Synthesis of irreversibly binding bicalutamide analogs for imaging studies

A new synthetic methodology for preparing radioactive androgen receptor binding compounds in order to determine receptor-ligands interactions has been developed.     

An integrated "4-phase" approach for setting endocrine disruption screening priorities--phase I and II predictions of estrogen receptor binding affinity

Recent legislation mandates the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to develop a screening and testing program for potential endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs), of which xenoestrogens figure prominently. Under the legislation, a large number of chemicals will undergo various in vitro and in vivo assays for their potential estrogenicity, as well as other hormonal activities. There is a crucial need for priority setting before this strategy can be effectively implemented. Here we report an integrated computational approach to priority setting using estrogen receptor (ER) binding as an example. This approach rationally integrates different predictive computational models into a "Four-Phase" scheme so that it can effectively identify potential estrogenic EDCs based on their predicted ER relative binding affinity (RBA). The system has been validated using an in-house ER binding assay dataset for 232 chemicals that was designed to have both broad structural diversity and a wide range of binding affinities. When applied to 58,000 chemicals identified by Walker et al. as candidates for endocrine disruption screening, some 9100 chemicals were predicted to bind to ER. Of these, only 3600 were expected to bind to ER at RBA values up to 100,000-fold less than that of 17 g -estradiol. The method ruled out 83% of the chemicals as non-binders with a very low rate of false negatives. We believe that the same integrated scheme will be equally applicable to endpoints of other endocrine disrupting mechanisms, e.g. androgen receptor binding.     

Matrix effects in the determination of β‐receptor agonists in animal‐derived foodstuffs by ultra‐performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry with immunoaffinity solid‐phase extraction

Matrix effects in determination of three β‐receptor agonists including salbutamol (SAL), clenbuterol, and terbutaline in animal‐derived foodstuffs were studied by ultra‐performance LC‐MS/MS with cleanup of immunoaffinity SPE column (IAC). Some animal tissue samples including pig liver, swine muscle, and fish muscle were hydrolyzed by the mixed enzyme solution or HCl solution, and the cleanup efficiencies with SAL IAC, MCX SPE column, and C₁₈‐SCX tandem columns were examined and compared by using spiked experiments. The results showed that the matrix effects in the determination of SAL and terbutaline can be eliminated with SAL IAC cleanup, and the average recoveries of SAL were 77.4～81.5%, 79.0～80.3%, and 85.0～87.2% in pig liver, swine muscle, and fish muscle, respectively. The decision limit (ccα) and detection capability (ccβ) for SAL in pig liver were 0.02 and 0.05 μg/kg, respectively.     

Rapid colorimetric sensing of cyanide anion in aqueous media with a spiropyran derivative containing a dinitrophenolate moiety

A spiropyran derivative containing a dinitrophenolate moiety (2: 1′,3′,3′-trimethyl-6,8-dinitro-spiro-[2H-1-benzopyran-2,2′-indoline]) behaves as a receptor for selective detection of cyanide anion (CN⁻) in aqueous media. Compound 2, when dissolved in aqueous media, spontaneously produces the spirocycle-opened merocyanine (MC) form even in dark condition. The absorption band of the MC form decreases selectively upon addition of CN⁻, via a nucleophilic addition of CN⁻ to the spirocarbon of the MC form. The nucleophilic addition occurs very rapidly (within 1 min) and enables rapid and selective quantification of very low levels of CN⁻ (>0.8 μM) by an absorption analysis.     

Why do receptor–ligand bonds in cell adhesion cluster into discrete focal-adhesion sites?

Cell adhesion often exhibits the clustering of the receptor–ligand bonds into discrete focal-adhesion sites near the contact edge, thus resembling a rosette shape or a contracting membrane anchored by a small number of peripheral forces. The ligands on the extracellular matrix are immobile, and the receptors in the cell plasma membrane consist of two types: high-affinity integrins (that bond to the substrate ligands and are immobile) and low-affinity integrins (that are mobile and not bonded to the ligands). Thus the adhesion energy density is proportional to the high-affinity integrin density. This paper provides a mechanistic explanation for the clustering/assembling of the receptor–ligand bonds from two main points: (1) the cellular contractile force leads to the density evolution of these two types of integrins, and results into a large high-affinity integrin density near the contact edge and (2) the front of a propagating crack into a decreasing toughness field will be unstable and wavy. From this fracture mechanics perspective, the chemomechanical equilibrium is reached when a small number of patches with large receptor–ligand bond density are anticipated to form at the cell periphery, as opposed to a uniform distribution of bonds on the entire interface. Cohesive fracture simulations show that the de-adhesion force can be significantly enhanced by this nonuniform bond density field, but the de-adhesion force anisotropy due to the substrate elastic anisotropy is significantly reduced.     

表面等离子体共振技术研究肝素对高迁移率族蛋白1与晚期糖基化终产物受体亲合力的影响

测定肝素与高迁移率族蛋1(HMGB1),及其与晚期糖基化终产物受体(RAGE)的亲和力,探讨肝素对HMGB1/RAGE亲和力的影响.用表面等离子体共振技术,实时分析肝素与HMGB1,HMGB1与RAGE的亲和常数,利用其binding analysis分析肝素对HMGB1/RAGE配受体结合的影响.肝素与HMGB1的动力学速率常数ka=1.78×105 L·(mol·s)-1,kd=8.02×10-4·s-1,亲和常数KA=2.22×108L·mol-1,KD=4.5×10-9 mol·L-1;HMGB1与RAGE的动力学常数ka=1.85×103L·(mol·s)-1,kd=1.81×10-4·s-1,亲和常数KA=1.02×107L·mol-1,KD=9.77×10-8mol·L-1.肝素与RAGE的亲和力极低.当浓度分别为50,100,1 000,10 000 U·L-1的肝素与HMGBl混合后,后者与RAGE的亲和力下降.上述不同浓度的肝素对HMGB1/RAGE亲和力的影响没有显著差异.结果表明,肝素可与HMGB1结合并影响后者与RAGE的亲和力,该作用并不与肝素浓度呈正相关.     

多巴胺D2受体显像剂125I-DMAIBZM的合成及生物分布实验

为提高苯甲酰胺类衍生物（S）-N-（1-乙基-2-吡咯烷基）甲基-4-氨基-2-甲氧基苯酰胺（ABZM）的入脑量,对其结构进行改造,得到了新的化合物（S）-4-二甲氨基-N-（1-乙基-2-吡咯烷基）甲基-2-甲氧基苯酰胺（DMABZM）.通过Idogen法对DMABZM进行标记得到标记化合物125I-DMAIBZM,标记率为74%,放化纯度达到99%． 体外放射配基结合实验测得DMABZM的IC50为2.9589×10-7 mol?L-1,表明它与能与多巴胺D2受体特异性结合且具有较高的亲和力,在小鼠体内的分布实验中,该标记物纹状体/小脑的比值可达6.5左右,说明了该标记化合物与纹状体的结合有较高的特异性和亲和力．125I-DMAIBZM的脂溶性显著大于125I-AIBZM,入脑量有较大的提高．结论：125I（123I）-DMAIBZM有望用于多巴胺D2受体的显像．     

Towards an identification of the pyrethroid pharmacophore. A molecular modelling study of some pyrethroid esters

Summary A molecular modelling and computer graphics study of a series of pyrethroid insecticides has been carried out. The three-dimensional arrangement of the groups essential for the biological activity (pharmacophore) has been identified for the acid and the alcohol moieties, respectively. These pharmacophores are based on the relationship between molecular structure and biological activity for a number of pyrethroid esters. The pharmacophores, which describe the relative location in space of the unsaturated systems, the dimethyl groups and the ester moiety, may be useful in the design of novel compounds with pyrethroid activity.     

Development of superior antibodies against the S-protein of SARS-Cov-2 using macrocyclic epitopes

One of the proven methods to prevent and inhibit viral infections is to use antibodies to block the initial Receptor Binding Domain (RBD) of SARS-CoV-2 S protein and avoid its binding with the host cells. Thus, developing these RBD-targeting antibodies would be a promising approach for treating the SARS-CoV-2 infectious disease and stop virus replication. Macrocyclic epitopes constitute closer mimics of the receptor's actual topology and, as such, are expected to be superior epitopes for antibody generation. This work demonstrated the vital effect of the three-dimensional shape of epitopes on the developed antibodies' activity against RBD protein of SARS-CoV-2. The molecular dynamics studies showed the greater stability of the cyclic epitopes in comparison with the linear counterpart, which was reflected in the activity of their produced antibodies. Indeed, the antibodies we developed using macrocyclic epitopes showed superiority with respect to binding to RBD proteins compared to antibodies formed from a linear peptide. The results of the present work constitute a roadmap for developing superior antibodies that could be used to inhibit the activity of the SARS-CoV-2 and prevent its reproduction.     

1,2,3-Triazole derivatives as highly selective cannabinoid receptor type 2 (CB2) agonists

The cannabinoid receptor 2 (CB2 receptor) has attracted considerable interest, mainly due to its potential as a target for therapeutics for treating various diseases that have a neuroinflammatory or neurodegenerative component while avoiding the adverse psychotropic effects that accompany CB1 receptor-based therapies. With the appreciation that CB2-selective ligands show marked functional selectivity, there is a renewed opportunity to explore this promising area of research from both a mechanistic as well as a therapeutic perspective. In this research, we are interested in the discovery of new chemotypes as highly selective CB2 modulators, which may serve as good starting points for further optimization towards the development of CB2 therapeutics. In search of new chemotypes as CB2 selective agents, we screened a series of triazole derivatives with interesting bioactive scaffolds, which led to the discovery of two novel and highly selective ligands for CB2 receptors. Compounds 6 and 11 produced a concentration-dependent inhibition of specific [³H]-CP55,940 (CB2) binding with K_i ± SEM values of 105.3 ± 22.6 and 116.4 ± 19.5 nM, respectively, while no binding affinity towards CB1 receptors or opioid receptors was observed. The CB2 functional activity of 6 and 11, as measured by a GPCR Tango assay (G-protein independent β-arrestin translocation assay), revealed that these compounds act as CB2 agonists with EC₅₀ values ± SEM of 1.83 ± 0.16 and 1.14 ± 0.52 µM, respectively. Molecular modeling results showed that both compounds fit well into the active site of the CB2 receptor and showed strong hydrophobic interactions with key residues. In conclusion, the new triazole derivatives (6 and 11) showed promising activity towards CB2 receptors and have great potential to be developed into therapeutically useful CB2 agonists through hit-to-lead optimization.