Exploring Tyrosine-Triazolinedione (TAD) Reactions for the Selective Conjugation and Cross-Linking of N-Carboxyanhydride (NCA) Derived Synthetic Copolypeptides.

Highly efficient functionalization and cross-linking of polypeptides is achieved via tyrosine-triazolinedione (TAD) conjugation chemistry. The feasibility of the reaction is demonstrated by the reaction of 4-phenyl-1,2,4-triazoline-3,5-dione (PTAD) with tyrosine containing block copolymer poly(ethylene glycol)-Tyr4 as well as a statistical copolymer of tyrosine and lysine (poly(Lys40 -st-Tyr10 )) prepared form N-carboxyanhydride polymerization. Selective reaction of PTAD with the tyrosine units is obtained and verified by size exclusion chromatography and NMR spectroscopy. Moreover, two monofunctional and two difunctional TAD molecules are synthesized. It is found that their stability in the aqueous reaction media significantly varied. Under optimized reaction conditions selective functionalization and cross-linking, yielding polypeptide hydrogels, can be achieved. TAD-mediated conjugation can offer an interesting addition in the toolbox of selective (click-like) polypeptide conjugation methodologies as it does not require functional non-natural amino acids.

Discovery of small molecule vanin inhibitors: new tools to study metabolism and disease.

Vanins are enzymes with pantetheinase activity and are presumed to play a role in the recycling of pantothenic acid (vitamin B5) from pantetheine. Pantothenic acid is an essential nutrient required to synthesize coenzyme A, a cofactor involved in many biological processes such as fatty acid synthesis and oxidation of pyruvate to fuel the citric acid cycle. Hydrolysis of pantetheine also liberates cysteamine, a known antioxidant. Vanin-1 is highly expressed in liver and is under transcriptional control of PPAR-α and nutritional status, suggesting a role in energy metabolism. The lack of potent and specific inhibitors of vanins has hampered detailed investigation of their function. We hereby report the design, synthesis, and characterization of a novel pantetheine analogue, RR6, that acts as a selective, reversible, and competitive vanin inhibitor at nanomolar concentration. Oral administration of RR6 in rats completely inhibited plasma vanin activity and caused alterations of plasma lipid concentrations upon fasting, thereby illustrating its potential use in chemical biology research.

Enantioselective chemoenzymatic synthesis of cis- and trans-2,5-disubstituted morpholines.

A versatile synthesis of enantiomerically pure cis- and trans-2,5-disubstituted morpholines is described. Hydroxynitrile lyase-mediated cyanide addition onto aldehydes provided cyanohydrins in virtually quantitative yield and excellent enantioselectivity. Subsequent formation of diastereomerically pure amino esters via a three-step, one-pot reduction-transimination-reduction sequence followed by reduction and simultaneous protection provided cyclization precursors. Finally, cyclization and SmI(2)-mediated reductive detosylation completed the synthesis of cis- and trans-2,5-disubstituted morpholines in good yields and excellent diastereoselectivities.

Enantioselective chemoenzymatic synthesis of trans-aziridines.

A straightforward, five-step procedure for the synthesis of enantiomerically pure 2,3-disubstituted trans-aziridines has been developed starting from commercially available aldehydes. Hydroxynitrile lyase-mediated cyanohydrin formation provided cyanohydrins in excellent enantioselectivities and good yields. Subsequent formation of diastereomerically pure anti-amino alcohols via a one-pot Grignard addition-reduction sequence, Cu(II)-catalyzed diazotransfer, and triphenylphosphine-mediated reductive cyclization provided the corresponding trans-aziridines in good yields and excellent diastereoselectivities.

Acenocoumarol pharmacokinetics in relation to cytochrome P450 2C9 genotype.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Cytochrome P450 (CYP) 2C9 is one of the major CYP enzymes involved in the biotransformation of drugs, among others, the oral anticoagulant acenocoumarol. The enzyme has several polymorphisms, with the CYP2C9*2 and CYP2C9*3 variants most commonly present in white patients. Patients with the CYP2C9*3 variant are known to require a lower maintenance dose of racemic acenocoumarol. We investigated the impact of the polymorphisms CYP2C9*2 and CYP2C9*3 on the pharmacokinetics of R- and S-acenocoumarol. METHODS AND RESULTS: In the first study 26 healthy volunteers with the genotype *1/*1 (n = 9), *1/*2 (n = 7), *1/*3 (n = 6), *2/*3 (n = 3), and *2/*2 (n = 1) were given 8 mg of racemic acenocoumarol as a single oral dose. Plasma R- and S-acenocoumarol concentrations were assayed at 4, 7, and 24 hours. Mean plasma S-acenocoumarol concentrations at 7 hours were higher in subjects with a variant allele; the differences were significant (P =.01) for the *1/*3 and *2/*3 genotypes. In the second study, the oral pharmacokinetics of acenocoumarol was investigated in 6 subjects (*1/*1 [n = 3] and *1/*3 [n = 3]). The mean oral clearance of S-acenocoumarol was 45% lower in the CYP2C9*1/*3 genotypes (10.9 +/- 3.0 L/h versus 19.8 +/- 3.1 L/h, P =.02). Plasma half-life was prolonged from 1.0 +/- 0.2 hours to 2.0 +/- 0.7 hours (P =.09). R-acenocoumarol pharmacokinetics did not differ between the genotypes. There was no difference in mean international normalized ratio at 24 hours, which was 1.2 in both groups. In vitro enzyme kinetics showed reduced (85%) intrinsic activity of the *3 enzyme to catalyze the hydroxylations of S-acenocoumarol. The lower activity resulted from higher Michaelis-Menten constant (2-fold) and lower maximum rate of metabolism by an enzyme-mediated reaction (by 70%). The activity of the *2 enzyme was 50% of the wild-type one. CONCLUSION: The results show S-acenocoumarol pharmacokinetics to be dependent on CYP2C9 polymorphism. In particular, the presence of the CYP2C9*3 allele impairs oral clearance of the coumarin.