-amino acids is the stable conformation β2 with the torsion angles φ and ψ of -150°, -10° for L-Ala-Ozl, -180°, 0° for ΔAla-Ozl, and -120°, 0° for (Z)-ΔAbu-Ozl, respectively. The conformation β2 is stabilized by the intramolecular N-H···N hydrogen bond and predominates in the low polar environment. In the case of the oxazole-dehydroamino acids, the π-electron conjugation that is spread on the oxazole ring and C(α)═C(β) double bond is an additional stabilizing interaction. The tendency to adopt the conformation β2 clearly decreases with increasing the polarity of environment, but still the oxazole-dehydroamino acids are considered to be more rigid and resistant to conformational changes.

One-Pot Multistep Bohlmann−Rahtz Heteroannulation Reactions: Synthesis of Dimethyl Sulfomycinamate

[reaction: see text] The synthesis of dimethyl sulfomycinamate, the acidic methanolysis product of the sulfomycin family of thiopeptide antibiotics, from methyl 2-oxo-4-(trimethylsilyl)but-3-ynoate is achieved in a 2,3,6-trisubstituted pyridine synthesis that proceeds with total regiocontrol in 13 steps by the Bohlmann-Rahtz heteroannulation of a 1-(oxazol-4-yl)enamine or in 12 steps and 9% yield by three-component cyclocondensation with N-[3-oxo-3-(oxazol-4-yl)propanoyl]serine and ammonia in ethanol.

Synthesis of Dimethyl Sulfomycinamate

[reaction: see text] Dimethyl sulfomycinamate, the oxazole-thiazole-pyridine product generated in the methanolysis of the thiopeptide antibiotic sulfomycin I, is prepared in 13 steps and 8% overall yield by the Bohlmann-Rahtz heteroannulation of 1-(oxazol-4-yl)enamines and methyl 4-(trimethylsilyl)-2-oxobut-3-ynoate.