Affinity Chromatography-Based Assays for the Screening of Potential Ligands Selective for G-Quadruplex Structures

DNA G-quadruplexes (G4s) are key structures for the development of targeted anticancer therapies. In this context, ligands selectively interacting with G4s can represent valuable anticancer drugs. Aiming at speeding up the identification of G4-targeting synthetic or natural compounds, we developed an affinity chromatography-based assay, named G-quadruplex on Oligo Affinity Support (G4-OAS), by synthesizing G4-forming sequences on commercially available polystyrene OAS. Then, due to unspecific binding of several hydrophobic ligands on nude OAS, we moved to Controlled Pore Glass (CPG). We thus conceived an ad hoc functionalized, universal support on which both the on-support elongation and deprotection of the G4-forming oligonucleotides can be performed, along with the successive affinity chromatography-based assay, renamed as G-quadruplex on Controlled Pore Glass (G4-CPG) assay. Here we describe these assays and their applications to the screening of several libraries of chemically different putative G4 ligands. Finally, ongoing studies and outlook of our G4-CPG assay are reported.     

Activation of trisacryl gels with chloroformates and their use for affinity chromatography and protein immobilization

In this study we describe the activation with chloroformates of Trisacryl-GF-2000, a new synthetic gel support that is stable, hydrophilic, and contains large amounts of hydroxyl groups available for activation. Of all the reagents tested, the activation withN-hydroxysuccinimide-chloroformate andp-nitrophenylchloroformate in organic solvents provides the best activation yield and subsequent coupling. When Trisacryl was activated in acetone with the chloroformates in the presence of 4-dimethylaminopyridine as base and catalyst, up to 30% of the hydroxyl groups, (i.e., 1/repeating unit) could be activated. Amino-containing ligands and proteins could be coupled to these carriers at pH 8 or higher. For better results in affinitychromatographic applications, spacers of ε-amino caproic acid or diaminohexane were introduced. The efficacy of these columns was demonstrated by purification of enzymes, antibodies, and antigens. The performance of these new columns were compared with that of Sepharose columns activated in various ways. In every case, the properties of the Trisacryl support proved superior with particular reference to the purity of the product obtained.     

Benchmark ab initio proton affinity and gas-phase basicity of α-alanine based on coupled-cluster theory and statistical mechanics

We determine the proton affinity (PA) and gas-phase basicity (GB) of amino acid α-alanine at a chemically accurate level by performing explicitly-correlated CCSD(T)-F12b/aug-cc-pVDZ geometry optimizations and normal mode vibrational frequency calculations as well as CCSD(T)-F12b/aug-cc-pVTZ energy computations at the possible neutral and protonated geometries. Temperature effects at 298.15 K considering translational, rotational, and vibrational enthalpy and entropy corrections are obtained via standard statistical mechanics utilizing the molecular geometries and the harmonic vibrational energy levels. Both the amino nitrogen (N) and the carbonyl oxygen (O) atoms are proven to be potential protonation sites and a systematic conformational search reveals 3 N- and 9 O-protonated conformers in the 0.00–7.88 and 25.43–30.43 kcal/mol energy ranges at 0 K, respectively. The final computed PA and GB values at (0)298.15 K in case of N-protonation are (214.47)216.80 and 207.07 kcal/mol, respectively, whereas the corresponding values for O-protonation are (189.04)190.63 and 182.31 kcal/mol. The results of the benchmark high-level coupled-cluster computations are utilized to assess the accuracy of several lower-level cost-effective methods such as MP2 and density functional theory with various functionals (SOGGA11-X, M06-2X, PBE0, B3LYP, M06, TPSS).     

The unimolecular chemistry of protonated glycine and the proton affinity of glycine: a computational model

The potential energy hypersurface of protonated glycine, GH⁺, has been investigated. The calculated G2(MP2) value for the proton affinity (PA) of glycine, PA _calc=895kJ mol⁻¹, is in good agreement with the experimental value which has been estimated to lie in the range 864kJ mol⁻¹ < PA _exp <891kJ mol⁻¹. Ab initio quantum chemical calculations of relevant parts of the potential energy surface of GH⁺ give a reaction model which is consistent with the observed mass spectrometric fragmentation pattern. The lowest energy unimolecular reactions of GH⁺ are two distinct processes: (1) loss of CO, which has a substantial barrier for the reverse reaction, and (2) loss of CO plus H₂O, which has no barrier for the reverse reaction. Received: 15 November 1996 / Accepted: 6 May 1997     

Proton transfer reactions from N-H acid [5,10,15,20-tetrakis(pentafluorophenyl)-21-H, 23-H-porphyrin] to strong bases in acetonitrile

Deprotonation of 5,10,15,20-tetrakis(pentafluorophenyl)-21-H, 23-H-porphyrin (PhF₅PorH₂) by various bases has been studied by ¹H NMR and kinetic methods. The kinetic parameters in acetonitrile were defined for proton transfer reactions yielding [NH]⁺ protonated bases and [NHN]⁻ anions with intramolecular hydrogen-bonded chains.     

对位取代酚钾与10′10′-二烃基-9,9′-联二吖啶盐电荷转移光谱的研究

10,10′-二烃基-9, 9′-联二吖啶盐有很强的荧光, 在光学材料^[1]和重金属离子的分析^[2]中有重要的应用价值。     

单分散交联聚甲基丙烯酸环氧丙酯树脂的制备及亲合纯化伴刀豆球蛋白-A

采用一步种子溶胀聚合法制备了颗粒呈单分散的交联聚甲基丙烯酸环氧丙南树脂，对其环氧基的组成比进行了表征，并以氨基葡萄糖为配基，首次制备了纯化粗品伴刀豆球蛋白-A(Ⅲ）(Con-A，Ⅲ)的聚合物基质的高效亲合色谱柱。配基在树脂上的键合量为8．2mg／g，对纯化后的Con-A（Ⅲ）的吸附量为13．4mg／g。使用该亲合色谱介质成功地从粗品Con-A中快速纯化了Con-A，电泳分析显示为一个主要的谱带，纯度从15％提高到95％。     

Substituent effects on the Lewis acidity of 4,6-di-tert-butylchatechol boronate esters

In studying the factors which contribute to the Lewis acidity of organoboron compounds we investigated approaches to the design of robust, novel Lewis acids purposed for metal-free catalysis. Based on a sterically encumbered catechol motif, a series of boronate esters are shown to demonstrate modest Lewis acidities for the conventional Gutmann-Beckett test as an inquisitive investigation.     

2-Isopropylbenzimidazole and 2-methylbenzimidazole as bulky proton sources: Stereoselective protonation and application to the synthesis of γ- and δ-lactones

2-Isopropylbenzimidazole and 2-methylbenzimidazole have been found to be effective bulky proton sources for stereoselective protonation of chiral enolate anions. 2-Isopropylbenzimidazole worked in the stereoselective protonation of the Birch reduction of chiral α,β-unsaturated imides. On the other hand, 2-methylbenzimidazole was found to be the best protonation reagent in the isomerization reaction of α,β-unsaturated imide into β,γ-unsaturated imide. The Birch reduction using 2-isopropylbenzimidazole realized a concise and stereoselective synthesis of δ-lactone 14, a sex pheromone of Macrocentrus grandii, while the isomerization reaction using 2-methylbenzimidazole was employed in the highly stereoselective synthesis of the γ-lactone intermediate in the synthesis of depsipeptide antibiotics. These bulky proton sources would be powerful tools to achieve a concise synthesis of natural products.