Straightforward Method for the Preparation of Lysine-Based Double-Chained Anionic Surfactants

Double-chained surfactants with potential biocompatibility have been prepared in high yields by lysine acylation with four natural saturated fatty acids (C₆ to C₁₂) and with cis-undec-5-enoic acid. The surfactants were found to assemble into nanotubules in aqueous medium and, when mixed with a commercial cationic surfactant, to spontaneously form liposomes.     

Human Calcitonin Delivered Orally by Means of Nanoparticles Composed of Novel Graft Copolymers

Abstract

The ability of nanoparticles having surface hydrophilic polymeric chains to enhance the oral absorption of human calcitonin was examined in rats. The oral relative bioavailability of calcitonin against its subcutaneous administration was 0.01% without nanoparticles, but increased significantly when it was administered with nanoparticles. Nanoparticles having cationic poly(vinylamine) (PVAm) chains on their surfaces had a relatively stronger enhancing effect than did other nanoparticles. When divinylbenzene was added to the nanoparticle preparation, PVAm nanoparticles with a crosslinked hydrophobic polystyrene core were synthesized. The addition of divinylbenzene resulted in nanoparticles with larger zeta potential through the efficient accumulation of hydrophilic PVAm chains on their surfaces; however, inadequate amounts decreased the zeta potential. Changes in the bioavailability proportional to the zeta potential indicated that the cationic moiety is indispensable for inducing the significant enhancement of calcitonin absorption. The chemical structure of nanoparticles could be optimized by introducing nonionic poly(N‐isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAAm) or anionic poly(methacrylic acid) chains onto the PVAm nanoparticle surface to effectively further improve the absorption‐enhancing function of PVAm nanoparticles. Finally, the maximum bioavailability of 1.1% was achieved after oral administration of calcitonin with PVAm–PNIPAAm nanoparticles whose components, VAm macromonomer, N‐isopropylacrylamine (NIPAAm) macromonomer, and styrene were copolymerized in the molar ratio of 1.5:0.5:10.     

Synthesis of O-α-L-Fucopyranosyl-(1→2)-O-β-D-galactopyranosyl-(1→4)-2-acetamido-2-deoxy-D-glucopyranose. The H-Blood Group Specific Trisaccharide

Abstract

Different reaction conditions were investigated for the preparation of benzyl 2-acetamido-3,6-di-O-benzyl-2-deoxy-β-D-glucopyranoside (5). Compound 5 on reaction with 2,3,4,6-tetra-O-acetyl-α-D-galactopyranosyl bromide afforded the 4-O-substituted 2-acetamido-2-deoxy-β-D-glucopyranosyl derivative which, on O-deacetylation, gave benzyl 2-acetamido-3,6-di-O-benzyl-2-deoxy-4-O-β-D-galactopyranosyl-β-D-glucopyranoside (8). The trimethylsilyl (Me₃Si) derivative of 8, on treatment with pyridineacetic anhydride-acetic acid for 2 days, gave the disaccharide derivative having an O-acetyl group selectively introduced at the primary position and Me₃Si groups at the secondary positions. The latter groups were readily cleaved by treatment with aqueous acetic acid in methanol to afford benzyl 2-acetamido-4-O-(6-O-acetyl-β-D-galactopyranosyl)-3,6-di-O-benzyl-2-deoxy-β-D-glucopyranoside, which on isopropylidenation gave the desired, key intermediate benzyl 2-acetamido-4-O-(6-O-acetyl-3,4-O-isopropylidene-β-D-galactopyranosyl)-3,6-di-O-benzyl-2-deoxy-β-D-glucopyranoside (12). Reaction of 12 with 2,3,4-tri-O-benzyl-α-L-fucopyranosyl bromide under catalysis by bromide ion afforded the trisaccharlde derivative from which the title trisaccharide was obtained by systematic removal of the protective groups. The structures of the final trisaccharide and of various intermediates were established by ¹H and ¹³C NMR spectroscopy.     

Linear and Cyclic Hybrids of Alternating Thiophene–Amino Acid Units: Synthesis and Effects of Chirality on Conformation and Molecular Packing

The dipeptide isostere 5‐aminothiophene carboxylic acid has been combined with L ‐phenylalanine moieties to provide linear and cyclic hybrid oligopeptides. A suitable protecting group strategy and appropriate coupling methods have been developed to guarantee a high degree of enantiopurity of the resulting amides. Cyclic tetraamides have been efficiently obtained by macrocyclization of the linear derivatives. In the case of racemized cyclization precursors, two diastereomeric macrocycles (S,S/R,R and meso) have been isolated. Their crystal structures show clear effects of the stereogenic centers on the ring conformations and molecular packing.     

Ionic liquid 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate: an attractive solvent for native chemical ligation of peptides

The ionic liquid 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate ([C₂mim][OAc]) was successfully used as alternative solvent for native chemical ligation of peptide fragments to produce model peptide LYRAXCRANK (X = G, A, L, N, Q, K, and F). The commonly used buffer system including thiol additives such as thiophenol and benzyl mercaptan can be replaced by the nontoxic ionic liquid [C₂mim][OAc]. In addition to improving the solubility of the peptides in [C₂mim][OAc], yields and rates of the ligation reactions were found to be efficiently enhanced.     

Analysis of monoclonal antibody by a novel CE‐UV/MALDI‐MS interface

mAbs are highly complex proteins that present a wide range of microheterogeneity that requires multiple analytical methods for full structure assessment and quality control. As a consequence, the characterization of mAbs on different levels is particularly product‐ and time‐consuming. CE‐MS couplings, especially to MALDI, appear really attractive methods for the characterization of biological samples. In this work, we report the last instrumental development and performance of the first totally automated off‐line CE‐UV/MALDI‐MS/MS. This interface is based on the removal of the original UV cell of the CE apparatus, modification of the spotting device geometry, and creation of an integrated delivery matrix system. The performance of the method was evaluated with separation of five intact proteins and a tryptic digest mixture of nine proteins. Intact protein application shows the acquisition of electropherograms with high resolution and high repeatability. In the peptide mapping approach, a total number of 154 unique identified peptides were characterized using MS/MS spectra corresponding to average sequence coverage of 64.1%. Comparison with NanoLC/MALDI‐MS/MS showed complementarity at the peptide level with an increase of 42% when using CE/MALDI‐MS coupling. Finally, this work represents the first analysis of intact mAb charge variants by CZE using an MS detection. Moreover, using a peptide mapping approach CE‐UV/MALDI‐MS/MS fragmentation allowed 100% sequence coverage of the light chain and 92% of the heavy chain, and the separation of four major glycosylated peptides and their structural characterization.     

Enhancement in the rate of conversion of peptide Cys-Pro esters to peptide thioesters by structural modification

We previously reported that the peptide containing a Cys-Pro ester (CPE) moiety is spontaneously transformed into a peptide thioester via an N to S acyl shift followed by diketopiperazine formation. In an attempt to identify more reactive structures for the formation of a peptide thioester, we modified the CPE structure, in which the Pro residue in the CPE moiety was replaced with N-substituted glycine derivatives. These peptides were transformed into a peptide thioester more rapidly. Alternatively, the addition of an amino acid residue at the C-terminus of the CPE moiety also accelerated thioester formation.