Total synthesis of enantiopure beta-D-mannosyl phosphomycoketides from Mycobacterium tuberculosis

The first stereoselective total synthesis of a beta-d-mannosyl phosphomycoketide is reported. To introduce the stereogenic centers in the chain, three linear chiral building blocks were prepared using two different asymmetric catalytic conjugate addition protocols. Coupling of the various linear fragments was affected using a Julia-Kocienski sequence. This approach constitutes a general and convergent method for the construction of saturated oligoisoprenoid chains of any length and stereochemistry. In addition, an alternative approach for the formation of the difficult beta-mannosyl phosphate linkage was shown to be successful. Biological evalutation of the all-S compound revealed that its antigenic potency for T cells is identical to that of the natural product. This result implies that the fine structure of the lipid part has a strong influence on biological activity and that the T cell response is discriminating between different stereoisomers.     

Total Synthesis of a Mycolic Acid from Mycobacterium tuberculosis

In Mycobacterium tuberculosis, mycolic acids and their glycerol, glucose, and trehalose esters (“cord factor”) form the main part of the mycomembrane. Despite their first isolation almost a century ago, full stereochemical evaluation is lacking, as is a scalable synthesis required for accurate immunological, including vaccination, studies. Herein, we report an efficient, convergent, gram‐scale synthesis of four stereo‐isomers of a mycolic acid and its glucose ester. Binding to the antigen presenting protein CD1b and T cell activation studies are used to confirm the antigenicity of the synthetic material. The absolute stereochemistry of the syn‐methoxy methyl moiety in natural material is evaluated by comparing its optical rotation with that of synthetic material.     

A synthesis of C-glycosidic multivalent mannosides suitable for divergent functionalized conjugation

Divergent synthesis of two novel C-glycosidic multivalent mannosides derived from a common trivalent C-mannosyl carboxylate-terminated intermediate is described. This illustrates synthesis of multivalent C-glycosidic architectures bearing variable extended functionalized tethers. One such tether incorporates an embedded fluorescent unit providing a C-mannosyl multivalent epitope offering potential applications through further conjugation or immobilization.     

A synthesis of dioctanoyl phosphatidylinositol

A synthesis of the naturally occurring enantiomer of phosphatidylinositol is reported. A resolution strategy, using camphor as a chiral auxiliary is employed to obtain the desired, enantiomerically pure, inositol derivative. Dioctanoyl lipid chains are appended to the molecule, which are shorter than the naturally occurring lipid chains, providing the molecule with enhanced water solubility.     

Catalytic asymmetric synthesis of phthioceranic acid, a heptamethyl-branched acid from Mycobacterium tuberculosis

The first total synthesis of phthioceranic acid (1) has been achieved by an iterative catalytic asymmetric 1,4-addition protocol. This method provides a robust and high-yielding route for the preparation of 1,3-oligomethyl (deoxypropionate) arrays. After the desired number of methyl groups has been introduced, these arrays can be further functionalized at both ends to polymethyl-substituted lipids such as phthioceranic acid, a heptamethyl-branched fatty acid from the virulence factor Sulfolipid-I (2), found in Mycobacterium tuberculosis.     

The synthesis of a single enantiomer of a major alpha-mycolic acid of Mycobacterium tuberculosis

We report a synthesis of a single enantiomer of a dicyclopropane containing mycolic acid from Mycobacterium tuberculosis; this method can be simply varied to modify the chain lengths or the absolute stereochemistry of either cyclopropane.     

Concise synthesis of an arabinofuranose hexasaccharide present in the cell wall of Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Mycobacterium cell wall consists of three major polysaccharide portions and arabinofuranose (Araf) is present in two of the major portions, arabinogalactan (AG) and lipoarabinomannan (LAM). A peculiar Araf hexasaccharide possessing two β-linked Araf units are present in both AG and LAM polysaccharides. Herein, we report an efficient and concise synthesis of this Araf hexasaccharide using single starting 3,5-TIPDS protected Araf thioglycoside precursor. Double β-glycosylation was achieved using strained cyclic 2-p-methoxybenzyl-3,5-TIPDS Araf thioglycoside donor.     

Structure-based design,synthesis of novel inhibitors of Mycobacterium tuberculosis FabH as potential anti-tuberculosis agents

Mycobacterium tuberculosis FabH,an essential enzyme in mycolic acids biosynthetic pathway,is an attractive target for novel anti-tuberculosis agents.Structure-based design,synthesis of novel inhibitors of mtFabH was reported in this paper.A novel scaffold structure was designed,and 12 candidate compounds that displayed favorable binding with the active site were identified and synthesized.     

The methyl-branched fortifications of Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Mycobacterium tuberculosis continues to be the predominant global infectious agent, annually killing over three million people. Recommended drug regimens have the potential to control tuberculosis, but lack of adherence to such regimens has resulted in the emergence of resistant strains. Mycobacterium tuberculosis has an unusual cell envelope, rich in unique long-chain lipids, that provides a very hydrophobic barrier to antibiotic access. Such lipids, however, can be drug targets, as exemplified by the action of the front-line drug isoniazid on mycolic acid biosynthesis. A number of these lipids are potential key virulence factors and their structures are based on very characteristic methyl-branched long-chain acids and alcohols. This review details the history, structure, and genetic aspects of the biosynthesis of these methyl-branched components, good examples of which are the phthiocerols and the mycocerosic and mycolipenic acids.     

Towards the proteome of Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Human tuberculosis is caused by the intracellular pathogen Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Sequencing of the genome of M. tuberculosis strain H37Rv has predicted 3924 open reading frames, and enabled identification of proteins from this bacterium by peptide mass fingerprinting. Extracellular proteins from the culture medium and proteins in cellular extracts were examined by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis using immobilized pH gradient technology. By mass spectrometry and immunodetection, 49 culture filtrate proteins and 118 lysate proteins were identified, 83 of which were novel. To date, 288 proteins have been identified in M. tuberculosis proteome studies, and a list is presented which includes all identified proteins (available at http://www.ssi.dk/publichealth/tbimmun). The information obtained from the M. tuberculosis proteome so far is discussed in relation to the information obtained from the complete genome sequence.     

Synthetic studies toward Mycobacterium tuberculosis sulfolipid-I

Sulfolipid-I (SL-I) is an abundant metabolite found in the cell wall of Mycobacterium tuberculosis that is comprised of a trehalose 2-sulfate core modified with four fatty acyl substituents. The correlation of its abundance with the virulence of clinical isolates suggests a role for SL-I in pathogenesis, although its biological functions remain unknown. Here we describe the synthesis of a SL-I analogue bearing unnatural lipid substituents. A key feature of the synthesis was application of an intramolecular aglycon delivery reaction to join two differentially protected glucose monomers, one prepared with a novel alpha-selective glycosylation. The route developed for the model compound can be readily extended to the synthesis of native SL-I as well as additional analogues for use in the investigation of SL-I's functions.     

Chemical synthesis of cyclic galactooligofuranosides isolated from enzymatic degradation products of cell wall arabinogalactan of Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Synthesis of cyclic tetra-, hexa- and octasaccharides containing alternating (1-->5)-beta- and (1-->6)-beta-galactofuranosyl linkages has been achieved by intramolecular cycloglycosylation of corresponding linear sugars and by cyclooligomerization of 1,6-linked and 1,5-linked disaccharides. In particular, cyclooligomerization of the (1-->6)-beta-galactofuranosyl disaccharide provides an efficient way to secure all three cyclic sugars in one operation.     

Natural product growth inhibitors of Mycobacterium tuberculosis

This review covers natural products (secondary metabolites) with reported growth inhibitory activity towards Mycobacterium tuberculosis or related organisms. Such compounds have been isolated from a variety of sources including terrestrial and marine plants and animals, and microorganisms, with the express intent of identifying novel scaffolds for the development of new antituberculosis agents. The literature from January 2003 to December 2005 (inclusive) is reviewed and 146 references to 353 compounds are cited. The compounds are presented in order of chemical type, namely lipids/fatty acids and simple aromatics, phenolics and quinones, peptides, alkaloids, terpenes (monoterpenoids, diterpenes, sesquiterpenes and triterpenes), steroids and miscellaneous structures.     

Chemical engineering of Mycobacterium tuberculosis dodecin hybrids

The suitability for chemical engineering of the highly symmetrical Mycobacterium tuberculosis dodecin was investigated, its inner cavity providing a large compartment shields introduced compounds from bulk solvent. Hybrids were obtained by S-alkylation of cysteine mutants and characterized by spectroscopic methods, including the crystal structures of wild type and biohybrid dodecins.     

Total synthesis of dehydroaltenusin

First total synthesis of dehydroaltenusin, a natural enzyme inhibitor, is described. The key step involves Suzuki-couplig reaction of aryl triflate prepared from 2,4,6-trihydroxy benzoic acid with a catechol-derived boronic acid. The synthetic sample was evaluated as a potent inhibitor against an eukaryotic DNA polymerase α.