TAT peptide internalization: seeking the mechanism of entry

During the last decade several peptides have been extensively studied for their ability to translocate across the plasma membrane. These peptides have been called "cell penetrating peptides" (CPP) or "protein transduction domains" (PTD). These peptides also promote the cellular uptake of various cargo molecules. Their mechanism of cellular entry appeared very intriguing since most publications in the field highlighted an energy-independent process. Indeed, cellular uptake of these peptides was still observed by fluorescence microscopy at low temperature or in the presence of several drugs known to inhibit active transport. In addition, internalization was reported to be much faster than known endocytic processes. However the involvement of a specific cellular component responsible for this uptake process appeared unlikely following intensive structure activity relationship studies using a wide panel of Tat analogues. Several reports about a possible artefactual redistribution of CPPs, and their associated cargos, during the cell fixation step commonly used for fluorescence microscopy have recently emerged in the literature. Moreover strong ionic interactions of CPPs with the cell surface also led to an overestimation of the recorded cell-associated fluorescent signal. It now seems well established that arginine-rich peptides are internalized by an energy dependent process involving endocytosis. Whatever the case, however, an increasing number of data indicate that the conjugation of non-permeant molecules to these CPPs allows their cellular uptake and leads to the expected biological responses, thus pointing to the interest of this delivery strategy. However, initial structure activity relationship studies of these CPPs will have to be reconsidered and the relative potency of each peptide (and their analogues) to vectorize the cargos to their most appropriate subcellular compartment will require careful re-evaluation.     

Formation of a stable cyano-bridged dinuclear iron cluster following oxidation of the superoxide reductases from Treponema pallidum and Desulfovibrio vulgaris with K(3)Fe(CN)(6)

Superoxide reductases catalyze the monovalent reduction of superoxide anion to hydrogen peroxide. Spectroscopic evidence for the formation of a dinuclear cyano-bridged adduct after K(3)Fe(CN)(6) oxidation of the superoxide reductases neelaredoxin from Treponema pallidum and desulfoferrodoxin from Desulfovibrio vulgaris was reported. Oxidation with K(3)Fe(CN)(6) reveals a band in the near-IR with lambda(max) at 1020 nm, coupled with an increase of the iron content by almost 2-fold. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy provided additional evidence with CN-stretching vibrations at 2095, 2025-2030, and 2047 cm(-)(1), assigned to a ferrocyanide adduct of the enzyme. Interestingly, the low-temperature electronic paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectra of oxidized TpNlr reveal at least three different species indicating structural heterogeneity in the coordination environment of the active site Fe ion. Given the likely 6-coordinate geometry of the active site Fe(3+) ion in the ferrocyanide adduct, we propose that the rhombic EPR species can serve as a model of a hexacoordinate form of the active site.     

Highly stereoselective aldol reactions of titanium enolates from lactate-derived chiral ketones

[reaction: see text] Highly stereoselective titanium-mediated aldol reactions based on lactate-derived ketones are reported. The stereochemical outcome of the process depends on the protecting group (PMB or Bn) and the Lewis acid (i-PrOTiCl(3) or TiCl(4)) used in the enolization step, the corresponding anti-syn or syn-syn aldols being prepared in high yields and with diastereomeric ratios up to 99:1.     

Isolation of the novel dirhodium(II/II) thiolate compound Rh(2)(eta(1)-C(6)H(5)S)(2)(mu-C(6)H(5)S)(2)(bpy)(2)

The reaction of the anticancer active compound [Rh(2)(mu-O(2)CCH(3))(2)(bpy)(2)(CH(3)CN)(2)][BF(4)](2) (1) (bpy = 2,2'-bipyridine) with NaC(6)H(5)S under anaerobic conditions yields Rh(2)(eta(1)-C(6)H(5)S)(2)(mu-C(6)H(5)S)(2)(bpy)(2).CH(3)OH (2), which was characterized by UV-visible, IR, and (1)H NMR spectroscopies as well as single-crystal X-ray crystallography. Compound 2 crystallizes as dark red platelets in the monoclinic space group C2/c with cell parameters a = 20.398(4) A, b = 11.861(2) A, c = 17.417(4) A, beta = 108.98 degrees, V = 3984.9(14) A(3), Z = 4. The main structural features are the presence of a [Rh(2)](4+) core with a Rh-Rh distance of 2.549(2) A bridged by two benzene thiolate ligands in a butterfly-type arrangement. The axial positions of the [Rh(2)](4+) core are occupied by two terminal benzene thiolates. Cyclic voltammetric studies of 2 reveal that the compound exhibits an irreversible oxidation at +0.046 V in CH(3)CN, which is in accord with the fact that the compound readily oxidizes in the presence of O(2). The fact that this unusual dirhodium(II/II) thiolate compound is formed under these conditions is an important first step in understanding the metabolism of dirhodium anticancer active compounds with thiol-containing peptides and proteins.     

Formation of dinuclear titanium and zirconium complexes by olefin metathesis--catalytic preparation of organometallic catalyst systems

The titanium complex [(C(5)H(4)bond;allyl)TiCl(3)] (2) undergoes olefin metathesis coupling when treated with 3 mol % of [Cl(2)(L(1))(L(2))Ru=CHPh] (L(1)=L(2)=PCy(3), 4 a; L(1)=PCy(3), L(2)=(H(2)IMes), 4 b) to yield the dimetallic complex [Cl(3)Ti(C(5)H(4))-CH(2)CH=CHCH(2)-(C(5)H(4))TiCl(3)] (5). The allyl-substituted titanocene complex [Cp(C(5)H(4)bond;allyl)TiCl(2)] (3) analogously yields the dimetallic system 6 when treated with 4. The ansa-zirconocene complex [Me(2)Si(C(5)H(4))(C(5)H(3)bond;allyl)ZrCl(2)] (7) cleanly yields the analogous dimetallic coupling product 8 (>95 % isomerically pure), when treated with catalytic amounts of 4 b in toluene. Complex 8 gives an active homogeneous ethene or propene polymerization catalyst, especially at elevated temperatures, when treated with excess methylalumoxane.     

Toward direct determination of conformations of protein building units from multidimensional NMR experiments. V. NMR chemical shielding analysis of N-formyl-serinamide,a model for polar side-chain containing peptides

Knowledge of chemical shift-structure relationships could greatly facilitate the NMR chemical shift assignment and structure refinement processes that occur during peptide/protein structure determination via NMR spectroscopy. To determine whether such correlations exist for polar side chain containing amino acid residues the serine dipeptide model, For-L-Ser-NH(2), was studied. Using the GIAO-RHF/6-31+G(d) and GIAO-RHF/TZ2P levels of theory the NMR chemical shifts of all hydrogen ((1)H(N), (1)H(alpha), (1)H(beta1), (1)H(beta2)), carbon ((13)C(alpha), (13)C(beta), (13)C') and nitrogen ((15)N) atoms have been computed for all 44 stable conformers of For-L-Ser-NH(2). An attempt was made to establish correlation between chemical shift of each nucleus and the major conformational variables (omega(0), phi, psi, omega(1), chi,(1) and chi(2)). At both levels of theory a linear correlation can be observed between (1)H(alpha)/phi, (13)C(alpha)/phi, and (13)C(alpha)/psi. These results indicate that the backbone and side-chain structures of For-L-Ser-NH(2) have a strong influence on its chemical shifts.     

Relative stability of major types of beta-turns as a function of amino acid composition: a study based on Ab initio energetic and natural abundance data

Folding properties of small globular proteins are determined by their amino acid sequence (primary structure). This holds both for local (secondary structure) and for global conformational features of linear polypeptides and proteins composed from natural amino acid derivatives. It thus provides the rational basis of structure prediction algorithms. The shortest secondary structure element, the beta-turn, most typically adopts either a type I or a type II form, depending on the amino acid composition. Herein we investigate the sequence-dependent folding stability of both major types of beta-turns using simple dipeptide models (-Xxx-Yyy-). Gas-phase ab initio properties of 16 carefully selected and suitably protected dipeptide models (for example Val-Ser, Ala-Gly, Ser-Ser) were studied. For each backbone fold most probable side-chain conformers were considered. Fully optimized 321G RHF molecular structures were employed in medium level [B3LYP/6-311++G(d,p)//RHF/3-21G] energy calculations to estimate relative populations of the different backbone conformers. Our results show that the preference for beta-turn forms as calculated by quantum mechanics and observed in Xray determined proteins correlates significantly.     

The solid-phase synthesis and use of N-monosubstituted piperazines in chemical library synthesis

An efficient solid-phase synthesis of mono-N-substituted piperazines is presented. The key transformation involves a selective borane amide bond reduction in the presence of a carbamate resin linkage. This synthetic route takes advantage of the large diverse pool of commercially available carboxylic acids, acid chlorides, and sulfonyl chlorides. The solid-phase approach facilitates parallel processing by eliminating the need for column chromatography after each synthetic step. The N-monosubstituted piperazines were shown to react with polymeric activated tetrafluorophenol (TFP) reagents to generate arrays of amides and sulfonamides in good purity for biological testing.     

Antibiotic protected silver nanoparticles for microbicidal cotton

Surface coating of metal nanoparticles is one of the major aspects to be optimized in the design of antimicrobial nanoparticles. The novelty of this work is that antimicrobial derivatives have been used as stabilizers to protect silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs). Microbicidal activity studies of fabricated cotton textiles coated with these Ag@Antibio were performed. Protective ligand layers of Ag NPs resulted to be a deterministic factor in their antimicrobial activity. The best bactericidal activity was obtained for Fabric TAM (coated with Ag NPs with triarylmethane derivates in surface, Ag@TAMSH), with a bacterial decrease of 3 log units for the S. aureus strain. Intrinsic antibiotic activity and partial positive charge of the TAMSH probably enhanced their antimicrobial effects. Fabric Eu (coated with Ag NPs with eugenol derivates in surface, Ag@EugenolSH) and Fabric FQPEG (coated with Ag NPs embedded in PEG-fluoroquinolone derivatives in surface, Ag@FQPEG) displayed antibacterial activity for both Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains. These coated antimicrobial cotton fabrics can be applied in different medical textiles.