Design and Synthesis of Proteolysis Targeting Chimeras for Inducing BRD4 Protein Degradation

In this paper, we synthesized a series of proteolysis targeting chimeras(PROTACs) using VHL E3 ligase ligands for BRD4 protein degradation. One of the most promising compound 19g exhibited robust potency of BRD4 inhibition with IC₅₀ value of (18.6±1.3) nmol/L, respectively. Furthermore, compound 19g potently inhibited cell proliferation in BRD4-sensitive cell lines RS4;11 with IC₅₀ value of (34.2±4.3) nmol/L and capable of inducing degradation of BRD4 protein at 0.4—0.6 µmol/L in the RS4;11 leukemia cells. These data show that compound 19g is a highly potent and efficacious BRD4 degrader.     

Simultaneous determination of three bufadienolides in rat plasma after intravenous administration of bufadienolides extract by ultra performance liquid chromatography electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry

A novel, rapid and specific ultra performance liquid chromatography electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-ESI-MS/MS) method has been developed for simultaneous determination and pharmacokinetic studies of three bufadienolides (bufalin, cinobufagin and resibufogenin) in rat plasma. The analytes, bufalin, cinobufagin, resibufogenin and the internal standard, diphenhydramine were extracted from rat plasma samples by a one-step liquid–liquid extraction and separated on an ACQUITY UPLC™ BEH C₁₈ column with gradient elution using a mobile phase composed of acetonitrile and water (containing 0.1% formic acid) at a flow rate of 0.20 mL min⁻¹. Detection was carried out on a triple-quadrupole tandem mass spectrometer in the multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mode via an electrospray ionization (ESI) interface. The three bufadienolides could be simultaneously determined within 3.0 min. Linear calibration curves were obtained over the concentration ranges of 1.0–200 ng mL⁻¹ for all the analytes. The intra- and inter-day precisions (relative standard deviation (R.S.D.)) were less than 11.35 and 10.87%, respectively. The developed method was applied for the first time to the pharmacokinetic studies of bufadienolides in rats following a single intravenous administration of 2.10 mg kg⁻¹ bufadienolides.     

Separation and determination of resibufogenin and cinobufagin in Chansu using reversed-phase liquid chromatography with γ-cyclodextrin as mobile-phase modifier

A simple, accurate, sensitive, and robust reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method employing cyclodextrins as mobile phase additives has been developed in order to separate and determine resibufogenin and cinobufagin. Various factors affecting the separation for them, such as the nature of cyclodextrins, organic solvent, the concentration of γ-cyclodextrin, and temperature, were systematically studied. γ-cyclodextrin, as an effective mobile phase additive, can markedly improve the separation for resibufogenin and cinobufagin. The role of γ-cyclodextrin in the developed HPLC method is attributed to the formation of the inclusion complex between resibufogenin (or cinobufagin) and γ-cyclodextrin. So, the apparent formation constant (K(f) ) of the resibufogenin (or cinobufagin)/γ-cyclodextrin inclusion complex and the thermodynamic parameters of the inclusion process also were investigated. Resibufogenin (or cinobufagin) forms the 1:1 inclusion complexes with γ-cyclodextrin, and the resibufogenin/γ-cyclodextrin complex is more stable than the cinobufagin/γ-cyclodextrin complex. The K(f) values of resibufogenin and cinobufagin decrease with the increase of the temperature. The thermodynamic parameters of the inclusion reveal that the inclusion process between resibufogenin (or cinobufagin) and γ-cyclodextrin is spontaneous, exothermic, and enthalpically driven. Finally, the optimized method was successfully applied to separate and determine of resibufogenin and cinobufagin in the different Chansu (Bufonis venenum) samples.     

反相高效液相色谱法测定蟾酥中的3种蟾毒内酯

建立了一种基于毛细管反相液相色谱-串联质谱联用技术和质谱峰强度数据处理的肽段鉴定和相对定量分析方法。该方法无需对样品中的肽进行化学标记,在对样品进行反相色谱分离和串联质谱分析后,将二级质谱扫描数据进行蛋白质数据库搜索,获得所鉴定肽段的序列、保留时间、质荷比、带电荷数等定性信息;再以此为定位依据,在全扫描质谱数据中提取该肽段对应的离子峰并以该离子峰的峰强度作为定量信息,从而实现对不同样品中的共有肽段进行差异比较分析。以标准蛋白酶解混合肽段为实验对象,以肽段相对强度的相对标准偏差为指标,考察了该方法用于肽段相对定量分析的重现性、检测动态范围以及浓度标准曲线等,为将该方法用于生物样品中内源性肽的差异分析奠定了基础。。     

新型双杂环修饰的酰胺硫醚衍生物的合成和生物活性

首次设计并合成了16个新型1,2,4-三唑与1,3,4-噻二唑双杂环修饰的酰胺硫醚衍生物,并对其进行了结构表征。分别评价了目标分子对蛋白酪氨酸磷酸酶1B(PTP1B)和细胞分裂周期25磷酸酶B(Cdc25B)抑制活性,结果发现:16个目标分子对PTP1B具有良好的抑制活性,其中8-C-d和8-D-c的抑制作用最佳,半抑制浓度(IC_(50)值)分别为(1.19±0.22)mg/L和(1.08±0.09)mg/L,优于阳性参照物齐墩果酸(IC_(50)=(1.27±0.19)mg/L),有望作为抗糖尿病药物先导物;对Cdc25B抑制活性测试中,11个目标分子表现出良好的活性,其中8-A-d、8-C-d和8-D-c抑制活性的IC_(50)值分别为(0.97±0.05)、(1.06±0.03)和(0.94±0.11)mg/L,低于阳性参照物Na_3VO_4(IC_(50)=(1.25±0.14)mg/L),有望作为抗肿瘤药物先导物。     

Studies on New Steroidal Saponins from Allii macrostemonis Bulbus and Their Antitumor Activities Design and Synthesis of Novel Bispecific Molecules for InducingBRD4 Protein Degradation

Proteolysis targeting chimeras(PROTACs) are bispecific molecules containing a target protein binder and a ubiquitin ligase binder connected by a linker. Recently, some heterobifunctional small molecule bromodomain-containing protein 4(BRD4) degraders based on the concept of PROTACs were designed to induce the degradation of BRD4 protein. Herein, we synthesized a new class of PROTAC BRD4 degraders. One of the most promising compound 22f exhibited robust potency of BRD4 inhibition with IC₅₀ value of (9.4±0.6) nmol/L. Furthermore, compound 22f potently inhibited cell proliferation in BRD4-sensitive cell lines RS4;11 with IC₅₀ value of (27.6±1.6) nmol/L and capable of inducing degradation of BRD4 protein at 0.5―1.0 μmol/L in the RS4;11 cells. These data establish that compound 22f is a potent and efficacious BRD4 degrader.     

Development of bis-thiobarbiturates as successful urease inhibitors and their molecular modeling studies

Bis-thiobarbiturate derivatives 1–15 have been synthesized, characterized by1 HNMR and EI-MS and screened for urease inhibition. All compounds showed various degree of urease inhibitory activity with IC_(50) values ranging 7.45 0.12 74.24 0.81 mmol/L while the standard thiourea behaved normally(IC_(50) = 21.10 0.12). Compounds 1(IC_(50) = 7.45 0.12 μmol/L), 9(IC_(50) = 18.17 1.03 μmol/L) and 13(IC_(50) = 8.61 0.45 μmol/L) showed excellent urease inhibitory activity in the series. Molecular modeling studies were performed to understand the binding site with the bimetallic nickel center of the enzyme.Structure-activity relationship has also been established for these compounds. This study identified bisthiobarbiturate as a novel class of urease inhibitors.     

Design,Synthesis and Biological Evaluation of Novel Selective Thiol-based Histone Deacetylase(HDAC) VI InhibitorsBearing Indeno[1,2-c]pyrazole or Benzoindazole Scaffold

A series of thiol-based indeno[1,2-c]pyrazoles and benzoindazole compounds was designed and synthesized according to the structural specificity of histone deacetylase VI(HDAC6) and the structural characteristics of HDAC inhibitors. The inhibitory activities of the target compounds against HDAC6 and HDAC1 were screened by fluorescence analysis. Most of the target compounds showed moderate inhibitory activity against HDAC6(IC₅₀=44—598 nmol/L). Among them, compound A-4 displayed the highest selectivity against HDAC6 and similar inhibitory activity(IC₅₀=44 nmol/L) to that of the positive drug SAHA(IC₅₀=41 nmol/L) against HDAC6.     

Endomorphin analogues with balanced affinity for bothμ- andδ-opioid receptors

Analogues of endomorphin and tripeptidcs modified at positions 4 and 3,respectively,with various phenylalanine analogues were synthesized and their affinities for opioid receptors were evaluated.Most of the peptides exhibited potentμ-receptor affinity and selectivity,among them,compound 7(Dmt-Pro-Tmp-Tmp-NH_2) exhibited potent affinity for bothμ-andδ-receptors (K_iμ= 0.47 nmol/L,K_iδ= 1.63 nmol/L).     

Safe and Objective Assay of Enterovirus 71 Neutralizing Antibodies via Pseudovirus

Current serum neutralization assays based on the inhibition of the cytopathic effect(Nt-CPE) need to manipulate live viruses, which are time-consuming, labor-intensive, and have the potential exposure to infectious agents, so a safe and objective assay via pseudovirus for the fast and efficient detection of enterovirus 71(EV71) neutralizing antibodies was developed. First, we generated EV71 pseudovirus containing firefly luciferase gene in place of the capsid gene P1 in EV71 genome. Vero cells infected with 200 CCID₅₀(50% cell culture infective dose) of EV71 pseudovirus for 24 h were found to have the best performance. Seval sera were measured by EV71 pseudoparticle neutralization assay(Nt-PPN) and the conventional serological method Nt-CPE. Neutralizing antibody titers measured by Nt-PPN and those obtained by Nt-CPE demonstrate a high correlation between the two methods. Overall, the PPN assay represents a valid alternative to conventional serological methods for the evaluation of EV71 neutralizing antibodies. This method can be used for detecting neutralizing antibodies of other picornaviruses, such as hepatitis A virus( HAV) and coxsackievirus 16(CVA16), and make it possible to determine whether there is cross-reactivity between EV71 and CVA16.     

Determination of resibufogenin and cinobufagin in heart-protecting musk pill by HPLC

A high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method for the simultaneous determination of resibufogenin and cinobufagin in traditional Chinese medicine (heart-protecting musk pill, shexiang baoxin wan in Chinese) was developed. A reversed-phase system with a Hypersil (ODS2) C(18) column and tetrahydrofuran: methanol: water (8:31:61) mobile phase was employed for the separation of resibufogenin and cinobufagin. The detection was set at 299 nm and ethinyl estradiol was chosen as the internal standard. The limit of detection was 1.5 ng for resibufogenin and 2.0 ng for cinobufagin at a signal-to-noise ratio of 4:1. It is a rapid, simple and accurate method for quantitative analysis of resibufogenin and cinobufagin in heart-protecting musk pill.     

基于超滤离心前处理的液相色谱-串联质谱法手性拆分人血浆中的亚叶酸和5-甲基四氢叶酸非对映异构体及其药代动力学应用

建立了液相色谱-串联质谱（HPLC-MS/MS）同时测定人血浆中的亚叶酸和5-甲基四氢叶酸两对非对映异构体的方法。血浆经蛋白质沉淀-超滤离心处理后,以甲氨蝶呤为内标,乙腈-10 mmol/L pH 8.0醋酸铵为流动相,通过手性HSA色谱柱（150 mm×4 mm,5 μm）进行梯度洗脱。亚叶酸非对映异构体在25~5000 μg/L范围内、5-甲基四氢叶酸非对映异构体在12.5~2500 μg/L范围内,线性关系均良好。本方法在灵敏度、精密度、准确度、基质效应、提取回收率、稳定性等方面均得到充分验证,并成功应用于125 mg/m²亚叶酸和62.5 mg/m²左旋亚叶酸的药代动力学研究。结果显示：在125 mg/m²亚叶酸剂量组,左亚叶酸和左旋-5-甲基四氢叶酸的血浆峰浓度（C_max）为（3137.917±408.837）和（1679.633±244.132）μg/L,从时间点0到最后可定量时间点的药物代谢动力学时间曲线下面积（AUC_0-t）为（7504.883±1185.101）和（14001.214±2868.949）μg/L;在62.5 mg/m²左亚叶酸剂量组,左亚叶酸和左旋-5-甲基四氢叶酸的C_max为（3187.917±387.298）和（1739.204±224.755）μg/L,AUC_0-t为（7426.664±854.825）和（14884.331±1843.353）μg/L。两剂量组主要药物代谢动力学参数均无显著差异,特征一致,吸收的速度和程度一致,能够为后期进行左亚叶酸钠生物等效性研究提供技术支持。     

Preparation and evaluation of mono-, di- and triphenyl-treated plates for the high-performance thin-layer chromatographic analysis of bufadienolides inBufonis venenum

Summary The retention and selectivity behaviour of bufadienolides (cinobufagin, resibufogenin, bufalin) inBufonis venenum have been studied by high-performance thin-layer chromatography on phenyl-modified silica plates, prepared from solutions of phenyldimethylethoxysilane, diphenylmethylethoxysilane or triphenylethoxysilane in toluene. Using various acetonitrile-distilled or methanol-distilled water mixtures as eluents, the bufadienolides have been separated on all the plates studied, but with different degrees of resolution. The selectivity for the separation of cinobufagin, resibufogenin, and bufalin between solutes and stationary phases is discussed. It is shown that monophenyl and diphenyltreated plates are more suitable for the selective separation of cinobufagin, resibufogenin, and bufalin inBufonis venenum than triphenyl-treated plates.     

Synthesis and α-glucosidase inhibitory activity of chrysin,diosmetin, apigenin,and luteolin derivatives

Several derivatives have been synthesized from chrysin, diosmetin, apigenin, and luteolin, which were isolated from diverse natural plants. The α-glucosidase inhibitory activity of these compounds was evaluated. The glucosidase inhibitory activity of all derivatives （IC50 〈 24.396 μmol]L） was higher compared with that of the reference drug, acarbose （IC50=563.601 ±40.492μmol/L）, and 1- deoxynojirimycin （IC50 = 226.912± 12.573 μmol/L）. O3＇,O7-Hexyl diosmetin （IC50 = 2.406 ± 0.101μmol/L） was the most potent inhibitor identified. These compounds showed a higher inhibitory ability compared with their precursors except the luteolin derivatives. In general, the inhibitory activity of the synthetic derivatives was enhanced with long alkyl chains at positions 3＇, 4＇ and 7 of the flavonoid.     

Dawson结构的多金属氧酸盐对酪氨酸酶的抑制作用

按文献方法合成了两种Dawson结构的多金属氧酸盐,并对其结构进行紫外光谱和红外光谱分析。以H_6[P_2Mo_(18)O_(62)]和H_8[P_2Mo_(17)Cr(OH_2)O_(61)](简写为P_2Mo_(18)和P_2Mo_(17)Cr)为效应物,采用紫外分光光度法和酶动力学方法研究两种Dawson结构的多金属氧酸盐效应物对蘑菇酪氨酸酶二酚酶活性的抑制作用。结果表明,P_2Mo_(18)和P_2Mo_(17)Cr对酪氨酸酶二酚酶均具有显著的抑制效果,测定抑制酪氨酸酶活力下降50%的抑制浓度(IC_(50))分别为(0.482±0.009)mmol/L和(0.503±0.011)mmol/L。动力学分析表明,P_2Mo_(18)和P_2Mo_(17)Cr对酪氨酸酶的抑制作用均表现为可逆的竞争型,抑制常数K_I分别为0.212和0.249 mmol/L。其中,综合考虑IC_(50)值和抑制常数,P_2Mo_(18)对酪氨酸酶二酚酶活性的抑制效果略优于P_2Mo_(17)Cr。     

Measurements of HO2 uptake coefficient on aqueous (NH4)2SO4 aerosol using aerosol flow tube with LIF system

The γ(HO₂) was elevated with increase of Cu(II) concentrations in aqueous (NH₄)₂SO₄ aerosol. The threshold of Cu(II) concentration was 10^-3 mol/L for the dramatic increase of γ(HO₂) to 0.1, suggesting sensitive γ(HO₂) value to concentration of transition metal ions in aerosol.     

Preparative isolation of bufalin and cinobufagin from Chinese traditional medicine ChanSu

In this investigation, a method is developed for the isolation and purification of bufadienolides (resibufogenin, cinobufagin, and bufalin) from the Chinese traditional medicine ChanSu. The crude ChanSu extract is prepared with solvent refluxing under optimal conditions. A new chromatographic approach for separating bufadienolides utilizes silica gel column chromatography with isocratic elution using cyclohexane-acetone (5:1) as the mobile phase to separate resibufogenin, followed by reversed-phase C18 preparative HPLC column using isocratic elution of methanol-water (72:28) to separate bufalin and cinobufagin. Combining these two methods, bufalin and cinobufagin could be completely separated in high purity and recovery, and the amounts obtained were 1.9 and 3.1 g, respectively, from 500 g of ChanSu. These two compounds have been identified by mass spectrometry and 1H NMR, and their purities were quantitated by HPLC at 99% and 98%, respectively.     

4,5,6,7-Tetrahydro-[1,2,3]triazolo[1,5-a]pyrazine as a new scaffold for heat shock protein 90 inhibitors

Heat shock protein 90(hsp90) is a promising anticancer drug target. A library of 2,4-dihydroxyphenyl(resorcinol) substituted 4,5,6,7-tetrahydro-[1,2,3]triazolo[1,5-a]pyrazine compounds that target this protein were designed and prepared based on our earlier study. The compounds were tested in five cancer cell lines and seven of them showed notable anticancer activity(IC_(50)2–10 mmol/L). The active subset compounds were further subjected to a polarized fluorescent assay and exhibited high binding affinity toward purified hsp90(IC_(50)60–100 nmol/L). These results indicated that the tetrahydrotriazolopyrazine motif of the molecules may represent a novel scaffold for the development of hsp90 inhibitors.     

Synthesis and Antitumor Activity of a New 7-Azaindole Derivative

We designed and synthesized a 7-azaindole derivative（TH1082）, which was characterized by 1^H NMR and 13^C-NMR. We investigated its antitumor effects on human melanoma A375 cells, human liver cancer SMMC cells and human breast cancer MCF-7 cells in vitro via 3-（4,5-dimethyldiazol-2-yl）-2,5-diphenyl-tetrazolium bromide （MTT） assay and also explored the mechanism of antiproliferation of them. The results show that TH1082 significantly inhibited the proliferation of these cells to different extent. The IC50 values for A375 cells, SMMC cells and MCF-7 cells were 25.38, 48.70 and 76.94 μg/mL at 24 h, respectively. To observe cell morphological changes, acridine orange/ethidium bromide（AO/EB） staining and Hoechest33342/Pl staining were carried out. These results indicate that TH1082 could induced the apoptosis of A375 cells. The apoptotic rates were （9.5±2.09）%, （18.9±2.25）% and （39.5±2.02）%（5, 10 and 20 μg/mL） for A375, SMMC and MCF-7 cell lines, respectively. Further, we determined the activities of caspase-3 and caspase-9 in A375 cells treated with TH1082 at different concentrations（0, 5, 10 and 20 μg/mL） or Z-VAD-FMK（20 μmol/L）, a pan-caspase inhibitor for 24 h. The results show that TH1082 activated caspase-3 and caspase-9, and the activation could be blocked by Z-VAD-FMK. Taken together, these findings indicate that TH 1082 could inhibit the proliferation ofA375 cells via activating caspase-3 and caspase-9.     

RADIATION PROTECTION BY SUPEROXIDE DISMUTASE

Abstract— Protection of X-irradiated mice by bovine superoxide dismutase is enhanced when the enzyme is given intravenously both before and after the exposure. With the combined treatment, the LD₅₀₍₃₀₎ dose is increased from 734 ± 8 to 1144 ± 15rad for a dose reduction factor of 1.56 ± 0.04. This protection occurs in a dose range where hematological damage is an important contributor to animal lethality. The proliferative capacity of bone marrow stem cells, X-irradiated in air, is protected by exogenous superoxide dismutase. The enzyme increased the D₀ from 105 ± 6 to 290 ± 34rad, an increase that represents 83% of the oxygen enhancement ratio of 3.3. In N₂ and N₂O, the D₀ of the stem cells is 348 ± 50 and 327 ± 55 rad, respectively, and the enzyme does not significantly change these values.