Chemistry and Biology of Cylindrols: Novel Inhibitors of Ras Farnesyl-Protein Transferase from Cylindrocarpon lucidum

Farnesyl-protein transferase (FPTase) is an enzyme responsible for the farnesylation of Ras protein. Farnesylation is required for cell-transforming activity in several tumor-types, and therefore, inhibition of FPTase activity may be a potential target for anticancer drugs. Our continued search for novel inhibitors led to the isolation of a number of bicyclic resorcinaldehyde cyclohexanone derivatives named here cylindrols A(1) to A(4), cylindrols B and B(1), and a number of known compounds, from Cylindrocarpon lucidum. The compounds were isolated by bioassay-guided separation using Sephadex LH-20, silica gel, and reverse phase HPLC. Structures were elucidated by extensive application of 2D NMR and X-ray crystallography. The determination of absolute stereochemistry was accomplished by CD measurements. Chemical transformations of the most abundant compound resulted in a number of key derivatives which were critical for the evaluation of structure activity relationship. These compounds are members of ascochlorin family and showed a wide range of inhibitory activity (0.7 &mgr;M to >140 &mgr;M) against FPTase. The FPTase activity was noncompetitive with respect to both substrates. Isolation, structures, chemical transformations, and FPTase activity are discussed in detail.     

On sparse spanners of weighted graphs

Given a graphG, a subgraphG' is at-spanner ofG if, for everyu,v V, the distance fromu tov inG' is at mostt times longer than the distance inG. In this paper we give a simple algorithm for constructing sparse spanners for arbitrary weighted graphs. We then apply this algorithm to obtain specific results for planar graphs and Euclidean graphs. We discuss the optimality of our results and present several nearly matching lower bounds.The work of G. Das and D. Joseph was supported by NSF PYI Grant DCR-8402375. The work of D. Dobkin was supported by NSF Grant CCR-8700917. The work of J. Soares was supported by CNPq proc 203039/87.4 (Brazil) and NSF Grant CCR-9014562. This research was accomplished while G. Das was a student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. A preliminary version was presented at the Second Scandinavian Workshop on Algorithm Theory, Bergen, Norway, 1990, under the title Generating Sparse Spanners for Weighted Graphs, and proceedings appear in the series Lecture Notes in Computer Science, Springer-Verlag. The preliminary version also appears as Princeton University Technical Report CS-TR-261-90, and as University of Wisconsin-Madison Computer Sciences Technical Report 882.     

Acyl vs sulfonyl transfer in N-acyl beta-sultams and 3-oxo-beta-sultams

[reaction: see text] N-Acylsulfonamides usually react with nucleophiles by acyl transfer and C-N bond fission. However, the hydrolysis of N-acyl beta-sultams is a sulfonyl transfer reaction that occurs with S-N fission and opening of the four-membered ring. Similar to other beta-sultams, the N-acyl derivatives are at least 10(6)-fold more reactive than N-acyl sulfonamides. 3-Oxo-beta-sultams are both beta-lactams and beta-sultams but also hydrolyze with preferential S-N bond fission.     

Nanoclusters of Silicon and Germanium

Synthetic routes for the preparation of Si or Ge nanoclusters as gaseous species, colloids, supported composites, or as unsupported powders are reviewed along with selected characterization data. The optical properties of these and related materials, such as porous Si, are summarized with particular emphasis on photo- or electroluminescence phenomena. Research opportunities related to Si and Ge cluster chemistry are suggested.     

Evaluation and validation of the ABI 3700, ABI 3100, and the MegaBACE 1000 capillary array electrophoresis instruments for use with short tandem repeat microsatellite typing in a forensic environment

The demand for high-throughput DNA profiling has increased with the introduction of national DNA databases and has led to the development of automated methods of short tandem repeat (STR) profile production; however, a potential bottleneck still exists at the gel electrophoresis stage. Capillary electrophoresis sequencers capable of processing 96 samples with considerably reduced manual intervention are now available. In this paper, we compare the ABI Prism 377 slab-gel sequencer currently used by the Forensic Science Service with three leading capillary array electrophoresis instruments: the ABI Prism 3700, the Amersham MegaBACE 1000 and the 16-capillary ABI Prism 3100. We describe the experiments used to evaluate and validate these platforms for forensic use with the STR multiplex Ampf/STR SGMplus [1, 2], along with comparative data from the ABI Prism 377 sequencer.     

Total synthesis of the polyenoyltetramic acid polycephalin C

The total synthesis of the polyenoyltetramic acid polycephalin C is described. Key steps of the synthesis include a double Swern oxidation, double Takai reaction and a double Stille reaction. In addition, the absolute stereochemistry of the ring junction has been determined by synthesis of both isomers and comparison of their CD spectra with natural polycephalin C.