A "click" chemistry constructed affinity system for 2-oxoglutaric acid receptors and binding proteins.

An ingenious and specific affinity resin designed to capture the 2-oxoglutaric acid (2-OG) binding proteins was constructed by appending a 2-OG tag to the solid resin via a Cu-catalyzed Huisgen "click" reaction. The so-obtained affinity resin was able to recognize, retain and separate the established 2-OG binding protein NtcA in both the pure form and crude cellular extract, thus constituting a valuable means of searching for novel 2-OG receptors with a view to exploring the signalling pathways of 2-OG, a key Krebs cycle intermediate with unprecedented signalling functions.

Pharmacological and structural characterization of conformationally restricted (S)-glutamate analogues at ionotropic glutamate receptors.

Conformationally restricted glutamate analogues have been pharmacologically characterized at AMPA and kainate receptors and the crystal structures have been solved of the ligand (2S,1'R,2'S)-2-(2'-carboxycyclobutyl)glycine (CBG-IV) in complex with the ligand binding domains of the AMPA receptor GluA2 and the kainate receptor GluK3. These structures show that CBG-IV interacts with the binding pocket in the same way as (S)-glutamate. The binding affinities reveal that CBG-IV has high affinity at the AMPA and kainate receptor subtypes. Appreciable binding affinity of CBG-IV was not observed at NMDA receptors, where the introduction of the carbocyclic ring is expected to lead to a steric clash with binding site residues. CBG-IV was demonstrated to be an agonist at both GluA2 and the kainate receptor GluK1. CBG-IV showed high affinity binding to GluK1 compared to GluA2, GluK2 and GluK3, which exhibited lower affinity for CBG-IV. The structure of GluA2 LBD and GluK3 LBD in complex with CBG-IV revealed similar binding site interactions to those of (S)-glutamate. No major conformational rearrangements compared to the (S)-glutamate bound conformation were found in GluK3 in order to accommodate CBG-IV, in contrast with GluA2 where a shift in lobe D2 binding site residues occurs, leading to an increased binding cavity volume compared to the (S)-glutamate bound structure.

Scope, limitations and classification of lactamases.

The hydrolysis of amide bonds is a ubiquitous process in nature and is catalyzed by various enzymes: Whereas N-unsubstituted amides are cleaved by amidases (EC 3.5.1.4), peptidases (EC 3.4.X.X) cleave peptide bonds in proteins and are involved in a number of vital physiological processes. Cyclic amides (lactams) are generally not hydrolyzed by proteases, but require specific lactamases. While the ß-lactamase family (EC 3.5.2.6), acting on highly strained ß-lactams, is constantly growing, lactamases able to hydrolyze γ- and δ-lactams are largely under-represented, owing to the lack of ring strain of 5- and 6-membered cyclic amides which accounts for their lower reactivity. To date, the only known substrate in which a 5- or 6-membered ring lactam is enzymatically cleaved is (±)-2-azabicyclo[2.2.1]hept-5-en-3-one (rac-Vince lactam), as well as four derivatives thereof. For these industrially relevant substrates, enantiocomplementary biocatalysts have been identified and their stereopreference was found to correlate with their amino acid sequence and protein structure: While (+)-lactamases belong to the amidase signature family, displaying the typical GGSS(S/G)GS motif in the center of the protein sequence and a conserved Ser-Ser-Lys catalytic triad, (-)-lactamase activity has been identified only among serine hydrolases, members of the α/ß-hydrolase fold family, possessing a typical Ser-His-Asp catalytic triad. For larger 8- to 13-membered ring lactams, few active proteins have been identified, all are members of the amidase signature family. An enhanced partial CN double bond character in the amide bond explains the lower reactivity of particularly chemically stable lactams.

New 4-Functionalized Glutamate Analogues Are Selective Agonists at Metabotropic Glutamate Receptor Subtype 2 or Selective Agonists at Metabotropic Glutamate Receptor Group III.

The metabotropic glutamate (Glu) receptors (mGluRs) play key roles in modulating excitatory neurotransmission in the brain. In all, eight subtypes have been identified and divided into three groups, group I (mGlu1,5), group II (mGlu2,3), and group III (mGlu4,6-8). In this article, we present a L-2,4-syn-substituted Glu analogue, 1d, which displays selective agonist activity at mGlu2 over the remaining mGluR subtypes. A modeling study and redesign of the core scaffold led to the stereoselective synthesis of four new conformationally restricted Glu analogues, 2a-d. Most interestingly, 2a retained a selective agonist activity profile at mGlu2 (EC50 in the micromolar range), whereas 2c/2d were both selective agonists at group III, subtypes mGlu4,6,8. In general, 2d was 20-fold more potent than 2c and potently activated mGlu4,6,8 in the low-mid nanomolar range.

Molecular recognition of two 2,4-syn-functionalized (S)-glutamate analogues by the kainate receptor GluK3 ligand binding domain.

The kainate receptors are the least studied subfamily of ionotropic glutamate receptors. These receptors are thought to have a neuromodulatory role and have been associated with a variety of disorders in the central nervous system. This makes kainate receptors interesting potential drug targets. Today, structures of the ligand binding domain (LBD) of the kainate receptor GluK3 are only known in complex with the endogenous agonist glutamate, the natural product kainate, and two synthetic agonists. Herein we report structures of GluK3 LBD in complex with two 2,4-syn-functionalized (S)-glutamate analogues to investigate their structural potential as chemical scaffolds. Similar binding affinities at GluK3 were determined for the 2-(methylcarbamoyl)ethyl analogue (Ki =4.0 µM) and the 2-(methoxycarbonyl)ethyl analogue (Ki =1.7 µM), in agreement with the similar positioning of the compounds within the binding pocket. As the binding affinity is similar to that of glutamate, this type of Cγ substituent could be used as a scaffold for introduction of even larger substituents reaching into unexplored binding site regions to achieve subtype selectivity.

Chemoenzymatic synthesis of new 2,4-syn-functionalized (S)-glutamate analogues and structure-activity relationship studies at ionotropic glutamate receptors and excitatory amino acid transporters.

In the mammalian central nervous system, (S)-glutamate (Glu) is released from the presynaptic neuron where it activates a plethora of pre- and postsynaptic Glu receptors. The fast acting ionotropic Glu receptors (iGluRs) are ligand gated ion channels and are believed to be involved in a vast number of neurological functions such as memory and learning, synaptic plasticity, and motor function. The synthesis of 14 enantiopure 2,4-syn-Glu analogues 2b-p is accessed by a short and efficient chemoenzymatic approach starting from readily available cyclohexanone 3. Pharmacological characterization at the iGluRs and EAAT1-3 subtypes revealed analogue 2i as a selective GluK1 ligand with low nanomolar affinity. Two X-ray crystal structures of the key analogue 2i in the ligand-binding domain (LBD) of GluA2 and GluK3 were determined. Partial domain closure was seen in the GluA2-LBD complex with 2i comparable to that induced by kainate. In contrast, full domain closure was observed in the GluK3-LBD complex with 2i, similar to that of GluK3-LBD with glutamate bound.

Preparation of glutamate analogues by enzymatic transamination.

Aminotransferases are key enzymes of the metabolism of proteinogenic amino acids. These ubiquitous biocatalysts show high specific activities and relaxed substrate specificities making them valuable tools for the stereoselective synthesis of unnatural amino acids. We describe here the application of aspartate aminotransferase and branched chain aminotransferase from E. coli for the synthesis of various glutamate analogues, molecules of particular interest regarding the neuroactive properties of glutamic acid.

Chemo-enzymatic synthesis of (2S,4R)-2-amino-4-(3-(2,2-diphenylethylamino)-3-oxopropyl)pentanedioic acid: a novel selective inhibitor of human excitatory amino acid transporter subtype 2.

In the mammalian central nervous system (CNS), the action of sodium dependent excitatory amino acid transporters (EAATs) is responsible for termination of glutamatergic neurotransmission by reuptake of ( S) -glutamate (Glu) from the synaptic cleft. Five EAAT subtypes have been identified, of which EAAT1-4 are present in the CNS, while EAAT5 is localized exclusively in the retina. In this study, we have used an enantioselective chemo-enzymatic strategy to synthesize 10 new Glu analogues 2a- k ( 2d is exempt) with different functionalities in the 4 R-position and characterized their pharmacological properties at the human EAAT1-3. In particular, one compound, 2k, displayed a significant preference as inhibitor of the EAAT2 subtype over EAAT1,3. The compound also displayed very low affinities toward ionotropic and metabotropic Glu receptors, making it the most selective EAAT2 inhibitor described so far.