Epoxidation of styrenes with the peroxidase from the cultured cells of Nicotiana tabacum

An enzyme concerned with the epoxidation of styrenes was isolated from cultured cells of Nicotiana tabacum. The enzyme had peroxidase activity as well as epoxidation activity, and its amino acid sequence showed 89% homology in their 9 amino acid overlap with horseradish peroxidase. In the enzymatic reaction, hydrogen peroxide and p-cresol were necessary and molecular oxygen was the source of the oxygen atom of the epoxide. The enzymatic reaction using a spin trap reagent and monitoring of the reaction with ESR indicated that the epoxidation reaction of styrenes proceeded by a radical mechanism with peroxidase.     

Overexpression, purification and characterization of two pyrimidine kinases involved in the biosynthesis of thiamin: 4-amino-5-hydroxymethyl-2-methylpyrimidine kinase and 4-amino-5-hydroxymethyl-2-methylpyrimidine phosphate kinase

The overexpression, purification and characterization of 4-amino-5-hydroxymethyl-2-methylpyrimidine kinase (HMP kinase) and 4-amino-5-hydroxymethyl-2-methylpyrimidine monophosphate kinase (HMP-P kinase) are described. Surprisingly HMP-P kinase also shows HMP kinase activity. These enzymes are useful reagents for the preparation of intermediates on the thiamin biosynthetic pathway.     

Determination by enantioselective synthesis of the absolute configuration of CPE, a potential intermediate in coronatine biosynthesis

The first enantioselective synthesis of the methyl ester of CPE, a potential intermediate in coronatine (COR) biosynthesis, is described. Comparison of the specific rotation of the synthetic ester with that of the methyl ester of natural CPE established that the latter possesses the (R) configuration. This configuration is the same as that found at the corresponding asymmetric center of coronatine. Structure: see text.     

A mild procedure for the oxidative cleavage of substituted indoles catalyzed by plant cell cultures

We have developed a novel procedure for the oxidative cleavage of indole carbon double bonds in the presence of H₂O₂ using plant cell cultures as a catalytic system. The oxidative procedure has some advantages, such as mild reactions, good yields, easy work-up and safety.     

Investigations on the stability of bendamustin, a cytostatic agent of the nitrogen mustard type, I. Synthesis, isolation, and characterization of reference substances

Summary The following compounds were chosen as reference substances for HPLC investigations on 4-(6-bis(2-chloro-ethyl)amino-3-methylbenzimidazoyl(2))butyric acid (bendamustin), an antineoplastic agent of the N-lost type (synthesized or isolated from crude bendamustin): 4-(6-((2-chloroethyl)(2-hydroxyethyl)amino)-3-methylbenzimidazoyl(2))butyric acid (HP1), 4-(6-bis(2-hydroxyethyl)amino-3-methylbenzimidazoyl(2))butyric acid (HP2), ethyl-4-(6-bis(2-hydroxyethyl)amino-3-methylbenzimidazoyl(2))butyrate (dihydroxyester), and ethyl-4-(6-bis(2-chloroethyl)amino-3-methylbenzimidazoyl(2))butyrate (dichloroester). Furthermore, the so far unidentified side product 4-(7,8-dihydro-6-(2-chloroethylamino)-3-methyl-1,4-thiazino[3,2-g]benzimidazoyl(2))-butyric acid (NP1), formed in the last step of the synthesis, was isolated and identified.

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Untersuchungen zur Stabilität von Bendamustin, einem Cytostatikum vom N-Lost-Typ, 1. Mitt.: Synthese, Isolierung und Charakterisierung von Vergleichssubstanzen

Zusammenfassung Die folgenden Verbindungen wurden als Vergleichssubstanzen für HPLC-analytische Untersuchungen von 4-(6-Bis(2-chlorethyl)amino-3-methylbenzimidazoyl(2))buttersäure (Bendamustin), einem Antitumormittel des N-lost-Typs, synthetisiert oder aus Bendamustin-Rohstoff vor der Endreinigung isoliert: (4-(6-((2-Chlorethyl)(2-hydroxyethyl)amino)-3-methylbenzimidazoyl(2))buttersäure (HP1), 4-(6-Bis(2-hydroxyethyl)amino-3-methylbenzimidazoyl(2))buttersäure (HP2), 4-(6-Bis(2-hydroxyethyl)amino-3-methylbenzimidazoyl(2))buttersäureethylester (Dichlorester). Weiterhin konnte das bislang unbekannte Nebenprodukt 4-(7,8-Dihydro-6-(2-chlorethylamino)-3-methyl-1,4-thiazino[3,2-g]benzimidazoyl(2))buttersäure (NP1), welches sich im letzten Schritt der Synthese bildet, isoliert und identifiziert werden.

     

Investigations of Polyoxometalates in Aqueous Solutions. I. The Formation of Al13(OH)7+ 31 Cation

Abstract

The formation of polyhydroxo aluminum(III) complexes has been investigated at 30°C and in a 3 M (K)Cl ionic medium by p[H] measurements. The uncommon “integral titration” technique employed has enabled measurements of oversaturated solutions up to OH^? to Al(III) ratios as large as 2.65. This has allowed the detection of the undescribed species Al₁₃(OH)⁴⁺ ₃₅. The data can very satisfactorily be explained by assuming the species Al₂(OH)⁴⁺ ₂, Al₃(OH)³⁺ ₆, Al₁₃(OH)⁷⁺ ₃₂, and Al₁₃(OH)⁴⁺ ₃₅. The Al(III) concentration has been changed from ≈0.0025 to ≈ 0.040 M and the spacings of the titration curves at different aluminum levels are a clear and direct evidence for the formation of Al₁₃(OH)⁷⁺ ₃₂, which dominates the hydrolysis products. The data presented in this paper are best accounted for if the trimer Al₃(OH)³⁺ ₆ is substituted for Al₃(OH)⁵⁺ ₄ which is frequently reported. The formation of the “13” cations may result from the reaction of four Al₃(OH)³⁺ ₆ with a transient Al(OH)^? ₄ species which is formed, upon addition of a rather concentrated basic solution, owing to a local excess of OH^?.     

Synthesis of a novel azapseudodisaccharide related to allosamidin employing N,N''-diacetylchitobiose as a key starting material

Design and synthesis of a potential chitinase inhibitor 4, related to allosamidin (2), is described. Radical cyclization mediated by tributyltin hydride was applied for the first time to chitobiose-derived oxime ethers 9a,b to give four stereoisomers of an aminocyclopentane derivative connected to an N-acetyl-D-glucosamine residue at C-1 position. The major isomer 10b was efficiently converted into a novel pseudodisaccharide 4 via a series of cyclic-guanidine formation reaction.     

Expression, purification, and characterization of a galactofuranosyltransferase involved in Mycobacterium tuberculosis arabinogalactan biosynthesis

The major structural component of the cell wall of Mycobacterium tuberculosis is a lipidated polysaccharide, the mycoyl-arabinogalactan-peptidoglycan (mAGP) complex. This glycoconjugate plays a key role in the survival of the organism, and thus, enzymes involved in its biosynthesis have attracted attention as sites for drug action. At the core of the mAGP is a galactan composed of D-galactofuranose residues attached via alternating beta-(1-->5) and beta-(1-->6) linkages. A single enzyme, glfT, has been shown to synthesize both glycosidic linkages. We report here the first high-level expression and purification of glfT by expression of the Rv3808c gene in Escherichia coli C41(DE3). Following a three-step purification procedure, 3-7 mg of protein of >95% purity was isolated from each liter of culture. We subsequently probed the substrate specificity of glfT by evaluating a panel of potential mono- and oligosaccharide substrates and demonstrated, for the first time, that trisaccharides are better substrates than disaccharides and that one disaccharide, in which the terminal D-galactofuranose residue is replaced with an L-arabinofuranose moiety, is a weak substrate. Kinetic characterization of the enzyme using four of the oligosaccharide acceptors gave K(m) values ranging from 204 microM to 1.7 mM. Through the use of NMR spectroscopy and mass spectrometry, we demonstrated that this recombinant enzyme, like the wild-type protein, is bifunctional and can synthesize both beta-(1-->6) and beta-(1-->5)-linkages in an alternating fashion. Access to purified glfT is expected to facilitate the development of high-throughput assays for the identification of inhibitors of the enzyme, which are potential antituberculosis agents.     

Isolation, structural elucidation, and biosynthesis of 15-norlankamycin derivatives produced by a type-II thioesterase disruptant of Streptomyces rochei

Lankamycin, a 14-membered macrolide antibiotic, contains a 3-hydroxy-2-butyl side chain at C-13. To analyze the function of lkmE, which encodes type-II thioesterase in the lankamycin cluster, we carried out a gene disruption experiment. Disruption of lkmE resulted in a 70% decrease of lankamycin production concomitant with an accumulation of novel lankamycin derivatives (LM-NS01A and LM-NS01B), in which the C-13 side chain is replaced by a 1-carboxyethyl group. The biosynthetic origin of 1-carboxyethyl group was confirmed by incorporation of deuterium in [3-²H]3-methyl-2-oxobutyrate into the C-14 position. These results indicate that the biosynthesis of LM-NS01A and LM-NS01B starts from isobutyryl CoA in place of (S)-2-methylbutyryl CoA and LkmE removes the aberrantly loaded starter unit and restores lankamycin production.     

Characterization of DcsC, a PLP-independent racemase involved in the biosynthesis of D-cycloserine

The biosynthetic gene cluster responsible for the generation of the antibiotic D-cycloserine (DCS) has recently been disclosed. One of the putative enzymes described was DcsC, which showed a high degree of homology to diaminopimelate epimerase (DapF). Based on this homology, the activity of DcsC was presumed to be the racemization of O-ureido-L-serine, a proposed intermediate in DCS biosynthesis. Here we describe the cloning, overexpression and characterization of this enzyme. Using synthetic standards we show that DcsC is a racemase that operates on both O-ureido-L- and D-serine, and that it employs a two-base mechanism, with a thiolate-thiol pair in the active site. The activity of this enzyme was shown to be optimal at pH ~ 7.8, with a similar k(cat)/K(M) ratio in both the L→D direction and D→L direction. Activity was abolished with thiol-inactivating reagents such as iodoacetamide and Hg(2+) ions. Further evidence for a thiolate in the active site was obtained through the use of an epoxide-containing substrate analogue (6), which became covalently attached to the enzyme.     

VioE, a prodeoxyviolacein synthase involved in violacein biosynthesis, is responsible for intramolecular indole rearrangement

Indole-3-pyruvic acid is transformed to prodeoxyviolacein by the novel enzyme VioE, which is involved in the violacein biosynthetic pathway in Chromobacterium violaceum ATCC12472. VioE catalyzes the decarboxylation and indole-ring rearrangement of a nascent compound that is produced from indole-3-pyruvic acid and by the action of chromopyrrolic acid synthase (VioB or StaD), and ultimately the reaction yields prodeoxyviolacein.     

Direct interaction of a vancomycin derivative with bacterial enzymes involved in cell wall biosynthesis.

BACKGROUND: The glycopeptide antibiotic vancomycin complexes DAla-DAla termini of bacterial cell walls and peptidoglycan precursors and interferes with enzymes involved in murein biosynthesis. Semisynthetic vancomycins incorporating hydrophobic sugar substituents exhibit efficacy against DAla-DLac-containing vancomycin-resistant enterococci, albeit by an undetermined mechanism. Contrasting models that invoke either cooperative dimerization and membrane anchoring or direct inhibition of bacterial transglycosylases have been proposed to explain the bioactivity of these glycopeptides. RESULTS: Affinity chromatography has revealed direct interactions between a semisynthetic hydrophobic vancomycin (DCB-PV), and select Escherichia coli membrane proteins, including at least six enzymes involved in peptidoglycan assembly. The N(4)-vancosamine substituent is critical for protein binding. DCB-PV inhibits transglycosylation in permeabilized E. coli, consistent with the observed binding of the PBP-1B transglycosylase-transpeptidase. CONCLUSIONS: Hydrophobic vancomycins interact directly with a select subset of bacterial membrane proteins, suggesting the existence of discrete protein targets. Transglycosylase inhibition may play a role in the enhanced bioactivity of semisynthetic glycopeptides.     

Synthesis of a carbohydrate-derived hydroxamic acid inhibitor of the bacterial enzyme (LpxC) involved in lipid A biosynthesis

[reaction: see text] The enzyme LpxC (UDP-3-O-[(R)-3-hydroxymyristoyl]-GlcNAc deacetylase) catalyzes the second step of lipid A biosynthesis and is essential for bacterial growth. A GlcNAc-derived hydroxamic acid inhibitor 8 of this enzyme was synthesized using two different routes. Compound 8 exhibits activity toward LpxC enzymes from a wider spectrum of bacterial species than any of the previously reported hydroxamic acid inhibitors.     

Hydratases involved in nitrile conversion: screening, characterization and application

The discovery of new enzymes with greater activity and specificity opens new, simple routes for synthetic processes, and consequently, new methods to solve environmental problems. A number of nitrile-related enzymes have been screened over the past few years for use in developing synthetic applications. Microbial nitrile hydratase (NHase) has great potential as a catalyst in organic chemical processing because the enzyme can convert nitriles to the corresponding higher value amides under mild conditions, and has now been applied to the industrial productions of acrylamide and nicotinamide. Particularly, the former production is the first successful example of a bioconversion process for the manufacture of a commodity chemical. The characterization of the enzyme at the molecular level has provided new insights into how the molecular structure determines the enzyme function, and how the regulatory system controls the expression of the enzyme genes to improve the enzyme and the NHase-dependent process.     

A squalene epoxidase is involved in biosynthesis of both the antitumor compound clavaric acid and sterols in the basidiomycete H. sublateritium

The basidiomycete Hypholoma sublateritium produces the triterpenoid antitumor clavaric acid, an inhibitor of the human Ras-farnesyl transferase. The H. sublateritium squalene epoxidase gene (erg1) has been cloned and shown to encode a flavoprotein monooxygenase that requires FAD, NADPH, and P450 cofactors. Silencing of the erg1 gene in H. sublateritium using constructions expressed from the gdh promoter of Agaricus bisporus showed that the squalene epoxidase is involved in clavaric acid formation and in ergosterol biosynthesis; silenced expression of erg1 resulted in an ergosterol-dependent phenotype for full growth. Overexpression of erg1 gene resulted in up to 32% to 97% increment of clavaric acid production confirming its involvement in the biosynthesis of this antitumor product. Oxidosqualene (or dioxidosqualene) appears to be the branching point for primary metabolism (sterols) and secondary metabolites in basidiomycetes.     

Enzyme-regulated the changes of pH values for assembling a colorimetric and multistage interconnection logic network with multiple readouts

Based on enzymatic reactions-triggered changes of pH values and biocomputing, a novel and multistage interconnection biological network with multiple easy-detectable signal outputs has been developed. Compared with traditional chemical computing, the enzyme-based biological system could overcome the interference between reactions or the incompatibility of individual computing gates and offer a unique opportunity to assemble multicomponent/multifunctional logic circuitries. Our system included four enzyme inputs: β-galactosidase (β-gal), glucose oxidase (GOx), esterase (Est) and urease (Ur). With the assistance of two signal transducers (gold nanoparticles and acid–base indicators) or pH meter, the outputs of the biological network could be conveniently read by the naked eyes. In contrast to current methods, the approach present here could realize cost-effective, label-free and colorimetric logic operations without complicated instrument. By designing a series of Boolean logic operations, we could logically make judgment of the compositions of the samples on the basis of visual output signals. Our work offered a promising paradigm for future biological computing technology and might be highly useful in future intelligent diagnostics, prodrug activation, smart drug delivery, process control, and electronic applications.     

Synthesis of a novel diarylphosphinic acid: a distorted ground state mimic and transition state analogue for amide hydrolysis

We describe herein the synthesis of a new unsymmetrical diarylphosphinic acid, a hapten aimed to produce catalytic antibodies for the hydrolysis of heterocyclic amides. The phosphinate functionality was selected as a mimic both of the tetrahedral intermediate and the transition state of higher energy along the reaction profile. The phenyl and 2,4,6-(trimethyl)-phenyl groups flanking the phosphinate were chosen in order to impose rotation around the P–C bond, a choice supported by ab initio calculations. This new hapten should elicit catalytic antibodies whose binding site could affect the distortion at nitrogen as well as the twist along the N–C(O) bond for heterocyclic amides. This hapten along with a series of new sterically hindered unsymmetrical phosphinic acid derivatives was prepared by a key palladium-catalysed step.     

Applications of a simultaneous assay of ascorbic acid, dehydroascorbic acid and ascorbic sulphate in biological materials

A modified spectrophotometric assay for ascorbic acid and its derivatives based on their reaction with 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine (DNPH) is described. Using standard ascorbic acid or ascorbic sulphate solutions, together with animal tissue or compound diet extracts, the conditions for ascorbic acid degradation were determined. For the differential measurement of reduced ascorbic acid (AA), dehydroascorbic acid (dAA) and ascorbic sulphate (AS), five series of simultaneous determinations were performed. These included the use of (1) KBrO3 for the hydrolysis of AS, (2) 2,6-dichlorophenolindophenol as an oxidant, (3) DNPH to form a hydrazone derivative with dAA and (4 and 5) two blanks (where ascorbate was degraded) to correct for interfering substances. A variety of vertebrate and invertebrate tissues were examined for their ascorbate content, and the advantages of the modified procedure over currently available assays are discussed. The results suggest that the Artemia cyst is a unique material in which ascorbic sulphate is present in large amounts whereas fish tissues do not contain this form of vitamin C.