Protein Prenylation: An (Almost) Comprehensive Overview on Discovery History, Enzymology, and Significance in Physiology and Disease

Summary. Since 1979, when prenylation has been first discovered as chemical oddity of a yeast mating factor, the two forms of this posttranslational modification of proteins (farnesylation and geranylgeranylation) have been found as wide spread among proteins from Eukarya and their viruses. This review attempts to summarize as comprehensively as possible the enzymological processes of prenylation and the various aspects of their biological significance. The substrate proteins of prenyltransferases are known to carry a sequence signal composed of a cysteine-containing 4–5 residue stretch at the utmost C-terminal end that is N-terminally preceded by a flexible and polar linker region of ca. 10 residues. Postprenylation processing of substrate proteins can involve C-terminal proteolysis, C-terminal carboxyl methylation, and other steps of maturation. The prenyl anchor functions as module for membrane attachment or for protein–protein interaction. Prenyl anchor carrying proteins fulfill a large array of functions in signaling and regulation of cellular processes. Therefore, they are involved in the pathogenesis of a variety of human diseases, the most prominent one being cancer. Farnesyltransferase inhibitors show surprisingly high efficiency in controlling tumor growth in model systems but, so far, clinical trials with human patients have remained without the desired success. Interference into prenylation pathways appears also a promising treatment principle in a variety of parasitic diseases.     

表皮生长因子受体酪氨酸激酶抑制剂的药效团研究

根据一系列表皮生长因子受体酪氨酸激酶抑制剂的三维定量构效关系研究，得 到了该类抑制剂的药效团，研究结果与Novartis的药效团模型相当类似．药效团包 括一个氢键受体，一个氢键给体，一个疏水区和一个带有氯或溴原子药效团对于研 究表皮生长因子受体酪氨酸激酶抑制剂结构与活性的关系具有重要的意义．通过三 维数据库搜索可能会得到新的先导化合物．     

Functionalized Self-Assembled Monolayers on Gold as Binding Matrices for the Screening of Antibody-Antigen Interactions

Two different types of -substituted alkanethiol/disulfide compounds have been used to prepare monolayer architectures on gold serving as platforms for the immobilization of receptor probe molecules – antibodies. These are: (i) carboxylic acid alkanethiols post-reacted with amino biotin to generate streptavidin surfaces, and (ii) N-hydroxysuccinimide-terminated disulfide surfaces. The properties of the monolayers, with and without attached receptor probe molecules, were analysed using infrared spectroscopy, ellipsometry, fluorescence scanning and atomic force microscopy. Several experimental parameters, such as condensation reagents, additives, probe and target concentrations and immobilization time, were systematically varied to determine the dynamic range and to optimize the sensitivity and signal-to-noise ratio of the biochip platforms. Fluorescence screening using Cy5-labelled antigens finally demonstrated that both surfaces could be successfully employed to immobilize the antibodies. The pros and cons of the two approaches are also discussed.Received November 15, 2002; accepted March 25, 2003 Published online July 28, 2003     

组合电化学--电化学研究中的新策略

组合电化学是一种新的电化学研究策略，通过设计和构建大量多样性的电极阵列，并对其进行高通量筛选和表征，快速、高效地实现了体系的电化学研究。本文综述了近年来进行的组合电化学研究，重点介绍了组合光学筛选方法、组合电化学合成方法以及电化学平行筛选方法，并探讨了各种方法的优势和存在的问题。     

Pseudoguaiane-type sesquiterpenes and inhibitors on nitric oxide production from Dichrocephala integrifolia

Three new pseudoguaiane-type sesquiterpenes, dichrocepholides A-C, and two new pseudoguaiane-type sesquiterpene dimers, dichrocepholides D and E, were isolated from the aerial part of Dichrocephala integrifolia. Their stereostructures were determined on the basis of chemical and physicochemical evidence. In addition, the extract and its principal sesquiterpene constituent, parthenin, showed an inhibitory activity on nitric oxide (NO) production and on induction of inducible NO synthase.     

Synthesis of Novel Benzoylphenylurea Chitin Inhibitors From Chlorothalonil(Ⅱ)

IntroductionThe insecticidal activity of benzoylphenylurea( BPU ) analogues,discovered in the early1 970′s[1_ 4] ,is connected with the process ofmoult-ing and appears to affect the chitin synthesis of in-sects. The benzoylphenylurea class of insectgrowth regulators( IGRs) ,interfere with chitinsynthesis in target pests,causing death or abortivedevelopment and are considered to be the fourthgeneration of insecticides or novel materials for in-sect control.Benzoylphenylurea type insecticides…     

碳五馏分中微量阻聚剂二乙基羟胺的气相色谱测定法

提出采用HP-l毛细管色谱柱测定碳五馏分中微量阻聚剂二乙基羟胺组分的气相色谱方法。在本文提出的条件下，二乙基羟胺与其他组分分离良好，检出限低于20mg／kg，相对标准偏差为3．86％，结果准确可靠，方法满足控制分析的要求。     

QSAR Studies on the COX-2 Inhibition by 3,4-Diarylcycloxazolones Based on MEDV Descriptor

Selective inhibition of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) might avoid the side effects of current available nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs while retaining their therapeutic efficacy. A novel variable selection and modeling method based on prediction is developed to construct the quantitative structure-activity relationships (QSAR) between the molecular electronegativity distance vector (MEDV) based on 13 atomic types and the biological activities of a set of selective cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitory molecules, 3,4-diarylcycloxazolones (DAA) plus indomethacin,naproxen, and celecoxib. Using multiple linear regression, a 5-variable linear model is developed with the calibrated correlation coefficient of 0.9271 and root mean square error of 0.17 in modeling stage and the validated correlation coefficient of 0.9030 and root mean square error of 0.20 in leave-one-out validation step, respectively. To further test the predictive ability of the model, 20 DAA compounds are picked up to construct a training set which is used to build a QSAR model and then the model is employed to predict the biological activities of the balance compounds. The predicted correlation coefficient and root mean square error are 0.9332 and 0.19, respectively.     

Bioisostere of Sulfonyl Moiety-The Synthesis of New ALS Inhibitors N-(Asymmetry Disubstituted Phosphoryl)-N'-(4,6-dimethoxypyrimidin-2-yl) Ureas

IntroductionAcetolactatesynthase(ALS)isthefirstcommonenzymeinthebiosyntheticpathwayforthebranched-chainaminoacidsvaline,leucineandisoleucine.Itisaveryeffectivetargetsiteforherbicidalaction,whichistheselectedmodeofactionasitisspecificforplantsanddoesnotaffectmammals.Sulfonylureaherbicidesareanewclassofherbicidesdiscoveredinthemid-l97O'sl.ItsmodeofactionhasbeenestablishedtobeinhibitorytowardALS2.Muchattentionhasbeenfocusedonthiskindofcompounds,sincetheyhaveexcellentactivity,ahighdegreeofseIe…     

Synthesis, stereochemistry confirmation and biological activity evaluation of a constituent from Isodon excisus

A synthesis and stereochemistry confirmation of a constituent recently isolated from the whole plant Isodon excisus is reported. An enantioselective catalytic boron-mediated reduction of an α-bromoketone was utilized in the key synthetic transformation. The methodology described herein was also used for the synthesis of the natural product's enantiomer and several derivatives. In addition, the compounds were evaluated for inhibitory activity in a caspase induction assay. The natural product was found to be devoid of activity, but several derivatives had moderate inhibitory activity (EC₅₀<1 μM).