Solution forms of an antitumor cyclic hexapeptide, RA-VII in dimethyl sulfoxide-d6 from nuclear magnetic resonance studies.

Using high-resolution proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1H-NMR) and carbon-13 nuclear magnetic resonance (13C-NMR) experiments, we have assigned three discernible configurational isomers observed in dimethyl sulfoxide-d6 (DMSO-d6) for an antitumor cyclic hexapeptide, RA-VII isolated from Rubia cordifolia. The largest isomer, amounting to 64%, has been assigned as conformer A with only a cis configuration between Tyr-5 and Tyr-6. The second configurational isomer, accounting for 32%, has adopted cis configurations between both Tyr-5 and Tyr-6 and between Ala-2 and Tyr-3. The third isomer, amounting to 4%, was determined to have cis configurations for all of the three N-methyl amide bonds.     

Isolation, structure determination, and synthesis of allo-RA-V and neo-RA-V, RA-series bicyclic peptides from Rubia cordifolia L

Two bicyclic hexapeptides, allo-RA-V (4) and neo-RA-V (5), and one cyclic hexapeptide, O-seco-RA-V (6), were isolated from the roots of Rubia cordifolia?L. Their gross structures were elucidated on the basis of spectroscopic analysis and X-ray crystallography of compound 5. The absolute stereochemistry of compounds 4 and 5 were established by their total syntheses, and the absolute stereochemistry of compound 6 by chemical correlation with deoxybouvardin (3). Comparison of the 3D structures of highly active RA-VII (1) with less-active compounds 4 and 5 suggests that the orientation of the Tyr-5 and/or Tyr-6 phenyl rings plays a significant role in their biological activity. The isolation of peptides 4-6, along with compound 3, and the comparison of their structures seem to indicate that peptide 6 may be the common precursor to bicyclic peptides 3-5 in the plant.     

Synthesis of [Gly-1]RA-VII, [Gly-2]RA-VII, and [Gly-4]RA-VII. Glycine-containing analogues of RA-VII, an antitumor bicyclic hexapeptide from Rubia plants

Three analogues of RA-VII (1), an antitumor bicyclic hexapeptide from Rubia plants, were synthesized. Three analogues, [Gly-1]RA-VII (4), [Gly-2]RA-VII (5), and [Gly-4]RA-VII (6), in which one of the three alanine residues in 1 was replaced by a glycine residue, were prepared by linking of the cycloisodityrosine unit, obtained by degradation of 1, to three different glycine-containing tetrapeptides followed by macrocyclization. Of these three analogues, analogue 4 showed the highest cytotoxic activity. The NMR study revealed that in solution the conformer structures and their ratios of analogue 4 were very similar to those of natural peptide 1, suggesting that the methyl groups at Ala-2 and Ala-4 should be essential for producing the bioactive conformation, whereas that at D-Ala-1 is not essential.     

Synthesis of [L-Ala-1]RA-VII, [D-Ala-2]RA-VII,and [D-Ala-4]RA-VII by epimerization of RA-VII,an antitumor bicyclic hexapeptide from Rubia plants,through oxazoles

Three epimers of a natural cyclic hexapeptide RA-VII were prepared via formation of oxazoles from thioamides or thioimidates of RA-VII followed by hydrolysis. They are the epimers at l-Ala-1, d-Ala-2, and d-Ala-4, respectively. The one having l-Ala-1 adopted trans-cis-trans-trans-trans-trans (t-c-t-t-t-t) amide configurations in the crystal, a type-VI beta-turn for residues 1-4 stabilized by one intramolecular hydrogen bond between Ala-4 NH and l-Ala-1 C = O, and in CDCl(3) existed as a mixture of six conformers, of which the major conformer was very similar to that in the crystal, but quite different from that of RA-VII in solution. The second epimer, having d-Ala-2 had in the crystalline state t-t-t-t-c-t amide configurations, a gamma-turn at Tyr-3 stabilized by two intramolecular hydrogen bonds between d-Ala-2 NH and Ala-4 C = O and between Ala-4 NH and d-Ala-2 C = O, and existed in CDCl(3) as a single conformer, the structure of which was very similar to its crystal structure, and to the crystal structure of peptide 25 except for the backbone and the side chains at residues 1 and 2. The third epimer, having d-Ala-4 had t-c-t-t-c-t amide configurations in the crystal, a type-VI beta-turn for residues 1-4 as observed in the first epimer, and in CDCl(3) existed in three conformers, of which the major one was similar to that in the crystal but different from that of RA-VII in solution. The three epimers showed very weak cytotoxicity on P-388 leukemia cells, which may be because of their conformational differences from the active conformation of RA-VII.     

Semisynthesis of an analogue of antitumor bicyclic hexapeptide RA-VII by fixing the Ala-2/Tyr-3 bond to Cis by incorporating a triazole cis-amide bond surrogate

We prepared an analogue of an antitumor bicyclic hexapeptide RA-VII whose amide configuration between residues 2 and 3 was fixed to cis by incorporating a triazole cis-amide bond surrogate. This analogue was shown, by NMR studies, to take almost the same conformation as that of the minor conformer of RA-VII. It showed no cytotoxic activity.     

A Total Synthesis of RA-VII

RA-VII (1) and related bicyclic hexapeptides, isolated from Rubiaceous plants, Rubia akame,showed potent antitumor activity and in fact, RA-VII is currently undergoing phase Ⅱ clinical trial in Japan. It inhibit protein synthesis through binding,to eukaryotic 80S ribosomes, resulting in inhibition of aminoacyl-tRNA binding formation and peptidyl-tRNA translocation. The complex molecular architecture and interesting biological activity made these compounds attractive synthetic targets.     

Synthesis and anti-tumor activity of new steroidal nuclear analogues of aragusterol A

3alpha,7alpha-Dihydroxy-5-epiaragusterol A (3) was synthesized from bile acid (cholic acid) as a new steroidal nuclear analogue of antitumor marine steroid aragusterol A. 7alpha-Hydroxyaragusterol A (4) was also derived from xestokerol B. The in vitro anti-proliferative activity of each of these analogues toward KB cells as well as in vivo anti-tumor activity of 5-epiaragusterol A (2) previously synthesized by the authors and 3 were assessed.     

微管菌素类似物的合成及抗肿瘤活性

以微管菌素为先导化合物, 设计合成了一系列类似物; 所有化合物的结构均经¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR及HRMS确证, 均为新化合物. 采用噻唑蓝(MTT)法对其抗肿瘤活性进行了初步筛选, 结果表明, 化合物Ⅱb具有一定的抗肿瘤活性.     

Conformational analysis of bradykinin by annealed molecular dynamics and comparison to NMR-derived conformations

Conformational analysis of bradykinin (BK), a nonapeptide of the sequence RPPGFSPFR, was accomplished using annealed molecular dynamics (AMD) at 1000 K in BIOGRAF 2.2. One hundred anneal cycles produced 100 conformations over approximately 2000 ps. These conformations were compared to structures derived by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) methods for similar shape and energy. Energy minimization of relevant conformations using both BIOGRAF 2.2 and AMBER 3.0a revealed that the AMD-determined conformations are in the same energy range as the NMR-determined structures. Also, the shape of the relevant conformations appeared similar, suggesting that AMD is a good tool for the conformational analysis of small peptide ligands. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

胆汁返流性胃炎病入血清和胃液中锌、铜、铁、钙含量及意义

采用火焰原子吸收法检测了36例胆汁运流性胃炎病人和30例健康对照者血清和胃液中微量元素Zn、Cu、Fe、及Ca的含量。结果显示，胆汁返流组血清Zn、Cu、Fe含量均明显低于对照组；胃液中Zn、Cu、含量则明显高于对照组；血清和胃液中Ca含量在2组间未见明显差异。该研究为开展胆汁返流性胃炎的病因学和治疗学研究提供了有益的资料。     

Structures of cytotoxic bicyclic hexapeptides, RA-XIX, -XX, -XXI, and -XXII, from Rubia cordifolia L.

Novel bicyclic hexapeptides, RA-XIX, -XX, -XXI, and -XXII, were isolated from the roots of Rubia cordifolia L. The structures of RA-XIX and RA-XX were established by semisynthesis from a cycloisodityrosine, derived from previously reported RA-VII, and those of RA-XXI and RA-XXII by chemical correlation with RA-XX and previously reported RA-VIII, respectively. The IC₅₀ values of these new peptides against P-388 leukemia cells were 0.013-0.63 μg/mL.     

Conformation-dependent change in antitumor activity of linear and branched (1----3)-beta-D-glucans on the basis of conformational elucidation by carbon-13 nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy.

The antitumor activity of (1----3)-beta-D-glucans was tested in order to clarify its conformation-dependent response together with conformational elucidation by carbon-13 nuclear magnetic resonance (13C-NMR) spectroscopy. It was shown that the following three conformations, single chain, single helix and triple helix, are readily distinguished by the high-resolution solid-state 13C-NMR method. It turned out that preparations of linear (1----3)-beta-D-glucans of a triple helical conformation were ineffective in the inhibition of tumor growth. These linear (1----3)-beta-D-glucans were converted to an effective form in the inhibition of tumor growth when they were lyophilized from dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) solutions as a result of a conformational change from the triple helical to the single chain forms. They were not effective, however, when assayed in DMSO solution. In contrast, it was found that a branched (1----3)-beta-D-glucan is effective not only in either saline solutions of the triple helical sample or the lyophilized sample from DMSO, but also in DMSO solution. The aforementioned drastic change in antitumor activity was interpreted in terms of resulting conformational changes as analyzed by the 13C-NMR method.     

Effects of physiological factors on the bioavailability of ethyl 2-chloro-3-[4-(2-methyl-2-phenylpropyloxy)phenyl]propionate in an emulsion in rats

The main absorption site of ethyl 2-chloro-3-[4-(2-methyl-2-phenylpropyloxy)phenyl]propionate (AL-294) in rats was the upper portion of the small intestine. Both AL-294 and AL-294 acid (2-chloro-3-[4-(2-methyl-2-phenylpropyloxy)phenyl]propionic acid), a hydrolyzed form of AL-294, were absorbed in a smaller quantity under the bile fistula condition (pancreatic juice and bile were excluded). Compared with the absorption of AL-294 as an emulsion under the sham operation condition, the absorption of AL-294 as the emulsion decreased under the condition where only pancreatic juice was excluded. The bioavailability under this condition was very similar to that under the bile fistula condition, whereas the absorption of AL-294 acid did not decrease when the pancreatic juice was excluded. From these results, the absorption mechanism of AL-294 is considered as follows: AL-294 was hydrolyzed to AL-294 acid by lipase in pancreatic juice, then AL-294 acid was solubilized with bile salts to form mixed micelles in the intestinal lumen. AL-294 acid from this form was easily absorbed into the systemic circulation. Absorption of AL-294 increased when the particle size of the emulsion was smaller. The reason was assumed to be that the smaller particle size offered the greater oil-water interface for lipase activity against AL-294.     

Hybrid peptides: expanding the beta turn in peptide hairpins by the insertion of beta-, gamma-, and delta-residues

The beta turn segment in designed peptide hairpins has been expanded by the insertion of beta-, gamma- and delta-amino acids at the i+2 position. The model octapeptides Boc-Leu-Phe-Val-DPro-Ac6c-Leu-Phe-Val-OMe (1), Boc-Leu-Phe-Val-DPro-beta3-Ac6c-Leu-Phe-Val-OMe (2), and Boc-Leu-Phe-Val-DPro-Gpn-Leu-Phe-Val-OMe (3) have been shown to adopt beta hairpin conformations in methanol by the observation of key diagnostic nuclear Overhauser effects. Boc-Leu-Val-Val-DPro-delta-Ava-Leu-Val-Val-OMe (4) adopts a beta hairpin conformation in crystals; this is stabilized by three cross-strand hydrogen bonds as demonstrated by X-ray diffraction. The canonical C10 turn in an alpha-alpha segment is expanded to C11, C12, and C13 turns in alpha-beta, alpha-gamma, and alpha-delta segments, respectively. The crystal structures of Piv-LPro-beta3-Ac6c-NHMe (5) and Boc-Ac6c-Gpn-Ac6c-OMe (6) reveal intramolecularly hydrogen-bonded C11 and C12 conformations, respectively. Computer modeling of octapeptide sequences that contain centrally positioned hybrid-turn segments, by using turn parameters derived from the structures of peptides 5 and 6, establishes the stereochemical acceptability of the beta hairpins in the cases of peptides 2 and 3. Accommodation of omega-amino acids into the turn segments is achieved by the adoption of gauche conformations around the backbone C--C bonds.     

Heuristic refinement method for the derivation of protein solution structures: validation on cytochrome b562

A method is described for determining the family of protein structures compatible with solution data obtained primarily from nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. Starting with all possible conformations, the method systematically excludes conformations until the remaining structures are only those compatible with the data. The apparent computational intractability of this approach is reduced by assembling the protein in pieces, by considering the protein at several levels of abstraction, by utilizing constraint satisfaction methods to consider only a few atoms at a time, and by utilizing artificial intelligence methods of heuristic control to decide which actions will exclude the most conformations. Example results are presented for simulated NMR data from the known crystal structure of cytochrome b562 (103 residues). For 10 sample backbones an average root-mean-square deviation from the crystal of 4.1 A was found for all alpha-carbon atoms and 2.8 A for helix alpha-carbons alone. The 10 backbones define the family of all structures compatible with the data and provide nearly correct starting structures for adjustment by any of the current structure determination methods.     

Determination of the major solution conformation of tyrocidine A,using molecular mechanics energy minimization and NMR-derived distance and torsion angle constraints

Molecular mechanics energy calculations coupled with nuclear magnetic resonance-determined distance and torsion angle constraints have been used to determine the three-dimensional structure of tyrocidine A, a cyclic decapeptide which exists largely as a single conformation in solution. Two open-chain polyalanine models were used to represent separate halves of the peptide backbone and a combinatorial method of searching conformation space used to generate candidate structures consistent with experimental distance constraints. These structures were energy-minimized using the AMBER molecular mechanics forcefield and the resulting conformations classified by factor analysis of their Cartesian coordinates. Representative low-energy conformers of the two halves of the backbone were fused together and two candidate conformations of the completed backbone refined by further minimization using both distance and torsional constraints. Side chains were then added as their experimentally preferred rotamers and the whole molecule minimized without constraints to give the final model structure. This shows type II' and III ß turns at residues 4–5 and 9–10, respectively, coupled by twisted antiparallel strands which show hydrogen bonds between all four pairs of opposing peptide groups. The backbone conformation of residues 2–6 closely resembles that found in the crystal structure of gramicidin S.     

N9位芳基取代嘌呤-8-酮类衍生物的合成及抗肿瘤活性

合成了一系列N9位芳基取代嘌呤-8-酮类衍生物, 利用核磁共振氢谱(¹H NMR)、 核磁共振碳谱(¹³C NMR)和高分辨质谱(HRMS)进行了结构确证. 采用四甲基偶氮唑盐(MTT)法测定了目标化合物的体外抗肿瘤细胞增殖活性. 结果表明, 嘌呤酮环的C2位及N9位的取代对活性有较大影响, C2位引入对位由含氮六元环取代的苯胺, N9位引入对三氟甲基苯均有利于提高抗肿瘤活性. 化合物12c对人白血病细胞(K562)、 人前列腺癌细胞(PC-3)、 人乳腺癌细胞(MDA-MB-231)及人结肠癌细胞(HCT116)的抑制效果明显优于阳性对照药R-Roscovitine.     

胆汁酸盐-胆红素-钙离子三元复合物的构象性质

根据九种胆汁酸盐-胆红素-钙离子三元体系的UV和CD实验所见, 提出一种所形成的三元复合物的构象模型。利用PPP-SCF-CI-DV量子化学程序拟合有关的UV和CD谱, 研究三元复合物的构象性质。得到两类六种与光谱学实验符合的胆红素分子的最佳构象。利用它们可以解释九种胆汁酸盐-胆红素-钙离子三元复合物表现在园二色谱中的手性性质。     

Determination of bile acids and lysolecithin in artificial and natural gastric juice by HPLC for characterization of antacida

Work-up procedures and HPLC separation systems for determination of taurocholic, glycocholic, chenodeoxycholic, and cholic acids and lysolecithin in artificial and natural gastric juice are described. These compounds are used for testing the binding capacity of antacida to the individual analytes. Work-up is simple, no extraction or filtration being required. The optimized combinations of stationary and mobile phases allow selective and sensitive determination of the respective bile acids in gastric juice. For optimization, the capacity factors of two related bile acids were evaluated for numerous commercial stationary phases. The mechanism of retention is different for free and conjugated bile acids. Special aspects of routine analysis are discussed.