Small‐Molecule PROTACS: New Approaches to Protein Degradation

The current inhibitor‐based approach to therapeutics has inherent limitations owing to its occupancy‐based model: 1) there is a need to maintain high systemic exposure to ensure sufficient in vivo inhibition, 2) high in vivo concentrations bring potential for off‐target side effects, and 3) there is a need to bind to an active site, thus limiting the drug target space. As an alternative, induced protein degradation lacks these limitations. Based on an event‐driven model, this approach offers a novel catalytic mechanism to irreversibly inhibit protein function by targeting protein destruction through recruitment to the cellular quality control machinery. Prior protein degrading strategies have lacked therapeutic potential. However, recent reports of small‐molecule‐based proteolysis‐targeting chimeras (PROTACs) have demonstrated that this technology can effectively decrease the cellular levels of several protein classes.     

Modular PROTAC Design for the Degradation of Oncogenic BCR‐ABL

Proteolysis Targeting Chimera (PROTAC) technology is a rapidly emerging alternative therapeutic strategy with the potential to address many of the challenges currently faced in modern drug development programs. PROTAC technology employs small molecules that recruit target proteins for ubiquitination and removal by the proteasome. The synthesis of PROTAC compounds that mediate the degradation of c‐ABL and BCR‐ABL by recruiting either Cereblon or Von Hippel Lindau E3 ligases is reported. During the course of their development, we discovered that the capacity of a PROTAC to induce degradation involves more than just target binding: the identity of the inhibitor warhead and the recruited E3 ligase largely determine the degradation profiles of the compounds; thus, as a starting point for PROTAC development, both the target ligand and the recruited E3 ligase should be varied to rapidly generate a PROTAC with the desired degradation profile.     

Study on the Synthesis of La（3）-doped Nano-TiO_2 and Photocatalytic Degradation of Methyl Orange

In this paper,La(3)-doped Nano-TiO2(La(3)-TiO2) was synthesized via hydrothermal process.Structure and optical properties of the synthesized samples were characterized via XRD,FT-IR,DRS,etc.The results showed that the phase transformation of TiO2 from anatase to rutile was effectively prevented by La(3)-doping,which improved the thermal stability of anatase,and also suppressed particle aggregation and grain growth of TiO2.The formation of Ti-O-La bond promoted UV absorption intensity of TiO2,and provoked red shift of absorbed light.And the spectra response range of TiO2 was extended significantly to visible light by La(3)-doping,then photocatalytic performance was improved effectively.Compared with pure nano-TiO2,the performance of La(3)-TiO2 which photocatalyticly degraded methyl orange was increased significantly.     

Ab initio quantum chemistry on the Cray T3E massively parallel supercomputer: II

Gaussian-94 is the series of electronic structure programs. It is an integrated system to model a broad range of molecular systems under a variety of conditions, performing its calculations from the basic laws of quantum chemistry. This new version includes methods and algorithms for scalable massively parallel systems such as the Cray T3E supercomputer. In this study, we discuss the performance of Gaussian using large number of processors. In particular, we analyze the scalability of methods such as Hartree–Fock and density functional theory (DFT), including first and second derivatives. In addition, we explore scalability for CIS, MP2, and MCSCF calculations. Scalability and speedups were investigated for most of the examples with up to 64 process elements. A single-point energy calculation (B3-LYP/6-311++G3df,3p) was tested with up to 512 process elements. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Comput Chem 19: 1053–1063, 1998     

Stereopositional Outcome in the Packing of Dissimilar Aromatics in Designed β‐Hairpins

A popular strategy in the de novo design of stable β‐sheet structures for various biomedical applications is the incorporation of aromatic pairs at the non‐hydrogen‐bonding (NHB) position. However, it is important to explicitly understand how aryl pair packing at the NHB region is coordinated with backbone structural rearrangements, and to delineate the benefits and drawbacks associated with stereopositional choice of dissimilar aromatic pairs. Here, we probe the consequences of flipped Trp/Tyr pairs by using engineered permutants at the NHB position of dodecapeptide β‐hairpins, proximal and distal to the turn. Extensive conformational analysis of these peptides using NMR and CD spectroscopy reveal that a classic Edge‐to‐Face and Face‐to‐Edge geometry at the proximal and distal aromatic pairs, respectively, in YW‐WY, is the most stabilizing. Such a preferred packing geometry in YW‐WY results in a highly twisted β‐sheet backbone, with Trp always providing a ‘Face’ orientation to its dissimilar aromatic partner Tyr. Flipping the proximal and/or distal aromatic pair distorts the ideal T‐shaped geometry, and results in alternate aryl arrangements that can adversely affect strand twist and β‐sheet stability. Our study reveals the existence of a strong stereopositional influence on the packing of dissimilar aromatic pairs. Our findings highlight the importance of modeling physical interaction forces while designing protein and peptide structures for functional applications.     

(3E)-胆甾-4-烯-3,6-二酮-3-肟及其类似物的合成

以胆甾醇为原料,经氯铬酸吡啶氧化生成胆甾-4-烯-3,6-二酮(2),2与盐酸羟胺反应合成了(3E)-胆甾-4-烯-3,6-二酮-3-肟(3),总收率66%。利用合成3的反应条件合成了两个3的类似物——(3E)豆甾-4-烯-3,6-二酮-3-肟(6)和(3E)-谷甾-4-烯-3,6-二酮-3-肟(7)。2,3,6和7的结构经NMR和IR表征。     

异长春花苷内酰胺的光化学降解

报道了异长春花苷内酰胺在水溶液中经自然光照射后, 发生光氧化反应, 主要降解产物为(3S)-短小蛇根草苷. 采用通入氧气和日光灯照射的方法可加速异长春花苷内酰胺光降解, (3S)-短小蛇根草苷的产率为56%.     

Fe3+掺杂TiO2光催化降解聚乙烯薄膜的研究

以快速溶胶-凝胶法制备了纳米TiO₂光催化剂，并用Fe³⁺对其掺杂改性，在室温条件下, 用于固相光催化降解聚乙烯(PE)包装薄膜的研究. 对催化剂和薄膜进行了X衍射分析(XRD)、傅立叶红外光谱分析(FT-IR)、扫描电子显微镜(SEM)形貌观察. 结果表明， 60 W紫外光辐射240 h后， PE失重为8.43%, 锐钛矿型纳米TiO₂光催化剂使PE失重30.66%；用Fe³⁺掺杂后，0.5%Fe₂O3/TiO₂、1.0%Fe₂O₃/TiO₂和2.0%Fe₂O3/TiO₂分别使PE失重35.91%、20.72%和13.30%. 光催化剂加速了PE的失重，碳链的断裂和光氧化腐蚀，在薄膜表面形成大量的坑洞，降解产物中的小分子量的石蜡含量明显增高. Fe³⁺掺杂有一个最佳量， 0.5%Fe₂O3/TiO₂光催化降解PE的活性最高.     

Computational Screening of Newly Designed Compounds against Coxsackievirus A16 and Enterovirus A71

Outbreaks of hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD) that occur worldwide are mainly caused by the Coxsackievirus-A16 (CV-A16) and Enterovirus-A71 (EV-A71). Unfortunately, neither an anti-HFMD drug nor a vaccine is currently available. Rupintrivir in phase II clinical trial candidate for rhinovirus showed highly potent antiviral activities against enteroviruses as an inhibitor for 3C protease (3Cpro). In the present study, we focused on designing 50 novel rupintrivir analogs against CV-A16 and EV-A71 3Cpro using computational tools. From their predicted binding affinities, the five compounds with functional group modifications at P1′, P2, P3, and P4 sites, namely P1′-1, P2-m3, P3-4, P4-5, and P4-19, could bind with both CV-A16 and EV-A71 3Cpro better than rupintrivir. Subsequently, these five analogs were studied by 500 ns molecular dynamics simulations. Among them, P2-m3, the derivative with meta-aminomethyl-benzyl group at the P2 site, showed the greatest potential to interact with the 3Cpro target by delivering the highest number of intermolecular hydrogen bonds and contact atoms. It formed the hydrogen bonds with L127 and K130 residues at the P2 site stronger than rupintrivir, supported by significantly lower MM/PB(GB)SA binding free energies. Elucidation of designed rupintrivir analogs in our study provides the basis for developing compounds that can be candidate compounds for further HFMD treatment.     

The Influence of Pendant Hydroxyl Groups on Enzymatic Degradation and Drug Delivery of Amphiphilic Poly[glycidol‐block‐(ε‐caprolactone)] Copolymers

An amphiphilic diblock copolymer PG‐b‐PCL with well‐controlled structure and pendant hydroxyl groups along hydrophilic block was synthesized by sequential anionic ring‐opening polymerization. The micellization and drug release of PG‐b‐PCL copolymers using pyrene as a fluorescence probe were investigated for determining the influences of copolymer composition and lipase concentration on drug loading capacity and controlled release behavior. The biodegradation of PG‐b‐PCL copolymers was studied with microspheres as research samples. It has been concluded that the polar hydroxyl groups along each repeat unit of hydrophilic PG block in PG‐b‐PCL copolymer have great influences on drug encapsulation, drug release, and enzymatic degradation of micelles and microspheres.

     

The degradation kinetics of poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) under non-aqueous and aqueous conditions

The degradation of poly(3-hydroxybutyrate), P(3HB), was determined in two conditions namely, a non-aqueous condition of chloroform-methanol mixture in the presence of either one of the two following catalysts, 4-toluenesulphonic acid and imidazole, and secondly in an aqueous condition of increasing pH. From our study, a random chain scission of PHB occurred in the non-aqueous condition while the degradation of PHB in the presence of water occurred through surface hydrolysis with no change in the molecular weight. In the surface hydrolysis of the polymer, the rate was increased with higher pH values.     

维生素C溶液有氧降解动力学

建立了一种恒温高压氧药物稳定性加速试验方法, 用这种方法可在较短的时间内求得药物氧化反应的动力学参数. 以10%维生素C溶液为例, 维生素C在有氧和无氧条件下均可降解, 总的降解速率常数k_t由两部分构成: k_t＝k_an＋k_ae, k_an为无氧降解速率常数, 可表达为k_an＝A_an•exp(－E_a,an /RT); k_ae为有氧降解速率常数, 可表达为k_ae＝A_ae•exp(－E_a,ae/ RT)• .     

A CIDEP and fluorescence study of the oxidation of vitamin E: The vitamin E radical cation

The photochemical and thermal oxidations of vitamin E in trifluoroacetic acid were investigated by the combination of electron spin resonance, chemically induced dynamic electron polarization, and fluorescence techniques. Two independent thermal pathways led to the formation of the vitamin E radical cation in which one of the paths involved the intermediate neutral semiquinone radical. Photo-oxidation, however, did not involve the neutral radicals. The fluorescence spectra of both the neutral and the charged forms of the vitamin E radicals are reported here for the first time. Some model charge transfer reactions involving the vitamin E radical cation were reported.     

Fe3+-TiO2/SiO2光催化降解罗丹明B的研究

以硅胶为载体,采用溶胶-凝胶法制备了不同掺杂量的Fe3+-TiO2/SiO2光催化剂,并采用SEM,Raman和DRS等手段对其进行了分析和表征.以氙灯为光源,通过对可溶性染料罗丹明B的降解反应,考察了Fe3+-TiO2/SiO2催化剂的光催化活性,探讨了光催化反应中溶液pH值和起始浓度对催化反应的影响.     

The Molecular and Pathophysiological Functions of Members of the LNX/PDZRN E3 Ubiquitin Ligase Family

The ligand of Numb protein-X (LNX) family, also known as the PDZRN family, is composed of four discrete RING-type E3 ubiquitin ligases (LNX1, LNX2, LNX3, and LNX4), and LNX5 which may not act as an E3 ubiquitin ligase owing to the lack of the RING domain. As the name implies, LNX1 and LNX2 were initially studied for exerting E3 ubiquitin ligase activity on their substrate Numb protein, whose stability was negatively regulated by LNX1 and LNX2 via the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway. LNX proteins may have versatile molecular, cellular, and developmental functions, considering the fact that besides these proteins, none of the E3 ubiquitin ligases have multiple PDZ (PSD95, DLGA, ZO-1) domains, which are regarded as important protein-interacting modules. Thus far, various proteins have been isolated as LNX-interacting proteins. Evidence from studies performed over the last two decades have suggested that members of the LNX family play various pathophysiological roles primarily by modulating the function of substrate proteins involved in several different intracellular or intercellular signaling cascades. As the binding partners of RING-type E3s, a large number of substrates of LNX proteins undergo degradation through ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS) dependent or lysosomal pathways, potentially altering key signaling pathways. In this review, we highlight recent and relevant findings on the molecular and cellular functions of the members of the LNX family and discuss the role of the erroneous regulation of these proteins in disease progression.     

3-Acetyl-2-amino-4-hydroxy-1,3-pentadienecarbonitrile:E,Z-isomerism and the ability to form chelates

The Ni acetylacetonate-catalyzed addition of acetylacetone to malononitrile was shown to afford 3-acetyl-2-amino-4-hydroxy-1,3-pentadienecarbonitrile. The diphenyl boron chelate of the latter with a -diketone-type structure was obtained.E,Z-isomerism of the chelate and the free ligand were investigated. TheZ-isomers were found to dominate in low polarity solvents.The work was supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (Project No. 94-03-08964).Translated fromIzvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 8, pp. 1432–1435, August, 1994.     

负载型纳米TiO2光催化降解活性艳红X-3B染料

光催化氧化;负载型纳米光催化剂;负载型纳米TiO2光催化降解活性艳红X-3B染料