Total synthesis of Trichosanthes trypsin inhibitor and its analogue

Trichosanthes trypsin inhibitor (TTI) is a peptide consisting of 27 amino acid residues with three pairs of disulfide bonds. This paper reports the total synthesis and disulfide bond refolding of this inhibitor and its analogue. After purification, the amino acid sequence and stoichiometrical inhibitory activity against trypsin of the synthetic inhibitor were compatible with those of the natural inhibitor. The analogue of this inhibitor in which residue Met in position 6 was replaced by Ala was also synthesized. The antitrypsin activity of this synthetic analogue was also approximate to that of the natural inhibitor.     

STUDIES ON NATURAL AND MODIFIED PEPTIDE Trichosanthes TRYPSIN INHIBITORS

A peptide trypsin inhibitor was isolated and purified from the roots of Trichosanthes kirilowii (a Chinese medical herb) by using immobilized anhydro-trypsin affinity chromatography and HPLC C_(18) column reverse chromatography. It contains two major components, both consisting of 27 amino acid residues with three pairs of disulfide bonds. The sequence determination indicated that the difference between them is only in the ninth position, being Gln and Lys, respectively. The peptide bond of the inhibitor reactive site Arg-Ile (3--4) is easy to cleave at low pH by trypsin, resulting in a modified inhibitor. It might be the smallest naturally occurring protein inhibitor so far known. The modification reaction of the Trichosanthes inhibitor with trypsin is similar to the catalytic enzyme-substrate reaction. The dissociation constant of the modified inhibitor with trypsin is around fourfold that of the natural inhibitor.     

Studies on natural and modified peptide Trichosanthes trypsin inhibitors

A peptide trypsin inhibitor was isolated and purified from the roots of Trichosanthes kirilowii (a Chinese medical herb) by using immobilized anhydro-trypsin affinity chromatography and HPLC C18 column reverse chromatography. It contains two major components, both consisting of 27 amino acid residues with three pairs of disulfide bonds. The sequence determination indicated that the difference between them is only in the ninth position, being Gln and Lys, respectively. The peptide bond of the inhibitor reactive site Arg-Ile (3-4) is easy to cleave at low pH by trypsin, resulting in a modified inhibitor. It might be the smallest naturally occurring protein inhibitor so far known. The modification reaction of the Trichosanthes inhibitor with trypsin is similar to the catalytic enzyme-substrate reaction. The dissociation constant of the modified inhibitor with trypsin is around fourfold that of the natural inhibitor.     

A Protein from Aloe vera that Inhibits the Cleavage of Human Fibrin(ogen) by Plasmin

A protease inhibitor protein with the molecular mass of 11,804.931 Da (analyzed by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry) was isolated from Aloe vera leaf gel and designated as AVPI-12. The isoelectric point of the protein is about 7.43. The first ten amino acid sequence from the N-terminal was found to be R–D–W–A–E–P–N–D–G–Y, which did not match other protease inhibitors in database searches and other publications, indicating AVPI-12 is a novel protease inhibitor. The band protein of AVPI-12 migrated further on nonreducing sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) than reducing SDS-PAGE. This result indicated that the molecule of AVPI-12 did not contain interchain disulfide bonds, but appeared to have intrachain disulfide bonds instead. AVPI-12 strongly resisted digestion by the serine proteases human plasmin and bovine trypsin. The protein could protect the γ-subunit of human fibrinogen from plasmin and trypsin digestion, similar to the natural plasma serine protease inhibitor α₂-macroglobulin. The protein also could protect the γ-subunit of fibrinogen from the cysteine protease papain. AVPI-12 also exhibited dose-dependent inhibition of the fibrinogenolytic activity of plasmin, similar to α₂-macroglobulin. The fibrinolytic inhibitory activity of AVPI-12 and the small-angle X-ray scattering showed that the protein could protect human fibrin clot from complete degradation by plasmin. The inhibition of the fibrinogenolytic and fibrinolytic activities of plasmin by AVPI-12 suggests that the inhibitor has potential for use in antifibrinolytic treatment.     

Diaminodiacid bridge improves enzymatic and in vivo inhibitory activity of peptide CPI-1 against botulinum toxin serotype A

The replacement of the disulfide bridge of CPI-1, a peptide inhibitor of light chain of Botulinum toxin serotype A, with the thioether-containing and biscarba-containing diaminodiacid bridge leads to a significant decrease in the degradation by trypsin and increase in the detoxification activity in vivo, the addition of hydrophobic or positive amino acid at C-terminus of modified peptides further improves the inhibitory activity.     

Sunflower trypsin inhibitor-1

SFTI-1 is a bicyclic 14 amino acid peptide that was originally isolated from the seeds of the sunflower Helianthus annuus. It is a potent inhibitor of trypsin, with a sub-nanomolar K(i) value and is homologous to the active site region of the well-known family of serine protease inhibitors known as the Bowman-Birk trypsin inhibitors. It has a cyclic backbone that is cross-braced by a single disulfide bridge and a network of hydrogen bonds that result in a well-defined structure. SFTI-1 is amenable to chemical synthesis, allowing for the creation of synthetic variants. Alterations to the structure such as linearising the backbone or removing the disulfide bridge do not reduce the potency of SFTI-1 significantly, and minimising the peptide to as few as nine residues results in only a small decrease in reactivity. The creation of linear variants of SFTI-1 also provides a tool for investigating putative linear precursor peptides. The mechanism of biosynthesis of SFTI-1 is not yet known but it seems likely that it is a gene-coded product that has arisen from a precursor protein that may be evolutionarily related to classic Bowman-Birk inhibitors.     

Synthesis and evaluation of macrocyclic transition state analogue inhibitors for alpha-chymotrypsin

Lactams 1 and 2 are readily formed from acyclic precursors in the presence of trypsin and chymotrypsin, respectively, identifying the macrocyclic ring system as a potential motif for constrained transition state analogue inhibitors of the serine peptidases. Ketone 3 was synthesized and shown to be a modest inhibitor of chymotrypsin (Ki = 220 microM), albeit 4-fold more potent than the acyclic hydroxy acid 25 (Ki = 1.5 mM as a mixture of epimers). A precursor (31) to the amino boronic acid 4 was also prepared; although this derivative was a potent inhibitor of chymotrypsin (Ki = 130 nM) by virtue of the boronic acid moiety, it showed no advantage over the des-amino analogue 32 (Ki = 120 nM), which is not capable of cyclizing.     

氨基酸分子改性的SiO2杂化材料用于胰蛋白酶固定化

为改善二氧化硅载体材料本身的生物相容性和疏水性,维持包埋生物分子的活性,本文对水解前驱体3-氨基丙基三甲氧基硅烷进行氨基酸分子改性。具体过程包括N-Fmoc-L-缬氨酸和氯化亚砜反应生成N-Fmoc-L-缬氨酰氯,再和3-氨基丙基三甲氧基硅烷反应生成N-（3-三甲氧基硅基）丙基-N′-Fmoc-L-缬氨酰胺后。然后去除Fmoc,得到N-（3-三甲氧基硅基）丙基-L-缬氨酰胺作为氨基酸修饰的硅源前驱体。通过IR、MS、1H-NMR等分析测试手段对合成得到的各个化合物的结构进行了表征。利用正硅酸甲酯（TMOS）和N-（3-三甲氧基硅基）丙基-L-缬氨酰胺为复合硅源,经过溶胶-凝胶过程来包埋了胰蛋白酶,研究得到最适的固定化条件为,N-（3-三甲氧基硅基）丙基-L-缬氨酰胺的含量为15mol%。在该条件下,固定化胰蛋白酶活力的绝对值是199U,游离酶的酶活力的绝对值是103U, 四甲氧基硅烷直接包埋的固定化酶活力的活性是38 U。在该条件下,杂化硅源得到的固定化酶的活性是以四甲氧基硅烷水解前驱体的固定化酶活性的5倍,杂化硅源固定化胰蛋白酶的最相比游离酶,酶的最高活力提高的几乎2倍。这些结果表明氨基酸分子对水解前驱体修饰以后,水解产生的固定化载体具有良好的生物相容性。通过改性载体制备的固定化酶,对甲醇变性剂的稳定性,对酸碱的抵抗性及热稳定性也有明显地提高。     

The synthesis of phosphonic acid and phosphate analogues of glycerol-3-phosphate and related metabolites

A convenient route is described for the preparation of the isosteric phosphonic acid analogue of glycerol-3-phosphate, 3,4-dihydroxybutyl-1-phosphonic acid, in both enantiomeric forms and the racemic modification, starting with readily available materials. The (S)-enantiomer, that of absolute configuration corresponding to that of sn-glycerol-3-phosphate, has been found to be a growth inhibitor of several bacteria at low concentration. The synthetic route described is of particular value as it facilitates the preparation of a series of phosphonic adds and phosphates of related structure, in their enantiomeric forms, which are also of interest for metabolic regulation. These include the 3,4-epoxybutyl-1-phosphonate and a phosphate analogue of glycerol-3-phosphate with the related homodiglyceride. Investigations are continuing in the evaluation of the biological activity of the materials synthesized. A method is also described for the synthesis of the carbon-14 labelled 3-carboxy-3-hydroxybutyl-1-phosphonic acid, an analogue of phosphoglyceric acid known to serve as a substitute for the natural material in several biochemical processes.     

Total synthesis of aeruginosin 298-A analogs containing ring oxygenated variants of 2-carboxy-6-hydroxyoctahydroindole

Aeruginosins are a family of naturally occurring oligopeptides sharing a common perhydroindole-2-carboxylic acid (l-Choi) core structure. Many aeruginosins exhibit inhibitory activity against serine proteases including thrombin. Aeruginosin 298-A is a tetrapeptide containing the l-Choi core structure and three other unusual amino acids or their derivatives; it is a thrombin and trypsin inhibitor. As part of our effort in finding effective thrombin inhibitors from natural product analogs and to understand the influence of the rigid bicyclic amino acid to the thrombin inhibition activities, we synthesized two aeruginosin 298-A analogs in which the l-Choi is replaced with ring oxygenated perhydroindole-2-carboxylic acids. The Choi variants are enantiomers synthesized from d- and l-glucose, respectively. The preparation of the aeruginosin 298-A analogs containing the ring oxygenated Choi variants and their inhibition activities toward thrombin and trypsin are reported.     

The synthesis of active and stable diaminopimelate analogues of the lantibiotic peptide lactocin S

Lantibiotic peptides are potent antimicrobial compounds produced by Gram-positive bacteria. They can be used in food preservation, and some also show potential for clinical applications. Unfortunately, some of these peptides can be susceptible to inactivation by oxidation of the sulfur-containing amino acid lanthionine, limiting their use. Here we describe the synthesis and testing of diaminopimelate analogues of the lantibiotic lactocin S. These analogues were designed to improve the oxidative stability of the peptide by replacing the sulfur in lanthionine with a methylene unit. Lanthionine was systematically replaced with diaminopimelate during solid-phase peptide synthesis to produce several analogues. One analogue, A-DAP lactocin S, was found to retain full biological activity in addition to displaying increased stability. This is the first time a synthetic lanthionine ring analogue of a lantibiotic has retained natural activity levels. This methodology is potentially very promising for use in producing more stable, medically relevant lantibiotics.     

Synthesis of Biaryl-Bridged Cyclic Peptides via Catalytic Oxidative Cross-Coupling Reactions

Biaryl-bridged cyclic peptides comprise an intriguing class of structurally diverse natural products with significant biological activity. Especially noteworthy are the antibiotics arylomycin and its synthetic analogue G0775, which exhibits potent activity against Gram-negative bacteria. Herein, we present a simple, flexible, and reliable strategy based on activating-group-assisted catalytic oxidative coupling for assembling biaryl-bridged cyclic peptides from natural amino acids. The synthetic approach was utilized for preparing a number of natural and unnatural biaryl-bridged cyclic peptides, including arylomycin/G0775 and RP 66453 cyclic cores.     

Brown Kidney Bean Bowman–Birk Trypsin Inhibitor is Heat and pH Stable and Exhibits Anti-proliferative Activity

A trypsin inhibitor with a molecular mass around 17 kDa was purified from the seeds of Phaseolus vulgaris cv. ‘brown kidney bean’. The purification protocol involved, in sequence, affinity chromatography on Affi-gel blue gel, ion-exchange chromatography on Q-Sepharose and Mono Q, and gel filtration on Superdex 75. The molecular size and N-terminal amino acid sequence of the trypsin inhibitor resembled leguminous Bowman–Birk protease inhibitors (BBIs), signifying that brown kidney bean trypsin inhibitor is a BBI. Brown kidney bean trypsin inhibitor exhibited pronounced thermostability and pH stability. Its trypsin inhibitory activity was retained at all pH values (0–14) and up to 90 °C. The trypsin inhibitor also inhibited the proliferation of human breast cancer MCF7 cells with an IC₅₀ of 71.52 μM. On the other hand, it only slightly inhibited proliferation of hepatoma HepG2 and embryonic liver WRL68 cells at a concentration over 110 μM.     

Isotachophoretic analysis of peptides. Selection of electrolyte systems and determination of purity

Capillary isotachophoresis (ITP) was applied to the qualitative and quantitative analysis of both natural and synthetic oligo- and polypeptides. Based on the mathematical model of acid-base equilibria for a general ampholyte, a procedure and a computer program for the calculation of the pH dependence of the effective and specific charge and effective mobility of peptides with known amino acid sequence were developed which allow the selection of electrolyte systems for peptide isotachophoretic analysis to be rationalized. Basic peptides (bovine pancreatic trypsin inhibitor, bull seminal isoinhibitors of trypsin, arginine vasopressin and adamantylamide-alanylisoglutamine) were analysed with a cationic ITP system at acidic pH. Neutral and acidic peptides (insulin, proinsulin, bull seminal isoinhibitors of trypsin, cow colostrum isoinhibitors of trypsin) were analysed with an anionic ITP system, mostly at alkaline pH. Peptide purity (electrophoretic homogeneity) was determined from the ITP degree of purity defined by a peptide itself and the zone length ratio of its admixtures. Enrichment of peptide in the sample during the purification procedure was measured by its zone length relative to unit mass of the amount of sample analysed.     

Engineering of Cardiotoxin by Chemical Synthesis: (I) Rapid Synthesis of Fully Active Cardiotoxin II and IV of Taiwan Cobra Venom

Two 60-residue snake toxins with four disulfide bridges, cardiotoxin II and IV, of Taiwan cobra (Naja naja atra) have been rapidly prepared in overall yields of 3.9% (cardiotoxin II) and 3.7% (cardiotoxin IV) within three weeks using the chemical method. Physicochemical characterization of these synthetic cardiotoxins was carried out by amino acid analysis, mass spectroscopy, capillary electrophoresis, peptide mapping, circular dichroism spectroscopy, and lethal toxicity. As compared with natural cardiotoxins, the results indicated that the synthetic cardiotoxins possessed the same physicochemical properties as those of natural ones. Therefore, in addition to preparation of various important toxins with satisfactory quantities for biochemical and pharmacological studies within a short lime, this rapid method also provides an important route to obtain many interesting toxins and designed toxin analogues for structure/function relationship studies in the near further.     

Plant Antimicrobial Peptides Snakin‐1 and Snakin‐2: Chemical Synthesis and Insights into the Disulfide Connectivity

Antimicrobial peptides and proteins represent an important class of plant defensive compounds against pathogens and provide a rich source of lead compounds in the field of drug discovery. We describe the effective preparation of the cysteine‐rich snakin‐1 and ‐2 antimicrobial peptides by using a combination of solid‐phase synthesis and native chemical ligation. A subsequent cysteine/cystine mediated oxidative folding to form the six internal disulfide bonds concurrently gave the folded proteins in 40–50 % yield. By comparative evaluation of mass spectrometry, HPLC, biological data and trypsin digest mapping of folded synthetic snakin‐2 compared to natural snakin‐2, we demonstrated that synthetic snakin‐2 possesses full antifungal activity and displayed similar chromatographic behaviour to natural snakin‐2. Trypsin digest analysis allowed tentative assignment of three of the purported six disulfide bonds.     

Synthesis of Biaryl‐Bridged Cyclic Peptides via Catalytic Oxidative Cross‐Coupling Reactions

Biaryl‐bridged cyclic peptides comprise an intriguing class of structurally diverse natural products with significant biological activity. Especially noteworthy are the antibiotics arylomycin and its synthetic analogue G0775, which exhibits potent activity against Gram‐negative bacteria. Herein, we present a simple, flexible, and reliable strategy based on activating‐group‐assisted catalytic oxidative coupling for assembling biaryl‐bridged cyclic peptides from natural amino acids. The synthetic approach was utilized for preparing a number of natural and unnatural biaryl‐bridged cyclic peptides, including arylomycin/G0775 and RP 66453 cyclic cores.     

Purification and partial characterization of the pancreatic proteolytic enzymes trypsin, chymotrypsin, and elastase from the chicken.

The purpose of this work was to isolate, purify and partially sequence trypsin, chymotrypsin and elastase from the chicken pancreas. The extraction of the pancreatic zymogens with 0.5 M CaCl2 at pH 7.5 for 9 h appeared to be most effective in obtaining maximum recovery of the three enzymes. The sequential Cucurbita maxima trypsin inhibitor I/bovine pancreas trypsin inhibitor/soybean trypsin inhibitor affinity chromatography gave the best result for the isolation of trypsin, chymotrypsin and elastase, respectively, from the same extract. For each proteinase, multiple form of enzymatic activity could be observed after gel electrophoresis and each form was further purified on an ion-exchange column. The N-terminal amino acid sequence of trypsin and chymotrypsin showed homologies with the bovine enzymes whereas elastase showed homologies with the porcine enzyme. The molecular mass of trypsin, chymotrypsin and elastase were estimated to be 23,500, 25,700 and 25,000, respectively, which are values close to those in mammalian species. Although some kinetic constants (Km and k(cat)/Km) appeared different from those observed in other species, the pH dependent enzymatic activities were similar to those reported in other animal species.     

Application and Structural Analysis of Triazole‐Bridged Disulfide Mimetics in Cyclic Peptides

Ruthenium‐catalysed azide–alkyne cycloaddition (RuAAC) provides access to 1,5‐disubstituted 1,2,3‐triazole motifs in peptide engineering applications. However, investigation of this motif as a disulfide mimetic in cyclic peptides has been limited, and the structural consequences remain to be studied. We report synthetic strategies to install various triazole linkages into cyclic peptides through backbone cyclisation and RuAAC cross‐linking reactions. These linkages were evaluated in four serine protease inhibitors based on sunflower trypsin inhibitor‐1. NMR and X‐ray crystallography revealed exceptional consensus of bridging distance and backbone conformations (RMSD<0.5 Å) of the triazole linkages compared to the parent disulfide molecules. The triazole‐bridged peptides also displayed superior half‐lives in liver S9 stability assays compared to disulfide‐bridged peptides. This work establishes a foundation for the application of 1,5‐disubstituted 1,2,3‐triazoles as disulfide mimetics.     

The amino acid sequence of a double-headed trypsin inhibitor from the seeds of Momordica charantia Linn. Cucurbitaceae

A double-headed trypsin inhibitor (MCI-1) was isolated and purified from the seeds of Momordica charantia Linn. Cucurbitaceae, by using the trypsin-sepharose-4B affinity chromatography and CM-Sephadex-C50 ion exchange chromatography. It is composed of 77 amino acid residues: Asp₈ Thr₁ Ser₄ Glu₈ Pro₂ Gly₆ Ala₄ Cys₁₄ Val₂ Met₄ Ile₈ Leu₁ Phe₁ His₃ Lys₄ Arg₇. The amino acid sequence of MCI-1 was determined by sequencing the cyanogen bromide, tryptic and staphylococcus aureus V8 proteolytic peptides, then aligned by overlapped sequences. The result shows that MCI-1 contains 7 pairs of disulfide bonds, its sequence showed the high homology with those of “Bowman-Birk” inhibitors. About 50% trypsin inhibitory activity still remained after MCI-1 was cleavaged with cyanogen bromide.