Novel fleximer pyrazole-containing adenosine analogues: chemical, enzymatic and highly efficient biotechnological synthesis.

Nucleoside analogues have long served as key chemotherapeutic drugs for the treatment of viral infections and cancers. Problems associated with the development of drug resistance have led to a search for the design of nucleosides capable of bypassing point mutations in the target enzyme's binding site. As a possible answer to this, the Seley-Radtke group developed a flexible nucleoside scaffold (fleximers), where the heterocyclic purine base is split into its two components, i.e. pyrimidine and imidazole. Herein, we present a series of new pyrazole-containing flex-bases and the corresponding fleximer analogues of 8-aza-7-deaza nucleosides. Subsequent studies found that pyrazole-containing flex-bases are substrates of purine nucleoside phosphorylase (PNP). We have compared the chemical synthesis of fleximers and enzymatic approaches with both isolated enzymes and the use of E. coli cells overproducing PNP. The latter provided stereochemically pure pyrazole-containing ß-d-ribo- and ß-d-2'-deoxyribo-fleximers and are beneficial in terms of environmental issues, are more economical, and streamline the steps required from a chemical approach. The reaction is carried out in water, avoiding hazardous chemicals, and the products are isolated by ion-exchange chromatography using water/ethanol mixtures for elution. Moreover, the target nucleosides were obtained on a multi-milligram scale with >97-99% purity, and the reactions can be easily scaled up.

A luciferase-based screening method for inhibitors of alphavirus replication applied to nucleoside analogues.

Several members of the widespread alphavirus group are pathogenic, but no therapy is available to treat these RNA virus infections. We report here a quantitative assay to screen for inhibitors of Semliki Forest virus (SFV) replication, and demonstrate the effects of 29 nucleosides on SFV and Sindbis virus replication. The anti-SFV assay developed is based on a SFV strain containing Renilla luciferase inserted after the nsP3 coding region, yielding a marker virus in which the luciferase is cleaved out during polyprotein processing. The reporter-gene assay was miniaturized, automated and validated, resulting in a Z' value of 0.52. [3H]uridine labeling for 1 h at the maximal viral RNA synthesis time point was used as a comparative method. Anti-SFV screening and counter-screening for cell viability led to the discovery of several new SFV inhibitors. 3'-amino-3'-deoxyadenosine was the most potent inhibitor in this set, with an IC50 value of 18 microM in the reporter-gene assay and 2 microM in RNA synthesis rate detection. Besides the 3'-substituted analogues, certain N6-substituted nucleosides had similar IC50 values for both SFV and Sindbis replication, suggesting the applicability of this methodology to alphaviruses in general.

An improved method for the enzymatic transformation of nucleosides into 5'-monophosphates.

An improved method to transform nucleosides into 5'-monophosphates using nucleoside phosphotransferase from Erwinia herbicola is reported. The method is based on the shift in the equilibrium state of the reaction to the formation of desired product due to its precipitation by Zn2+. Under optimal conditions, the extent of nucleoside transformations into nucleoside-5'-monophosphates were 41-91% (mol).

Chemo-enzymatic synthesis of 3-deoxy-beta-D-ribofuranosyl purines and study of their biological properties.

9-(3-Deoxy-beta-D-erythro-pentofuranosyl)-2,6-diaminopurine (2) was synthesized by an enzymatic transglycosylation of 2,6-diaminopurine using 3'-deoxycytidine (1) as a donor of the sugar moiety. Nucleoside 2 was transformed to 3'-deoxy guanosine (3), 9-(3-deoxy-beta-D-erythro-pentofuranosyl)-2-amino-6-oxopurine (3'-deoxyisoguanosine; 4), and 9-(3-deoxy-beta-D-erythro-pentofuranosyl)-2-fluoroadenine (5). Compounds 2-5 were evaluated for their anti-HIV activity.