Dominant contribution of atmospheric nonlinearities to ENSO asymmetry and extreme El Niño events

Extreme El Niño events have outsized impacts and strongly contribute to the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) warm/cold phase asymmetries. There is currently no consensus on the respective importance of oceanic and atmospheric nonlinearities for those asymmetries. Here, we use atmospheric and oceanic general circulation models that reproduce ENSO asymmetries well to quantify the atmospheric nonlinearities contribution. The linear and nonlinear components of the wind stress response to Sea Surface Temperature (SST) anomalies are isolated using ensemble atmospheric experiments, and used to force oceanic experiments. The wind stress-SST nonlinearity is dominated by the deep atmospheric convective response to SST. This wind-stress nonlinearity contributes to ~ 40% of the peak amplitude of extreme El Niño events and ~ 55% of the prolonged eastern Pacific warming they generate until the following summer. This large contribution arises because nonlinearities consistently drive equatorial westerly anomalies, while the larger linear component is made less efficient by easterly anomalies in the western Pacific during fall and winter. Overall, wind-stress nonlinearities fully account for the eastern Pacific positive ENSO skewness. Our findings underscore the pivotal role of atmospheric nonlinearities in shaping extreme El Niño events and, more generally, ENSO asymmetry.

Rebeccamycin analogues from indolo[2,3-c]carbazole

Glycosylated indolocarbazoles related to the antibiotic rebeccamycin represent an important series of antitumor drugs. In the course of structure-activity relationship studies, we report the synthesis of two new derivatives containing an indolo[2,3-c]carbazole chromophore instead of the conventional indolo[2,3-a]carbazole unit found in the natural metabolites. The N-methylated compound 8 containing one glucose residue behaves as a typical DNA intercalating agent, as judged from circular and electric linear dichroism measurements with purified DNA. In contrast, the bis-glycosylated derivative 7 containing a glucose residue on each indole nitrogen has lost its capacity to form stable complexes with DNA. DNA relaxation experiments reveal that the two drugs 7 and 8 have weak effects on human DNA topoisomerase I. The modified conformation of the indolocarbazole chromophore is detrimental to the stabilization of topoisomerase I-DNA complexes. The lack of potent topoisomerase I inhibition leads to decreased cytotoxicity but, however, we observed that the DNA-intercalating mono-glycosyl derivative 8 is about 5 times more cytoxic than the bis-glycosyl analogue 7. The study suggests that the naturally-occurring indolo[2,3-a]carbazole skeleton should be preserved to maintain the topoisomerase I inhibitory and cytotoxic activities.

Syntheses, biochemical and biological evaluation of staurosporine analogues from the microbial metabolite rebeccamycin

The indolocarbazole antibiotics staurosporine and rebeccamycin (1) are potent antitumor drugs targeting protein kinase C and topoisomerase I, respectively. To obtain staurosporine analogues from rebeccamycin, different structural modifications were performed: coupling of the sugar moiety to the second indole nitrogen, dechlorination and then reduction of the imide function to amide. The newly synthesized compounds (3-6) were tested for their abilities to bind to DNA and to inhibit topoisomerase I and protein kinase C. Their antiproliferative effects in vitro against B16 melanoma and P388 leukemia (including the related P388CPT cell line resistant to camptothecin) as well as their anti-HIV-1 and antimicrobial activities against various strains of microorganisms were determined. The cytotoxicity of the dechlorinated imide analogue 5 correlates well with its DNA binding and anti-topoisomerase I activities. These findings provide guidance for the development of new topoisomerase I-targeted antitumor indolocarbazoles equipped with a carbohydrate attached to the two indole nitrogens.

Syntheses and biological activities (topoisomerase inhibition and antitumor and antimicrobial properties) of rebeccamycin analogues bearing modified sugar moieties and substituted on the imide nitrogen with a methyl group

As a part of studies on structure-activity relationships, several potential topoisomerase I inhibitors were prepared. Different analogues of the antitumor antibiotic rebeccamycin substituted on the imide nitrogen with a methyl group were synthesized. These compounds bore either the sugar residue of rebeccamycin, with or without the chlorine atoms on the indole moieties, or modified sugar residues (galactopyranosyl, glucopyranosyl, or fucopyranosyl) linked to the aglycone via a beta- or alpha-N-glycosidic bond. Their inhibitory properties toward protein kinase C, topoisomerase I, and topoisomerase II were examined, and their DNA-binding properties were investigated. Their in vitro antitumor activities against murine B16 melanoma and P388 leukemia cells were determined. Their antimicrobial activities were tested against Gram-positive bacteria Bacillus cereus and Streptomyces chartreusis, Gram-negative bacterium Escherichia coli, and yeast Candida albicans. These compounds are inactive toward topoisomerase II but inhibit topoisomerase I. A substitution with a methyl group on the imide nitrogen led to a loss of proteine kinase C inhibition in the maleimide indolocarbazole series but did not prevent topoisomerase I inhibition. Compounds possessing a beta-N-glycosidic bond, which fully intercalated into DNA, were more efficient at inhibiting topoisomerase I than their analogues with an alpha-N-glycosidic bond; however, both were equally toxic toward P388 leukemia cells. Dechlorinated rebeccamycin possessing a methyl group on the imide nitrogen was about 10 times more efficient in terms of cytotoxicity and inhibition of topoisomerase I than the natural metabolite.